Why don’t Muslims celebrate Christmas?
as we know, christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ…and Muslims believe in him as being a prophet. Secondly, Muslims/Pakistanis celebrate the so-called Eid Milaad-un-nabi: The birth of the Prophet Mohammed.
So y not also celebrate Jesus’s BDay? why make a difference between the Prophets?
Of course one cud argue why not celebrate all prophets’ BDay…but then again we don’t know their BDays…
I don't think its fair to say everyone celebrates the birth and death of the Last Prophet. I don't, however I do pray for 'em all.
Why celebrate something of the dead? All these customs and rituals. I find it bid'aa.
I don't celebrate x-mas because its not part of my religion. Moreover, its not determined whether Jesus was born on Dec 25 or Jan 05.
^ I agree with Coconut :k:
^ well, we Muslims don't need to follow every jackass things you do.
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*Originally posted by CocoNut: *
I don't think its fair to say everyone celebrates the birth and death of the Last Prophet. I don't, however I do pray for 'em all.
Why celebrate something of the dead? All these customs and rituals. I find it bid'aa.
I don't celebrate x-mas because its not part of my religion. Moreover, its not determined whether Jesus was born on Dec 25 or Jan 05.
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its really funny that muslims are always wanted to get into othera.
Islam has no concept of celebrating these birthdays and deathdays. those who do do it on their own.
coco is absolutely rigth.
What is celebration? To become happy, to memorize, aren’t we...?
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*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
Coco.... Shia's don't find it Bidda to remember the slaughtered ones killed by some Muslims at Karbala. To each his own. If you don't celebrate Christmas, that's cool, but those who do don't give a jack about what you feel (or don't feel). Why worry about what date was he born?
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I'm not worried, neither is it a concern for me, I'm just stating the obvious to add to my reason. And if those don't really give a jack about what I say or don't say then they'll keep to themselves while I do the same.
As Muslims we are not allowed to imitate the disbelievers (so that we appear as though we are one of them) or invent new things in our religion.
Celebrating Eid Milaad un-Nabi :saw: or Eid Milaad al-Maseeh :as: are innovations in Islam and the latter is combing two evils that of imitating the disbelievers and inventing a new thing in our religion.
What is in the Qur’aan and narrated in authentic Ahadeeth is enough for us.
Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are enough. :Pagri:
Sura 14 - Ibrahim (Abraham) - Roukh 1
We sent Moses with Our signs (and the command). "Bring out thy people from the depths of darkness into light, and teach them to remember the Days of Allah." Verily in this there are Signs for such as are firmly patient and constant,- grateful and appreciative.
NesCio i just read this today earlier in the morning. I hope it answers your questions…
Source : http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=7856&dgn=4
Question :
Why do you condemn the celebration of the what Christians think is birth of the son of God (Allah)? We should be teaching respect for other peoples and religions. Yet with such condemnation and calling it falsehood, it makes it difficult for rational, honest, and respectful persons to communicate.
Answer :
Praise be to the One God, who begets not, nor is begotten.
You seem to have misinterpreted the condemnation of celebration of Christmas as a matter of disrespect for Christians. In reality, it is out of respect for Allah and Jesus and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them. It is an integral part of our faith to reject celebrations that have not been prescribed and/or that have a basis in falsehood, as inevitably they lead to misguidance and alterations in faith, as has happened with Christianity. There is nothing “radical” or “fringe” about this. It is our basic right to protect our faith and practice from distortion and falsehood. Surely no one has a right to condemn us for this.
Do you think Encyclopedia Britannica is rational and honest? Please read what they have to say about Christmas:
Excerpts quoted directly from http://www.britannica.com :
The word Christmas is derived from the Old English Cristes maesse, “Christ’s Mass.” :
( There is no certain tradition of the date of Christ’s birth. Christian chronographers of the 3rd century believed that the creation of the world took place at the spring equinox, then reckoned as March 25; hence the new creation in the incarnation (i.e., the conception) and death of Christ must therefore have occurred on the same day, with his birth following nine months later at the winter solstice, December 25).
…
According to a Roman almanac, the Christian festival of Christmas was celebrated in Rome by AD 336…
( The reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25 remains uncertain, but most probably the reason is that early Christians wished the date to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the “birthday of the unconquered sun” ) (natalis solis invicti); this festival celebrated the winter solstice, when the days again begin to lengthen and the sun begins to climb higher in the sky. The traditional customs connected with Christmas have accordingly developed from several sources as a result of the coincidence of the celebration of the birth of Christ with the pagan agricultural and solar observances at midwinter. In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchange of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/idxref/0/0,5716,266282,00.htmlGerman and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, and gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian. Since the European Middle Ages, evergreens, as symbols of survival, have been associated with Christmas… [end quote]
So as any rational person can see, there is no sound basis for Christmas, nor did Jesus (peace be upon him) or his true followers celebrate Christmas or ask anyone to celebrate Christmas, nor was there any record of anyone calling themselves Christians celebrating Christmas until several hundred years after Jesus. So were the companions of Jesus more righteously guided in not celebrating Christmas or are the people of today?
So if you want to respect Jesus, peace be upon him, as Muslims do, don’t celebrate some fabricated event that was chosen to coincide with pagan festivals and copy pagan customs. Do you honestly think God, or even Jesus himself, would approve or condemn such a thing? If you say approve, then obviously you are not interested in the truth.
We ask Allaah, the One, Singular God, with no partners or sons, the God of all creation and mankind, to guide us all to the path of guidance and sincerity.
Coconut: i agree with your post. Therefore i might have put it more specifically for ppl who DO celebrate it. Anyway, i would like to comment on the following:
Moreover, its not determined whether Jesus was born on Dec 25 or Jan 05.<<<
Here Madhanee has a good point, and I wud like to add that it’s just a date, whether you celebrate if either of these days or any other day shudn’t matter once u’ve decided to celebrate it. Secondly, a certain is just that date based on a certain calender, so that specific date is nothing absolute it’s just a human convention then…therefore you cud celebrate it any day u want. Anyway, I agree with u that it shudn’t be celebrated at all (both Bdays that is).
Thirdly Madhanee brings another good point forward of remembering the incidents of Karbala….y is that done? One cud even go as far as to ask why Ramadhan is celebrated on certain specific dates which are based on human creations (= the –Islamic- calender)………..maybe ur required to celebrate Ramdhan during just some period, and it’s upto you to decide where in the year to do it (just a speculation)…convention has it that it’s done during a certain month based on a man-made calender.
Dhulfiqar: good post but the very first line is a bit awkward:
As Muslims we are not allowed to imitate the disbelievers (so that we appear as though we are one of them)<<<
There are numerous other things which we do the same as non-believers
Maniac: perhaps you cud ask the person on that site about the Muharram festivals each yr….i wud like to know what his views are on that matter. And also Eid Milaad-un-Nabi
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Maniac: perhaps you cud ask the person on that site about the Muharram festivals each yr….i wud like to know what his views are on that matter. And also Eid Milaad-un-Nabi
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NesCio Eid Milaad is widely regarded as a Bid'ah and it is..meaning an innovation in religion. No companion of the Prophet celebrated it.
As for Muharram festival, im not sure what festivals are you talking about ?
^the annual remembrance.........even Soennis do some sort of khattam (privately) each yr
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*Originally posted by NeSCio: *
Coconut: i agree with your post. Therefore i might have put it more specifically for ppl who DO celebrate it. Anyway, i would like to comment on the following:
Moreover, its not determined whether Jesus was born on Dec 25 or Jan 05.<<<
Here Madhanee has a good point, and I wud like to add that it’s just a date, whether you celebrate if either of these days or any other day shudn’t matter once u’ve decided to celebrate it. Secondly, a certain is just that date based on a certain calender, so that specific date is nothing absolute it’s just a human convention then…therefore you cud celebrate it any day u want. Anyway, I agree with u that it shudn’t be celebrated at all (both Bdays that is).
Thirdly Madhanee brings another good point forward of remembering the incidents of Karbala….y is that done? One cud even go as far as to ask why Ramadhan is celebrated on certain specific dates which are based on human creations (= the –Islamic- calender)………..maybe ur required to celebrate Ramdhan during just some period, and it’s upto you to decide where in the year to do it (just a speculation)…convention has it that it’s done during a certain month based on a man-made calender.
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If its just a date then why is it so significant and pegged to one day of the year? There is a significance to the celebration on one day where people mostly of the same faith(s) come together for the occassion. Otherwise they would be scattered all over the place. Kinda like Thanks Giving in Canada is different than what it is in the States or muslims not being able to decide which day Eid will be celebrated. Same way the birth of Christ is debated over two days because of the calendar differences as you mentioned.
The incidents of Karbala, I'm not sure why they mourn for people dead thousands of years ago. There is no personal connection to them and even if there was, we seriously need to move on. Same goes for the World Trade centre or Heroshima.
Ya know this is more of a history lesson to me, I can't comment on it till I find out if these months such as Shabaan, Rajab, Ramadan, Muharram were man made or given as a divine tool to keep track of time.
Your speculation to me is not far fetched at all. I'm curious now, how many calendars has the world gone through. So far there is the gregorian, Islamic and egyptian I believe? Wasn't there a 14 month calendar as well?
Wow, I think I'm going off track a bit. Who's to say when a month ends or starts or why february has 28 days, and the leap year, or why does each Islamic month hold some sort of significance.
Ok ok, I gotta gather my thoughts and come back. In the meantime someone else would be more knowledgeable to shed some light on this.
NeScio…muharram and festival don’t go together…
Annual rememberance is a better phrase :k:
Festival is an occasion for feasting or celebration<— and that’s not what is done by Shias as well as some sunnis
Just my 50 cents
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*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
Coco, the confusion of dates have to do with autumnal equinox and vernal equinox because the equinox kept slipping backwards on the calendar one full day every 100 or so years, that’s why the Orthodox Easter rarely coincides with the Catholic and other Christian Easter. But that’s really besides the point. When you start issuing unilateral Fatwas about Christmas being forbidden or being a Bidda, you open yourself and your own customs and useless rituals to criticism. Hope you find it welcoming when non-muslims ask why do you have to lift your butt in the air to pray to your Allah? Even to think about Christmas being a sacrilegious event (that is celebrated by billion around the world) is a stupid and, I must add, an uneducated thought. I thought you were smarter than that.
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And what point is there to celebrating an event everyone else celebrates ? Why should we conform to someone elses beliefs when all it does is pollute ones own beliefs. Today you celebrate christmas, tommorow your kids start calling Christ their saviour. That may be OK in the mind of a person like you but most muslims know that its definetly not a good idea. My man i thought YOU would be smarter than that.
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*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
Coco, the confusion of dates have to do with autumnal equinox and vernal equinox because the equinox kept slipping backwards on the calendar one full day every 100 or so years, that’s why the Orthodox Easter rarely coincides with the Catholic and other Christian Easter. But that’s really besides the point. When you start issuing unilateral Fatwas about Christmas being forbidden or being a Bidda, you open yourself and your own customs and useless rituals to criticism. Hope you find it welcoming when non-muslims ask why do you have to lift your butt in the air to pray to your Allah? Even to think about Christmas being a sacrilegious event (that is celebrated by billion around the world) is a stupid and, I must add, an uneducated thought. I thought you were smarter than that.
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x-mas to me is just the same as diwali or milad-n-nabi; all of the aforementioned rituals are pointless to me. Billions celebrating it doesn't mean jack. Hmm...I wasn't issuing fatwas nor am I in a position to but I do say with conviction what I believe in. Heh, even if I have opened myself to my own rituals and customs, its better than being blind. I'd like be challenged each step of the way. Even if it is prostrating in front of Allah err rather in your p.o.v. lifting my butt half way in the air (sidenote: oye vay what a sight hehe, there should be a fatwa issued soon at a gumball machine near you soon for those big buns to have back up lights). It renforces my faith to know reasoning. I may not have all the answers but hey its not about me, its about these customs which muslims should not follow and their reason not to follow 'em.
Samarra,
Please ask ppl not to bring up Sectarian issues with the hope of initiating sectarianism which is against the policy of this forum Please check your pm as well.
--inuit
for the same reason christians dont celebrate jewish holidays.
nothing inherently wrong with it, a lot of what we do is out of a sense of belonging to a "particular" religion, society, culture, whatever. Islam as a pragmatic religion recognises that and thus we have our own set of holidays and festivals.
btw there is nothing Islamic or Unislamic about celebrating or not-celebrating the birth of Christ, to the best of my knowledge.
Question for the person who said we dont celebrate the birthdates of other prophets because we dont know them. Suppose you did, suppose some Muslim scholar researchs it and it turns out to be the 1st of July. Would you celebrate it?
ok…agreed :k:
Coco: that was exactly my next step: I was about to open a thread (tomorrow) about the Islamic calender…hope u can wait till tomorrow 