I have a question for US desis here…do you celebrate the US holidays? Why or why not?
We live in a mainly christian/jewish area so while schools recognize Muslim holidays, the christian and jewish ones of course are a much bigger deal.
So do you put up a christmas tree and have “santa claus” come with gifts? Do you have a turkey on thanksgiving?
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I will be on a 10 hr shift on the Thanksgiving Day 
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We celebrate thanksgiving and other non religious holidays.
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we're planning on having a whole chicken instead of turkey ( can't have a zabiha so opted for chicken) just for the sake of eating on thanksgiving , but would never celebrate other christians religious festivities the way they do ........................ one of our friends celebrate Eid exactly like christmas , they got surprises like gifts , games , food and fun for everyone ( family & friends )
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Same here...:)
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clebrate thanksgiving etc, as far as chrsdimtas and all go, no, we dont celebrate it ut we do go to others christmas parties, or even stuff like easter egg hunt etc..welll we did when we were kids, but not really celebrate easter ourselves.
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I don't celebrate it but I do exchange gifts with my friends on Christmas. I call them on Thanksgiving and Halloween etc etc. Sometimes I spend few hours with them and their families too. But not more than that. I would call it stupid if I would decorate a tree or that kinda stuff because of course its not my religion.
Similarly, I arrange EID lunch or dinner for them. And they actually like it and always ask me about Eid celebrations in Pakistan.
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I was born and raised in Canada, so my parents always celebrated holidays with us as kids. They didn't want us to feel left out at school with our friends. Also they had somewhat assimilated into Canadian culture and enjoyed the festive activities. We always had big family Thanksgiving dinners. We also had a Christmas tree for a few years with presents under it Christmas Morning. Christmas lights and gift exchanges with friends and family as well. We didn't put much religious significance into it, just fun. But Eid was always a very special time. So we had a balance. I think that's something we may do with our kids. I never want to hide them away or forbid anything like US Holidays.
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mamof3
i did not give the reason, there are holidays that are US holidays, like thanksgiving, which I celebrate just as much as I used to celebrate guy fawkes day in UK, well i kinda sorta still celebrate guy fawkes day. same for new years etc.
as far as religious events go, they are not part of my religion, and while I would always take part in other people's celebrations for community and friensdship spirit, I dont have to have it myself.
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i dont celebrate.. why? because these are not the part of my religion and culture and i never felt any attachment or attraction towards them....i just love the day off :-P
..but my husband do drags me out to his friends family get together on these festivities..
..and i enjoy christmas gifts :-)
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I'd love to celebrate it wiht my family in the future :)
hsap, ur friends have the right idea, celebrating Eid like christmas.. coz frankly, why shudnt we have fun on our holidays? You always have ppl saying "boring eid" but do others ever say "oh this was a boring xmas" :)
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Thanksgiving we almost always celebrate. Same with Independence Day, New Years, and other secular national holidays.
My family never did the whole Christmas shebang, though I do know some Western Muslims that do (my husband's family included). They had a tree and such to honor the season. I think they also did some present exchange, but it wasn't as big a deal as it is in most.
Our family friends did a Ramadan tree and gave kids presents on each night of Ramadan (sort of a fusion of Christmas and Hanukkah, I suppose).
I don't plan on celebrating other religious holidays, but I do respect and honor the spirit of the season.
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will do it togather , InshaAllah .
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i dun celebrate christmas or any other religious holiday of christainas...why...cus its not my religion...but i do enjoy new years n canada day...n noth eids....etc....but sumthin like xmas....no