List of East Enders Characters (2008) - Jalil Iqbal

Jalil Iqbal, played by Jan Uddin, is a friend of the Masood family who appears between 17 and 28 March 2008. Jalil was described as a "hunk" and it was said that he and Shabnam Masood (Zahra Ahmadi) would embark on "an affair of the heart".

Family matriarch Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia) invites Jalil to stay with the family and work in their post office for a while, trying to set him up with her daughter, Shabnam. Shabnam is initially against this, as she remembers Jalil as a "geek" from her childhood, though when she sees him, she is attracted to him. Zainab sets them up with a romantic meal, listening in on their conversation using a baby monitor. Shabnam discovers that Jalil has a girlfriend, though Zainab sees a picture of her and says she is ugly and that her make-up looks like it has been done by Edward Scissorhands. Shabnam later bumps into Jalil on a night out in R&R nightclub, where they flirt. Jalil and Shabnam later share a kiss, but during a conversation with the Masood family, he says that he thinks modern Muslim women like Shabnam provide "great entertainment" but are not marriage material. Zainab is offended by this and sends him away.