Muslims “celebrating Christmas”

[lastofallthebugs]

I follow a fair few Muslim footballers from the premier league on social media. Every year they post pictures of their children in front of Christmas trees, wish followers/fans a merry Christmas and seem to be enjoying the holiday for exactly what it is - time with family and friends. They always seem happy and grateful for the break.

And every year, without fail, they are attacked by a seemingly strange subset of people who think they shouldn’t be doing this at all and shouldn’t join in. The same seems to extend to other Muslim people I see online - they get hatred for having a big family dinner at Christmas time.

AIBU to think you can’t have it both ways? You can’t say you want people to integrate, but get angry when they do!

No point trying to rationalise the views of people like that

Athiest here and i celebrate with my fam. No church visits etc but we still celebrate the day without the christian element

That's awful, what's next - Muslims won't be sold Christmas cards/decorations? I hope haters are found and prosecuted

Ridiculous. The majority of the UK isn’t Christian (myself included) and still celebrate Christmas. We just don’t do the religious bit.

There’s a Muslim run restaurant in my friend’s local area that invited anyone in need for free Christmas dinner between 1-4 yesterday.
lovely gesture. I also know lots of Muslims gave to food banks for Christmas.
it never gets any traction but Muslims are generally really charitable and donate higher than average rates.

Agree for our family religion plays no part in our Christmas celebrations - doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy it.

I'd think that most of the disapproval is coming from other Muslims who have a more hardline interpretation of the religion and think it's haram to celebrate a Christian/Western holiday.

I think it’s fabulous when people from other cultures join in - wonderful for the integration of our society and probably really special for their children as well.

It's the outright Islamophobes and the very staunch Muslims who seem to hate on the festivities around Christmas. As long as it doesn't take away from what you believe, we are lucky in this country to be able to do as you like. Have fun and enjoy the time off work and school.

It's heartwarming on this thread to read how most people have open arms and are not interested in pointing fingers and dictating what is halal or haram for others to do.

Frankly there's bigger more important things to froth about.

As atheist who celebrates Xmas I agree

I'm atheist and celebrate Christmas so I definitely wouldn't criticise a Muslim for doing the same.

They're just ignorant bigots who want any excuse to hate Muslims. They're probably entirely unaware of the fact that Jesus is an important prophet in Islam. They're probably so dim that they don't even know that Jews, Christians and Muslims all pray to the same god.

Everytime I have mentioned to muslim
acquaintances / colleagues that I want to fast during Ramadan they have been very positive and encouraging.

This! While my family is partly Christian I am not and never have been.

But I still do the Christmas catch-up with friends and family.

Good Lord….

How horrible.

I'm all for people of different backgrounds participating in each other's cultural celebrations. Any criticism is definitely racist regardless of who is doing the criticising.

All celebrations are based on joy. We should be spreading happiness and understanding, not barring people, especially those who wish to integrate and take part.

I used to work in Montreal. The company I worked for had a substantial Jewish client base so I would say “Happy Holidays in acknowledgement of several holidays over that time of year

In the case of Mo Salah for example, it’s often other Muslims who think it’s inappropriate for him to have a Christmas tree in his house etc.

Small world - we live in Montreal. Happy holidays is also a common phrase here - a copy probably from the US.

Why would you want to fast during Ramadan as a non Muslim? Fasting is a religious observance to get you closer to God. Christians do it during Lent for the same reason. It just seems odd to just do it for no reason. It's different from Christmas, which has a secular and a religious element, and is just a time everyone is off at the same time so convenient for a family get together. Its purely religious.

Christians also fast during Lent because it was traditionally the time of least available food in the northern hemisphere. It's no coincidence.

I always say they’re allowed to Choose the parts of Christianity they like to celebrate just as Christians like to indulge adultery, Sex before marriage theft and lying

The CofE was founded to allow a king to commit adultery and spent much of its early life stealing from the catholics! Deep traditions we now celebrate at the office Christmas party - the home of adultery and stealing the office stationery!

Absolutely. It’s because being charitable is one of the main “pillars” of Islam. Whether through ignorance or hate, so many people don’t understand the Muslim faith at all and confuse cultural (and sadly extremist) behaviours with the religion. Although fundamental differences in the Jesus story (including him not actually being God’s son or being crucified and rising again, among others) Jesus or Isa in Arabic is an exceptionally important prophet in Islam and his mother Mary or Maryam in Arabic is highly revered. The story of Isa in the Muslim faith shares a lot of the same narratives with the New Testament accounts of Jesus, Muslims also respect people of the Book ie they recognise the similarities of the Jewish and Christian faiths with their faith and see commonality in the fact that all 3 faiths ultimately worship the same 1 God. Muslims however, don’t worship prophets or idols as it’s seen as highly disrespectful to God. In Malaysia all faiths happily celebrate and join in all the religious holidays and festivities including Eid, Christmas, Diwali etc. Anyway, that’s some of my understanding, gained through my Muslim friends and spending time in Asia and the Middle East over a number of years and I’m very grateful for it. I prefer to find common ground with other faiths while still being respectful and many Muslims do the same.

Shock horror,we still have to eat. Growing up it was the only time my dad got an extended break from work so he would pick up selection boxes and we would open one a day and share them in between Xmas and New year. Growing up we never got presents or a Xmas tree as my dad was quite clear about the boundaries but giving Xmas cards and wishing other people happy Xmas was just a nice thing to do. We've always had a roast on Xmas and enjoy the festivities in our own way. My dad grew up in a muslim majority country yet had friends who were Christian and often had Christmas dinner with them.

Now I have my own children they don't get Christmas gifts and we don't decorate our home as I believe they need distinct boundaries to be aware that we don't celebrate the birthday of any prophet. They are aware Santa doesn't come to our home as we are muslim but still reckon they can hear him on the estate dropping off gifts for other people. We have continued the tradition of selection boxes and had a lovely roast yesterday with all the trimmings. I do set my table and I like a cracker. The kids gave their friends Christmas cards and I did a stint at the local cafe offering free meals to people on Xmas and providing a listening ear to those that are lonely on the day. Dh attends his Xmas night out with work colleagues and I partake in wearing a Xmas jumper and enjoy seeing other people decorate their homes. I also love Christmas films and it is just a homely time where I celebrate spending time with my loved ones. We go to panto every year and just have fun at what is a lovely time of year.

Haters will always forgot or not even be aware that we consider Jesus a prophet too. As for the Muslims who judge others Muslims for having a tree etc. they should look to do better and remember we have no right to judge others for their choices.