Can Muslims celebrate Christmas?
The first line of argument
It is argued that Christmas is a non-Islamic festival so this should not be celebrated as it is an imitation of Christians.
The word Christmas is the shortened form of ‘Christ’s Mass’. ‘Mass’ refers to a public gathering for worship. The word ‘Christ’ means messiah; and the Qur’an has also addressed Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) in this way:
When the angels said: ‘O Maryam (Mary), surely, Allah gives you glad tidings of a (particular) Word from Him named the Messiah, ‘Isa, the son of Maryam (Jesus, the son of Mary), who would be eminent and exalted, (both) in this world and in the Hereafter, and would be of those who are exceptionally intimate servants of Allah blessed with His nearness. (3:45)
The Holy Qur’an itself celebrates Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) when it refers to his statement:
“And peace be upon me on the day of my birth, the day of my demise (after the Second Coming) and the day I shall be raised up alive!’” (Quran 19:33)
From this verse it can be understood that the birth of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) is not an alien concept to Islam and the Qur’an has gone into great depth as to detailing his glorious birth. It is sufficient that it is mentioned in the Qur’an that Muslims celebrate this occasion. Indeed his birth was a great blessing for humankind.
Allah Almighty states:
“...remind them of the Days of Allah” (Quran 14:5)
“And (recall) when Musa (Moses) said to his people: ‘Recall (that) blessing of Allah conferred upon you when He delivered you from the people of Pharaoh who used to afflict you with severe torment, slaying your male children and sparing the female ones. And in it was a great trial for you from your Lord.’” (Quran 14:6)
As it can be noted the above two verses are following each other and so the context of “remind them of the Days of Allah” also refers to those days which are pre-Islamic and in this instance for the Jews.
To support this we find in the hadith that when the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) migrated to Madinah and saw the local Jewish community celebrating the occasion as an ‘Eid’ and so he commanded the Muslims to also do the same and this became the voluntary fasting of Ashura.
Narrated Ibn `Abbas: When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) arrived at Medina, the Jews were observing the fast on 'Ashura' (10th of Muharram) and they said, "This is the day when Moses became victorious over Pharaoh," On that, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said to his companions, "You (Muslims) have more right to celebrate Moses' victory than they have, so observe the fast on this day." (Sahih Bukhari Book 65 Hadith 4680)
In a different narration it states:
Narrated Abu Musa: The day of 'Ashura' was considered as `Id day by the Jews. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) ordered, "I recommend you (Muslims) to fast on this day." (Sahih Bukhari Book 30 Hadith 110)
If we thus draw analogy to this historical fact, it has set precedence, and has thus become established that Muslims are permitted to celebrate the days of Prophet Isa, Musa and all the many other Prophets (peace be upon them all) if they wish to do so; even if it is a celebration of the Jews or Christians.
Abu Huraira reported that Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: I am most close to Jesus, son of Mary, among the whole of mankind in this worldly life and the next life. They said: Allah's Messenger how is it? Thereupon he said: Prophets are brothers in faith, having different mothers. Their religion is, however, one and there is no Apostle between us (between I and Jesus Christ).
The Jews had their own festival marking their freedom from the Pharoah, the Muslims copied them and also fasted. Though this did not become like the events of the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, which are compulsory for Muslims to celebrate, fasting on the days of Ashura became a voluntary practice in the shari’ah. Consequently, fasting on these days propagates the beliefs that Muslims hold in regards to Prophet Musa (peace be upon him). From this we learn the argument of “imitation of non-believers” in this context is a misapplication of Islamic law.
It is also known that some early Christian’s did not believe in the Trinity and thus there are non-trinitarian Christian groups which have renounced this belief. Thus to state that celebrating Christmas or by saying ‘Merry Christmas’ is an admission of this Trinitarian doctrine is a red herring.
Second line of argument
It is argued that Christmas is derived from a pre-Christian pagan festival that used to take place in the winter; 25th December is not the real date of birth of Jesus.
The major problem with this line of argument is that many things that exist as part of modern day western culture is rooted from the historical Anglo-Saxon civilisation.
Within Britain days of the week are named after early Saxon Gods and influences from other pagan religions such as Mithraism.
Monday - Moon's day (the day of the moon);
Tuesday - Tiw's-day (the day of the Scandinavian sky god Tiw, Tiu or Tig); Wednesday - Woden's day (the day of the god Woden (Othin);
Thursday - Thor's Day (the day of the god Ðunor or Thunor );
Friday - Freyja's day (the day of the goddess Freyja or Frigg, wife to Woden); Saturday - Saturn's day (the day of the Roman god Saturn, whose festival "Saturnalia," with its exchange of gifts, has been incorporated into our celebration of Christmas);
Sunday - Sun's day (the day of the sun)
By using these words that specify days of the week, does it now mean it is an admission of pagan beliefs?
Similarly, the pagan’s had the festival of the winter solstice that when Christianity came to Europe they changed this event to Christmas to make it easier for people to accept the Christian faith. Though the exact dates of Jesus’ birth are unknown it appears as though the Christians adopted this date for convenience. For Muslims, this is irrelevant as we know that there is no such restriction for commemorating the people of God on certain days. Muslim’s do celebrate the Prophet Muhammad beyond 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal; similarly they can celebrate the days of other Prophets (peace be upon them) on any date. Furthermore, the Muslims do celebrate days of the companions and family of the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), and the days of great saints of Islam. Why should there be a problem celebrating the birth of a Prophet of God?
Existing customary practices such as Christmas trees, Christmas cards, Christmas presents, Santa Claus, Christmas cake, Mince pies, Turkey and so forth, are not derived from the Bible. Though these may have originated from ancient tradition, the paganism is only left in the books of history. At the point of writing many readers may have been unaware that days of the week are also named after pagan tradition. When reference is made by such it does not infer belief of a pagan God’s day. Similarly, the Christmas customs are no longer a celebration of the winter solstice towards the pagan deities. Rather it has become largely commercial and a social custom, it is known to mark Jesus’ birthday.
Islam as a religion that spanned from Spain to China during its golden ages, the Muslim’s maintained the cultures and customs of each people. This is one of the reason’s it was accepted and flourished in such a short span of time. This is evident in the world as we see it today. Islam did not come to wipe out customs and tradition. It accustomed to different regions of the world and removed those things which shari’ah has declared illicit. Even in the Arabian Peninsula, in the pre-Islamic era, alcohol and obscenity was widespread. Islam removed the erroneous practices and the rich Arab culture lives on even till today. Even within Islamic law customary practices are seen as a source of deriving law and referred to as Urf.
It is, therefore, not the way of Islam to be preventing Muslims from practicing their custom and culture if it does not conflict with Islam. One may celebrate the birth of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) as “Christmas” and there is no prohibition in following customs and traditions provided it is does not transgress Islamic law.
Conclusion
Can Muslims celebrate Christmas? Yes with conditions. Those conditions are neither exhaustive nor complex. They are as follows:
1. Celebrate Christmas knowing and believing and declaring Jesus as the great Prophet of God / not the son of God
2. Avoid illicit practices such as consuming haraam food or drink; keep safe from obscenity
3. Not forgetting that celebrating Prophet Isa’s birthday is a voluntary action that can be rewarding; however it is not a compulsory aspect of Islamic tenets.
Celebrating Christmas is a great way to invite people and teach Muslim children that Muslim’s believe in Jesus Christ, the son of Mary (peace be upon them) and explain the Islamic creed. It can serve as a way to bring communities together and develop mutual understanding and respect. Many renowned scholarly authorities around the world have thus stated that it is permissible for Muslim’s to celebrate Christmas. To conclude we give a few such examples.
Regarding the participation of Muslims in Christmas festivals, Shaykh Ali Gomaa the former grand Mufti of Egypt states:
Regarding the participation of Muslims in Christmas festivals, Shaykh Ali Gomaa the former grand Mufti of Egypt states:
“I am nonetheless appalled by the unauthentic opinions of some self claimed scholars who equate spending time with one's non-Muslim family during Christmas and the like with shirk or polytheism! This opinion is rather a mere aberration of the true authentic teachings of Islam both in letter and spirit.
Muslims show utter love to God's creation in general as a sign of reverence to their divine origin and Islam placed unprecedented importance to the concept of high morals and made a unique connection between good ethical standards and between faith and creed. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said "The nearest of you to me in the Day of Judgment are the ones who have the highest morals". Therefore we are commanded to show kindness to people irrespectively and to treat them with mercy and love and to refrain from discriminating against them based on their religious choices, cultural backgrounds or the like.
There is no legal impediment to participating in celebrating the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him). Islam is an open system and its followers believe, respect and honor all the prophets and messengers, and treat the followers of other religions with kindness in accordance to the words of God the Almighty:
And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except in the best way. [Al-'Ankabut, 46]
Jesus the son of Mary, peace be upon him, is one of the Prophets who are characterized with determination, resolution and patience. Prophet Muhammad said: "I am more entitled to Jesus the son of Mary than anyone in this life and in the Hereafter; no prophet has been sent between us." Every Muslim believes that Jesus is a human prophet who performed great miracles, such as reviving the dead and curing the sick by the will of God the Almighty.
This was not because he was a god or the son of God in the sense of physical procreation—God is exalted above this. Celebrating the day of the birth of Jesus is an act of belief regardless of Christian convictions in his regard. Therefore, participate in your friends and family's celebrations, eat with them and refrain from eating pork and drinking alcohol with tact and civility. Do not pay any attention to anyone who wants to ruin the relation between you and your family and others in the name of Islam because Islam is free from all of this.”1
Renowned global scholar, Shaykh Habib Ali al-Jifri writes:
I remind my brothers from among the students of sacred knowledge that the scholars who forbid congratulating non-Muslims on their religious celebrations tied their judgement to the assumption that congratulating affirms certain tenets of belief (held by non-Muslims) that are diametrically opposed to Islam. They anchored their judgement on a widespread understanding and custom particular to their time that congratulating others on their religious occasions is considered an affirmation of their beliefs, hence their edicts made mention of proofs regarding the impermissibility of affirming and esteeming false tenets of belief and not clear and unambiguous proofs that forbid congratulating in and of itself.
Today we can not imagine that congratulating others on their religious occasions affirms their tenets of belief. Islam is well established and knowledge of its core aspects of belief are known as well as the points of divergence with other religions. Human beings in general have also matured enough to accommodate co-existence that respects the boundaries of each others’ faiths. A Muslim who congratulates Christians on Christmas does not come close to thinking that this affirms the divinity of Christ or that he is the son of God. Likewise, a Christian who receives the season’s greetings from a Muslim will not be mislead to think that this Muslim has affirmed Christian theology. Similarly, a Christian who congratulates a Muslim neighbour on Eid, or Ramadan or the birth of the Prophet Muhammad knows well that this does not mean he is affirming Islamic belief, nor does a Muslim think that about a Christian who congratulates him/her.
Contemporary custom surrounding the Christmas season no longer links congratulating one (by saying ‘merry Christmas’ for example) with an affirmation of the belief that Jesus is the son of God. Rather, it is considered a general custom that indicates good inter-human dealing.
A legal principle (qa’ida fiqhiyya) states: “A judgement depends on its cause” (al- hukmu yaduru ma’a ‘ilatihi wujudan wa ‘adaman). The cause which led to some scholars forbidding congratulating (the cause was affirmation of the others’ religious beliefs) no longer remains and thus the impermissibility of congratulating also no longer remains.
It is important to note here too that Ibn al-Qayyim’s position that the scholars were in agreement over the impermissibility of congratulating others on their religious occasions is not accurate. Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah has mentioned that Imam Ahmad had three opinions on this issue: impermissible, disliked, and permissible. Ibn Taymiyyah adopted its permissibility as was related by Ibn al-Mardawi in ‘Al-Insaf.’
It is the right of one who does not wish to congratulate others on their religious occasions to not do it, but wrong for them to impose their view upon others as though it is obligatory. To condemn those who do it and doubt their belief (iman) is to reduce the sharia’s greatness and play frivolously with the religion! I urge you: please stop your misuse of this great religion!"2
Finally, the renowned global authority on Islam, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri states:
“The celebration of a birthday of a Prophet is permissible in Islam and we also believe in prophethood and messengership of Prophet Isa (peace be upon him). They (Christians) may have any kind of belief in regards to Jesus Christ but the occasion of Christmas is just a celebration of his birthday. This is acceptable to Muslims in this way that it establishes the belief of negation of his being God or Son of God because the one who is born can never be a God”.3
Footnotes
1 Shaykh Ali Gomaa. Cutting Kinship Ties in the Name of Islam.
2 Shaykh Habib Ali al-Jifri English, Facebook post 25th December 2013
3 Q&A with Dr. Qadri in Canada
