Pop Star Reveals He's Leaving Islam: 'I Don’t Believe Any of It'
Superstar Zayn Malik, former member of the pop band One Direction, said recently that he no longer considers himself to be Muslim.
The 25-year-old teen icon was raised in England by Muslim parents of Irish and Pakistani descent.
He attended a mosque and studied Islam as a child, but says he no longer follows the religion because he doesn’t believe in its theology.
In an interview with Vogue published last week, the author wrote that Malik “is routinely touted as Britain’s most famous Muslim.”
However, when asked about whether he considered himself religious, Malik answered, “To be honest, I’ve never spoken publicly about what my religious beliefs are. I’m not professed to be a Muslim.”
He added that he wouldn’t call himself a Muslim.
“I believe whatever people’s religious beliefs are is between them and whoever or whatever they’re practicing,” he said.
“For me, I have a spiritual belief of there is a God. Do I believe there’s a hell? No.”
He said it was “really easy” to drop his religion without his family interfering, saying that his parents “gave us the option so you could choose for yourself” when it came to religious beliefs.
After leaving the Islamic faith, he appears to have adopted an irreligious philosophy.
“If I behave well, I will get treated well. That’s it. I don’t believe you need to eat a certain meat that’s been prayed over a certain way, I don’t believe you need to read a prayer in a certain language five times a day,” he said.
“I don’t believe any of it. I just believe if you’re a good person everything is going to go right for you,” he continued.
He didn’t go into what exactly being a “good person” entails, especially in light of seeming to only follow a personally created belief system. For many Christians, of course, accepting the divinity of Christ is integral to leading a “good” life.
Malik also didn’t seem to harbor hard feelings towards Islam, saying, “There’s definitely beautiful parts to every religion,” and that he was glad to have grown up building his life around Islamic teachings.
That said, his years in the public eye didn’t necessarily speak to the heavily tattooed celebrity strictly following the religion when it came to his rock and roll lifestyle. (In fact, the Vogue interview begins with an allusion to Malik’s heavy marijuana use.)
However, in a world eager to define him as a young Muslim role model, he deserves some acknowledgment for openly speaking about his leaving the religion.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
