Valentine Day birthdays, and other daze

There is a group of practices that we can consider as the twin sister
of Bid'ah)producing something, theoretical or practical, in matters of
religion which is not part of it(. Like Bid'ah, they flourish on the
twin foundations of ignorance and outsideinfluence. Like Bid'ah, they
entail rituals. But unlike Bid'ah, the rituals have not been given an
Islamic face. They are followed because they are considered an
acceptable cultural practice or the hottest imported "in" thing.
Most of those who indulge in them do not know what they are doing.
They are just blindfollowers of their equally blind cultural leaders.
Little do they realize that what they consider as innocent fun may in
fact be rooted in paganism. That the symbols they embrace may be
symbols of unbelief. That the ideas they borrow may be products of
superstition. That all of these may be a negation of what Islam stands
for.
Consider Valentine's Day, a day that after dying outa well deserved
death in most of Europe )but surviving in Britain and United States(
has suddenly started to emerge across a good swath of Muslim
countries. Who was Valentine? Why is this day observed? Legends
abound, as they do in all such cases, but this much is clear:
Valentine's Day began as a pagan ritual started by Romans in the 4th
century BC to honor the god Lupercus. The main attraction of this
ritual was a lottery held to distribute young women to young men
for"entertainment and pleasure"--until the next year's lottery. Among
other equally despicable practices associated with this day was the
lashing of young women by two young men, clad only in abit of goatskin
and wielding goatskin thongs, who had been smeared with blood of
sacrificial goats and dogs. A lash of the"sacred" thongs by these"holy
men" was believed to make them better ableto bear children.
As usual, Christianity tried, without success, to stop the evil
celebration of Lupercalia. It first replaced the lottery of the names
of women with a lottery of the names of the saints. The idea was that
during the following year, the young men would emulate the life of the
saint whose name they had drawn. )The idea that you can preserve
theappearance of a popular evil and yet somehow turn it to serve the
purpose of virtue, has survived. Look at all those people who are
still trying, helplessly, to use the formats of popular television
entertainments to promote good. They might learn something from this
bit of history. It failed miserably. Christianity ended up doing in
Rome, and elsewhere, as the Romansdid.(
The only success it had was in changing the name from Lupercalia to
St. Valentine's Day. It was done in CE 496 by Pope Gelasius, in honor
of some Saint Valentine. There are as many as 50 different Valentines
in Christian legends. Two of them are more famous, although their
lives and characters are also shrouded in mystery. According to one
legend, and the one more in line with the true nature of this
celebration, St. Valentine was a "lovers'" saint, who had himself
fallen in love with his jailer's daughter.
Due to serious troubles that accompanied such lottery, French
government banned the practice in 1776. In Italy, Austria, Hungary,
and Germany also the ritual vanished over the years. Earlier, it had
been banned in England during the 17th century when the Puritans were
strong. However, in 1660 Charles II revived it. From there it also
reached the New World, where enterprising Yankees spotted a good means
of making money. Esther A. Howland, who produced one of the first
commercial American Valentine's Day cards called- what else-
valentines, in the 1840s, sold $5,000 worth-when$5,000 was a lot of
money-the first year. The valentine industry has been booming ever
since.
It is the same story with Halloween, which has otherwise normal
humanbeings dressing like ghosts and goblins in a reenactment of an
ancient pagan ritual of demon worship. Five star hotels in Muslim
countries arrange Halloween parties so the rich can celebrate the
superstitions of a distant period of ignorance that at one time even
included the shameful practice of human sacrifice. The pagan name for
that event was Samhain )pronounced sow-en(. Just as in case
ofValentine's Day, Christianity changed its name, but not the pagan
moorings.
Christmas is another story. Today Muslim shopkeepers sell and shoppers
buy Christmas symbols in Islamabad or Dubai or Cairo. To engage in a
known religious celebration of another religion is bad enough. What is
worse is the fact that here is another pagan celebration )Saturnalia(
that has been changed inname – and in little else — by Christianity.
Even the celebration considered most innocent might have pagan
foundations. According to one account, in pagan cultures, people
feared evil spirits - especially on their birthdays. It was a common
belief that evil spirits were more dangerous to a person when he or
she experienced a change in their daily life, such as turning a year
older. So family and friends surrounded the person with laughter and
joy on their birthdays in order to protect them from evil.
How can anyone in his right mind think that Islam would be indifferent
to practices seeped in anti-Islamic ideas and beliefs? Islam came to
destroy paganism in all its forms and it cannot tolerate any trace of
it in the lives of its followers.
Further, Islam is very sensitive about maintaining its purity and the
unique identity of its followers. Islamic laws and teachings go to
extra lengths to ensure it.Prayer, for example, is forbidden at the
precise times of sunrise, transition, and sunset to eliminate the
possibility of confusion with the practice of sun worship. To the
voluntary recommended fast on thetenth of Muharram, Muslims are
required to add another day )9th or 11th( to differentiate it from the
then prevalent Jewish practice. Muslims are forbidden to emulatethe
appearance of non-Muslims.
A Muslim is a Muslim for life. During joys and sorrows, during
celebrations and sufferings, we must follow the one straight path -
not many divergent paths. It is a great tragedy that under the
constant barrage of commercial and cultural propaganda from the forces
of globalization and the relentless media machine, Muslims have begun
to embrace the Valentines, the Halloween ghost, and even the Santa
Claus.
Given our terrible and increasing surrender to paganism, the only day
we should be observing is a day of mourning. Better yet, it should be
a day of repentance that could liberate us from all these days. And
all this daze.

The Muslim's attitude towards Valentine's Day

The Muslim's attitude towards this holiday should be clear:
1- He should not celebrate it, or join others in their celebrations of
it, or attend their celebrations because it is forbidden tocelebrate
the festivals of non-Muslims.
Ath-Thahabisaid: "If the Christians have a festival and the Jews have
a festival, which is peculiar to them, then the Muslim should not join
them in that, just as he does not join them in their religion or their
direction of prayer."
This is so because the basic principles of the pious
predecessors]As-Salaf As-Saalih[ was Al-walaa' wal-baraa')loyalty and
friendship vs. disavowal and enmity(, therefore, it is obligatory for
every Muslim to follow this principle. He should love the Muslims and
should not follow the non-Muslims; rather, he must be different from
them. By doing so, he achieves immeasurable benefits, just as
imitating them causes greater harm.
In addition to this, when the Muslims imitate non-Muslims, this makes
the latter happy and fills their hearts with joy. If any Muslim girl
celebrates this holiday because she sees Margaret or Hilary or whoever
does so, then this undoubtedly reflects the fact that she is imitating
them and approves of their behavior. But Allaah Says)what means(:"O
you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as
allies. They are ]in fact[ allies of one another. And whoever is an
ally to them among you - then indeed, he is ]one[ of them. Indeed,
Allaah guides not the wrongdoing people."]Quran 5:51[
One of the bad effects of imitating them is that this increases their
number, as this makes it look as if they have more supporters and
followers.How can it be appropriate for a Muslim who recites in every
Rak'ah )prayer unit( Allaah's words )which mean(:"Guide us to the
Straight Way, The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace,
not )the way( of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went
astray"] Quran 1:6-7[, to ask Allaah for guidance to the Straight Path
of the believers and to keep him away from the path of those who have
earned His anger and of those who went astray, and then deliberately
follows their path and imitates them?
Statistics indicate that Valentine's Day is second only to Christmas
in popularity. So it is clear that the Feast of Love is one of the
festivals of non-Muslims and that it issecond only to the festival of
Christmas. So itis not permissible for Muslims to participate in such
celebrations, because we are commanded to differ from them in their
religion, customs and other things that exclusively belong to them, as
is stated in the Quran, Sunnah )Prophet'stradition( and scholarly
consensus.
2- He should not help the non-Muslims in their celebrations because it
is one of the rituals of disbelief. Helping them and approving of what
they do is helping them to manifest disbelief and make it prevail, and
approving of it. The Islamic religion does not allow a Muslim to
approve of disbelief or help others to manifest it and make it
prevail.
Hence, Ibn Taymiyyahsaid: "It is not permissible for the Muslims to
imitate them in anything that is specifically part of their festivals,
whether it is food, clothing, bathing, lighting fires, or changing a
custom of daily life or worship."
3- He should not help anyMuslims who celebrate it.Rather, it is
obligatory to denounce them, because for the Muslims to celebrate the
festivals of non-Muslims is an evil action which must be condemned.
Ibn Taymiyahsaid: "Just as we should not imitate them in their
festivals, we should not help a Muslim to do that as well;rather, he
should be told not to do that."
Based on this, it is not permissible for Muslim businessmen to deal in
gifts for Valentine's Day, whether they are particular kinds of
clothes, red roses, or whatever. Similarly, it is not permissible for
the one who is given a gift on this occasion to acceptit, because by
accepting it, he is showing approval of this holiday.
One Daa'iyah )caller to Islam( said: we went to a flower shop in one
of theMuslim countries and we were shocked to find it completely
prepared for this occasion, with red carpets at the entrance, red
placards and red decorations. We were met by one of the people who
worked there, and we asked him why they had done so much to decorate
the place for this occasion.
He said that these preparations had begun early, and that there had
been so many orders… Then he told us that he had been amazed by that,
because he was a new Muslim who had left Christianity. He had known
about that beforehe became Muslim, so how come his customers were
Muslims and not Christians?
Other shops ran out of red roses, which were being sold at high
prices. When one of the female Du'aat entered upon the female students
who were gathered in the lecture hall, she was dismayed to find them
allcarrying something red. One had a red rose, another had a red
scarf, or a red handkerchief, or a red bag, or red socks…
Among the things that have beenseen among the Muslims on this holiday:
a- All the female students agreeing with their friends to tie a red
ribbon on the right wrist.
b- Wearing something red )a blouse, hair clip, shoes…(. This reached
such an extent last year that when we entered the classroom we found
most of the students wearing it, as if it was a uniform.
c- Red balloons on which are written the words "I love you". They
usually bring these out at the end of the school day, in an area far
from where the teachers can see them.
d- Writing names and hearts on their hands, or just initials.
e- Red roses are widespread on this day.
Groups of girls entered their lecture rooms on February 14, each of
them wearing somethingred, with red heart-shaped stickers on their
faces, wearing red make-up. They started to exchange red-colored gifts
and kiss one another warmly. This happened in more than one university
in the Muslim world, even in an Islamic university. In other words,
they were celebrating Saint Valentine's Day.
On that day, secondary schools )high schools( were astonished by the
large numbers of female students who brought red roses of the finest
quality, colored their faces with red cosmetics, wore red earrings,
and started to exchange gifts and warm greetings, in celebration of
this day.
Valentine's Day has come to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, and
haseven reached the heartland of Islam )the Arabian Peninsula(. It
hasreached societies which we had thought far removed from this
insanity. In Riyadh, the price of roses has risen incredibly, to an
extent that a single rose costs 36riyals )10 dollars(, whereas before
this day it cost 5 riyals. Gift shops and card shops compete in
designing cards and gifts for this occasion, and some families hang up
red roses in the windows of their homes on this day.
In some of the Muslim countries, shopping centers and hotels have
organized special celebrations for Valentine's Day. Most of the stores
and business places are covered in red.One of the finest Gulf hotels
was full of balloons and dolls. Following the customs of the Feast of
Love and the pagan myths, one restaurant owner put on a dramatic
production with "Cupid", the idol of love in the Roman myths, nearly
naked and carrying a bow and arrow. He and his cohortswere looking to
select"Mr. & Mrs. Valentine" from among the people present.
Less expensive restaurants also celebrated this day in their own way.
Some stores replaced their regular plates with heart-shaped plates,
used red tablecloths and linens, and put a red rose on each table for
the man topresent to his beloved.
We must oppose these things by all possible means. The
responsibilityrests with us all.
4- We should not accept congratulations on Valentine's Day, because it
is not a holiday or an 'Eed for the Muslims. If the Muslim is
congratulated on this occasion, he should not return the
congratulation. Ibn Al-Qayyimsaid: "With regard to congratulating
others with the congratulations used by the non-Muslims on such
occasions, it is prohibitedby scholarly consensus, such as
congratulating them on the occasion of their festivals or fasts,
wishing them a blessed festival, etc.
Finally, we must explain the true nature of this holiday and other
festivals of the non-Muslims to those Muslims who have been deceived
by them, and explain to them that it is essential for the Muslim to be
distinguished by hisreligion and to protect his 'Aqeedah )belief( from
anything that may damage it. This should bedone towards the Ummah
)Muslim nation( for the sake of Allaah andin fulfillment of the
command of enjoining good and forbidding evil.

Why do we Muslims not celebrate Valentine's Day?

This question may be answered in several ways:
1- In Islam, the festivals are clearly defined and well established,
and no additions or subtractions may be accepted. They are an
essential part of our worship and there is no room forpersonal
opinion. They have beenprescribed for us by Allaah and His
Messenger.Ibn Taymiyyah,may Allaah have mercy on him, said: "Festivals
are part of the laws, clear way and religious ceremonies of which
Allaah Says )what means(:'To each among you, We have prescribed a law
and a clear way']Quran 5:48[ and'For every nationWe have ordained
religious ceremonies which they must follow.'" ]Quran 22:67[
Like the Qiblah )the direction faced in prayer(, prayer and fasting.
So there is no difference between joining them in their festival and
joining them in their other rituals. Agreeing with the whole festival
is agreeing with disbelief. Agreeing with some of their minor issues
is the same as agreeing with them in some of the branches of
disbelief.
Festivals are the most distinctive things by which religions are
toldapart, so whoever celebrates their festivals is agreeing with the
most distinctive rituals of disbelief. Undoubtedly, going along with
them in their festivals may, in some cases, lead to disbelief.
Dabbling in these things, at the very least, is a sin. The
Prophetreferred to the fact that every nation has its ownfestivals
when hesaid: "Everynation has its own 'Eed and this is our 'Eed."
]Al-Bukhaari[
Because Valentine's Day goes back to Roman times, not Islamictimes,
this means that it is something which belongs exclusively to the
Christians, not to Islam, and the Muslims have no share and no part in
it. If everynation has its own festivals, as the Prophetsaid: "Every
nation has its 'Eed" ]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[ - then this means that
every nation should be distinguished by its festivals.
If the Christians have a festival and the Jews have a festival, which
belongs exclusively to them, then no Muslim should joinin with them,
just as he does not share their religion or their direction of prayer.
2- Celebrating Valentine's Day means resembling or imitating the pagan
Romans, then the Christian People of the Book in their imitation of
the Romans in something that was not part of their religion. If it is
not allowed to imitate the Christians in thingsthat really are part of
their religion - but not part of our religion - then how about things
which they have innovated in their religion in imitation of
idol-worshippers?
Imitating non-Muslims in general -whether they are idol-worshippers or
People of theBook - is Haraam )prohibited(, whether that imitation is
of their worship - which is the most serious form - or of their
customsand behavior. This is indicated by the Quran, Sunnah and
Ijmaa')scholarly consensus(:
)i( From the Quran: Allaah Says)what means(: "And be not as those who
divided and differed among themselves after the clearproofs had come
to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment." ]Quran 3:105[
)ii( From the Sunnah: the Prophetsaid: "Whoever imitates a people is
one of them." ]Abu Daawood[
Ibn Taymiyyah,may Allaah have mercy on him, said: "This Hadeeth
)narration( at the very least indicates that it is Haraam to imitate
them, although the apparent meaning implies that the one who imitates
them is non-Muslim, as Allaah Says )what means(:'And if any amongst
you takes them friends )and helpers(, then surely, he is one of
them']Quran 5:5[."
)iii( With regard to Ijmaa',Ibn Taymiyyah,may Allaah have mercy upon,
him narrated that there was agreement that it is Haraam to imitate
non-Muslims in their festivals at the time of the Prophet's
CompanionsandIbn Al-Qayyimnarrated that there was scholarly consensus
on this point.
3- The love referred to in this festival ever since the Christians
revived it is romantic love outsidethe framework of marriage. The
result of that is the spread of fornication and immorality. Hence, the
Christian clergy opposed it at some stage and abolished it, then it
came back again.
Some people may wonder, and say: "You mean to deprive us of love, but
in this day and age we express our feelings and emotions - what is so
wrong with that?"
We say:
Firstly:It is a mistake to confuse what they call the day with what
the real intentions are behind it. The love referred to on this day
isromantic love, taking mistresses and lovers, boyfriends and
girlfriends. It is known to be a day of promiscuity and sex for them,
with no restraints or restrictions… They are not talkingof pure love
between a man and his wife or a woman and her husband, or at least
they do not distinguish between the legitimate love in the
relationshipbetween husband and wife, and the forbidden love of
mistresses and lovers. This festival for them is a means for everyone
to express love.
Secondly:Expression of feelings and emotions is not a justification
for the Muslim to allocate a day for celebration based on his own
thoughts and ideas, and to call it a festival, or make it like a
festival or 'Eed. So how about when it is one of the festivals of the
non-Muslims?
In Islam, a husband loves his wifethroughout the year, and he
expresses that love towards her with gifts, in verse and in prose, in
letters and in other ways, throughout the years - not just on one day
of the year.
Thirdly:There is no religion whichencourages its followers to love and
care for one another more than Islam does. This applies at all times
and in all circumstances,not just on one particular day. Indeed, Islam
encourages us to express our emotions and love atall times, as the
Prophetsaid:"If a man loves his brother, let him tell him that he
loves him."]Abu Daawood[
And Hesaid: "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you will not enter
Paradise until you truly believe, and you will not truly believe until
you love one another. Shall I not tell you of something that, if you
do it, you will love one another? Spread salaam )Islamic greeting(
amongst yourselves." ]Muslim[
Fourthly:Love in Islam is more general and more comprehensive; it is
not restricted only to one kind of love, that between a man and a
woman. There are many more kinds of love. There is the love of Allaah,
love of His Messengerand his companionslove for good and righteous
people, love and support for the religion, love of martyrdom for the
Sake of Allaah, etc. There are many kinds of love. It is a dangerous
mistake to restrict this broad meaning to this one kind of love.
Fifthly:What these people think, that love before marriage is a good
thing, is wrong, as has been proven in studies and by real-life
experience.
So, how can we believe that Valentine's Day is of any benefit to
Muslims? The truth is that it is a call for more permissiveness and
immorality, and the forming of forbidden relationships.
The husband who sincerely loves his wife does not need this holiday to
remind him of his love.He expresses his love for his wife at all times
and on all occasions.

Dought & clear, - Rulings on Tawbah, - Repentance From Spreading Anti-Islamic Materials.

I was a misguided person spreading secularist ideologies, and writing
heretical stories and articles, and using my poetry as a vehicle to
spread corruption and liberalism. Then Allah turned to me with His
mercy and brought me forth from darkness intolight. Now how shall I
repent?
Praise be to Allah.
This of course is a great blessing of Allah and a favor. We pray to
Allah that He grant you perseverance.
As for those who were engaged with their tongue and their pen in a war
against Islam by spreading distorted ideologies and doctrines, or by
spreading misguided innovations and corruption, the following is
incumbent upon them:
Announce their repentance and renounce all that they used to spread in
antagonism to Islam, in order that the renunciation becomes well
known, and so that no one can claim to be misguided by their disowned
writings. This renunciation is an obligation and is a precondition for
the acceptance of repentance. Allah says (what means): "Save for those
who repent, make amends and show clearly [what they used to say/rule
wrongly], it isthose whom I accept their repentance, and I am very
Forgiving, very Compassionate." [2:160] The tafseer (explanation) for
this verse indicates that it was revealed regarding the scholars of
ahl ul-kitab (People of the Book) who used to conceal what had been
revealed regarding the signs of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and
the commands to believe in him. They should from now on engage
themselves in the spread of the truth of Islam, spending their
energies in defense of its teachings, and educating people in their
religion. They should use their power of speech or writing to
counterattack the forces of falsehood, to expose their deceits, plans
and strategies, even as he used to co-operate with them in opposing
Islam, and thus become a sword in the defense of Islam. It is also
binding on he who convinced another man, even if in a private meeting,
against things declared haram (forbidden) by Islam, such as, for
instance, taking interest,to get in touch with the person he was
instrumental in changing his opinion and let him know of his own
renewed enlightenment.
And Allah knows best.