A Muslim perspective on Christmas

Of course, there is also the problem of the children. They are
bombarded with numerous advertisements for toys and are essentially
brainwashed so that they should expect something"under the tree" on
Christmas Day. One must admit that the brightly lit, multicolored
Christmas tree is an attractive sight, made even more tempting when
there are numerous wrapped presents underneath it.
To Muslims, each and every thing we do is a part of our worship of the
One, Supreme God - nothing is excluded. We do not make any distinction
between the secular and the religious. Actually, the English term
religion does not convey the all-encompassing nature of the Arabic
term Deen. We might be branded as"Fundamentalists," but is there
anything else more basic (or"fundamental") than applying our absolute
moral code too consistently to everything we do?Isn't that the highest
standard?
The basis of our moral code is theQuran, the only intact Revelation,
and the strict authenticated observation of those who observed the
Prophet Muhammad known as the Hadeeth. In other words, we Muslims
follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad uponwhich we base our daily
life practices.
Strictly speaking, for Muslims there are two holidays, the two 'Eeds:
Namely, 'Eed al-Fitr - the festival of fast-breaking immediately after
the end of Ramadhaan, and 'Eed al-Ad'haa - the festival of sacrifice
during themajor pilgrimage time. I emphasize that we do not celebrate
birthdays (despite all the Western conventions to the contrary) - not
even the births of the prophets - including Muhammad, may Allaah exalt
their mention.
Muslims hold Jesus, in great respect as one of the greatest prophets.
However, they do not celebrate his birth or the birth of any other of
the prophets. Although it may seem intolerant to Christians that
Muslims do not celebrate or wish them well on their Christmas holiday,
it is out of respect to Jesus that we refuse to participate in its
practices. We cannot condone practices that in our view misrepresent
Jesus and help make him the focus of worship as a god figure. In
addition, the above evidence has shown that many of these practices
have no relationship whatsoever to Jesus and instead have pagan
origins.
We ask! Do we need to celebrate the winter solstice? Are we afraidthat
the sun will not come back to us in this cold, dark wintry period? Are
the pagan customs ofgift giving or the symbols of renewal (such as the
evergreens) a necessary reminder for us that spring will come again?
Is the materialism in this season, so evident in the West, something
worthy of emulation?
The Quran explains the most important things to celebrate. Allaah Says
(what means): "So be patient over what they say and exalt [Allaah]
with praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its
setting; and duringperiods of the night [exalt Him] and at the ends of
the day, that you may be stisfied. And do not extend your eyes toward
that by which We have given enjoyment to [some] categories of them,
[itsbeing but] the splendor of worldly life by which We test them. And
the provision of your Lord is better and more enduring." [Quran 20:
130-131]
To Muslims, Jesus is one of a series of prophets [25 of whom are
mentioned specifically in the Quran with the final one, or the seal of
them, being Muhammad ]. These prophets and messengers were sent to
specific groups of people, with the exemption of Muhammad whose
message was the final onesent (in the form of a revelation) for the
benefit of all mankind. Jesus was one such messenger sent to a
particular people, the Jews. Unfortunately, with the exception of the
Quran, none of these previous messages were preserved intact. More
specifically, we do not have the Gospel or Injeel according to Jesus :
Rather, we have a series of writings, most of which were fabricated
after the passing of Jesus and principally influenced by Paul.
Many Christian scholars, themselves, would concede that these writings
are historically of questionable accuracy and do notrepresent the
views of the early adherents of Jesus . In contrast, the Final
Revelation, theQuran, is precisely preserved and consists only of the
original Arabic text. Unlike the Christian Bibles (and I emphasize the
plurality of versions and differences between them), thereare no
revisions nor are there versions in other languages of the Quran.
Simply put, all Muslimshave the same original Arabic text as the
Quran.
When I was the Director of Da'wah (religious propagation) activities
at one of the Islamic centers in Chicago , I had the opportunity of
meeting with many visitors to our center, including missionary
students from the nearby Billy Graham headquarters in Wheaton ,
Illinois . Once, one of their students asked one of the Muslims who
had come to Friday prayer, "Do you accept the true teachings of
Jesus?" His reply (as all knowledgeable Muslims must answer) was
"definitely." The student then asked, "Then you accepted that he died
for your sins?" The Muslim replied, "Of course not!" He was not trying
to ridicule or goad the student on. On the contrary, he was showing
respect to the prophet Jesus as we know him from the Quran itself.
This can be very frustrating to a Christian, since he may not be aware
of the Islamic perspective of the life and role of Jesus . I want to
emphasize that Muslims deeply respect Jesus and his mother, the Virgin
Mary (may Allah be pleased with her), and hold them in high esteem.
There is nothing disparaging in this Revelation about them.
It is indeed unfortunate that a similar degree of respect is often not
shown towards Muslims and the final Prophet Muhammad . Since Muslims
respect them so highly, they naturally do not want to perform any
acts, which misrepresent them or their purpose or past life. The
Christianbeliefs have distorted their roles, thus, we as Muslims
cannot condone nor should we participate in those practices. I
emphasize, it is not out of disrespect to our Christian colleagues
that this is done, rather, it is out of respect and love to Jesus and
Mary and God Himself that we must refuse!
In conclusion, I pray that we remember what we are really supposed to
celebrate (i.e. the praises of The Supreme God) as stated in the Quran
(what means): " Do you not see that Allaah is exalted by whomever is
within the heavens and the earth and [by] the birds with wings spread
[in flight]? Each [of them] has known his [means of] prayer and
exalting [Him], and Allaah is Knowing of what they do. And to Allaah
belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and toAllaah is the
destination." [Quran 24: 41-42]