Saad Al'Maliki is a Senior (Grade 12) at Degrassi Community School. Brooding and intense, Saad keeps his distance from bubbly, babbling teens in Degrassi's halls. To some, his self-imposed isolation reads as anger, and no one would blame him as he came to Canada and left his childhood home in the Middle East. Truly though, he's just a thoughtful artistic kid trying to find his play in a new country.
He is friends with Maya Matlin, is currently dating Lola Pacini and had conflicts with Zig Novak and Tiny Bell. He was portrayed by Parham Rownaghi.
Character History[]
Degrassi: Next Class[]
Season 3[]
In #BreakTheInternet, Saad first appears when Grace and Zoë welcome him to the Degrassi safe space. He stares at them blankly before walking past them, saying nothing.
In #IWokeUpLikeThis, he is seen leaving Ms. Grell's room. He comes back after he forgets his camera, which Maya is looking through. He tells her it's his and takes it back.
Saad and Maya at the hospital.
In #PicsOrItDidntHappen, he is seen taking a picture of Maya and Grace while they are talking in the hallway. Maya confronts Saad and takes his camera, but becomes fascinated by the disturbing pictures he had taken in Syria. Maya realizes that he shares her newfound interest in tragedy. While Maya and Saad are walking to a school bus, Maya tells him about Cam and Adam, and how she feels that she causes people around her to die. They get on the empty school bus where Saad has Maya pose in a way simulating a crash victim and takes her picture. He later sends her copies of the picture, and she instantly begins to feel a thrill from staging tragic photos. She takes Saad to the hospital to see Tristan and then has him take photos of her lying in the empty hospital bed next to his and pose as a dying patient.
In #Unsubscribe, he is briefly seen with Maya during another one of their gory photoshoots that is interrupted by Grace and Jonah who freak out thinking that Maya is actually hurt. When Grace begins to yell at Maya for taking death as a joke, Saad yells at Grace.
In #IRegretNothing, Maya tells Saad that her mom thinks he's a bad influence on her and that they can't hang out anymore.
In #ImSleep, Maya runs into Saad during the early stages of her overdose. He helps her get into the school and she tells him that she always thought he was a good guy despite not being allowed to see him again.
Season 4[]
In #Preach, Saad is slightly uncomfortable about the school's Solidarity for Belgium meeting, but he attends because his sister gets him to. There, he meets Hunter and Vijay. They offer him a solidarity shirt but he refuses and storms out, leading them to think he sides with the terrorists. He then sees Lola in class and sits next to her, acknowledging she could still think he took the tip money. Suddenly she's called to present but forgot her notes. Saad offers his to her and she blushes at him as she gives her presentation. He gets ostracized online for his beliefs during the day. Later, Lola goes to his house to thank him for his notes. Lola tells him that she feels bad for firing him, knows that he didn't steal the money, and re-offers him the job and he accepts. He tells Lola that he can't support one cause and not another because it happened to him but no one cared. He explains no one cared because the attack didn't happen in Paris or Belgium or America. Lola shares a story about her dad and they bond. She encourages him to share his story. After the students misunderstand Saad during his speech, Lola runs after him and Saad tells her she was wrong. He ends the day upset in his room.
In #GetYouAManThatCanDoBoth, Lola sees that Saad's locker was vandalized and feels bad for him. Lola then asks Saad to be partners for their presentation and he happily accepts. After their presentation, they are happy and Frankie suspects that they like each other. Saad tells her that he is upset that he doesn't have social media, but she reassures him and says they can be friends. Lola then asks to volunteer at prom with him and Saad accepts. Saad then tells her that he was talking to someone who may have been a terrorist and offered him a flight back to Syria. Saad fears that he may come to attack him and Lola helps him by clearing his browser history.
In #Obsessed, Lola is seen straightening Saad's uniform for prom volunteering and she asks if he knows anything about pansexuality and he says "They don't have that in Syria." Then, there is a bomb threat at the school and Yael suspects that it is Saad's friend. When Yael tries to report it to the police, Lola tries to get Saad away from the scene and the police take him for questioning. Lola tries to convince him that he didn't do anything but fails to convince him.
In #KThxBye, Lola takes Yael to apologize to Saad for reporting him to the police after it was proven that he wasn't the suspect. Lola then invites him to the party at the Hollingsworth's house and he rejects. He is angry with Lola and Yael and wants them to leave. He then tells them that he is going to stay with a relative in Montreal after the incident because there is no one here for him. Lola then kisses him and Saad seems pleased with it and accepts the invite to the party.
Trivia[]
- He is one of the several students who were born outside of Toronto.
- He, his sister and Rasha are from Syria.
- Yick is from Vietnam.
- Wheels was most likely born near Port Hope, ON.
- Lucy is from New York, NY.
- Liz was most likely born in Lynden, ON
- Patrick is from Dublin, Ireland.
- Manny was born in Manila, the Philippines
- Hazel was born in Mogadishu, Somalia.
- Jenna was born in Calgary, AB.
- Fiona and Declan were born in Tokyo, Japan to American expatriates.
- Dallas is from Guelph, ON.
- Cam is from Kapuskasing, ON.
- Becky and Luke are from somewhere in Florida.
- He is the fourth main character that is a refugee. The others are Yick Yu, Hazel Aden, Rasha Zuabi, and his sister, Abra Al'Maliki.
- Saad is one of eleven regular characters that didn't say anything in their first appearances. The other ten were Spike, Marco, Anya, Bruce, Connor, Riley, Cam, Luke, Shay, and Esme,
- Saad was going to be a male lead protagonist in the planned fifth and sixth seasons of Degrassi: Next Class.
- He was the second person to suckerpunch Zig in his face and give him a black eye. The first was Campbell Saunders.
- Coincidentally both fights with Zig arose over a situation with Maya.
Relationships[]
- Main article: Saad-Lola Relationship
- Lola Pacini
- Start Up: #KThxBye (DNC 410)
Interactions[]
| Friendships | Relationships | Conflicts | Attractions | Love Triangles | Siblings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saad-Maya Friendship | Saad-Lola Relationship | Zig-Saad Conflict | Saad-Abra (Siblings) |
| v - e - d |
|---|
|
Baaz • Esme • Frankie • Goldi • Grace • Hunter • Jonah • Lola • Maya • Miles • Rasha • Saad • Shay • Snake • Tiny • Tristan • Vijay • Winston • Yael • Zig • Zoë |