Re: Halloween and other occasions
Thank you janab!
Re: Halloween and other occasions
well if you choose to avoid halloween, and your little kid goes to public school, how would you explain to him/her why he/she can't participate in the festivities his/her friends, neighbours and teachers rave about, in a way that does not sow the seeds of us vs. them in their own country? is your kid going to grow up a well adjusted adult in the society he is going to live in? well he probably will, kids are smart. but i'd be curious how many of the abcd guppies stayed away from this stuff as kids.
Says a person who probably does not have to dress up on halloween to scare people! :D
J/K
Joke aside, there is no such thing as kids growing up with some kind of hangups if they do not participate in Halloween or any such festivities. You are just making this up.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
A word of advice though, Muslims are supposed to stand out, not blend in with the crowd. Remember that we're supposed to be role models for society without ever having to even open our mouths. Don't do things just because your neighbors do, you're a Muslim first, an American second.
Allahu Alim
This ! Those who are saying whats wrong with celebrating these occasions .. need to really go back and touch up on their knowledge of Islam .
What actions one takes , whether they celebrate Xmas or not , judging that is a secondary thing. The primary thing and the most important thing is to **admit and know **that Yes , Islam has given us specific and very beautiful occasions to celebrate and we have been told to stay away from acknowledging or celebrating anything else, specifically if its a religiously rooted occasion.
This reminds me of my manager once , Christian fellow, he would say: I know its wrong not to go to the Church , I know I shouldnt really be drinking .. perhaps i am not religious enough and so i dont go to Church and I drink. Religion is right , its me , I am wrong and working on making myself right.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
And here it is; I am better than you syndrome.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
^ Right on, again! This is getting old.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
Every year on Halloween, thanksgiving, Christmas etc we have similar threads. I fail to understand whats wrong if people do want to celebrate these holidays? We are part of a multicultural society and I do not see any harm in assimilating and adapting good thing from other people and cultures. In San Francisco, every year there is a big parade on Chinese new year and thousand of people attend it. Is that wrong too? This week kids made dewalli diyas at school and ate some desi mitahi. is that wrong too? If anything we need more diversity and more festivities to celebrate.
THANK YOU!!!
I fail to understand how adapting a *cultural *practice can violate a person's *religious *practice. I am born and raised in the US, my family has been here for almost 40 years now, longer than the time my parents spent in India/Pakistan. I grew up trick or treating, and going to neighborhood Easter Egg hunts, just for the sake of fun. My father was an extremely pious and religious man, but he was the mastermind behind our halloween costumes every year. It obviously did not affect my deen, as I managed to finish reading the Quran by age 8, and my parents literally helped to build the first masjid in our city. From what I've seen, those who immigrated to the US in the late 60's/70's don't have as much of a problem with cultural assimilation than those who came here in the late 80's/early 90's.
I am a product of the public school system obviously, and it was never hard to figure out what was ok, and what was not. Trick or Treating = yes... Christmas tree in our house = no!
We have a huge, fabulous Thanksgiving blowout every year that revolves around two things: food & football!! (Cowboys game days are very holy in my family...and NO desi khaana is allowed on Thanksgiving!) How is that a contradiciton to being Muslim? Why does Thanksgiving have to be associated with a particular religion,when in fact it is all about showing gratitude for God's bounty (and please spare me the argument that you should do that everyday)
Do any of these things have more importance than Eid? Of course not!! Eid Al Fitr & Eid Al Adha are the two days my kids look forward to most the entire year!
I don't set up a creche in my front yard at Christmas, but I do have certain "holiday" traditions that my husband and I enjoy with our kids every fall/winter (the local pumpkin patch, driving around the millionaire neighborhoods to see the lights and displays on the houses, other festivals and fairs etc)....and NONE of this retracts from what is foremost in our house...our Muslim deen. My kids go to Sunday School at the masjid every week (a practice adopted from goras, wouldn't you say?), We are ridiculously active in various committees at the masjid as well...so what is the harm in participating in diverse celebrations?
When I was in high school/college, I went to the mandir to play Holi with my Hindu friends, hung out dandiyas/garbas during Navratri, I've been to countless langars at gurdwara, and Vaisakhi celebrations...I LOVE the festive atmosphere in malls and shopping districts during Christmas....
And yes, my hindu/christian/sikh friends have been to iftars at my house and are among the first to text me "Eid Mubarak", so I would say it is not just me.
I just want to end with the fact there are PLENTY of "occassions" that members of our Muslim Ummah (especially in Indo/Pak) follow/mark/celebrate that have NOTHING to do with Islam...but that's an argument for another thread, haina?
RANT OVER
Re: Halloween and other occasions
Halloween is not just a cultural event.
It has very unusual, weird idea behind it.
A lot of people even in US do not celebrate it.
No idea why some people are so hell bent on it to show 'they can assimilate'.
What does trick or treating or wearing costume has to do with assmilating in US?
The answer is absolutely nothing.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
@ Khatti - you HAVE to show gratitude for God's bounty EVERYDAY.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
I just want to end with the fact there are PLENTY of "occassions" that members of our Muslim Ummah (especially in Indo/Pak) follow/mark/celebrate that have NOTHING to do with Islam...but that's an argument for another thread, haina?
RANT OVER
Totally agree with that. Part of the reason why I'm not able to mingle with local Pakistani community...they'll play Bollywood songs on every occasion. Not saying that I'm better than them but I just find this sort of stuff kills the spirit of an Islamic event.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
^ yes alot of muslims these days do celebrate biddah occasions .. and no way are they right in doing that. There is simply no justification to that. I was shocked to see people going crazy with fireworks and god knows what over some kind of URS .. In the end, its more about understanding the true Islam .. and none of us is perfect , we all fall short one way or the other from being perfect muslims .. but the least we can do is strive to remain closer within the boundaries of Islam.
Anyways , having said all this, there are alot of cultural things that I feel are ok to take part in coz they bring communities together , for example the British wear a red poppy for a few days leading to the Rememberance day , its actually round the corner now .. its to remember the soldiers who died in the line of duty in World war 1 .. since there is no religious root to it , most of us do it too .. we wear a red poppy for a few days ..
Similarly we have Red nose day is held in march for the Comic Relief , sort of raising charity .. and people wear funny avatars for the day and collect charity .. thats a cultural thing too and I have seen many muslims take part in it .. I dont think there is any harm in taking part in occasions that dont have a religious significance ..
Re: Halloween and other occasions
The 'C' is alive and kicking in the ABCD :D
Re: Halloween and other occasions
I would totally celebrate Halloween with my kids....dress them up in little costumes and stuff....my nephew's b-day is oct 30th, so for the last few years halloween + his birthday have been an occasion. I think it's cute for kids to celebrate....I've also been to adult-kid-halloween parties that were alot of fun too....but what bugs me are the real "adult" parties, when adult women dress like skanks and call it a "costume."
this year though, and i hate to say it, but it felt strange seeing ppl go around for trick or treating this year.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
Hehe we open this thread pretty much every year. My son didn't go trick or treating or wore a costume but we gladly handed out candy to those who came.. We bought the candy just for Halloween. I don't have any intention to dress him in costumes in future either..he can do that for school if he goes to public school and they have such events but I am not promoting it at home! Just like some people don't bring the Christmas tree home but celebrate Halloween.. Whatever works for anyone... It all boils down to where parents draw a line and I hope to raise a child who takes pride in celebrating eid inshallah and I draw a line at not celebrating non Muslim rituals at home!
Re: Halloween and other occasions
What I am not in the favour of is when muslim families start decorating Christmas trees as home, wishing each other Christmas , gifting each other with the intention of celebrating Christmas..
CB, I don't know families that do such things honestly.
From what I've seen, those who immigrated to the US in the late 60's/70's don't have as much of a problem with cultural assimilation than those who came here in the late 80's/early 90's.
This is a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry good point! Actually, I find a lot of people who came to the US later on even more eager to adopt any and all western practices they can get their hands on. That has been my experience.
No idea why some people are so hell bent on it to show 'they can assimilate'.
What does trick or treating or wearing costume has to do with assmilating in US?
The answer is absolutely nothing.
People don't celebrate Halloween in order to assimilate. Omg. Its something to do...its innocent and fun and that's all there is to it. Just because you wear pants to work and not a shalwar doesn't mean you're dying to become a gora. Why do you eat American food when there are desi restaurants here? You are dying to assimilate into the haram haram gora world. You're trying to forget your achaar-bharay roots.
Why does everything have to have some sort of sinister meaning behind it?
The 'C' is alive and kicking in the ABCD :D
People who came here earlier....they had to work hard to keep their religion and culture alive for their kids. As a result, I don't think ABCD's are as confused as people think. The Qur'an wasn't written in Urdu. Not being able to speak Urdu or trick or treating doesn't make one confused, it just makes them whatever nationality is on their passport. Much like tons of desi people can't speak grammatically correct English or don't wear deodorant. What does that make them? You have your perceptions, other people have their own.
Anyone that can be hit with a ton of stereotypes should be the last one stereotyping.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
..................
People don't celebrate Halloween in order to assimilate. Omg. Its something to do...its innocent and fun and that's all there is to it. Just because you wear pants to work and not a shalwar doesn't mean you're dying to become a gora. Why do you eat American food when there are desi restaurants here? You are dying to assimilate into the haram haram gora world. You're trying to forget your achaar-bharay roots.
Why does everything have to have some sort of sinister meaning behind it?
.............
Yes a whole lot do. And some here in this thread did mention the assimilation part.
All I said is there is no need to look for these fesitivites as a means to 'assimilate'.
One will not be any less American if one does not trick or treat.
I never said anything being sinister and those who do it for fun and NOT to do it to 'assiimilate' were not who I talked about.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
My 8 year old self would be hella pissed if my parents denied me the chance to score some free candy.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
People who came here earlier....they had to work hard to keep their religion and culture alive for their kids. As a result, I don't think ABCD's are as confused as people think. The Qur'an wasn't written in Urdu. Not being able to speak Urdu or trick or treating doesn't make one confused, it just makes them whatever nationality is on their passport. Much like tons of desi people can't speak grammatically correct English or don't wear deodorant. What does that make them? You have your perceptions, other people have their own.
**Irrelevent. Its not about working hard or not, or quran being in urdu. how on earth did you correlate all that with halloween confusioN??
The perpetual discussion of whether these things are right or wrong, to what extent etc etc is the ''C'' i am talking about. When such discussions don't happen this often (like reaching 6 pages) that would mean the confusion is settled. ** Anyone that can be hit with a ton of stereotypes should be the last one stereotyping.
Aww so you are trying so hard to hold it? Please go ahead. :D:
.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
Yes a whole lot do. And some here in this thread did mention the assimilation part.
All I said is there is no need to look for these fesitivites as a means to 'assimilate'.
One will not be any less American if one does not trick or treat.
I never said anything being sinister and those who do it for fun and NOT to do it to 'assiimilate' were not who I talked about.
Again, Halloween is not a means of assimilation. You're living in a country that completely ridden with Halloween on October 31st, schools are celebrating, kids are knocking on your door for candy, costumes are sold out everywhere, etc. Its simply a fun thing to do...just like people celebrate Basant, have mehndis (the roots of which are supposedly Hindu) or any other non-Muslim festivity.
I don't celebrate it necessarily but I have dressed up my nieces and nephew in the past. No evil demon has reared its ugly head as of yet.
Pakistan mein ho to sahi hai, yahan ho to ghalat.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
*Irrelevent. Its not about working hard or not, or quran being in urdu. how on earth did you correlate all that with halloween confusioN??
*
The perpetual discussion of whether these things are right or wrong, to what extent etc etc is the ''C'' i am talking about. When such discussions don't happen this often (like reaching 6 pages) that would mean the confusion is settled.
**
Anyone that can be hit with a ton of stereotypes should be the last one stereotyping.
**Aww so you are trying so hard to hold it? Please go ahead. :D:
****Pakistanis firmly believe that anyone or anything that doesn't agree with them is conphuuused.
Re: Halloween and other occasions
This should be moved to the religion forum 