Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
My kids are well aware as they attend an after school Islamic school where their teacher rubs it in :D! But they don't really care and have never made a fuss. They seem pretty confident about what they are doing thus far.
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
well thats good. When they grow up and if one of them is a conspiracy buff he/she will start to question :)
You bet. I am preparing myself already :hinna:
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
Being a pain in the behind non-conformist I can never “celebrate” these holidays.
Lets add brithday to the mix. It’s also considered a non-Islamic tradition by some. 
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
^ lame excuse for not buying your wifey a present!
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
It’s interesting. I teach at a Jewish school, and there is no acknowledgement of Halloween. We are asked strictly not to condone or celebrate the holiday, as there is a history of Jewish persecution associated with it. Despite that policy, most of the kids go out trick-or-treating and such. I’ve even had many argue that I’m not allowed to give homework that night. 
(One argument was even that it is a national holiday ← this was from an international student 
)
However, we are certainly allowed to share and mark our own religious holidays and tell the kids about them.
well thats good. When they grow up and if one of them is a conspiracy buff he/she will start to question :)
It doesn't require a conspiracy buff to know that the dates of many Christian holidays are rooted in pagan traditions. That doesn't mean that whatever holy things that day is commemorating are any less important. And besides, these days many do not celebrate them as "holy" but as a cultural day of togetherness, happiness, and shopping!
It doesn't require a conspiracy buff to know that the dates of many Christian holidays are rooted in pagan traditions. That doesn't mean that whatever holy things that day is commemorating are any less important. And besides, these days many do not celebrate them as "holy" but as a cultural day of togetherness, happiness, and shopping!
Well if i were to ask you that Sahar 2000 years ago people used to worship the devil but the only plus thing was there were agreement among people. People came together and had a good time, its not 2000 years later come on look how much happiness it brings to people when they come together. Sahar, you can not over look the hidden meaning of a particular event just because there are positive connotations associated with it. You must look at the core of what we are celebrating. People back in the Mayan times really liked killing people as sacrifice hey it brought them together and a lot of happiness do we still think its an "Ok" practice? This is exactly what the Prophet (PBUH) warned us against. We are delving head long in to pagan practices.
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
^ i think you're being a little extreme, frankly. there needs to be balance in all things.
yes at some point in history, there were pagan rituals associated with halloween, but not for many, many years now and those rituals will only have symbolism for those who truly celebrate them i.e. still believe in paganism.
so perhaps "celebrating" is the wrong word to use here. i don't see anything wrong with dressing up and handing out candy. to me, its an excuse/occasion to do just that- dress up in a costume and eat a lot of chocolate. these events are only as symbolic/meaningful as you make them, imho. just like for a lot of people christmas can be a cultural tradition with no religious associations, and then there's a fair number of people who celebrate christmas to recall the birth of Jesus.
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
McPendo: What you're talking about aren't 'hidden' meanings. They're known facts.
I'm not saying you have to celebrate all these holidays because others do; I certainly don't. I'm just saying that honoring and celebrating a holiday is based on one's intent. No culture is free from a complex history of symbols shifting and changing meaning and being incorporated into something else. Those symbols only have power if we give it to them. What we worship and honor is up to us.
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
^ hah! we posted at the same time.
McPendo: What you're talking about aren't 'hidden' meanings. They're known facts.
I'm not saying you have to celebrate all these holidays because others do; I certainly don't. I'm just saying that honoring and celebrating a holiday is based on one's intent. No culture is free from a complex history of symbols shifting and changing meaning and being incorporated into something else. Those symbols only have power if we give it to them. What we worship and honor is up to us.
Sahar02, the thing is we have to take in account what these customs and ideologies once meant. We cant over look the fact that they were once pagan but now that people don't follow paganism it is ok. There is a reason Islam came and did a total overhaul of Arabia. Because God wanted to get rid of the pagan practices. I dont celebrate them because i know what these practices represent and even if you are oblivious to them does not justify you celebrating them with the masses.
We are not suppose to celebrate those because these holidays come from greek/pagan origins and our religion warns us not to follow pagan ideologies. Valentine's day, the cupid a Greek symbol of love= Pagan. Celebrating birthday, ok this goes back to Greece too. The Greeks would go to a mountain temple belonging to a goddess and they would light candles on a cake and place the candle on the temple. If the wind blew their candles first it meant the goddess granted their wish. Christmas again not a chrisitan holiday but rather a roman holiday. This is when the Romans used to have sex with young boys!!! im not joking read upon it and exchanged gifts, this practice was later changed due the advent of Jesus Christ. No one knows when Jesus was born. If you don't believe me you gotta do your research! Stay away from these devil worshiping traditions. If you study the old cultures clearly you'll come to realize that there are a lot of aspects in them that contradict our religion and Christianity as well. Haloween we all know in Quran Allah says not to communicate with the dead and the dead are to be respected. Halloween is another greek/roman holiday when it was introduced by the Spaniards to the Mexicans which became known there as the day of the dead. The Freemasons borrowed the idea from their secret rituals and implemented those in their new found land America, which later became known as Halloween! Again if you dont believe me read upon secret societies and the Freemasons their game of masquerade that they play is very similar to Halloween
Great post Mcpendo
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
I would suggest making a distinction between cultural events like Halloween and Valentine's day and religious events like Christmas. Firstly in Islam it says no where we can not participate in cultural events. If it does say it back up your comments with Quranic verses. To celebrate a festival is by no means a violation of the religion or ones faith. However celebrating a religious event which denotes aspects of faith shows that you are moving away from your current faith and taking part in practices which are unislamic. The two are very different things.
Now Halloween is a cultural event. It is also a pagan ritual, but it has lost all its "dark" significance back when the Church was established. So currently it is by no means a pagan ritual as the meaning is not there. Now rather its a time for children to get candy and for men and women to dress like well...you know. Just to clarify on a factual inaccuracy. The Day of the Dead and Halloween are not the same thing. Halloween comes from All Hallow's eve which is a Celtic/british tradition to appease the demons that roamed the land on that day. Something about the Celtic New Year and the boundary between the dead and the living being the weakest then. It is not a roman tradition.
I personally see nothing wrong in participating in Halloween. I grew up doing it, so did most of the families in the diplomatic community. Its a local custom and something Islam dictates should be respected. Same with Valentine's day. This however is a cultural tradition with some religious significane. Based on Saint Valentine and his really sad story. But again it has lost its religious value hundreds of years ago.
Hell our faith and our Prophet have openly stated that we should show love and respect to our wives. So what is wrong with a day dedicated to love being celebrated? Now mind you I consider Valentine's day a commercial holiday more than anything and thus see nothing unislamic about it whatsoever.
Now Christmas holds religious significance. That is obvious thus celebrating it would be unislamic. Personally never felt the need to do it as a child. But damn it candy, now that I would celebrate. Hell I will still celebrate it consider the costumes adult women wear these days :D
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
I don't celebrate Valentines day, or halloween. I have candy available on Halloween for kids in my building. Since I am not dating or married, there is no need to even acknowledge Valentines day.
As for Christmas I give presents to coworkers and Christian friends, but make no special effort to celebrate it.
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
It really doesnt matter who you are, what religion you practice or where you're from...if theres a celebration going on, then wish them well. You dont have to join in the joys of the celebration but you'd most likely be very welcome to it and it in no way means that you disregard your own religion. If you are Muslim and someone inadvertently wishes you a "Merry Christmas" then simply respond with "Happy Holiday to you." Really, its not that huge a deal.
I get pissed off at Christians who snub the Jewish people, the Jewish people who snub the Christians, the Muslims who snub the Christians etc etc etc....GET. OVER. IT. So,there will be alcohol served at the company holiday (note NOT christmas) party. Will there also be served soda, water and juice???? Are there prayers and religious services going on at these functions....or....is it just simply a time to relax and get to know colleagues a bit better.
Let yer hair down a bit people. Like the Beatles say...
Re: Halloween,christmas,valentine
^ Hm. IS there something wrong with saying Merry Christmas? As long as we're wishing them that they enjoy they're holiday, and aren't celebrating ourselves?
Sahar02, the thing is we have to take in account what these customs and ideologies once meant. We cant over look the fact that they were once pagan but now that people don't follow paganism it is ok. There is a reason Islam came and did a total overhaul of Arabia. Because God wanted to get rid of the pagan practices. I dont celebrate them because i know what these practices represent and even if you are oblivious to them does not justify you celebrating them with the masses.
Sure, and if you feel that they still represent something objectionable, then you don't celebrate.
not at all. can you explain why you think its so wrong UZ?
would christians or jews be sinning if they wished us Eid Mubarak? i highly doubt it.
going to church with them and praying along with them is not allowed, sure, thats practicing their religion, but wishing them to have a happy day while they celebrate their religion? NOT wrong. its called being neighbourly and friendly and partaking in someone else’s khushi. your bar/drink analogy is incorrect. drinking is forbidden in islam, wishing someone have a happy holiday isn’t.
this is where things start going into extremist-land, imho. one day you don’t wish them merry christmas because its “wrong”, the next you stop speaking to them because its “wrong”, and then what? you wage war on them because their beliefs are “wrong”? 
and forget christmas for a second, what about within islam? what if its muharram and you are a sunni. would you acknowledge it? no one’s asking you to do maatam, but would you go out of your way to have a large party in your house during muharram? probably not. so would respecting that month’s significance for a shia be “sinning” just as wishing a christian “merry christmas”?