Zayn Malik a Muslim and a British pop star

His most newsworthy attribute for some is not his music, but his faith – and whether or not he properly represents it. None of the other members of One Direction have been subjected to the endless media surveillance that follows him. And none of them have been propped up against their own will as a singular representative of an entire global community.

The scrutiny directed at him is about more than just his lifestyle choices — it’s about religion and whether Muslim identity can reconcile with mainstream pop culture. The obsessive discussion around Malik’s religious identity highlights how the media continues to simplify and stereotype Muslim identity. These normative views – predicated by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike – force Malik into a box he never asked to be placed in. Most media seem to only understand him within those constraints, so that anything he does in public, any stance he takes, any music he performs, any beard he decides to grow, will always be portrayed as a direct result of not his personal choices, but his degree of Muslim-ness.

Yet the reality of Malik’s life is starkly different from what his religious identity is stereotyped to be – and this is one reason why despite his critics, he carries such a massive and loyal fanbase of Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Almost 5,000 have signed a petition demanding an apology from Maher. On Twitter, #RespectforZayn became a trending hashtag. This is because Malik’s following keenly understands what polemics on both sides fail to grasp – that there is no dichotomy between being a pop superstar and identifying as a Muslim. You can be someone inspired by beliefs, but not constrained by the limits we impose on religious language, or the jokes we pull out of simplified views of those we choose not to understand. Religious identity is far more nuanced and individualized than anti-Islam critics like Bill Maher like to make it out to be.