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by Anonymous on December 24th, 2003

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Why don't Muslims celebrate Christmas?

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  • by Abdullah bin America on December 8th, 2004

    Abdullah bin America

    Muslims are taught to love and respect Jesus, whom we know as Prophet Isa (May Allah's blessing be on him).

    Muslims observe holy-days based on the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah's infinite mercy and blessings on him) and the practices of his family, companions and the first few generations of Muslim scholars (May Allah's mercy be on them all). As the Prophet neither ordered an observance of Christmas nor observed it himself, to add this practice to the routine of Muslim life would be an undesirable innovation.

    Among Christians, there is no agreement on the exact date of Christmas. The Catholic Church's observance was orginally timed to replace the pagan winter solstice festival and appease converts. Most Christians in the Middle East and North Africa observed Christmas according to other calendars.

    Among Muslims, the anniversary of Prophet Isa's (Jesus's) birth falls on Ashura Night, the 10th night of the 1st month of the Muslim calendar. This auspicious night is the anniversary of many other events that happened in the lives of many Prophets (may Allah bless them all). This holy-night is observed worldwide. For more information see chapter 60 of the Third Fascicle of Endless Bliss: http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Endless_Bliss_Third_Fascicle/bliss3_60.htm

    Christmas, as observed in America, practices derived from pagan sources overwhelm the spiritual: Christmas trees, mistletoe, yule-tide log, wreaths are notable. Santa Claus is cute folklore distorted into crass materialism.

    The festive songs celebrate not God, from whom all blessings and mercy flow, but rather the Christian beliefs in the divinity of Jesus, his co-diety with God, and his being the son of God: all concepts rejected by Muslims.

    The traditional holiday parties, with the infamous excessive consumption of alcohol, encourage the free mixing of men and women in an atmosphere of flirtation. More than one marraige or career has been damaged as a result of the Christmas party romance. There are no benefits for Muslims in these activities.

    Despite the spirit of the holiday, auto accidents, drunk driving arrests, suicides and crime increase during the Christmas season. Families go deep into debt as commercial materialism is promoted mercilessly in the media. Again there are no benefits for Muslims.

    The spirit of love and peace and giving and family are all wonderful benefits of the Christmas holiday. These same benefits and more are experienced by Muslims worldwide during our own Islamic Holy Days of Happiness.

    We wish our Christian neighbors the joy and peace of their holidays. For Muslims, Christmas has nothing to offer and much to avoid.

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  • by Too Much Time On My Hands on May 18th, 2004

    Too Much Time On My Hands

    EDIT: My original answer follows below, but I'd like to answer the feedback my comments have received from some Christians. I think that I could have made myself clearer. Muslims and Christians will never be in 100% agreement about Jesus. Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet, not as the son of God. Some Christians will quote incidences in the Bible where Jesus refers to God as his father. What I should have specified is that Muslims believe in Jesus and his prophet status, but we do not recognize the New Testament of the Bible as a completely accurate record of what he said/did. We believe the story of his birth (hence my answer below about Christmas), we believe his basic message about how to treat your fellow man, but we do not believe in a Holy Trinity, nor a Crucifixion/Resurrection. This is why, although Muslims and Christians both believe in Jesus, they believe different and, sometimes, contradictory things about him. We have the highest respect for Jesus, considering him one of the most important prophets, and would never call him a liar. We simply don't believe that he ever said he was the son of God, even if other traditions have records stating that he did.

    Okay? I know the Christians have their own opinion that differs from the Muslim one, and I respect it (the Qur'an does tell us to respect the Christians and their beliefs even if we don't agree with everything. At the end of the day, both faiths lead to heaven). Now on to my original answer . . . .

    Muslims believe in a long line of prophets extending back to Adam himself. This includes most of the major Biblical figures: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus... some Muslims I know claim that we cannot even know exactly how many prophets there were because there were many, but I can't provide an exact reference for that.

    In fact, by including people like Adam and Noah, the Muslim list of prophets is even more inclusive than the Jewish one. Jesus is an important prophet although Muslims reject the idea that he was the son of God, as well as the concept of a Trinity. Muslims all believe that Muhammad (pbuh) was the last of the prophets, and that he is the most important because he brought Islam (Judaism and Christianity are seen as earlier versions of the same divine message from the same God, but with certain differences in interpretation that caused Him to try again through Muhammad (pbuh)).

    Many Muslims celebrate Muhammad's birthday (pbuh) because he is the most important of the Muslim prophet. While celebrating the birth of Jesus is not traditional because he is not the primary prophet, Muslims do believe in most of the Christmas story EXCEPT the role of God as Father. I cannot think of any specific reasons why it would be wrong to celebrate Christmas, just that it is not traditional. In homes like the one I grew up in, with one Muslim parent and one Christian parent, it can certainly happen. The first Muslim community (620s AD) lived among Jews and fasted Yom Kippur with them; ideally Muslims are to respect Christianity, Judaism, and especially the common points that they share.

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  • by moezaabdelgawad on September 11th, 2006

    moezaabdelgawad

    Muslims don't celebrate Christmas because they worship God alone.

    They do not worship Muhammad nor Jesus, even though they revere them so much and look up much to their examples (authentic reports of their way of life, that is).

    Muslims are not allowed to excessively praise Muhammad, lest they fall in the same trap Christians unfortunately fell into, eventually deifying Jesus. The only divine is God/Allah (The Creator), and Muhammad and Jesus, peace be upon them both, are nothing but excellent humans (not divine). Celebrating Muhammad's birth (which some ignorant "Muslims" do), or Jesus' birthday (Christmas) is an excessive praise of them. Christians already fell in the trap and do by now worship Jesus. Muslims should/would not. They have/had enough warning.

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  • by DeepThought on December 25th, 2003

    DeepThought

    Islam does not venerate Jesus of Nazareth in the way that Christianity does. Muslims reject the idea that Jesus was the son of God and as such the messiah, therefore his birth doesn't quite mean so much to them. (If I am incorrect in this please feel free to correct me)

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  • by muslim2 on November 13th, 2006

    muslim2

    No, DeepThought you are mistaken. We do believe that Jesus was the Messiah. That is what the word christ means, Christ means Messiah and he was jEsus the Christ!

    Please note that three different and distinct questions were posed to John the Baptist and to which he gave three emphatic "NO'S" as answers. To recapitulate:-
    1) ART THOU THE CHRIST?
    2) ART THOU ELIAS?
    3) ART THOU THAT PROPHET?

    See, the Jews were waited for THREE PROPHECIES, THE CHRIST , i.e Jesus, THE PROPHET! CHristians have nothing to say about this. It is obviuse, it was Mohammed. Who after Jesus claimed prophecie and actually formed a relegion which lasted other then Mohammed.

    To answer your question, simply put, there is no proof that Jesus was really born on the day of christmas.

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  • by Jumana on August 27th, 2006

    Jumana

    I wont say much,,, but why should they????

    or let me say it another way...why don's christian celebrate eid al ath7ah(after 7aj) or eid alfiter (after ramadan)??

    very simple. huh?!

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  • by Anonymous on April 20th, 2005

    Anonymous

    Very good faq.

    Muslims are not suppose to celebrate anyone's birthdays, not even their own, like the Jehovah's Witness (sp?) The way it is looked at is that each day that goes by we are closer to the grave, so why would anyone want to celebrate getting close to their grave?

    In Islam, it is not allowed to celebrate any prophet's birthday, not even the Prophet Muhammad's. However, many people think they are supposed to, and they do thinking they are getting reward, but it's actually a religious innovation--they are just decieving themselves.

    In al-Saheehayn it is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces anything into our religion that is not part of it, will have it rejected.:”According to a version narrated by Muslim: “Whoever does any action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it rejected."

    “Verily, the likeness of ‘Eesa (Jesus) before Allaah is the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then (He) said to him: ‘Be!’ — and he was”
    [Aal ‘Imraan 3:59] <--In the Quran

    Since Adam did not have parents, and neither did Jesus (peace be upon them both), Muslims do not say that either of them are the children of God or that their birthdays should be celebrated.

    Ahmad (9349) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I am the closest of people to ‘Eesa ibn Maryam because there was no Prophet between him and me…”

    Muslims do not prefer one prophet over another because all of them spread the message of tawheed (the oneness of God--that he has no partners, no children, and no parents). We can not overpraise any prophet and say that this one is better than that one. Unfortunately, many people over praise the last Prophet so much so that one wonders if such Muslims are implying that he has divine attributes. They even end up saying things that would be considered shirk (associating partners to Allah), which is a major sin. May God guide them, amen.

    The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said (what means): "Do not overpraise me as the Christians overpraised the son of Mary (i.e. 'Isa AS(Jesus peace be upon him). I am His slave, so say: Allah's slave and Messenger." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

    From Sahih Bukhari: Chapter 47, Book of Disputes:
    2280. It is related that Abu Hurayra said, "Two men insulted one another - one of the men was a Muslim and the other man was a Jew. The Muslim said, 'By the One who chose Muhammad over all the worlds,' and the Jew said, 'By the One who chose Musa(Moses) over all the worlds.' At that, the Muslim raised his hand and slapped the Jew's face. So the Jew went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and told him about what had happened between him and the Muslim. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, summoned the Muslim and asked him about that and he told him. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated, 'Do not prefer me over Musa. On the Day of Rising, people will faint, and I will faint with them. I will be the first to regain consciousness, and there will be Musa grasping the Throne. I do not know whether he will be among those who fainted and came to before me, or if he was one of those that Allah excepted.'"

    2281. It is related that Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said, "While the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was seated, a Jew came and said, 'Abu'l-Qasim! One of your Companions has struck my face.' 'Who?' he asked. He replied, 'A man of the Ansar.' He said, 'Summon him,' and he asked, 'Did you strike him?' He said, 'I heard him taking an oath in the market, "By the One who chose Musa over all mankind." I said, "O base one, above Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace!" Anger took hold of me and I struck his face.' The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Do not make rivalry between the Prophets. On the Day of Rising people will faint and I will be the first from the earth splits. There will be Musa holding to one of the legs of the Throne, and I do not know whether he will be among those who fainted or if the first unconsciousness was enough for him.'"

    Please watch and listen to this lecture called Jesus in Islam.
    http://www.islamyesterday.com/videos/

    and please read this:
    http://63.175.194.25/topics/christmas/christmas.shtml
    http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=13810&dgn=4
    http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=10669&dgn=4
    http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=502&dgn=4
    http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=7459&dgn=4
    http://63.175.194.25/topics/mawlid/mawlid_alnabi.shtml
    http://63.175.194.25/topics/muled/muled_llfozan_eng.shtml

    http://thetruereligion.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=137

    Thank you for taking the time to read this and the information provided in the links. May it be of benefit to you, amen.

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  • by Theby on December 6th, 2008

    Theby

    For the same reason Christians don't celebrate Eid.

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  • by 19kid was born in89 on July 31st, 2007

    19kid was born in89

    i dont know.

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  • by Truth4eva on December 9th, 2006

    Truth4eva

    This answer is weak as it does not show the importance about Muslims keeping their IDENTITY!
    Yes we respect all faiths, however, we dont just follow traditions blindly. Jesus was never born on the 25th of December, so what are we really celebrating? If we seek knowledge we would find that people use to celebrate on December 25th a Pagan festival. Then how can Muslims be part of this??

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  • by Notdasame on September 2nd, 2005

    Notdasame

    Eventhough 'jesus' is recognized in the Quran as the Messiah, his birth is not clebrated officialy as an islamic holiday. Incidentaly, christmas is not when christ was born and so eventhough the Quran refers to 'jesus' as a mercy to man kind, adn Muslims love and respect him greatly, then a celebration would not coincide with the time of the year christians celebrate. Some muslims still celebrate chirstmas still probably because of the cultural influence. Some muslims insist not to cleberate Prophet Mohamad's birth. This is because of the doctorine based on a Hadeeth(Oral tradition of prophet Mohamad) it says :"No good in a nationa with too many holidays" regardless of the authenticity of this tradition, many have interpreted it as a call to reduce holidays and work harder. Furthermore, the common celebration of X-mas includes the erection of an ornamented tree. Many orthodox muslims consider this a mild for of idolatory. Many chirstians feel the same way but they are also in the minority. I belive this doctorine is based on a christian text that speaks of "the heathens oranmenting a tree for celebrations." It has been many years since I read the it so I could not give you a reference, but if you have it please let me know.

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  • by Morphius on April 1st, 2004

    Morphius

    According to the Christians, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the messiah, the son of God, Jesus Christ. The Muslims, just as the Jews, don't believe that Christ is the son of God. But unlike the Jews, Muslims do believe that Christ was a prophet, so the celebration of his birth is unecessary since that they don't think that he is the son of God.


    Factoid #14- A Christian is anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. Christians are also the only people who celebrate Christmas, his birth, and Easter, his resurrection.

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  • by Rahbar on December 6th, 2008

    Rahbar

    Is this a logical Question? Or Waste of AB server space?

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  • by philosopher-saint on December 6th, 2008

    philosopher-saint

    The same reason(s) the British don't celebrate the 4th of July?!
    ;-)

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  • by ahmedradhi on December 2nd, 2008

    ahmedradhi

    I am confused by that, I have a Muslim Friend that lived in teh UK for 15 years and celebrates christmas like crazy every year, even though they don't celbrate Eid at all and when I say you are a non practicing muslim to soften of th eimpact of not being a Muslim all together they get really mad at me.
    She geos to forign families parties and get togethers and think that its ok because its just a holiday.
    Yet she drinks and has fun with male friends and says that she is doing it in a normal manner. Does it make sense to you ?

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  • by Abuhassaan on December 25th, 2007

    Abuhassaan

    Praise be to Allaah.

    Greeting the kuffaar on Christmas and other religious holidays of theirs is haraam, by consensus, as Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said in Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah: "Congratulating the kuffaar on the rituals that belong only to them is haraam by consensus, as is congratulating them on their festivals and fasts by saying ‘A happy festival to you’ or ‘May you enjoy your festival,’ and so on. If the one who says this has been saved from kufr, it is still forbidden. It is like congratulating someone for prostrating to the cross, or even worse than that. It is as great a sin as congratulating someone for drinking wine, or murdering someone, or having illicit sexual relations, and so on. Many of those who have no respect for their religion fall into this error; they do not realize the offensiveness of their actions. Whoever congratulates a person for his disobedience or bid’ah or kufr exposes himself to the wrath and anger of Allaah."

    Congratulating the kuffaar on their religious festivals is haraam to the extent described by Ibn al-Qayyim because it implies that one accepts or approves of their rituals of kufr, even if one would not accept those things for oneself. But the Muslim should not accept the rituals of kufr or congratulate anyone else for them, because Allaah does not accept any of that at all, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

    "If you disbelieve, then verily, Allaah is not in need of you, He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you. . ."
    [al-Zumar 39:7]

    ". . . This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islaam as your religion . . ."
    [al-Maa’idah 5:3]

    So congratulating them is forbidden, whether they are one’s colleagues at work or otherwise.

    If they greet us on the occasion of their festivals, we should not respond, because these are not our festivals, and because they are not festivals which are acceptable to Allaah. These festivals are innovations in their religions, and even those which may have been prescribed formerly have been abrogated by the religion of Islaam, with which Allaah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to the whole of mankind. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
    "Whoever seeks a religion other than Islaam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [Aal ‘Imraan 3:85]

    It is haraam for a Muslim to accept invitations on such occasions, because this is worse than congratulating them as it implies taking part in their celebrations.

    Similarly, Muslims are forbidden to imitate the kuffaar by having parties on such occasions, or exchanging gifts, or giving out sweets or food, or taking time off work, etc., because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever imitates a people is one of them." Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah said in his book Iqtidaa’ al-siraat al-mustaqeem mukhaalifat ashaab al-jaheem: "Imitating them in some of their festivals implies that one is pleased with their false beliefs and practices, and gives them the hope that they may have the opportunity to humiliate and mislead the weak."

    Whoever does anything of this sort is a sinner, whether he does it out of politeness or to be friendly, or because he is too shy to refuse, or for whatever other reason, because this is hypocrisy in Islaam, and because it makes the kuffaar feel proud of their religion.

    Allaah is the One Whom we ask to make the Muslims feel proud of their religion, to help them adhere steadfastly to it, and to make them victorious over their enemies, for He is the Strong and Omnipotent.

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  • by Keane_2112 on June 12th, 2006

    Keane_2112

    Absolutely Because the Muslims loves and respects the Christians, And that's emphasizes the need for brotherly love and charity between Muslims and Christians.

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  • by Gil on December 16th, 2009

    Gil

    hmm...because we have beers??XD

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  • by Gil on December 16th, 2009

    Gil

    hmm...because christian serves beers??XD

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  • by PuppetMaster on December 16th, 2009

    PuppetMaster

    The reason that Muslims don't celebrate Christmas is that Jesus is for them just a prophet. But for those of us who have experienced the fullness of God through Christ. Our faith rests on this, our Lord Jesus is not only fully human but also truly God.

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  • by tolerantme on November 2nd, 2010

    tolerantme

    "Wow" to Abuhassaan. These nice people here probably have no idea how you are insulting them by referring to them as "kuffaar."

    It is Muslims like you, the extremists and the intolerable, that give the rest of Muslims a bad name.

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  • by saidomarmuhhammad on August 7th, 2011

    saidomarmuhhammad

    Quite simply because Jesus himself did not celebrate his birthday. He was from one of the 12 tribes of Israel. He was under the law of the Levites (The tribe of which was assigned no land inheritance but given the duty of passing true worship of God to the 12 tribes Israel). The true Christians from the 1st Century were totally different in there pure worship to the Christians of today. 400 years later The 'Roman' Catholic (universal) Church was formed by a Pagan Caesar Constantine who insisted the requirement to introduce Pagan Celebrations into the new Catholic Church. Christmas was one of these. The Bishops argued that Jesus was born in springtime (by the indications set in the Christian Greek Scriptures) but under threat of torture and death they accepted all the Roman pagan celebrations into the Christian faith. Jesus foretold of the great apostacy and it came true. This diluted the worship of God and mislead the people who try to be sincere. Christians now celebrate Christmas and do not fully understand what they are celebrating. It is not the birth of Christ but the birth Nimrod as mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. The one who was in direct opposition to God. The first King of Babylon. He was an evil man and he led a lifestyle of which was in direct opposition to the principles of Christians and Muslims. The Christmas tree was and is viewed as the re-incarnation of Nimrod. Now you may say all this does not matter now. Well if you truly do believe in God and accept that God has a perfect memory. Do you believe that God would be happy with Christian or Muslim who celebrate Christmas when in Rome and the Roman world in every city and town and village, a victim was chosen for one week to indulge in immorality, was raped and encouraged to kill and then was sacrificed on December the 25th. I am sorry this explaination is rather concise but the history is there, all you have to do is look. Ref: Catholic Encyclopedia an Bishop Hislops two Babylons. Oh and Easter has a really nasty and immoral past. But heh if you believe you can 'Pick'n'Mix' your belief system then do so. Worship to God is free will, however how he judges you is his free will.
    Said Omar Muhammad

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  • by sunshine on December 12th, 2009

    sunshine

    well actually i have a xmas tree with lights because my kids like it and it adds charm to the house.i know a lot of people who exchange gifts and decorate the house making the kids believe in santa because it is fun . thats all to it , with no religious attachments .because it is like saying why dont u celebrate a major event in an other religion.. but in all cases merry christmas and a happy new year to all.

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  • by Omnia23 on March 17th, 2010

    Omnia23

    Us Muslims love Mohammed but love and worship Allah there's a difference.
    We dont join in with this occasion because it is a time for Christians and their beliefs to celebrate the birth of the holy prophet Jesus in Arabic (Isa) it is Haaram to celerate with the non believers. Muslims only celebrate birthdays,Ramadan,eid, milad un nabi and other celerations associating with Islam and Muslims.

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