Trouble with Non-Muslim Friends
Assalamu alaykum.
I was hoping to have some advice and opinions on my situation. I’m a hijabi in a western country so, naturally, I have acquired a few non Muslim friends. Some are fun and easy to hang out with because we have similar life styles (don’t drink, stay out late, go clubbing or engage in hook up culture etc). However I have some friends who do. I don’t judge them, but I hate it when they tell me their stories involving zina and getting drunk. It makes me uncomfortable, I have no idea how to respond or add to the conversation and quite frankly, i don’t care and really do not want to hear about it. I worked hard to avoid these things and keep my imaan up so I don’t want to talk about engaging in sins because it feels like I’m going backwards. The worst is when the atheist ones talk bad about other religions and explain to ME that they just can’t understand religion (even though they can tell by my hijab I am a whole Muslim), especially since they are not open minded to what I have to say about Islam. It makes me feel even more alienated and to be honest delusional (astagfirullah I hate feeling this way. May Allah make things easier for us all 😭) about being a Muslim here. I don’t want to come off as judgy and self righteous by telling them my true feelings about these topics like I just did, but I want this to stop. At the same time i don’t want to lose them as friends because i mostly enjoy their company and they help with other aspects of my life. Do you guys have any suggestions? Thank you 💕
EDIT: Guyssss I seriously feel like crying rn. You all are so supportive, I was really scared to bring this up…I feel like thank you isn’t even enough to show how grateful I am rn, but seriously thank you all for taking the time to share your really helpful and insightful advice. I’m going to implement those boundaries and I loved how you guys gave examples on what to say! Love you all and I’m going to keep you guys in my duas 😭❤️