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Back to Hats on Vowels
‘Tis the season to be MuslimTuesday, December 13, 2005 A couple of statements that I read recently have somewhat irked me. We had a Muslim leader suggesting that those who say Muslims take exception to Christmas decorations in the workplace are wrong. Then a more extreme view was advocated by a Muslim columnist in a national newspaper; she explained how this Christmas she’d be buying a tree, giving presents and serving halāl turkey in her home. So amidst all these voices declaring how much they don’t mind Christmas can I just point out that - I do? In fact if there ever were a day of the year that was in dire need of sabotaging then it’d have to be Christmas in my book. How many times in the latter part of December do we get wished “Merry Christmas”? Simply put, too many! And the really irritating bit about it all is that it’s often said as a matter of routine and with little sincerity. So when you make the effort to point out that you don’t celebrate Christmas because you’re Muslim it can be met with “Look mate, I said Happy Christmas but I don’t really mean it, it’s just a phrase. You don’t have to give me your life story.” Those that actually hang around for the explanation normally ask in shock “You mean you don’t give children presents?” Which contains a subtext of “Woe to you, oh child-torturer!” “It’s a family festival, why don’t you just do it for the children’s sake?” Listen, I am doing it for the children, I’m purposely not indoctrinating them with this nonsense for their sake. Just because I don’t allow it in my home, nor give my kids presents, it doesn’t mean that I sit there on Christmas day branding their arms with hot coals. Think of it this way: last Tuesday what did you do? “Well nothing went to work, came home, nothing special.” Well that’s exactly what Christmas is to me – nothing special. In fact it’s the most irritating day of the year because I can’t do anything because you lot have shut down for 24 hours so that you can don red and white hats, drink and vomit (not necessarily in that order). Strangers are the most difficult to respond to as they often turn their backs before you draw breath to explain. So you need a really concise reply to give as they disappear. I’ve variously heard suggested, “lakum dīnukum wa liya dīn”, “A’ūdhu billāh”, a friend told me that he normally just smiles and says “Allāhu akbar”. My step brother suggested a slightly different approach:
“Merry Christmas!”
I like the way that our brother Gary Miller summarised the history behind the day: “What great religious figure was [allegedly] the son of God, born in a stable or a cave at the end of December, who grew up and worked miracles, then died for the sins of men but three days later he was raised up? Well as a matter of fact it could be any one of several dozen individuals, Osiris of the Egyptians, Adonis and Bacchus of the Greeks, Baal of the Babylonians, Mithras of the Persians, they all fit that description.” There is an “It’s Christmas” aura that many exude and that for some reason we’re just supposed to accept that different rules apply. I purposely go out of my way to hammer home how normal a period this is for me. I remember when I had one of the local drunk/ticket-tout/scumbags stopped and searched by the police (which can be a part of my duty at work) on Christmas Eve. I was given this “But it’s Christmas, how could you?” puppy-dog-look. Hehe, not in my world it isn’t! The only good thing about Christmas to my mind is the abundance of nuts. By which I’m referring to cashews and pistachios in the shops; and not, as funny as they may be, people falling down stairs or struggling home with more shopping than a mule could carry. One person that every year receives Christmas cards from me is the bin man. And pending work colleagues (I seem to have a different manager every year) finally getting the point, I’ll doubtless be giving him many more over the years to come. “Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas” and here’s wishing you’d just stuck it in the trash yourself and saved me doing it.
But the problem of Christmas-enthusiasm doesn’t end with non-Muslims; it’s the Muslim participation that’s more worrying. Suddenly tinsel starts appearing in the local Muslim-owned newsagents or grocers; putting aside for the moment that many often sell cigarettes, pork and alcohol. Actually, that reminds me about a Shaikh who studied in London for some time before returning to the UAE. He went into a newsagent like this and approached the shopkeeper.
Muslim Christmas-ers, until recently, could hide behind Ramadhān; as the two were relatively close. I remember asking a Muslim chemist, “These decorations you have up, are they for Christmas or Ramadhān?” * Shifty eye movement * “Err… for Ramadhān!” But now that there is some distance between the two it isn’t as easy to conceal openly “joining in the fun”. You only have to look at the local halāl butcher that puts up the sign “We would like to wish our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” Have you ever asked one why they do this? The answer is normally along the lines of “Brother, what can I do? It’s good for business.” I reasoned with one, if the non-Muslims had an annual festival where they celebrated your Dad’s inappropriate relationship with young boys, would you join in the festivities? Obviously not, so what about a festival alleging an even greater lie (i.e. son ship) and against someone who should be even more beloved to us than our fathers (i.e. Allāh)? Didn’t Allāh tell us:
And they say, “The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son.”
So I hope you’ll excuse me but I find Christmas offensive!
Wonderfully put. Love the practical suggestions about how to reply! It would be good if, on Eid, all Muslims did actually go around saying, “Eid Mubarak” to everyone around them at random (which I probably would not recommend!), instead of pretending they didn’t celebrate Eid, either!
Posted by on 12/14 at 12:43 PM
Hmm, well there was no red line when I wrote it in a Word doc, which is normally a good sign. I just checked my Oxford Dictionary and it’s listed as an adverb of purposive (i.e. done with a purpose). Which is the way I had intended it. It may be an incorrect usage though, I don’t know. I tend to type how I talk and no-one has pulled me for it in a conversation yet. Any grammarians out there? Posted by Abu Ilyas on 12/14 at 01:22 PM
Ok, I’ve changed both to ‘purposely’ just to be safe (note: I did this on purpose) Jazaki Allahu khairan Posted by Abu Ilyas on 12/14 at 01:36 PM
maybe it was the British form of the word? oh assalamu alaikum sumiyyah (my sister- no, my actual sister) Posted by on 12/14 at 01:48 PM
nice one! Posted by Neon Knight on 12/14 at 09:48 PM
Well Done Posted by on 12/15 at 06:12 AM
You didn’t mention he rise of domestic incidents at this time due to stress of family gatherings because contemporary Western society has no sense of sila al-rahm (keeping ties of relations)which one of the fundamental social aspect of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission (peace be upon him). Also the tragic stories of old people being by themselves (and even dying in the cold) because contemporary Western soceity no longer have a sense of respecting their elders. Posted by on 12/15 at 05:49 PM
I think you’re taking this far too seriously. Or you could be sarcastic. Bottom line is, Christmas is stricly business. It’s all bogus, I’m sure the non-beleivers recognize that notion, too. B/c how’s business going to do in such a freezing, gloomy, and melancholy environment? So they fabricated old Saint Nick to save the economy from such potential disasters. I re-iterate, Christmas is stricly business. Posted by Zahid on 12/17 at 11:43 PM
BarakAllahuFeek for your article. I loved the ayah in the end. I contemplated giving a present to my friend as most people do around this time of the year but I’ve decided to give a gift in the coming Eid. I do not want to celebrate such a holiday which angers Allah(swt) a lot. What I like about Christmas is the decorations and the spirt people have. I realize Muslims can not go around making beautiful statues of deer and singing songs for Eid but still… Eid would be so much enjoyable if people also had such spirit. Remember the thread asking how our Eid went and most people answered that aside from the Eid prayers and going on MSN they did nothing special? Sucky Eids can become fun like Christmas.A few decorative lights will help. *shrug* I want to know what is wrong in celebrating national holidays that do not relate to any religious celebration? I’m sure you have heard of Thanksgiving. Families gather from around the country and have a lovely time together. It’s the American tradition and it’s something that has been going on for centuries. I love being part of my country’s tradition. Posted by on 12/18 at 12:17 AM
My favorite part!: so what about a festival alleging an even greater lie (i.e. son ship) and against someone who should be even more beloved to us than our fathers (i.e. Allāh)? Didn’t Allāh tell us:
And they say, “The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son.”
Posted by on 12/18 at 12:22 AM
Whilst it is something that business has exploited it is not a festival of trade. I don’t see how the festival can be separated from its beliefs and practices because of the presence of profit. It has a history, origin and significance. It is an amalgamation of numerous pagan cults: Roman, Greek, Norse, Druid, etc. all incorporated into Christianity around 325 C.E. when early shapers of Christianity, like Emperor Constantine, wanted to make Christianity more appealing to various pagan groups; by assigning the birth date of Jesus to one already in use by these pagans. At the risk of writing a book on the topic I’ll link some summaries I found on the net http://members.tripod.com/safia71/holidays.htm or this one http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=7856&dgn=4 Some Christian branches, such as the Jehovah Witnesses, are big on pointing out the pagan origins and practices surrounding Christmas. Whilst others lament each year on how the birth of Jesus is becoming forgotten amongst all this commercialism. Either way it is certainly not a Muslim festival. Ask someone on the street why is the date 25th December commemorated. Now whilst you’ll find the odd few that know it’s deeper roots and might answer it’s birth date of the sun god Mithra or the period of Sol Inviticus, your average Joe is going to say “Well it’s supposed to be the birthday of Jesus the son of God [sic].” Even the presence of “Christ” in the word “Christmas” isn’t coincidental. Look at the figure of Santa Claus and he is portrayed as someone who is omnipotent. “He knows when you’ve been sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” Surely we should not be teaching our children this, we should be emphasising to our children that only Allah is al-Samī` (the All-Hearing) al-‘Alīm (All-Knowing)? So whilst I’m often sarcastic, I do in fact find the concept of Christmas offensive, I find it a variance to my beliefs as a Muslim. If a non-Muslim wants to celebrate it then that really is their business. I just dislike the way in which it is celebrated in an all-inclusive manner, that everyone must join in, “I know you don’t celebrate Christmas but here’s a card anyway.” I don’t want one, there is nothing special to me about this date you venerate, kindly exclude me from your festival. Our beloved Messenger(sallallāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam) left us with two Eids we should not be in need of adopting a third. Posted by Abu Ilyas on 12/18 at 09:02 AM
Sister Caramel, I thought it better that the question be put to Shaikh Isam as he is an American resident and would be more familiar with this practice than I. So I have asked it in a thread in the Q&A section on your behalf. Posted by Abu Ilyas on 12/18 at 09:07 AM
There’s an article on Islam-QA regarding Thanksgiving: http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=947&dgn=4 Posted by NaseehaMan on 12/18 at 11:17 AM
this was also talked about in an IN article on the meaning of ‘Eid… http://www.islamicnetwork.com/index.php/weblog/comments/what_is_an_eid_anyway/ Posted by on 12/18 at 03:45 PM
I’ll be sure to get angry and cry about “oppression” when I live in an Islamic country and someone has the audacity(!) to say “Allahu Akbar” to me. I’ll also be sure to NEVER wish anyone Eid Mubarak, etc., since I’m not a Muslim. Bah humbug! Your holidays don’t exist either! You only have to look at the local halāl butcher that puts up the sign “We would like to wish our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
So, if I lived in an Islamic country (as I have before) and ran a business, I should intentionally disregard the beliefs and values of 95% of my customers and ignore Ramadan? I most certainly would not do any such thing--it’s called RESPECT FOR YOUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. Something you and some of the others commenting here obviously do not understand. Like this nonsense from “Anon”:
HA! That’s so ironic it’s hilarious! How about respecting others regardless of age, religion, GENDER, etc.? Who’s got the values problem here? That’s just PRICELESS! No treats for you from Santa this year--Santa doesn’t give treats to RUDE, IGNORANT, PARANOID JERKS. Lighten up and enjoy the goodwill of others. It could be a lot worse, you know (I suspect for someone with your attitude, it is worse). GROW UP. Posted by on 12/20 at 07:32 PM
The point is that Islam holds fast to its belief system and doesn’t alter it to match the whims of the people. We don’t, for example, suddenly decide gay priests are allowed because the people feel they are bored with God’s commandments in that area. Christmas is a religious festival based on specific beliefs, beliefs which are contrary to the Islamic concept of monotheism. We as Muslims are not permitted to take part in it, nor congratulate someone else on their taking part in it, (i.e. wish them a Merry Christmas). I’m not stopping you doing it, just don’t want to be included, why is that so problematic? If your religion, or the belief system that you follow, doesn’t have central tenets that must be adhered to and ones which you don’t compromise on, then I’m sure you don’t have any problems joining in the religious festivals of various nations. However, for us our belief in the oneness of God is central to how we act, what we say and how we judge right from wrong. No-one is forcing you to join in with Eid, so it would really be up to you what you wanted do with a shop in the Middle East. A Muslim in the west who puts up signs wishing his customers Merry Christmas and what not, is putting profit before his beliefs and this is Islamically wrong. All I did is highlight that point and I’m not alone in doing so. You seem to take huge offence with Muslims not wanting to participate in Christmas, why is this so important to you, why do Muslims have to join in when it’s your festival not ours? It just seems strange that you appear to feel that Muslims must be like you before you can accept them. I posted this link earlier but an Islamic scholar responded to a query from a Christian as to why Muslims don’t just join in with things like saying ‘Merry Christmas’. In case you’d like to read more: http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=7856&dgn=4 Posted by Abu Ilyas on 12/21 at 01:31 PM
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