A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ), recorded, from earlier Aramaic texts, that to Jesus ( a.s. ), son of Mary ( a.s. ), was of those who were specially favoured.   Among the proofs of it is this, that he called down peace upon himself, for he said, “Peace be on me the day I was born and the day I shall die, and the day I shall be Raised up alive.”   And this was because of His peace of mind and His loving-kindness toward men.   سُوۡرَةُ مَریَم وَٱلسَّلَـٰمُ عَلَىَّ يَوۡمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوۡمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوۡمَ أُبۡعَثُ حَيًّ۬ا (٣٣)   “So, Peace is on me, the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be Raised up to life (again)”! (Surah Maryam:33)   But as for John ( a.s. ), the son of Zachariah ( a.s. ), he took the place of awe and fear toward Allah ( s.w.t. ), and did not utter these words until after they were repeated to him by his Creator Who Says, “Peace be upon him the...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “The devil touches each son of Adam on the day his mother gives birth to him, except for Mary and her son.”   In another narration, it is reported that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “The devil strikes all the children of Adam, with his finger on their side, when they are born, except Jesus, the son of Mary.   He tried to strike but struck a barrier.”   In another narration, it is reported that he said, “No child, from the children of Adam, is born that is not touched by the devil at birth, and so, he begins to cry from the touch of the devil except Mary, and her son.”   In another narration, it is reported that he said, “Every person that is born inherits the stroke of the devil.   Each child of Adam receives this strike except Mary, and her son, because, when her mother gave birth to her, she supplicated, ‘I seek Refuge with You for me and my descendant, from the exiled devil.’ ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ), recorded, from earlier Aramaic texts, that when Jesus ( a.s. ), son of Mary ( a.s. ) was born, the devils came to Iblis saying, “The heads of all the statues are turned upside down!”   Iblis said, “This is an important happening - wait!”   Then he flew to both sides of the Earth and found nothing except that Jesus ( a.s. ) had been born, and that the angels surrounded him.   Then he returned to the devils, saying, “A prophet was born yesterday.   There is no female who became pregnant and gave birth without my attendance except this Mary.   Be disappointed that the statues will not be worshipped after this night, but come now to the son of Adam and mislead him through his habit of haste and carefree feelings.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Why do Muslims not celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ ( a.s. )? ”   It is impossible to generalise what Muslims do and do not do, when there are over a billion people who claim adherence to some form of Islam.   Many Muslims do not celebrate Christmas because it is not part of their culture, nor is it explicitly mentioned as celebrated anywhere in the Qur’an or the example of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ).   However, personally, I do celebrate Christmas.   It is part of my cultural tradition as a convert from Catholicism.   It is part of my Portuguese heritage.   I see no incongruency with this.   Since Muslims celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ), the Mawlid , I see no reason why cannot celebrate the birth of another prophet.   Christmas is a time of giving, and festive joy.   Being a Muslim does not preclude me from that.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ As a Muslim, do you enjoy Christmas? ”   Yes.   We have a tree and decorations as well.   I converted to Islam.   My evolution of theological position does not equate with the absolute rejection of my prior Catholic heritage and culture.   It is an evolution of beliefs.   To me, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus ( a.s. ), prophet of Islam, and one of the major figures of our sirah .   I do not suffer from this spiritual inadequacy that precludes me from enjoying the festivities and the values of giving and charity, which is not exclusive to Islam.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Can Muslim children celebrate Christmas? ”   I do.   Christmas is, to me, the celebration of the birth of a major prophet of Islam.   As a convert, it is very much part of my culture and upbringing, and I am not leaving that simply because I changed my religion.   I changed my theology; I am not interested in adhering to the cultural notions of Arabs, Malays or others.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   There is a reason why the birth of Christ ( a.s. ) is set on the 25 th December, and the Annunciation on the 25 th March.   This is based on the belief in the Integral doctrine, or the integral age.   Integralism is the belief, common in ancient Judaism, that prophets died on the same day that they were born, or the day they were conceived.   This has been carried over to Islam, in the birth and death of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).   Thus, the prophets were said to have lived entire years.   “Integral” is derived from the Latin “integer”, meaning “whole”.   It was the belief of many of the early Christian that Jesus ( a.s. ) was crucified on 25 th March.   Based on integralism, that would mean he was either conceived or born on the 25 th March.   The consensus then was that it was the conception, because that was what the angel Gabriel announced:   Luke 1:26-38 26 When the sixth m...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is this time of the year that I am reminded that as a convert to Islam, I am of Portuguese Catholic heritage.  Christmas is very much part of my heritage and my culture.  I see no harm in having the Christmas tree, no issues with the visits, the food, the exchange of presents and greetings.  I am not in need of Muslims telling me this or that is haram , or shirk , or of pagan origins.  I ignore them and move on.  The world is full of voices, and noise.  We discern which is which, and listen to the voices, and shut out the noise.   If people are looking for genuine dialogue, however, I point out my reasons: that everything is halal unless there is proof that it is haram in fiqh al-mu’amalah , and that the mere performance of one haram act does not make the entirety of something haram .  If we go by that logic, some go to the mosque to look at girls and steal.  Should we ban mosques then?  Som...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In this old video, Drew Allison Carey pointed out that Christian holidays in the US are so commercialised that they have almost nothing to do with the Bible, or Jesus ( a.s. ).  However, he did get some other points wrong.  But then, he is a comedian, not a theologian.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Ernest Miller Hemingway wrote, in 88 Poems:   “If my Valentine, you will not be, I will hang myself on your Christmas tree.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Benjamin Franklin said, “How many observe Christ’s birthday!   How few, his precepts!”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Every year, we have the same situation where some Muslim will say that Christians celebrating Christmas on the 25 th of December is wrong because it was the date of a pagan festival.  There are so many levels of idiocy in this statement.   Firstly, there will likely always have been some pagan festival on any one date.  Humanity has been around a long time.  When we consider the shift of dates as calendars adjusted to the movement of celestial bodies, dates actually becomes quite irrelevant.   Secondly, the festival of Saturnalia and the winter solstice was actually celebrated on the 21 st December, not the 25 th .   And finally, the 25 th of December was chosen because the early Church believed in the integral doctrine, that Jesus ( a.s. ) was conceived on the day he was crucified.  Taking its lead from Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, they traditionally ascribed the date of the Crucifixion to t...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu Ishaq Ka’b ibn Mani’ al-Ahbar ( r.a. ) narrated a version of the story of the “Wise Men from the East.”  He said, “That night, people went out repairing to him because of a star which had risen.  They had been told formerly in the Book of Daniel that the rising of that star would be one of the signs of him who was to be born.  So, they went out seeking him, and took with them gold, myrrh, and frankincense.  They passed one of the kings of Syria who asked them, ‘Where are you making for?’ and they told him about that.  He asked, ‘What is the meaning of the myrrh, gold, and frankincense?  Will you present him with these things?’   They replied, ‘Those represent him, because gold is the lord of all goods, similarly this prophet is the lord of the people of his time; and because what is broken and wounded is put right with myrrh, similarly Allah ( s.w.t. ) will Heal, by this prophet, all who are infirm...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Christmas in Palestine, for that occupation experience.   Just as the Romans did to the Jews, so do the Zionists do to the Palestinians.   Just as a Holocaust was perpetrated upon them, so too do they perpetrate one upon another people.   History repeats itself, and the oppressed became the oppressor.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   This Christmas season, we remember the Palestinian Christians.   This is how it would be for Jesus ( a.s. ) in Bethlehem now.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Every migrant, every stranger, every lonely soul, should be a reminder of Mary ( a.s. ) when she bore the baby Jesus ( a.s. ).

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ PERGAS, the association of Muslim scholars of Singapore, issued a statement on the 05 th February 2016, that it is permissible to wish the non-Muslims on their festivities, quoting some of the scholars of Sunni Islam.  This is contrary to the assertions of imported Wahhabi preachers such as Isma’il ibn Musa Mink and company that it is haram “according to Islam”.   It did acknowledge that there were scholars such as Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ( r.a. ), the student of  Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah  ( r.a. ), the so-called “ Shaykh al-Islam ” of the Wahhabi sect, who held a contrary opinion.  It is legitimate ikhtilaf , but that is not what we follow.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The Christmas Truce of the First World War, was a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front around Christmas 1914.   In the week leading up to the holiday, French, German and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk.   In some areas, soldiers from both sides ventured into no man's land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs.   There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing.   Men played games of football with one another, giving one of the most memorable images of the truce.   This shows us that even amidst terrible violence, people are, at heart good, and if given a chance, will choose to do good.   We need more of this.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Every year, during Christmas, we seem to go through the same issues where we have Muslims who come up with the same fatawa and misinterpret the same ahadits that anything to do with Christmas is shirk .  From a fiqh and ‘aqidah perspective, it is mistaken and simplistic.  There are more than enough fatawa and discussions of it over the years that I archive it and I put them out answering the same questions with the same evidences from the same scholars going all the way back to the pious predecessors.  Of course, people will always believe what they want to believe.   There is no arrogance in religion.  Whoever has that is deficient in his iman .  We must not be proud that we are Muslims for it is a Gift from Allah ( s.w.t. ), not from our own efforts.  It is God Alone Who Calls and Guides.  He who says he chose Islam did not understand when he said in supplication, “There is no power and no strength e...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Nur ad-Din Abu ‘Ubadah ‘Ali ibn Juma’ah wrote, regarding whether Muslims may wish Christians “Merry Christmas”, that Islam is the religion of mercy, piety and maintaining relations.   One of the most important obligations upon Muslims at the present time is to show the beauty of Islam and be its best representatives through both manners and actions.   Islam does not command us to sever ties with our family or friends, be hostile or hate it; rather, it commands us to treat our family members and our friends in a good manner.   There is a big difference between hating disbelief as Allah ( s.w.t. ) Ordains such that a Muslim prefers to be sent to Hellfire to leaving Islam and between hating people and his family, treating them as enemies because they are non-Muslims, and hating everything around him even the land in which he was born.   This corrupted meaning of detestable hatred is irrelevant to Islam, the Prophet ( s....