# Why is kite flying un-Islamic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2001, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379 "2001-07-13T16:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/1 "2001-07-13T16:01:07Z")
Re this story “Even kite flying and laughing in public are censured.” > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/2 "2001-07-13T17:07:39Z")
Uh, because it’s fun? Kite flying is seen as frivolous. Also banned: marbles, chess, and soccer. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/3 "2001-07-13T18:03:20Z")
Reminds me of “Footloose”, the immortal movie starring Kevin Bacon, where the preacher forbids dancing. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/4 "2001-07-13T21:41:46Z")
The answer is on that page - sort of. Go down to the section titled “THE GOVERNMENT’S IRON FIST”. Below that is a graphic titled “Taliban Taboos”. Click on the word “Entertainment” in that graphic and text appears which includes the following sentence: > [@](#): > > Music, except for religious chants, is prohibited in shops, hotels and vehicles, and at weddings and parties. **Kite flying is considered “useless” and an obstacle to education.** Hobbies like keeping pigeons also are forbidden. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/5 "2001-07-13T22:12:42Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/6 "2001-07-13T22:53:46Z")
- - - Under Taliban rule, the only allowed entertainment is executing infidels. - MC ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/7 "2001-07-14T01:45:27Z")
Now we know a little something about the kite-eating tree that bedeviled Charlie Brown – it was a member of the Taliban. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/8 "2001-07-14T02:18:23Z")
You guys, what the Taliban do is not Islam. Ask any Muslim, they’ve been trying to say for years that the Taliban don’t represent Islam and their atrocious behavior has nothing to do with Islam. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/9 "2001-07-14T02:46:05Z")
I think Jomo Mojo’s statements are a bit too sweeping. > [@](#): > > You guys, what the Taliban do is not Islam. It’s certainly a _form_ of Islam. It’s not all of Islam, but then, neither are the forms of Islam practiced by more moderate Muslims. > [@](#): > > Ask any Muslim… Well, if you ask those Muslims who support the Taliban, you’ll likely get different answers than if you ask those Muslims who don’t support the Taliban. > [@](#): > > …the Taliban don’t represent Islam… No one person or group “represents Islam”; Islam is not a monolithic group, nor is it an organized corporate body (unlike, say, the Catholic Church, where the Pope may be fairly said to “represent Catholicism”, even though many people who consider themselves Catholics disagree with the Vatican hierarchy about various issues). > [@](#): > > …and their atrocious behavior has nothing to do with Islam. Well, it has _something_ to do with Islam. It certainly has something to do with the form of Islam practiced by the Taliban. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/10 "2001-07-14T03:04:48Z")
Nitpicking. The main point is that the Taliban’s version of Islam is widely denounced throughout the Muslim world as a distortion of the religion, a departure from the consensus of Islamic procedures. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/11 "2001-07-14T03:06:51Z")
Also, **Jomo,** until your post, no one had used the words “Islam” or “Muslim.” I think most people here are pretty well aware that the Taliban no more represents Islam than Jack Chick represents Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/12 "2001-07-14T03:08:01Z")
Except, of course, in the title of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/13 "2001-07-14T03:48:33Z")
Exactly, the thread’s title is what prompted my response. Hey, **Miller** , the Jack Chick analogy is a pretty good one! ---
**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/14 "2001-07-15T08:23:05Z")
Kite-flying is quite the tradition in Muslim areas of Malaysia… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/15 "2001-07-15T13:57:55Z")
Is Malaysian kite-flying a _Muslim_ tradition, or a “pagan” hold-over? ---
**Author:** ![regnad\_kcin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@regnad\_kcin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regnad_kcin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/16 "2001-07-15T14:34:32Z")
Chess, as you all surely know, was in fact INVENTED in a Muslim country, namely Iran. The words “check” and “Shah” have common origins. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/17 "2001-07-15T21:46:11Z")
Chess was invented in **India** , and Iran adopted it later. The Persian name for chess is _shatranj_, which comes from the original Sanskrit name of the game, _caturanga_ ‘four limbs’, i.e. four divisions of the army: elephants (bishops), cavalry (knights), chariots (rooks), and infantry (pawns). Why Iran is significant to chess is that the Persians spread it to the Arabs and the Russians; from the Middle East it spread to western Europe. Europeans picked it up as a Muslim game and then adapted it to European rules (which are now played everywhere AFAIK). ---
**Author:** ![regnad\_kcin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@regnad\_kcin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regnad_kcin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/18 "2001-07-15T22:11:10Z")
Well gol durn heck. I guess, as usual, I have no idea what I was talking about. I took a leap of faith based on linguistic origin. Excuse me. ---
**Author:** ![Mammie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@Mammie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mammie)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/19 "2001-07-15T23:54:12Z")
There’s lots of kite flying in Pakistan and it’s an Islamic country. In fact it’s a major source of fun there because it’s cheap and almost anyone can make a kite. It’s very competative too. They tie pieces of broken glass and razors to the strings to try and cut the other kite flier’s strings. ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kite-flying-un-islamic/72379/20 "2001-07-16T00:28:48Z")
The Taliban have also banned the internet, television, cinema, and recorded music. But they don’t seem to have any qualms over the use of modern automatic weapons or military vehicles. Is that a contradiction? Or am I just confusing them with the Amish a bit… Slight Hijack A few years ago, I remember seing a McDonald’s commercial which featured “Black History Facts”. They claimed that Chess was invented in Africa (well Ancient Egypt, who’s “blackness” is a separate debate). I laughed out loud thinking “everybody knows chess was Persian!..Checkmate is from _Shah mat_, the King is Dead”. Later on I was told it was Chinese. And then Indian. And perhaps Sumerian. Could it be possible that many, if not all, cultures could have independently devised a game of strategy that is akin to chess? And could several cultures have independently figured out that a piece of cloth on a string could fly around a bit? Somewhat as the “rock paper scissors” debate indicates that different people, when bored, can come up with the same crap to keep occupied… [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrockpaper.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrockpaper.html)