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Name
New Muslim
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Profession
Question
As-Salam `Alaykum, I am new Muslim and I am living with my Christian family in a non-Muslim society. My family is celebrating Christmas and I want to ask if it is wrong for me to attend their celebration.
Answer
Participating in the non-religious aspect of Christmas such as family reunion dinner or visitation is Ok. Attempts should be made to avoid situations where alcoholic drinks are served on the same table. Kindness to parents and family without compromising one’s beliefs is an Islamic duty.
During socialization and whenever appropriate, one may share his or her thought with them preferably in answer to their questions or comments without being too argumentative.
Name
Fouad
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Profession
Question
If a Christian fellow says merry Christmas to you, what should you say back to him?
Answer
Happy holidays! The term holiday is now used to refer to any vacation.
Name
Sajeda
- United Kingdom
Profession
housewife
Question
My 10 year old son was a narrator in the christmas play at school. He had to attend the church, take part in their prayers and narrate for the play. I advised my son about the differences in the our 2 religions. Is it prohibited for muslim children to take part in these nativity plays? Should I have spoken to his teachers and got him out of taking part?
Answer
You should have spoken to the teacher that you wished to preserve your child’s religious identity, as this play may not entirely fit with his belief. The teacher should be told that we believe in love and respect of Jesus as a great Prophet of God, but necessarily share the belief in his divinity.
If, however, the teacher wants your son to explain Muslim’s views about Jesus, as part of inter-faith understanding, there is no harm in doing this, provided that your son is well prepared to do that.
Name
Asad
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Profession
Student
Question
As-Salamu `Alaykum,I have a question? Can Muslims go to a Christmas party when they are invited by a Non-Muslim? Did Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ever accepted any gifts or food on the religious occasions of Jews and Christians? Just today my landlord who is a Christian gave me a big turkey. I was wondering what to do with it? I need to know the Islamic rules based on this issue.
Answer
I would not encourage going to these parties. Muslims should take advantage of the holidays to have their own conferences, camps, or other useful activities, as many too in North America.
There is no prohibition about sharing food with others or accepting their gifts, so enjoy your turkey and maybe you can also give him a gift in our Eid.
Name
shah allah ihsan
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Profession
--
Question
Now I have a real case here – we live in Canada - my kids were like each year preparing for the big school festivity like each year , where they are engaged in singing and plays and so on , I thought they are going to sing like every year songs like jingle bells … but I was disappointed when I found out that they are singing and repeating in their songs LORD JESUS , now what should be my reaction . I did not allow them to take part in the festivity , was that wrong, what should I do , as I may face the same situation next year.
Answer
You did the right thing, but you need to explain to your children why. For example, the only Lord of the Universe and the Lord of Jesus and all prophets is the one true God, Allah. And any other form of shirk is strictly forbidden in Islam. There is absolutely no compromise on that. Restriction applies only to these types of activities. In other words, they can go to regular classes which do not involve this type of activity.
Name
Mona
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Profession
Question
Is saying merry Christmas similar to saying: “I wish you longer commitment to your pagan belief.”
Answer
I would rather use the term “happy holiday”. Please check my previous answer as to why.
Social courtesies do not imply acceptance of the Person’s belief. Furthermore, it is unfair to call Christian belief “pagan”. The Qur’an never referred to Christians or Jews as pagans (mushrikeen). It distinctively called them “People of the Book” in spite of what we consider to be elements of Shirk. Yet, nowhere in the Qur’an were they given the title “mushrikeen” (see the Qur’an: 98:1).
Name
iman
- Australia
Profession
Question
My kids really have some inferiority feelings due to the fact that their school – they go to a public school – celebrates all kinds of occasions that have not to do with islam they celebrate even the Chinese new year and educate kids about festivities here and there with no mention to Muslim celebrities. How can I regain my kids pride of their Islamic identity.
Answer
Learning about other cultures without participating in purely religious or other forbidden activities is Ok. But you should also speak to the authorities in the school that Muslim children should also share their culture, which may be an indirect da’wah.
Name
ahmed ismail
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Profession
engineer
Question
What do you think Dr Jamal , how can we teach our kids respect to other religion , ethnicities and races while they feel so down when they deal with their peers at school , who are actually not ready to get rid of the stereotyped Islamic image that the media has created within their minds. I feel our kids need to be able to answer all incoming questions like why don’t u celebrate Christmas? Why don’t you have a Christmas tree at home , why is in your religion nothing that is similar to santa clause ….How can we make our kids up to the level of being able to answer all these questions.
Answer
The Qur’an teaches religious freedom and acceptance or plurality in society, while maintaining one’s religious identity. We need to teach our children to show that respect and acceptance of others, but also emphasize our viewpoint. This is specially important in view of the image problem you spoke about, which makes it important to understand the Islam bashing objections and find the best answer to teach to ourselves and to our children.
For example, if they are asked: why don’t you celebrate Christmas, we could say:
1. Not all Christians agree on the date of Christmas. For example, eastern Orthodox Christian celebrate it in January.
2. There are some Christian scholars (e.g. Herbert Armstrong) who explain that based on the Bible description of the night Jesus was born, that it is impossible to be in winter, as it speaks about shepherds staying at night outdoors in these cold nights. Some researchers found out that the Christmas tree and many other related celebrations had pagan origins. For sure, Jesus and his early followers did not have Christmas trees or Santa clause.
3. We are not required religiously (even though some Muslims do) to celebrate the birthday of even our Prophet Muhammad.
4. Islam respects all Prophets and there are tens of thousands of Prophets. How many birthdates should we then celebrate even if we know.
5. The most important thing is not the birthday of any prophet, but the message they brought to humanity.
6. However, we have no problem with people deciding to celebrate if they wish to.
Name
ziad
- United States
Profession
teacher
Question
Some Muslim schools diffrentiate between what is non-Muslim religious holidays and non religious holidays. Some say that thanksgiving and memorial or independence day are not religious and Muslims can participate in it. What do you think of this distinction and what holidays Muslims can participate in without violating thier religious identity?
Answer
I know of no religious basis for thanksgiving. It is a cultural social occasion. As such, there is no ground to say that participating in it is haram. We are offering thanks to Allah (SWT) for His bounties is praiseworthy, but it should be year round and not once a year.
Name
Hasan
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Profession
Question
As-Salamu`alaykum. My question is, can Muslims attend Christmas dinner at a Christian friends house? Also, I'm in the my school's singing class here in the US. Is it allowed to sing Christmas songs with the class? You see, we have this concert at school at the end of the year where the school's band plays christmas music, songs such as "Jingle Bells" while the kids from the music class sing to its tune. Thanks.
Answer
As answered before, eating with non-Muslims is not haram in itself. A mere dinner, even in Christmas, is not haram. However, participation in Christmas songs and concerts is undesirable since certain religious lines we don’t accept like calling Jesus “Lord“ may be mixed with “Jingle Bells.”
However, we should have a substitute interesting activists organized by the Muslim community, so that they do not feel deprived of legitimate entertainment.
Examples of these activities are: Qur’an competitions with awards followed by a pizza party, showing interesting Islamic video, or organizing a trip or camp.
Name
manal saad
- Belgium
Profession
tutor
Question
Is it allowed for my kid to play at school the role of an angle : the play is going to narrate the story of Jesus’ birth.
Answer
It is wrong for the Muslim child to get involved in any play displaying the birth of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him). This is based on the fact that these plays would contain religious beliefs such as the birth of the Lord, which we do not accept as Muslims.
Name
mmm
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Profession
Question
I am an American Muslim born into a Muslim family. I am now in the process of learning much about Islam and I have begun to pray. My children go to an Arabic school and they are learning about this wonderful religion, and my husband and I are enforcing this good behaviour at home.
However, I have a question. I was raised with Santa Claus and the Xmas tree every year, but I did not realize this was about Jesus Christ. We as children just wanted the gift aspect. I also wanted to enjoy the Santa phase so I now bring out the ‘`Eid tree’ and hang candy on it. It comes out at `Eid and goes back in the box two weeks later.
My children know this as the `Eid tree. Is this acceptable? I teach my children to respect different peoples’ religions, but to cherish theirs.
Answer
1. As answered earlier, the idea of Chritmas tree did not come from Christ, but from Pagan origins.
2. How can we have Eid tree if it is not the time for our Eid?!
3. Respecting or accepting people’s religious rights does not mean that you have to join celebration of something which is inconsistent with your religious beliefs.
Name
Wess
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Profession
Question
Why do Muslims refuse to celebrate our feasts? Why don't they respect the other relegions?
Answer
The same question can be raised: why don’t Christians celebrate Muslims’ feasts? It is unfair for either Muslims or Christians that others celebrate their religious feasts.
Furthermore, refraining from celebrating a feast of a certain religion does not necessarily imply disrespect of that religion. As the Qur’an teaches, “Unto you is your religion, and unto me is mine.”
What kind of disrespect does this imply? In fact, it is intolerant and Chauvinistic to take one’s private religious beliefs or related feasts as the ultimate standard that everybody else must abide by irrespective of their private beliefs.
Name
Asiyah
- United States
Profession
Unemployed
Question
May peace be upon you Dr. Bedawi!
I have two questions:
1. What is your learned opinion on Muslims having a party on Christmas Day in place of Christmas (reasoning given is so the kids don't feel left out)?
2. Our Imam recently gave a khutbah approving celebrating Thanksgiving Day at our mosque, on the grounds that the non-Muslims were being thankful to God on that day, so we should not do any less, and thank him as well for the bounties of America. What is your inclination on this decision?
Answer
As for your first question, I am not suggesting to have a binding celebration in place of Christmas. All I am suggesting is that this is a time when parents and children are out of school and on vacation, in which case they could organize useful Islamic activities and halal entertainment, which could also serve as removing any feeling among our children that they are deprived. By saying this I am not calling for Islamizing Christmas celebrations or having “Eid tree” instead of Christmas tree.
As far as the second question is concerned, my inclination, even though it is not a religious celebration, is not to call it a celebration. Please refer to my answer to the first question in this session.
Furthermore, as indicated earlier, thanksgiving is not in one day or two in the year. It is something we repeat in our daily prayer, and throughout the day when we eat or drink and succeed in our endeavors.
Name
Editor
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Profession
Answer
Finally, we would like to thank our guest for speaking to Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We apologize for not being able to accommodate all the questions within the time allocated to this session. We request our readers to join us in the upcoming sessions.
