Character Analysis
Hassan is Colin's one and only friend, and the only person willing to be straight with Colin when his factoids are annoying and not the least bit interesting. If you thought Colin was a weirdo in the book, imagine how much worse he'd be without Hassan in his life—even he credits his friend with helping him manage a normal (albeit slightly awkward) conversation.
Slacker Central
Hassan may be Colin's only hope at being normal, but he's got some issues of his own. We know Hassan aced AP Calculus and got into Loyola University in Chicago—neither of which is easy to do unless you're smart—but compared to Colin, Hassan comes off as a slacker. He took a year off before heading to college, and is still putting it off when enrollment time comes around.
Hassan puts it this way: he's "a not-doer" who is "good at not-doing things" (18.58). All righty then, that about sums it up. It's not that Hassan is dumb or doesn't want a future—it's just that he doesn't have much motivation to get out and do anything. He's just not that kind of guy. Of course, it makes for a hilarious contrast with Colin, who is constantly working, even when he should be relaxing.
Religious Rebel
One thing Hassan knows how to do is practice his faith, and point out that he's Muslim right when he meets people. For all Hassan's talk of what is and isn't haram—or sinful according to Islam—even he breaks the rules once in a while… like when he drinks or kisses Katrina. Colin points out to Hassan that he's not supposed to do that, but Hassan doesn't seem to care all that much.
His come back is simple really:
Yeah, but the haram s*** I do is, like, having a dog. It's not like smoking crack or talking behind people's backs or stealing or lying to my mom or fugging girls. (9.42)
Shmoop thinks he's saying that there's a scale when it comes to haram, that just like in every religion there are rules, but so long as you don't break the big ones, it's all good.
Even so, Colin thinks this is a cop-out.
Summer Lovin'
Hassan might not be okay with lying to his mom, but he sure doesn't mind breaking haram when it comes to Katrina. In a fateful game of kiss the bottle, the bottle "stopped right in front of Katrina, and she said, 'Lucky me,' and she wasn't even being sarcastic" (13.11). Hassan can't believe his luck, so he goes with it and makes out with her.
It's clear that Hassan likes his newfound hobby of hanging out with Katrina, but his approach to the ladies is not as serious as we might think. When he catches his GF and TOC with their pants down, he doesn't seem to care. Sure, he breaks it off with Katrina on the spot (as you generally do in that situation), but he laughs about it too.
His fling with Katrina is just that—a fling. He doesn't care much more about her, and Shmoop thinks Colin could learn a thing or two from Hassan about keeping relationships in perspective.
Hassan's Timeline