Is it wrong to participate in the christmas holiday?
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Salam,
Is is wrong to participate in the christmas holiday?
... especially since we do believe in jesus. Not the same way as christians of course, but we have high regards toward jesus as a prophet of God. Now, I know the Quran says we should not differentciate between the prophets... and this can seem to be doing just that, but there are many people who celebrate the tradition of santa claus who don't recognize jesus at all during this time.
I am undecided on this issue and would like your thoughts.
I do know, as an american, this is the most giving time of the year.
How can that be all bad?Peace,
dotty -
The funny thing about religious holidays nowadays is that they have all become consumer holidays... idul fitri = clothes sale, haj season = travel agent bonanza, christmas = toys galore, valentine = everything pink must go, etc. Here, the only religious holiday not touched by money is the local Hindus' Nyepi holiday, where they stay at home and do nothing but pray all day long (no eating/purchasing/any other activities).
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I was referring to the giving to charities, the less fortunate, etc.
Salaam dotty,
I did not mean to undermine your statement, my observation is about the mockery of the festive seasons.
Ramadan too is season of spending on charities but why limit charities to festivity- May be to justify overspending.
Andya Primanda is right most festivals including Devali are all about consumerism.Bset regards
farida -
Peace to all,
Your right amuslim , it is a pagan tradition, in the old testament in Jeremiah theres a verse that says,,be not like the pagans, who cut down green trees and decorate them with silver and gols,,, when i say this to people they get all mad at me, i say im just quoting the bible, then they say well you can use the bible to justify anything,,
no kidding,
Kurt
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Maybe you forgot to tell us how you would participate ....
I mean, if you are gonna dress as santa and make those kids smile and laugh, i guess there's no harm in there but telling lies is sinful.
Yes, maybe I should mention the kind of participating I had in mind. That would be... going to the office christmas party, spending time with family, giving our children gifts... that's pretty much what I had in mind.
The origin of Christmas is pagan, why would you want to participate in it? As far as gifts go, why does it have to be at that time of the year? Do it year round.
My husband and I already do this year round, in many shapes.
I did not mean to undermine your statement, my observation is about the mockery of the festive seasons.
Ramadan too is season of spending on charities but why limit charities to festivity- May be to justify overspending.
Andya Primanda is right most festivals including Devali are all about consumerism.Thanks, but no problem... I just wanted to make it clear what I was talking about.
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Peace
Peace to all,
Your right amuslim , it is a pagan tradition, in the old testament in Jeremiah theres a verse that says,,be not like the pagans, who cut down green trees and decorate them with silver and gols,,, when i say this to people they get all mad at me, i say im just quoting the bible, then they say well you can use the bible to justify anything,,
no kidding,
Kurt
Thank you for pointing that out, that is exactly what it says. Christians however do not see this as pagan, its praising the birth of their god.
Theres also other stuff like December 25 being the birth of the sun God, but Christians state that this isnt valid. That zeitgeist movie has a lot of info on this, not exactly sure how old their sources are.
http//www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
Peace,
So is the gregorian calendar, so are the days of the week, so are the names of planets.
Should we not use them?
The system of God is simple, let's not complicate it.
Thats different. You are just using that for a system of measurement. If you were to use it for a special purpose, then that would be a different story.
Same as Christmas. What exactly is so important that you need to participate in such a thing?
Lets say some people worship the sun, and they give gifts on this day. Are you saying that you should be able to participate in this event? As I stated, do this every year. What makes Christmas so special, other then that its pagan?
My husband and I already do this year round, in many shapes.
If thats the case, then why ask the question? I can see if you do this because you have a day off, so you just get together with family since its convenient. But to celebrate it, thats where the problem comes in IMO.
Peace
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Peace,
I'm not convinced it's a terrible thing to do. It's important that we don't worship any god besides God. Socializing at the office christmas party, hanging out with family and giving gifts doesn't do that from my point of view.
My parents are so happy when we come and spend the day with them. They are christian, but the talk of religion does not come up when we visit. Yes, they know I am muslim. It's just tradition to spend time together and give gifts.
And my office christmas party is not something to be taken as optional. After all, my attendance at the christmas party shows my attitude towards the company and reflects on me. It's really just the company doing something nice for the employees... it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with tradition.
Concentrating on it being a "pagan" holiday seems silly to me. We work with pagans every day, we take loans from pagans, we are treated at the hospital by pagans, our appliances/appliances are made by pagans, etc... the point is... just because we share the world with pagans doesn't mean we think the same way they do.
dotty
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Peace dotty
Peace,
I'm not convinced it's a terrible thing to do. It's important that we don't worship any god besides God. Socializing at the office christmas party, hanging out with family and giving gifts doesn't do that from my point of view.
My parents are so happy when we come and spend the day with them. They are christian, but the talk of religion does not come up when we visit. Yes, they know I am muslim. It's just tradition to spend time together and give gifts.
And my office christmas party is not something to be taken as optional. After all, my attendance at the christmas party shows my attitude towards the company and reflects on me. It's really just the company doing something nice for the employees... it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with tradition.
Concentrating on it being a "pagan" holiday seems silly to me. We work with pagans every day, we take loans from pagans, we are treated at the hospital by pagans, our appliances/appliances are made by pagans, etc... the point is... just because we share the world with pagans doesn't mean we think the same way they do.
dotty
I think thats another problem, being that it is a tradition. Again, you are asking for opinions so Im just giving my own and I dont mean to sound rude or anything like that, so forgive me if I come off that way or if I am too blunt
We can make contracts with them, its stated in the Quran. Im against celebrating it as a Holiday. Im that way with all holidays not sanctioned in Quran. As I mentioned, if its just because you have a day off and its convenient to spend time with your family during this year, then its a good point. If this is a day that makes other days feel different then Im against it.
As you said, you give all the time, which got me confused as to why you would want to do this holiday. But after reading your above paragraph, for me, that would be fine, so long that the holiday means nothing to you, and its just as every other day.
Peace
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I think thats another problem, being that it is a tradition. Again, you are asking for opinions so Im just giving my own and I dont mean to sound rude or anything like that, so forgive me if I come off that way or if I am too blunt
We can make contracts with them, its stated in the Quran. Im against celebrating it as a Holiday. Im that way with all holidays not sanctioned in Quran. As I mentioned, if its just because you have a day off and its convenient to spend time with your family during this year, then its a good point. If this is a day that makes other days feel different then Im against it.
As you said, you give all the time, which got me confused as to why you would want to do this holiday. But after reading your above paragraph, for me, that would be fine, so long that the holiday means nothing to you, and its just as every other day.
You're right amuslim, I am just asking for opinions, so I don't feel you are being rude at all. It's not a huge day for me, I just think it makes sense to participate as requested by people around you. I know where my heart is at.
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Peace Amuslim,
We meet again jedi ;D
Thats different. You are just using that for a system of measurement. If you were to use it for a special purpose, then that would be a different story.
Same as Christmas. What exactly is so important that you need to participate in such a thing?
Lets say some people worship the sun, and they give gifts on this day. Are you saying that you should be able to participate in this event? As I stated, do this every year. What makes Christmas so special, other then that its pagan?
But that's the thing, a lot of non-christians and christians 'celebrate' christmas. Not for what it is, but to give to others. There are a lot of charities at this time of the year that focus on giving. I see nothing wrong with that. I believe it's the minority that focus on the Jesus aspect.
I don't need to participate in it; I haven't before. I just see nothing wrong with it. As long as the focus is not on jesus, which it rarely is. They even have laws in the states for these sort of things. I.E. say "Happy holidays" and NOT "Merry christmas"
There's nothing special about christmas. It's just a time of the year that's designated to something specific.
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Peace,
I'm not convinced it's a terrible thing to do. It's important that we don't worship any god besides God.
And my office christmas party is not something to be taken as optional. After all, my attendance at the christmas party shows my attitude towards the company and reflects on me. It's really just the company doing something nice for the employees... it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with tradition.
We work with pagans every day, we take loans from pagans, we are treated at the hospital by pagans, our appliances/appliances are made by pagans, etc... the point is... just because we share the world with pagans doesn't mean we think the same way they do.
dotty
Salaam dotty
You asked our opinion so My parents are so happy when we come and spend the day with them. They are christian, but the talk of religion does not come up when we visit. Yes, they know I am muslim. It's just tradition to spend time together and give gifts.
The rights of parents are clearly stated in the Qur?an and in my opinion visiting your Christian parents on Xmas is the best sadaqa as those moments of happiness you give to them by participating in their festival is ?lowering your wings in humbleness? to them.
Socializing at the office christmas party, hanging out with family and giving gifts doesn't do that from my point of view. . I agree that office parties are just a social event and have no religious value, but I would avoid eating any food dedicated to Christ, for example hot cross buns etc
Concentrating on it being a "pagan" holiday seems silly to me.If one does not want to go to Hajj for fear that there may be pagan rituals involved there, why not avoid the pagan ritual of Christmas?
However we have to think of rights of children too so when my children were small I decorated my house with bits and bobs and even had gifts for the children on Christmas including the stocking surprise so that my children would not feel at all that our way of life is sad; (you can?t argue with children especially when you are in minority) but at the same time I kept reminding them that this is just for fun and I do not believe in it. Now that my children have grown up no one bothers about the consumerism of Christmas. May Allah forgive me for wrongs I have done
Best regards
farida