Has anyone had a relationship with a Muslim man? I would like to know what the typical young Muslim man’s attitude to having a girlfriend would be.
I know everyone is an individual, but in Taiwan, for example, there is a certain rage of behavior that is considered normal for a Taiwanese woman who has a foreign boyfriend, and most women will act in fairly predictable ways. I’m guessing the average young Muslim man in a relationship would also be fairly predictable. I just don’t know what to expect. Does anyone out there have any advice or experience in such matters? Thanks.
Technically, Muslims cannot date. When I went out with my male friend, we had to be chaperoned by someone older, usually his brother, even to go to the mosque.
Two unmarried people alone is a big no-no. The two are never alone together until their marriage. It’s haram, a sin.
Yet should a young Muslim male come to Taiwan, it’s likely he would behave more freely. Perhaps nobody, even the girl’s family, would know him as different from any other foreigner.
I have met a Taiwanese girl who married a muslim man, who lives in Egypt, and visits her 4 times a year. She is a successful businesswoman here and they have a girl.
Normal, you might think, apart from the fact that it’s legal for him to have 4 wives, and the bloke has another one in Egypt…
I don’t know if the marriage is legally registered here.
if that was my daughter that man would be in deep trouble with me.
What kind of Muslims are you people talking about? The biggest Muslim majority in Taiwan are Indonesians and from hanging out from time to time in that community, none of those rules apply. Every Sunday in Tainan they have a big party in a disco where they drink beer, dance, and squeeze onto their honeys in public. I suppose technically an ex-girlfriend of mine was a Muslim but you’d never know it, except that once it came up in a conversation and I joked about if she wanted to go eat some hot dogs.
Do you mean the Pakistanis I saw prowling around Hong Kong sleazily putting the moves on fellow guestworkers in the parks on Sundays? Huh, I guess someone should have clued in those Filipinas I talked to who complained about all the Pakistani men harassing them in the streets, that the next time one of those Muslim men invited her back to a short-time hotel, she should say, “But it’s haram!” I have a friend who moved to Paris and she said that she couldn’t stand it because every day she’d get harassed by Muslim men in the streets.
Where are these “typical” young Muslim men who can’t date? Maybe in their home countries they have to pretend to obey the social customs, but once they’re in a foreign land, to them it’s party time. And I can’t blame them.
Another issue to be concerned about is, what happens if the relationship is successful. There are many, many ex-wives of Saudi Arabian men who haven’t seen their children in years, because after a breakup the men took the kids and flew back to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has zero respect for international conventions on child custody and kidnapping; children are the “property” of the husband – literally, in the case of daughters. Tales of teenage daughters being forced into marriage to block them from ever leaving are another common tactic.
Modern Love is ok, but my favorite song off Let’s Dance is China Girl. David Bowie rocks!
Do one-night-stands count?
I used tot live with a guy from Moroco. He was a hardcore muslim before he moved t oRussia to study. Then he married an American girl and has been living a good life since then.
He would have a beer or 12, chase the local Russian girls and fornicate once a month. Wouldn’t eat bacon though. I figured if you
'd break 2 of the major rules why not let the last one slip.
Good enough guy. worked hard and was honest about his lifestyle. His firned on the other hand. Was from Pakistan. Much more devout. His boss sent him two hookers one night and he still managed not to touch them. (He didn’t know they were hookers by the way). But at the same time he was running a black market currency exchange out of his flat.
Nothing wrong with that I guess.
Ski
Islam embraces people from vastly different cultures–forms of Islam prevailing within Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia, Russian Tatarstan, and the Nation of Islam are all different from one another. And then you have many different types of people within each culture. If you’re serious about this guy you’d better take a good long time to get to know him, and if possible his family and friends.
Dating is like drinking–a rule largely honored in the breach. There are actually a lot of different sexual arrangements which are legally possible within Islam. As for marriage, it’s fine as long as you’re Christian or Jewish.
Good luck!
I used to be married to one of those.
I used to be married to one of those.[/quote]
A hot dog? Was it kosher?
[quote=“mod lang”]What kind of Muslims are you people talking about? The biggest Muslim majority in Taiwan are Indonesians and from hanging out from time to time in that community, none of those rules apply. Every Sunday in Tainan they have a big party in a disco where they drink beer, dance, and squeeze onto their honeys in public. I suppose technically an ex-girlfriend of mine was a Muslim but you’d never know it, except that once it came up in a conversation and I joked about if she wanted to go eat some hot dogs.
Do you mean the Pakistanis I saw prowling around Hong Kong sleazily putting the moves on fellow guestworkers in the parks on Sundays? Huh, I guess someone should have clued in those Filipinas I talked to who complained about all the Pakistani men harassing them in the streets, that the next time one of those Muslim men invited her back to a short-time hotel, she should say, “But it’s haram!” I have a friend who moved to Paris and she said that she couldn’t stand it because every day she’d get harassed by Muslim men in the streets.
Where are these “typical” young Muslim men who can’t date? Maybe in their home countries they have to pretend to obey the social customs, but once they’re in a foreign land, to them it’s party time. And I can’t blame them.[/quote]
Actually my friend was Yemenese, the first in his family to be born in the US. He was fairly obedient to his faith and did the call to prayer for the mosque (he had an amazing voice). There are lots of examples of so-called Muslims who do not adhere strictly to Islamic rules and beliefs (see Osama Bin Laden) just as any major religion, e.g. Christianity, but as fyi, Muslims are not supposed to date, especially in the sense we think of dating. I cannot nor will not explain the behaviors of all people who call themselves Muslim unless you are willing to justify the actions of all people who claim to be Christians. 
I used to be married to one of those.[/quote]
A hot dog??[/quote]
She was hot but never bitchy.
Halal
Went out briefly with a Muslim girl a few years back and always remember having a HUGE English breakfast before her visit to get rid of all that pork. She had no problems with the verb though. 
One time, we gave our syrian muslim friend (at a secret santa party of all things) some pork rinds as a joke. he ate them. the other gift was alcohol.
he’s stopped all that sinning now that he’s married. haha.
You may for dinner eat your pork and beans
I eat more satays, than a mans ever seen
I’m a back door man
The men don’t know
But the girls in Indonesia understand
Having lived in a predominantly Muslim country for years (Malaysia that is) I can tell you that the men there (I am not going into the girls since that would take us too far off-topic 
) are like any other man. Of course there are a lot who obey to their rules, but often they don’t or at least bend them. Also the rules depend on their country of origin, some countries are stricter, some less etc.
But once they are let out (read: in a non-Muslim country) many act like any other man - been on a few business trips to Bangkok with (male) Muslim colleagues and well … fill in the blanks yourself.
Does anybody actually take genuine “business” trips to Bangkok, or is that an urban myth?
Ours were genuine (company HQ and training center were located there some years back) but then we had ample time for any kind of extra-curricular activities. 
