The View on Christmas From A Convert to Islam

Last updated on: December 24, 2014 at 7:41 pm by Muslims Writers Guild of America

The View on Christmas From A Convert to Islam 2014-12-24T19:41:04-05:00 Muslims Writers Guild of America

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By Rasheed Reno

Follow Rasheed on Twitter @RasheedReno

When I first accepted Islam more than 20 years ago there were a number of changes that I made in my life. I began observing Islamic practices such as prayer and fasting. Likewise, I discontinued some of the things that I had done before such as consumption of alcohol and pork.

Another significant change was related to the holidays I celebrated.

For example, like all Muslims I began celebrating the Islamic holidays of Eid ul Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast) and Eid ul Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). However, the Christian holidays have been somewhat of a mixed bag.

In Islamic teaching, Christmas is not recognized as a holiday for several reasons. First, the celebration of birthdays is not a religiously sanctioned event so if Christmas is the birth of Christ, it really is no big deal. That said and secondly, it is highly unlikely that December 25th was actually the birth date of Jesus. And last but not least, while Islam recognizes Jesus as a pure and righteous Messenger of God, we do not believe him to be a divine being whose birth celebration would take precedence over any of the other thousands of Messengers that God has sent. In fact, as Muslims we revere Prophet Muhammad as God’s greatest Prophet and his birthday was never celebrated in his own life or by his companions afterwards.

As a result, the Christmas holiday is not celebrated in my home. We do not have a Christmas tree or any decorations, and we do not buy gifts for our children for that day. However, there is an expectation of extended family that we join them on their holiday. And this is where the balancing act comes in to play.

My wife, who is also a convert to Islam, and I have always had the support of our parents in our acceptance of Islam. We are fortunate as we know this is not always the case for many who accept Islam after having been raised in a different faith. So, we feel that it is the least we can do to join them for their holiday celebrations. Likewise we sometimes invite them to join us on our holidays and religious functions.

Rasheed fishing with his son.

Additionally, we take the time to explain to our children why we do not celebrate Christian holidays in our home. This is an important part of how we raise our children. Simply by having open and candid conversations we better ensure our children do not become confused or feel left out. We explain to them that we have our own holidays and traditions that we observe partake in. It is important to note that we do not do this in a spirit of disrespect towards other religions. In fact, we teach them to show respect to the holidays of others as we would like them to show respect towards ours.

There are many aspects of how Christmas is celebrated today which are not necessarily condoned by Christianity—such as the obvious commercialism that has found its way into Christmas traditions. I believe that the attempt to secularize what is supposed to be a religious holiday has had a detrimental effect on the purpose of the holiday. In some ways this commercialization has hindered the holiday’s intended spiritual benefits. For example, Santa Claus, an imaginary figure, seems to be the central figure of the holiday rather than Jesus—whom the holiday is actually named after. We try to de-emphasize these aspects of the holiday celebration to our children, so that they do not have such expectations for our own holidays and do not develop a greedy sense of entitlement during the holidays of their grandparents. The focus of religious holidays should be our gratitude to God and the enhancement of our spirituality.

In conclusion, there is no need for someone who is new to Islam to take a rigid approach to such things. It will be easier on both yourself and your family to transition into your new lifestyle without alienating those who care about you. In the end, mutual love and respect will foster peace in our personal lives and society around us. This can be done in a way that does not compromise Islamic principles.

Follow Rasheed on Twitter @RasheedReno

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