Celebrating Birthdays???

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

Celebrating birthdays is not allowed

what is the evidence on celebrating birthdays,is it allowed in islam?

The evidence in the Qur’aan and Sunnah indicates that celebrating birthdays is a kind of bid’ah or innovation in religion, which has no basis in the pure sharee’ah. It is not permitted to accept invitations to birthday celebrations, because this involves supporting and encouraging bid’ah. Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Or have they partners with Allaah (false gods) who have instituted for them a religion which Allaah has not allowed…?” [al-Shoora 42:21]

“Then We have put you (O Muhammad) on a plain way of (Our) commandment. So follow that, and follow not the desires of those who know not. Verily, they can avail you nothing against Allaah (if He wants to puish you). Verily, the zaalimoon (wrongdoers) are awliyaa’ (protectors, helpers, etc.) to one another, but Allaah is the Wali (Protector, Helper) of the muttaqoon (pious).” [al-Jaathiyah 45:18-19]

“Follow what has been sent down unto you from your Lord, and follow not any awliyaa’ (protectors, helpers, etc.) besides Him. Little do you remember!” [al-A’raaf 7:3]

According to saheeh reports, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does something that is a not part of this matter of ours (i.e., Islam) will have it rejected” (reported by Muslim in his Saheeh); and “The best of speech is the Book of Allaah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The most evil of things are those which have been newly invented (in religion), and every innovation is a going astray.” There are many other ahaadeeth that convey the same meaning.

Besides being bid’ah and having no basis in sharee’ah, these birthday celebrations also involve imitation of the Jews and Christians in their birthday celebrations. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, warning us against following their ways and traditions: “You would follow the ways of those who came before you step by step, to such an extent that if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would enter it too.” They said, “O Messenger of Allaah, (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?” He said, “Who else?” (Reported by al-Bukhaari and Muslim). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”(Fataawa Islamiyyah, 1/115)

Prophet never celebrated ANYONES BIRTHDAY. NOT his family members, not his companions!

Who gave you right creat this new thing in Islam? Isn’t that disrespecting the prophet, you are adding something that he never ordered us to do? Please follow Quran and Hahdith and what has revealed to you 1400 years ago.

Do you know where this celebrating birtdays originated?

I hope everyone stays calm.

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V~V~VHe came, He saw, He conqueredV~V~V**

2

Watcher:

HOW CAN WE REMAIN CALM !!! No way…How dare you attack the birthday celebrations, haan?

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Thats the ideal time to eat some of the best cakes in town.

Anyway, to come back to your topic. So, celebrating birthdays is not a religious practice, agreed. It was not celebrated in the Prophet’s (PBUH) time, agreed.

But aren’t there many things we do, which have nothing to do with religion? For example, we have a ‘Welcome Party’ when we join college. Similarly we have a ‘Farewell Party’ when we leave college or leave our job, or whatever. So there is no mention of such festivities in Islam, so they are infact grey areas, where no ruling was given by the Prophet (PBUH). He didn’t do it, so if we do it, there is no reward for it. Whether it is halaal or haraam, well I don’t know. I think of it as similar to tieing my shoe laces. It is not a religious practice that I tie my shoe laces, so its a neutral action. Neither reward nor sin. Just something we do.

Next you might say that putting cuff-links in the shirt is also imitating christians and jews. Come on. I believe these are neutral actions.

However, if you can provide me an evidence that celebrating birthdays was PROHIBITED in Quran or Sunnah, then I will be most interested. Don’t just lump it all together with activities of christians and jews.

Come on, Watcher, take it easy, ok? Lets kids have some fun, ok?

Cheers!

And where is my share of the cake. say “cheeeeeeeeeeese”…click!

3

so wait i got a question, if u accept somseone’s inviation to a b-day party n they r some non muslims dat’s a sin?? wut if u don’t do a b-day party n u jus bring a cake at home ur sis or parents give u gifts n u put candles on or bas happy birthday keh k candles bujha k tou cake khaao, dat’s a gunaah too?

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n anotha question, wut if ur friends give a b-day party for u to everyone n all ur friends go to da park n have a picnic n bring a cake for u n have fun there, sing happy b-day to u, yeh bhee gunaah hay? I kno i m bein very stupid bout dis but ma mind’s goin blank n i m very confused so i hope u guys don’t get mad n pls help me out, jazakallah.take care Allah hafiz

º¤., ¸¸,.¤º¨¨¨¤Allah(SWT) gIvEs n fOrGiVeS, yEt mAn gEtS n fOrGeTsº¤., ¸¸,.¤º¨¨¨¤

4

Pristine, it would be great if you don’t take this as a joke. Thanks.

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Another thing, I will like you to do[if you have time] research on birthday and where/how/when in originated.

I am gonna make a quess here: {if wrong - sorry]

Its either from hinduism or from Jewish cultures.

Don’t worry, I am calm, just trying to keep everyone informed. And yes I will research on this “welcome party” and other kinds of parties you mentioned.

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Take care.

ALeena, its not time to show the attitude, but time to act on the principles of Islam and try be a true Muslim.

YOu need to find out who created these parties and birthday celebrations to begin with.

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Take care.

V~V~VHe came, He saw, He conqueredV~V~V**

5

Watcher bhai,
hamein maloom hay key aap barey aalim fazil hein, ab humein sukoon sey cake khaney dain, please.

happy birthday to you!
happy birthday to dear watcher!

lol

6

Go ahead joke about it.

Eat your cake, maybe that is more dear to you…!

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Bye!

V~V~VHe came, He saw, He conqueredV~V~V**

7

wait wait wait now watcher, wut’s ur problem huh? y r u alwazy fightin wid me, jeesh, mein ne do teen question poochay tou mein attitude waali ho gaie? yeh kya baat huie, if jawab dene ko dil nahi karta na, tou phir mat start kia karo topic samjhe aap.u kno wut mister u need to stop buggin me okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk i’ve had itttttt, jab bhee dekho mujhe hee daantTa hay har koi

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8

lol, aleena dear no one is mad at you take it easy, join your brother shair in cake eating contest.

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V~V~VHe came, He saw, He conqueredV~V~V**

9

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to watcher
happy birthday to dear watcher
may you have no more…oops sorry…
may you have many more.

Watcher uncle,
How would you like your cake to be? What would you like for the icing? Would you like khatmal’s (shia) blodd to be your icing.

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shair.

10

by the way mister watcher mein shair ki behan nahi hoon, or wese bhee mein ghussa nahi ho rahi thee samjhe, u bugg me all da time dat’s y i have to say it. if i ask a question u say i got an attitude.or mein shair jesi nahi hoon, i don’t get into cake eatin contests, sirfff thora sa cake kha sakti hoon.now answer ma questions dat i asked watcher, plzz naaa

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lol no

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haha

º¤., ¸¸,.¤º¨¨¨¤Allah(SWT) gIvEs n fOrGiVeS, yEt mAn gEtS n fOrGeTsº¤., ¸¸,.¤º¨¨¨¤

11

Ayatolla WATCHER

I know you live in USA where X'mas is a national holiday. I'm sure you know that X'mas is a holiday worldwide to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ.

What do you do, tell your college or employers that it is not allowed in Islam to celebrate birthdays, therefore you turn up to work as usual?

12

Well, its not a joke, ofcourse.

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However, I have so many discussions on this exact same topic with a friend of mine, that it stopped being interesting a long time ago, and now it only amuses me. This friend’s kids always wanted to celebrate their b/days but the Dad didn’t believe in b/days, so the kids were always disappointed.

Well, I am sure, pretty soon, you will enlighten us on this, right?

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Also when we talk about imitating christians and jews, I absolutely agree with you. However, these apply to the religious activities of jews and christians and not to everyday activities. For example, in dress, the white band worn in the collar by christian priests and the small black cap worn by jew rabbis, are typical examples of dresses which are closely asociated with their religious practices. If a muslim imitates these, he is immitating christians and jews, and so all those rulings which you prescribed will become applicable.

However, for everyday actions, which have no religious connotations, the same is not true. Another example is wearing jeans. There were no jeans worn by the Prophet (PBUH) and the sahaba in their time, because it was not available. Now, jeans as a dress, were probably developed by christian designers, but there is no prohibition in wearing it by muslims, because this dress is not associated with any religious practice of christians. If you wear jeans, there is no sin, and similarly there is no reward. Its just a neutral everyday action. Although, you will have reward if the jeans cover your ahraam, which is the mandatory parts to be covered by a muslim man (i.e. from waist to knee). As a hadith suggests that you will be rewarded for abstaining from haraam and showing your ahraam parts is haraam.

All this proves that every day actions like picking up a fork, wearing shoes, sailing on a boat, playing cricket, eating in a plate, reading newspaper are all neutral actions. None of these were carried out by the Prophet (PBUH) and sahaba, but then none of these are religious activities either. These are not prohibited unless they stop you from the mandatory islamic activities like namaz or roza.

When you say Innovation, it means innovation in ibadaat or religious activities. It means, for example, that sajda is a very highly rewarded part of our namaaz. But as the Prophet (PBUH) taught us to do sajda twice in one rakaat, so you cannot do it THREE times, in one rakaat. If you try and do three sajdas, in one rakaat, then it is an innovation and is not acceptable to any muslim. Similarly, you can not offer prayers at the time of sunrise and just before maghrib. It is prohibited. If you do that, you are innovating in religious activity, and doing something prohibited, which is not allowed.

But every day actions, are not always religious. There are gray areas, where no ruling is either available or desired. If there is no prohibition, then you can do it.

Thats why Watcher, I say, don’t make it so hard on yourself.

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Cheers!

13

All this proves that every day actions like picking up a fork,>>>>>>

It is well documented that the prophet
u sed to eat with his fingers. He also used to lick his fingers whilst having his meals. This was his way of thanking Allah for providing him with a meal. I suppose it must also mean that all the muslims should eat the same way even today.

14

Banta Singh, you are not a muslim so what are you driving at, haan?

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Anyway, thats why I had said “picking up a fork” and not “eating with a fork”. I knew someone will pick up just one thing and make a point!

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Eating with hands and licking fingers afterwards is a Sunnah. If a muslim does it, good for him/her and more rewards for them when they do it as part of Sunnah. If they do it just out of necessity (no cutlery available!) and no intention of following “Sunnah” then, well… ummm… I don’t know. I guess no-sin-no-reward situation. Did I make myself clear?

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Adios!

[This message has been edited by Pristine (edited October 12, 2000).]

15

Pristine says,

"Banta Singh, you are not a muslim so what are you driving at, haan?"

Oh I see, muslims have got a permit to talk about the ways of other religions but if one wants to talk about muslim ways, one has to be a muslim only.

Is that what you mean, pristine?

16

Not at all. I was just wondering how much you seem to know about the habits of our Prophet (PBUH). Even some muslims won’t know about such points of table manners. And I did respond to your comment.

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I was not sure if you are pointing towards a sunnah or just being sarcastic. I guess you answered it already…so, cheers!

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17

This whole Birtday thing is going out of hand. I think Pristine is right. There are many things that we do today that are ‘innovations’. Starting from wearing pants to eating with knives and forks. We learnt wearing pants from Westerners. Think about this…this is a non-muslim thing. Is Allah going to punish us for doing this? I don’t think so. And I don’t think any of you will disagree with me either. Same anology in eating with a fork. Even though this came from the West, lot Muslim do this. Are we going to be punished for this. No way!
My opinion is that as long as we don’t introduce something new in Islam, that is against Quran and Sunnah, we should be okay. I don’t see celebrating birthdays as being against our religion. In fact, this has nothing to do with religion. It does not matter if it came from Hindus, Jews or Christians. Nothing has been said in our books about celebrating birthdays. So I suppose there is nothing wrong with it.
You guys talk about ‘innovations’ in Islam. First of all, like Pristine said, this is a Wahabi term. Anyways, if you guys want to relate to this term, birthdays and Islam have nothing to do with each other. Therefore, it cannot be gunnah.
Bring on the cake yo!

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18

There are big celebrations in Pakistan on Eid Milad Ul Nabi. Is that sacrilegious? How about 14th of August that we celebrate, would that also be against the spirit of Islam?

Pristine makes good points.

I don’t think that God intended to make things so complex. If you can’t celebrate your birthday joyfully, you are not thankful for the life that has been given to you. Celebrating birthdays is celebrating life.

In addition to Cake, Dae Bhaley should be served (lots of masala, and not too much Dae).

19

Watcher,
Is there proof that we should NOT celebrate birthdays? I mean let us be happy in our lives. If it says nothing of the sort in Quran then why can't we?
Desert fox

P.S live and let live!!

20

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happy birthday to watcher!

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[This message has been edited by shair30 (edited October 12, 2000).]