No licking!
LOL, that’s funny. They’re definitely making an excuse to eat pork.
The Muslims I know are pretty strict about following the commandments. Of course nobody’s perfect, but they pray 5 times per day, take their prayer rug to work, and follow their dietary restrictions. Of course I’m not around them all the time though, that’s just what I’ve seen.
The person who is the most serious about it that I know isn’t Arabic or Persian. He’s an African American living in the American South, and he’s very serious about his religion. The Muslims I know that seem the most relaxed about it are immigrants from Iran. Several of their first generation American kids are atheists.
I live in Malaysia, and Islam is the dominant religion here. Yet every store has a “haram corner” where they sell alcohol and pork, and some smaller supermarkets are even completely non-halal by default.
And while I haven’t seen a muslim eating pork, I had a few beers with some on several occasions. And I haven’t seen or heard anyone praying, with the exception for Malacca city, which is apparently a bit of a stricter area.
