In 2025, the line between right and wrong often looks blurred. What Allah has made halal—marriage, honest earnings, modesty, and a life of worship—is dismissed as old-fashioned or even “extremist.” Meanwhile, what is haram is marketed, normalized, and celebrated as freedom and self-expression. The result? Hearts grow desensitized, and guidance gets rebranded as extremism.

The Normalization of Haram

• Entertainment: Shameless content dominates screens and feeds. Refusing it makes you “strange.”
• Finance: Interest and exploitation are standard; questioning them is called naïve or “anti-progress.”
• Relationships: Haram relationships are glamorized, while the halal framework of marriage is portrayed as restrictive.
• Daily habits: Gossip, immodesty, and neglect of salah feel ordinary; avoiding them requires counter-cultural resolve.

When Halal Is Framed as “Extremism”

• A man lowering his gaze is called “too strict.”
• A woman observing hijab/niqab is labeled “oppressed.”
• A family avoiding interest is seen as impractical.
• A youth refusing haram entertainment is mocked as “boring.”

This inversion is the test of our time: disobedience blends in; obedience stands out.

A Prophetic Reality

بَدَأَ الإِسْلَامُ غَرِيبًا، وَسَيَعُودُ كَمَا بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا، فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ

“Islam began as something strange and will return to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers.”
— Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, also narrated in Sunan Ibn Mājah 3986

Being “strange” today means holding onto halal in a world that glamorizes haram. It’s not extremism—it’s steadfastness.

What to Do in 2025: A Short Playbook

1. Clarify your compass: Learn the rulings of halal and haram from reliable sources and teachers.
2. Audit your inputs: Curate your media, money, and social circle. What goes in shapes what comes out.
3. Build daily anchors: Guard the five prayers, make dhikr, and schedule Qur’an time like a non-negotiable meeting.
4. Choose halal pathways: In work, finance, and relationships, prefer the permissible even when it costs more upfront.
5. Normalize modesty: Modesty in dress, speech, and lifestyle is dignity—not extremism.

Conclusion

Halal is not extremism; haram is not freedom. The labels have been flipped, but the truth hasn’t changed. In an age that rewards conformity to sin, choose the courage to be “strange” for Allah’s sake—and receive the glad tidings promised by the Messenger ﷺ.