Isma is a 28-year-old PhD student and the oldest of the three siblings. She raised Aneeka and Parvaiz ever since their mother died when the twins were children. Isma's father, Adil, was a jihadi who fought in various conflicts and died while being transported to Guantanamo Bay, therefore the children never knew him. When the siblings were orphaned, Isma had to abandon her plans of getting a good education and instead took up several jobs to provide for her family. When the novel opens, Isma takes advantage of the fact that her siblings are now adults who can take care of themselves, and she moves to the US to pursue a PhD degree in Sociology.

Isma is portrayed as a responsible, sensible, and pragmatic person who puts the needs of her family over the needs of her own. Her internal conflict lies in her deep devotion to her family and her unquestionable loyalty to the state. When the British laws start to work directly against her family members, unlike Aneeka, she sides with the state and continues to believe that the Pashas are “in no position to let the state question [their] loyalties” (53). Isma’s strong sense of obligation is what drives her siblings away from her.