Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy
Ahmad is the main character of Terrorist. He is given his mother's name, Mulloy, but waits for the day he can assume the name of his father, Ashmawy. He seeks out the religion of Islam at the age of 11 and experiences conflict between his earnest ambitions as a follower of Allah and a society that he finds detrimental to this aim. At the time of the novel, he is 18.
Teresa Mulloy
Teresa is Ahmad's mother, a woman who is distracted by lovers and work to the point that Ahmad helps provide for her. Her involvement in his life is supportive, and she provides logistical support to his seeming religiosity.
Jack Levy
Jack is the guidance counselor and former civics teacher at Ahmad's high school. He meets Ahmad through a required meeting he has with every student, and he denotes Ahmad's future with "n.c." and "l.c.", two private abbreviations that stand for "no career" and "lost cause," respectively. Over the course of the novel, Jack becomes interested in Ahmad and seeks to help him.
Beth Levy
Jack's wife, who is his counterpart in a marriage fraught with strife and mutual discomfort. She struggles to be active in her career as a librarian.
Hermione Fogel
Hermione is Beth's sister, a spinster who is infatuated with her boss at the State Department. Her commitment to security drives the later part of the plot, even though she is a minor character.
Charlie Chehab
Charlie introduces Ahmad to the world of radicalism alongside Shaikh Rashid, but Charlie has more direct access, as Ahmad spends hours physically next to him in the delivery truck.
Joryleen Grant
Joryleen is the primary non-family influence in Ahmad's life outside of his Islamic teachers. She attempts to include him in her activities by inviting him to hear a solo of hers at her church, but her stated lack of concern for serious spiritual matters alienates him. Ahmad worries about hurting her; at the same time, he does not want her to distract him.
Shaikh Rashid
Shaikh Rashid is Ahmad's spiritual advisor. From the beginning of the novel, we learn that Ahmad has doubts about Rashid's commitment to the teachings of Islam, but Rashid's increasingly-sinister influence on Ahmad causes him to assume viewpoints far different than the altruistic and pure ones Ahmad turns to Islam for. Rashid is the reason Ahmad becomes trained as a truck driver instead of attending college.
