shireen karim, played by nisha kapur, is the daughter of ashraf and sufia karim (aftab sachak and rani singh). when she moves to walford in 1988, she grows fond of ricky (sid owen). they begin dating for a brief period, until shireen's father finds out and forbids her from seeing ricky. in 1989 shireen in betrothed to jabbar ahmed (gordon warnecke), and although she is at first opposed to the idea of an arranged marriage, the pair soon fall in love. however the marriage is called off by the ahmed family after they find out about ashraf having an extra-marital affair. the women of the karim and ahmed families meet in secret, to discuss the possibility of shireen and jabbar marrying. whether they reunite or not is not revealed, as the karims leave walford shortly after.