I grew up in a very conservative Islamic environment. I left religion 10 years earlier. These are the things forbidden by Islam
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For both sexes
- Music with instruments.
- Un-Islamic decor (images)
- Toys (anything that resembles a living thing)
- Drawing and art for anything that resembles a human.
- Eating pork and monkeys (because they are related to Jews)
- Drinking alcohol
- Gambling
- Adoption in any form
- Playing dice or anything else that depends on luck, because it goes against the fate ordained by Allah.
- Playing a game where you can win a cash prize.
- Interest on debt (only interest-free is allowed)
- Reading and writing everything that falls outside the scope of Islam (no high fantasy where, for example, one prays to gods other than Allah)
- Poetry.
- Having pets other than cats. (This is because one of Muhammad’s friends had cats, he was called Abu Hurayra, the father of the kittens)
- Dancing.
- Non-Islamic culture (wearing jeans and t-shirts; casual clothing)
- Counterculture/subculture (punk, metal, gothic, etc.)
- Tattoos
- Eating or washing with your left hand.
- Imitating non-Muslims (plucking eyebrows and making yourself ‘more beautiful’)
- Working with non-Muslims in restaurants, casinos, temples, banks, courts, bars and music venues.
- Befriending non-Muslims and calling them “brothers” and “sisters”. All dealings with non-Muslims should be professional only.
- Relationships before marriage.
- Becoming friends with the opposite sex.
- Gender equality
- Talking to people of the opposite sex before marriage.
- Showing affection in public.
- Staring or looking directly at the opposite sex.
- Masturbate
- Don’t pray five times a day.
- Not washing oneself (Wu’Du) before praying or reading the Qur’an
- Homosexuality, or talking to people who are homosexual.
- Leaving the religion, or talking to people who have left the religion.
- Talking to people outside the Abrahamic religions
- Marrying a slave you own.
- Marrying your stepsister/brother if he/she is breastfeeding the same mother. If he/she hasn’t, it’s okay to marry your stepsister/brother.
- Slaughtering an animal without saying ‘Bismillah’
- Anesthetize the animal before cutting the throat
- Eating said animal (non-halal food)
For men
- (Men) Wear gold jewelry
- (Men’s) piercings
- (Men) Marrying more than four wives
- (Men) Marrying your biological mother, your grandmother, your daughter and your granddaughter. (Everyone is okay, EX Marrying your cousin, your stepmother after your father dies, your mother-in-law and your great-granddaughter is okay)
- (Men) Wear shorts that leave the knees exposed.
- (Men) Shaving body hair
- (Men) Wear perfume (they use something called Oud/Agarwood, it’s incense)
- (Men) Shave beard shorter than 1/2 cm.
- (Men) Have a long mustache.
For women
- (Women) Showing hair or skin in public.
- (Women) Talk louder than a man.
- (Women) Talking to a man other than your husband.
- (Women) Refuse sex if her husband asks for it.
- (Women) Going outside without her husband’s permission.
- (Women) Wearing jewelry in public.
- (Women) Wearing makeup in public.
- (Women) Wearing perfume in public.
- (Women) Arguing with your husband.
- (Women) Arguing with your husband’s other wives.
- (Women) Refusing to marry a man if you are not a widow or ex-wife.
- (Women) Marrying a man other than the husband.
- (Women) Marrying a man 6 months after breaking up with an ex-husband.
- (Women) Divorce a man. (Only he is the one who gets to do that)
- (Women) Accusing a man of rape without there being 4 male witnesses or 8 female witnesses to the actual rape.
- (Women) Marrying a non-Muslim man
- (Women) Having body hair and imitating men
- (Women) Raising her hand against her husband — even if he knocks her unconscious —
- (Women) Making arrangements for the wedding.
- (Women) Praying with men.
- (Women) To be in the company of other men.
- (Women) Sitting in the living room with her husband and his friends.
- (Women) Eating with the man and his friends.
- (Women) Refusing to cook food.
- (Women) Working outdoors without supervision.
- (Women) Working outdoors in the company of other men.
- (Women) Leave the room without permission.
- (Women) Ask critical questions to the husband.
- (Women) Becoming the “lady of the house” after her husband dies
- (Women) Becoming a father figure to a fatherless son (he becomes like her husband, he makes the rules)
- Befriending a Kafir is Haram.
- Contradicting the Islamic scriptures is haram, even if it is scientifically proven.
- Telling a Kafir the secrets of Islam. Lying to promote Islam is Halal.
- Taking slaves is Halal.
- Beating your wife is halal.
- Killing a Kafir is Halal.
- Raping a kafir sex slave is halal.
- Becoming an apostate can be life-threatening
- Things that are forbidden in Islam, without any basis.
(Tirmidation) 🤬
Growing up in a Muslim family, we have all been exposed to the statements “don’t do this, don’t do that, do this and do that” when it comes to normal behavior. This is my personal, non-exhaustive list that I still hear from my parents about what to do and what not to do for Islamic reasons.- Don’t play loud music in the house. Or even music at a low volume should not be played.
- Don’t sing in the house. Sing only when it is ghazal or naat.
- However, you can read the Quran aloud to a sleeping person.
- Don’t drink water while standing. (They say this is scientifically based.)
- Don’t watch movies especially on Fridays.
- Do not walk through the house without a headscarf or other head covering. (I feel uncomfortable and very hot when I wear a dupatta of any kind, but I have been criticized for not wearing a dupatta in front of my father and brother.)
- No interactions with male friends. Certainly not if they are Hindu. (If I even mention a guy in our friend group, I’m questioned about his entire history. I mean, caution and protectiveness are understandable, but don’t go so far as to stop interactions altogether)
- Do not eat without a head covering. (This is something I will never understand, only women are told to cover their heads in every situation.)
- If you have some other work, tell your brother or father to do it. (I admit that this is something even my mother condemns. She lets me do all my work myself, but my father doesn’t like me being even remotely independent.)
- Not allowed on the terrace alone. Not allowed to walk at all. (I like to get some fresh air every now and then, but I am not allowed to go to the terrace of our apartment itself.)
- DO NOT show your face when you are outside. I wear a burqa, I should wear a niqab all the time. I’m at a point where wearing a niqab is uncomfortable, not wearing one is also uncomfortable because of the stares I get.
- Trying to reason against Islamic rules. Sometimes I express my thoughts randomly in front of my family, one time I did that regarding a hadith about the value of an atom of good and an atom of bad and I tried to relate it to the statistics of gender differences in crime and said something against the hadith about the majority of women in hell. All of that gave me another lecture about not questioning these rules because there is divine knowledge behind them.
- Wearing makeup. My mom likes me to wear light makeup for events and doesn’t stop me from getting ready. But not my father. Certainly not to university.
- Taking off my burqa at a college event. I don’t go to an Islamic college so it had a traditional day and other events. I had to beg to attend just one event. And I begged even more to take off my burqa.
- Take photos. This is the most ridiculous rule. I loved taking pictures and selfies when I was on Snapchat, but I did it rarely and secretly. Because my mother doesn’t like it when I just take selfies.
- Looking in the mirror for too long. I mean, I’m not self-obsessed, I don’t look in the mirror much, but my brother does, he likes his own appearance. Good for him, but I heard my mother lecture him about it twice in a few days. Saying that he becomes arrogant when he looks in the mirror.
- Menstruation is a taboo. Talking about it is more than a taboo.
- Wearing T-shirts, even in the house, is prohibited. The only T-shirts I have are the really long ones that I don’t really like. But I can’t buy and wear a top that goes above the bottom, even if it’s completely covered.
- Men who sit or sleep in or around the house. (no comfort, not even in the place that should be comfortable.)
- The skin of my legs should not be seen. My personal clothing should not be seen. My hygiene items should not be seen. Again, I’m talking about in my house, like, my brother and father are made taboo. lol.
- Even touching my brother is forbidden. I can’t even put an arm around his shoulder.
- I could go on and on about how this organized religion and its rule is being shoved down my throat. I should probably put this in a rant.