The year is coming to an end, the holidays are approaching and the sun is beaming joy into everyone’s spirits as the glorious summer weather approaches (for Australia at least). As you drive around the streets, you see houses with their front yards sparkling from Christmas-y fairy lights and ornaments. And of course, the Christmas spirit is not complete without the all-important Christmas tree standing tall inside many households – including some Muslim ones.
The History of Christmas
The question that arises in this season of festivities is “is it ok for Muslims to celebrate Christmas”? In order to answer this question, we need to travel back in time. The history of Christmas as we know it is a history that is not known by many, even by Christians themselves. Put simply, the December celebrations we now know as Christmas originated as a pagan tradition, long before Christianity.
However, in the 4th century, Christian leaders began converting masses of Roman pagans to Christianity, and to attract them they converted the pagan ‘Saturnalia’ celebration into the date of Jesus’ birth. I do not want to go into too much detail, but if you’d like to know more, look up the origin of Christmas online and you’ll find in-depth information on this topic.
So, the authenticity of 25th of December being Jesus’ birth is doubtful. The following is an excerpt from the book Ancient Prophets for a Modern World by Sheikh Mansour Leghaei. It is an interesting and logical analysis of the true date of Prophet Isa’s birth:
Most Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on the 25 December of every year except the Armenian Christians who celebrate it on 6 January. Unfortunately, neither of the above celebrations have biblical proof.
According with Luke at the time of the birth of Jesus, the shepherds tended their flocks in the fields at night. “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields.” (Luke2:8)
December in Bethlehem is in the middle of a freezing, cold and rainy winter and no shepherds would have kept their flock outdoors. Keeping the flocks in the field would be more possible sometime in August or September. The holy Quran also confirms that the birth of Jesus could not be in the winter season, since Mary gave birth outdoors under a date-palm.
According with a Tradition narrated from Imam Ridha’ (a.s) Prophet Jesus was born on 25 of Thol-Qa’dah which will be on 26 June. The month of June in Bethlehem is the middle of the summer season and hence the above date in the Hadith of Imam Ridha’ (a.s) is in accordance with the Quran and the Biblical record.
In the northern hemisphere, the last days of December are the longest nights of the year, the most suitable time for parties. The celebration of the birth of Jesus on 25 December and the New Year five nights afterward would give the best opportunities for the Christians to get caught up in parties, drinking, driving and an increase of the death toll. At best, Christmas is mainly a period of celebrations and a family time. This, it must be acknowledged, has made Christmas more of a holiday than a holy day! (You can access the book here)
Christmas trees, like other Christmas traditions, originated from the pagans who used to worship trees. Hence, the Church converted these trees into symbols of Christmas celebrations. As you can probably conclude from this, Christmas as a celebration itself is not truly rooted in the birth of Christ. If you think about it, for those of us who live in secular countries such as Australia, the U.K. or USA, it is strange that the most celebrated tradition in these nations is Christmas – a supposedly Christian practice.
Celebrating these few days in December is a pagan tradition, not a Christian one. In fact, paganism is defined as a group of people observing a polytheistic religion – the very antithesis of both Christianity and Islam!
In reality, Christmas is more of a Western tradition, a way to immerse oneself in Western culture – and not many would disagree with this. Many people who celebrate Christmas aren’t even religious. Where is the remembrance of Prophet Isa (pbuh)? If you think of Christmas, the first thing that comes to your mind would likely be the presents, trees, dinners and of course Santa Claus. So, celebrating these few days in December is a pagan tradition, not a Christian one. In fact, paganism is defined as a group of people observing a polytheistic religion – the very antithesis of both Christianity and Islam!
Have you ever asked “why”?
From the perspective of Islamic law, there is nothing theoretically wrong with having a Christmas tree. It is ultimately like any other indoor plant you place inside your home. The problem is when our intention behind doing so lies in the desire to assimilate to the supposedly superior Western culture. You may think you are getting a Christmas tree for the kids to enjoy. But if you deeply ponder and ask yourself with full sincerity why you are upholding Christmas traditions, you will probably come to a different conclusion.
The even bigger problem with adopting these Christmas rituals is that, in doing so, you are supporting a tradition which goes against Islamic teachings. Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur’an:
﷽
إِنَّمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا فَابْتَغُوا عِندَ اللَّهِ الرِّزْقَ وَاعْبُدُوهُ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ ۖ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
You worship besides Allah only idols, and you only invent falsehood. Verily, those whom you worship besides Allah have no power to give you provision: so seek your provision from Allah (Alone), and worship Him (Alone), and be grateful to Him. To Him (Alone) you will be brought back.
-Qur’an [29:17]
One of the core beliefs in Islam is the belief in one God – to actually be a Muslim you must testify that there is no God other than Allah (swt). The above verse beautifully rationalises why idol worshipping and worshipping any other deity than Allah (swt) is wrong – they have no power over us and are therefore not worthy of worship. Allah (swt) is the only One worthy of worship and total submission as He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful, and the Perfect One. Worshipping Allah (swt) brings us dignity and honour. Worshipping idols brings nothing but humiliation. Now, recall that Christmas trees symbolise the trees that were worshipped by the pagans before Christianity. These beautiful, glistening, and decorative trees are actually remnants of a tree-worshipping community who took trees to be their God. Taking all this into consideration, we can see that bringing a Christmas tree into your home is indirectly supporting the concept of polytheism, and therefore opposing Islam.
Also, some might claim that having Christmas trees is a way of displaying unity with other faiths. However, by doing this we aren’t attempting to actually integrate our faiths and unite in our similarities, as we are just blindly following a tradition in the comfort and privacy of our own homes. Interfaith dialogue would be a better place to start if we wanted to foster love and unity. The idea that we need to partake in traditions like Christmas is a colonial construct that we do because it makes us feel more ‘modern’. The reality is, we don’t need to celebrate Christmas in order to validate our existence. We need to be proud of who we are, proud of our Muslim identities.
Christmas and Consumerism
Aside from this, Christmas is the season for consumerism to thrive. The discussion of consumerism and its dangers are for another time, but what we must come to realise is that we were not created for this life of spending, spending and more spending. These days all we do is consume, at the expense of ourselves and others. In fact, consumerism is a major cause of environmental degradation and mental illnesses. When we feel the need to consume endlessly, we are never satisfied with what we have.
In reality, our needs are very limited. Most of the things we own, we don’t actually need. If you asked someone, do you really need those Christmas lights? Do you really need that new shirt? Do you really need that new phone case? The answer will almost always be no. This concept becomes evident when you go on a holiday. For weeks, you live exclusively out of a small suitcase. You wash your clothes and repeat your outfits, you wear the same pair of shoes every day, you eat simple food. You don’t need that huge closet and endless storage spaces filled to the rim. Yet, when the culture of the society you live in is a consumerist culture, this is easier said than done.
At the end of the day, we must find strength in the Islamic teachings, which have the solutions to all the problems in the world, just waiting for us to implement them. In Surah 102 of the Qur’an (Surah Al-Takathur), Allah (SWT) says:
أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ
You are distracted by mutual competition in amassing worldly benefits.
All this desire to “amass” worldly possessions, such as wealth and position, is perfectly described as a distraction. It is a distraction from our purpose in life, which is to serve God by helping ourselves and others to find the truth and to do good. Being engrossed in the consumerist mentality is so distracting because it is a never-ending cycle. There is never a point when we believe we have enough and we are left with no time to think about anything other than collecting material things. Consumerism has now begun to consume us.
If nothing else, let us embrace the words of Prophet Isa(Jesus) (pbuh) himself who said:
“Flee from this temporal world towards God, and wrench your hearts free from it. You shall not remain for it and it shall not remain for you. It will deceive you and cause you much pain. He is truly deceived who is fooled by it. So turn to your creator and fear your Lord.”
With everyone buying presents and Christmas decorations, the consumerist mentality thrives greatly during this season, and we are in no way ‘fleeing from this temporal world’ like Prophet Isa (pbuh) advised us to. This year, Australians are expected to spend a massive $25 billion collectively, with an average of $1,325 per person (source). That calls for a very merry Christmas for all the CEO’s out there.
So what should Muslims do during the festive season?
- Learn about the life of Prophet Isa (pbuh), through the Qur’an in Surah Maryam, Surah Aal-Imran and other chapters, as well as through reading the stories of the prophets. This is imperative not only for children but for adults too, as it is an opportunity for us to learn from their lives and the lessons they taught us. After all, they are all our prophets and were sent for the benefit of mankind, i.e. us. In Prophet Isa’s case specifically, this occasion allows us to ponder upon the miraculous story of his birth, which is a manifestation of God’s might and power. Click on the links below to read some of our other articles about Prophet Isa:
- Strengthen our Muslim identity, as the majority of Muslims who celebrate Christmas do so as a way of showing that they too are ‘normal’ and prepared to integrate into western society. Let’s use this time to remind ourselves of why we are Muslims, and how proud we should be to be followers of Islam and humble servants of Allah (swt). And while we’re at it, let’s instil this sense of pride in our children.
- Enjoy family time. Use the public holidays as an opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones. During the year, everyone is busy with work and other commitments, so it can be difficult to congregate and bond for a sufficient amount of time. So, go on a picnic with your family, visit each other’s houses or simply stay at home and do some fun activities. We can enjoy this season without having a Christmas tree by our side.
As Muslims, but also as rational human beings, we must know exactly why we are doing something before doing it ourselves. Once you look into the history of Christmas trees you might think twice about upholding this tradition in your own household – and the same goes for other areas of our life where we follow things blindly. The key is, never do something without truly knowing why you are doing it.
By Noor Alsaffar
