Saturday 19 October 2019

What should NOT pack for Maldives




I guess my previous article about Must pack list for Maldives wouldn’t be complete unless I tell what should not pack for Maldives.
According to history, Maldives embraced Islam in 1153 AD, since then Maldives is a 100% Sunni Muslim country. There are different versions of folklore associated with this historical event and I will share you the most famous one.
It was believed that Maldivians were haunted then by a fierce demon called “Rannamaari” who came out of the sea once a month and threatened the islanders to destroy the island and its people unless they sacrificed a beautiful local girl. This unfortunate girl was chosen by a lot and she has to stay in a temple near the beach to be raped and killed.
During these times a Moroccan traveller, an Islamic scholar, Abul Barakaath Yoosuf Al Barbary visited the Maldives and the daughter of the house where he was staying was selected to be the girl to present in the temple on that month. The entire family along with the rest of the islanders were sad as usual, so he volunteered to save the girl and dressed just like her and spent the night in the temple reciting Holy Quran. In the morning as usual the islanders gathered to the temple to see the fate of the girl were amazed to see him live and continuously reciting Holy Quran. The people along with the then king accepted then and there, the demon was defeated by the power of Holy Quran, therefore he embrace Islam and ordered all to follow the principles of Islam.
Since then Maldives remains as a Muslim country where certain things are illegal or prohibited to import. In this article I will highlight the main items which you should not pack for Maldives
LIQUOR AND ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS
Please do not purchase any liquor or alcoholic products on your flight or duty free shops while en route to the Maldives. Your items definitely will be confiscated upon arrival by custom staff. Though you can’t import it, you will get branded alcoholic beverages and international cocktails in your resorts.
PORK
Eating pork in Islam is forbidden and therefore pork too remains as an illegal product to import to Maldives. However just like liquor you will get pork and its by-products in your resorts as much as you want.
FIREARMS/EXPLOSIVES/WEAPONS/AMMUNITION
According to Maldivian laws the aforementioned can only be imported by the Maldives National Defence Force under a special license by the government. So please don’t attempt to import any of such things as it will be confiscated on arrival by the custom officials and you will end up in jail
NARCOTICS OR PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES
Importing of such for personal or any other purpose will end up in jail as the penalty is life imprisonment.
PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIALS
That includes sex toys, books, magazines, films, DVDs
RELIGIOUS MATERIALS
Please respect the culture and the religion of Maldives while visiting and refrain packing any religious books, magazines or software which promotes other religions than Islam
IDOLS
Idols for worshipping is strictly prohibited and will not be allowed in Maldives
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(Remember to Pack your camera to capture your moments. preferably underwater camera GoPro HERO )
Just like above there are few things you are prohibited to do in Maldives that includes collecting and fishing, Giant clams, Black corals, turtles, small lobsters, dolphins, whales, whale sharks, napoleon wrasses.
As mentioned before Maldives is a Sunni Muslim country with a fragile environment and expects visitors to have due respect for their religion and environment.

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