Zayn Malik reveals he is no longer a practicing Muslim

16 November 2018, 12:50

By Jazmin Duribe

@jazminduribe

He now falls under "spiritual".

Zayn Malik has revealed he no longer considers himself a Muslim. The former One Direction singer previously identified as a non-practising Muslim and was raised by Muslim parents. His mother Trisha – who is of Irish descent – converted to Islam when she married his British-Pakistani father, Yaser.

Zayn spoke about his religious practices in an interview with British Vogue. The 'Pillowtalk' singer declared that he no longer follows any particular religion. "I believe whatever people's religious beliefs are is between them and whoever or whatever they're practising," he explained. "For me, I have a spiritual belief of there is a god. Do I believe there's a hell? No."

Zayn was worried about opening up about his shift in belief incase it became "a religious fucking debacle of philosophers."

He added: "I just want to keep it between me and whatever I believe. I feel like that makes me move through life in a nice way. 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. I don’t believe any of it. I just believe if you’re a good person everything is going to go right for you.” 

Zayn said it was "really easy" to break the news to his parents. He continued: "With my mum and dad, they were always there to educate us – I did go to mosque, I did study Islam – but they gave us the option so you could choose for yourself."

Sadly, some of his fans weren't so understanding of his decision.

Ultimately, religion is very personal. It's Zayn's life and his choice. And most people understood that.

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