But Isn’t Islam a Restrictive Religion?
I was asked recently, “But isn’t Islam such a restrictive religion? Why do you want to restrict yourself so much?”
In the past, when I lived with less restrictions, I felt like I was treading water, much like someone stuck in the ocean without a lifeboat. Sure, I was free to swim in as much of the ocean as I liked. But without the safety of the boat’s guardrails and floaties, I was always at risk of drowning. I felt like I was expending a tremendous amount of energy just to keep afloat, just to deal with the constant drama and tribulations that I brought into my own life with my own precarious behavior.
Now, with a set of personal and moral boundaries inspired by the Quran, the simplicity of my current life has actually created much more freedom than I could ever dream of in the past.
So what are these restrictions and how have they helped me?
First of all, Islam is not a big list of do’s and don’ts like some people may believe. A vast majority of the Quran (God’s revelation) simply deals with describing the oneness of God. In fact, there is language in the Quran chastising the Christians and the Jews for adding too many rules and making the faith onerous and complicated. (Unfortunately, many Muslims today have followed that trajectory). For instance, the second chapter of the Quran tells the story…
