Fanon:Usaim Hamdi

Usaim Hamdi, born 10th of March of 1992, is the founder and the head of Al-Dar. As the leader of the semi-reactionary Muslim group, Usaim is very critical of the infidelity and the shallow romance of the Sim culture, and hence a brother-in-arms of sorts to Kallisto's anti-romantic Church. Usaim as a scholar inherits the Arab tradition contact with and respect for the Ancient Greek philosophy. He is also an avid environmentalist and an outdoor man on top of his intellectual pursuits, having a particular taste for football/soccer.

Al-Dar before the debut at Sunset Valley
Usaim Hamdi was involved in a cultural revolution: the traditionally conservative culture of his country was now opposed by a cultural revolutionary movement called the "Erotic Liberation Movement," which espoused experimentation with WooHoo, championed liberalization of clothing of women (that is, towards the skimpier side), and advocate for an end to arranged marriages. Obviously, Usaim Hamdi sided with the conservatives, and what started out as a simple cultural clash ended up spiraling into a bloody civil war. Despite the government support for the conservative side (and Usaim himself ended up a veteran of the war), vast majority of private (and quasi-public) international organizations supported the ELM, leading to the fall of the conservative government, and with that, the state support for the traditional culture. As a result, Usaim was forced off the country, and Usaim took refuge in Egypt, where Ayham was rebelling against what he believed to be a collaborator to the secular culture. Together, Usaim and Ayham formed the Al-Dar, claiming itself to be a bulwark against the shallow culture of the outside world.

Being together with an activist rebel, Usaim was no longer welcome at Egypt, and as the government squelched opposition, Usaim and Ayham were forced to leave, leaving Anwar and Omar behind as they were sent off. They ended up at Sunset Valley, and decided that they will lick their wounds there, staying put until the time was right.

Sunset Valley
As an refugee group, Al-Dar initially avoided contact with the outsiders, just like the Alkmaionids had in their debut at the beginning of the fanon. Despite that, not even the Al-Dar could be completely shut off, since they were also out of funds draining it up on the Naos-Stratopedon to avoid asset freeze, hence Ayham assumed a position in the medical career, and due to his experience, he started automatically as a Neurosurgeon, putting him right below the local top surgeon Lysistrata Amphipolita, who ended up as Ayham's friend and the only acquaintance of Al-Dar had with the outside world.

The Al-Dar initially looked on the Greek ruling faction with disapproval: how can they call themselves a faction without a proper head, and how is it proper for anything to be ruled by females? However, Al-Dar's relationship with the Church took a 180 degree spin with several factors: one, the Greek effective rulers of Sunset Valley called for scholarship over the popular dystopian culture involving the glamorization of nonsense such as parties and exposure that they called useless, something that the Al-Dar agreed upon, as the Greeks there were always ready to compromise: although the hardliner Kallisto would have declared socialization largely useless, more level-headed figures such as Hypatia had been advocating a more constructive social action revolving around close friends (which was due to her Shy trait), which found agreement with the Al-Dar. Secondly came Kallisto et al., including Chrysanthema who would be a critical component of diplomatic relations between the Greek Ecclesiarchy and Al-Dar, since Chrysanthema was educated to embrace the underdogs and the misrepresented class (and Muslims were always considered such by Kallisto, although Kallisto also had ulterior purposes)

Usaim's love of sports, particularly association football, led him to encourage the jobless Omar to get a job in professional sports, capitalizing on Omar's love of athleticism. Usaim was also a huge proponent of self-sufficiency, and although the Greek ruling class was nothing like the Western "exploiters," Usaim was uneasy receiving financial aid from the Greeks for the mosque. As such, with Ayham's agreement, Usaim decided that Al-Dar will receive no financial support from the Greek Ecclesiarchy (much to the chagrin of Kallisto), although they capitulated on Kallisto's insistence that the land be leased rather than purchased outright, since Usaim et al. were well aware of the ramifications of real estate acquisition.

Usaim, alongside the other members of the Al-Dar would serve as a spearhead of the Sunset Valley Renaissance, taking a leading role in the new Nectar economy of Sunset Valley: this had a mixed reaction, the old guard who lamented that the extreme quality of the nectar maintained by Kallistrata was gone, and there were thew others, who rejoiced that a market virtually left an empty shell by Kallistrata's depature was filled again, as well as a greater appreciation of diversity, especially since Kallistrata was very slow to change formulas, and had only created two different types of Nectar. Usaim himself did take an active role in actual necta r production, having 3 points in the skill currently, although Usaim played a bigger role in actually producing the raw material, which was facilitated by the Ecclesiarchy having left behind the superior quality plants behind in the first place.

Trivia

 * The character is largely based on Osama bin Laden, with imagery largely taken from an interview with one of Osama's wife in the book Growing Up bin Laden': Osama's Wife and Son Takes Us Inside Their Secret World.
 * Of course, Usaim liking a type of music is a necessary parameter, although Osama did not like music. But then Usaim isn't a Osama clone (although he is in a sense a "what if?" character), so this is acceptable.


 * The name Usaim is the diminutive form of Usama (Osama). Usama means lion, and Usaim means cub.