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by Dr. E. Ahmed Tori
Introduction
In these
days of excess entertainment and consumption, it is easy to get caught up in
the so-called "holiday season", rarely stopping to consider its
significance. I say so-called, because the very word holiday is
derived from the two words holy and day. However,
under closer scrutiny from the Judeo-Christian and Islamic perspectives,
these days are anything but holy. Celebrations such as Easter, Christmas, All
Saint's Day, and Halloween all find their roots in pagan traditions, alien to
the prophets (may peace and blessings be upon all of the prophets). Proof of
this lies in the lack of historical evidence that the prophets ever
celebrated their birthdays, decorated eggs, placed ornaments on trees, or
dressed up in costumes. Through an examination of these holiday myths as
religious innovation, or bid'ah, this article is a small attempt
at warning people of the dangerous implications and subtle attitudinal
changes that come with such celebrations.
Bid'ah: Religious Innovation
Before any discussion on the origin of holidays such as Christmas and
Easter, it is important to define a term called bid'ah. A
bid'ah is any invention, creation or addition of any religious matter, which
was not found in the original teachings.
Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) said: "He who innovates something in this matter of
ours (religion), will have it rejected." (Bukhari and Muslim)
To illustrate the bid'ah involved in Christmas and Easter simple
questions beg asking. Did Jesus (peace be upon him) celebrate his birthday?
Did his mother, Mary (peace be upon her)? Did his disciples? The answer, of
course, is no. Did Jesus (peace be upon him) speak of an Easter bunny? Did he
decorate evergreens? Of course not.
To believe that Jesus
(peace be upon him) came with the truth, and to then add or delete from his
message is to mix truth with falsehood. The above practices find their
origins in pagan rites and rituals. I have heard with my own ears, Christian
learned men and leaders acknowledging the true origins of Easter and
Christmas, but putting it off as "all in good fun." So, I ask,
would Jesus (peace be upon him) approve of mixing his teachings with those of
the pagans?
Furthermore, to
illustrate the gravity of bid'ah and of immitating non-believers,
I refer you to the words of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who said
what translates as follows:
Whoever imitates a
people is one of them. (Related by Ahmad)
Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) once saw the Ansaar celebrating a certain day. He
inquired about that and was informed: This is one of two days that we used to
celebrate in Jaahiliyyah (pre-Islaamic ignorance) and we continue to do so.
He replied: Nay! Allaah has substituted for you two better days: the day of
al-Fitr and the day of al-Adhhaa. (related by Ahmad, an-Nasaaee, and others)
Easter, Fertility, & the Origin of the Cross
While holidays like Christmas, New Year?s Day, and Valentine?s Day
have names which indicate either the holiday?s origin or its significance,
Easter stands out. Most people have no idea what the name Easter means.
It turns out that Easter is a corruption of Austre,
the name of the ancient pagan Scandanavian goddess of life and fertility.
As noted above, many
holidays celebrated today represent a synthesis between Christian doctrine
and pagan ritual. The basis for most of these "holy" days revolve
around natural phenomena such as the autumnal equinox, vernal equinox, summer
solstice, and winter solstice. With regards to the spring season and the
vernal equinox, pagans, especially the pagans of cold, northern
The use of these same
symbols in present day celebrations of Easter is quite obvious. Decorating
eggs, Easter egg hunts, and the Easter bunny are all familiar icons. These
things have carried over from pagan traditions via a synthesis with Christian
doctrine. In particular, the worship of the sun god has been incorporated
into the once monotheistic Christian teachings. The vernal equinox represents
a time in which the hours of daylight equal the hours of night. The days
following the vernal equinox mark an increase in the number of hours of
daylight over the night. This time, then became viewed as the time of sol
invictus or the unconquerable sun, demonstrating its supremacy by
conquering the night.
The synthesis with
Christian ideas was simple. Just as the sun conquered the night, the son
conquered death. Thus, the pagan holidays of fertility and life were replaced
with the Christian concept of the resurrection of Jesus (peace be upon him).
The Church adopted
spring equinox celebrations as Easter. As this time had already been one of
celebrating the sun?s resurrection and return to prominence, celebrating the
resurrection of the son of God required no great change in understanding. In
fact, the Easter celebrations were so similar to earlier celebrations -
particularly those which recognized the resurrection of the Babylonian
Adonis, the Greek Apollo, and the Roman Attis - that a bitter controversy
arose with pagans claiming that the Christian Easter celebration was a
spurious imitation of the ancient traditions. Vernal equinox bonfires,
originally prohibited by the Church, found their way as Easter fires into the
official liturgy of
Christmas
An extract from The
Paganism that is Modern Day Christianity by Misha'al Al-Kadhi
Let us now move on to
the "birthday of Jesus", Christmas. Jesus (pbuh) is commonly
considered to have been born on the 25th of December. However, it is common
knowledge among Christian scholars that he was not born on
this day. It is well known th at the first Christian churches held their
festival in May, April, or January. Scholars of the first two centuries AD.
even differ in which year he was born. Some believing that he was born fully
twenty years before the current accepted date. So how was the 25th of
December selected as the birthday of Jesus (pbuh)?
Grolier's
encyclopedia says:
"Christmas is the feast of the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated on
December 25.... Despite the beliefs about Christ that the birth stories
expressed, the church did not observe a festival for the
celebration of the event until the 4th century.... since 274,
under the emperor Aurelian, Rome had celebrated the feast of the "Invincible
Sun" on December 25. In the Eastern Church, January 6, a
day also associated with the winter solstice, was in itially preferred. In
course of time, however, the West added the Eastern date as the Feast
of the Epiphany, and the East added the Western date of Christmas".
So who else celebrated
the 25th of December as the birth day of their gods before it was agreed upon
as the birth day of Jesus (pbuh)? Well, there are the people of
The Egyptians
celebrated this day as the birth day of their great saviour Horus, the
Egyptian god of light and the son of the "virgin mother" and
"queen of the heavens" Isis. Osiris, god of the dead and the
underworld in
The Greeks celebrated
the 25th of December as the birthday of Hercules, the son of the supreme god
of the Greeks, Zeus, through the mortal woman Alcmene. Bacchus, the god of
wine and revelry among the Romans (known among the Greeks as Dionysus) was
also born on this day.
Adonis, revered as a
"dying-and-rising god" among the Greeks, miraculously was also born
on the 25th of December. His worshipers held him a yearly festival
representing his death and resurrection, in midsummer. The ceremonies of his
birthday are recorde d to have taken place in the same cave in
The Scandinavians
celebrated the 25th of December as the birthday of their god Freyr, the son
of their supreme god of the heavens, Odin.
The Romans observed
this day as the birthday of the god of the sun, Natalis Solis Invicti
("Birthday of Sol the invincible"). There was great rejoicing and
all shops were closed. There was illumination and public games. Presents were
exchanged, and the slaves were indulged in great liberties. Remember, these
are the same Romans who would later preside over the council of Nicea (325
AD.) which lead to the official Christian recognition of the
"Trinity" as the "true" nature of God, and the
"fact" that Jesus (pbuh) was born on the 25th of December too.
In Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon says: "The Roman Christians,
ignorant of his (Christ's) birth, fixed the solemn festival to the 25th of
December, the Brumalia, or Winter Solstice, when the Pagans annually
celebrated the birth of Sol " vol. ii, p. 383.
Christmas is not the
only Christian festival which was borrowed from ancient paganism and foisted
upon the religion of Jesus (pbuh). There is also Easter the Feast of St.
John, the Holy communion, the Annunciation of the virgin, the assumption of
the virgin, and many others have their roots in ancient pagan worship.
(borrowed
& edited from Helen Ellerbe's The Dark Side of Christian History,
permission pending)
Conclusions
The pagan roots of holidays celebrated in the name of Christianity
testify to its having been altered. Christianity, as it exists today, does
not represent the message of Jesus, the son of Mary (may peace be upon both
of them). And this is not merely a Christian issue. This is an issue for all
God-fearing people. We, as Muslims, must be aware of the pieces that make up
the puzzle that is Christianity, first to protect ourselves and our families,
then to warn others and to call them to the right way.
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said, "You (Muslims) will follow the ways of those nations who
were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much
so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you would follow them."
We said, "O Allah's Apostle! (Do you mean) the Jews and the
Christians?" He said, "Who else?" Sahih Al-Bukhari
Hadith, Narrated by Abu Said Al Khudri
There is no "good fun" in displeasing Allah, the Most High.
So, we must provide alternative activities for our children; camping trips,
sporting events, halaqaat, field trips, etc. We should do our best to avoid
television, year-round. And if we find this difficult, we should at least
avoid it during these "holidays". If we have non-Muslim family
members that celebrate these days of bid'aa and shirk,
then we should avoid their homes at these times. Visit them the month before
Christmas, or the month after.
Most importantly,
however, we should study our deen and we should surround
ourselves with those who do. We should seek righteousness among the
righteous. We should seek the pleasure of Allah among those who please Allah.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that whoever imitates a people is one of
them. Let us imitate those who are on the straight path, not those who have
gone astray.
Allah knows
best.
Sources
·
The Bible, New King James Version
·
Ellerbe, Helen, The Dark Side of Christian History,
Morning Star Books, 1995.
·
Maier, Paul, In the Fullness of Time, Kregel
Publishing, 1998.
·
The Noble Qur'an, English Translation
·
Quick, Abdullah Hakim,
·
Wood, Forrest, The Arrogance of Faith, Alfred
A. Knopf, 1990
·
missionislam website
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