How far should we go in celebrating Christmas?
Syed Rizvi on the difference between respecting Christmas and adopting Christmas.
Syed Rizvi on the difference between respecting Christmas and adopting Christmas.
Not so long ago, we introduced the concept of an Islamic Tree for Eid – check these out here and here.
Why not use the same concept for Christmas also? Living in the West (and even if you don’t nowadays) the pressure to celebrate or mark Christmas with the usual tree and gifts is very strong. So why not celebrate… but in more of an Islamic way, as opposed to the Christmas tree and baubles and things very much associated with another religion?
I came across this article called The Little Known Story of the Islamic Christmas Tree which I thought was so interesting, suggesting that an Islamic tree would actually be much closer to a true marking of the birth of Jesus (no matter what date!) than the actual Christmas tree.
It says: “According to the Quran the tree is a date palm, which has both Mary and baby Jesus resting beneath it. The tree has ripe dates as it is bearing fruit at the time of Jesus’ birth. It also features spring water towards its base, which (in the story) miraculously appears for Mary to drink from.”
A date palm Eid tree was actually the original idea – but until we can get one, why not try the alternative (as suggested in the blog posts cited above)?
Happy celebrating Prophet Isa’s birthday 🙂
What a lovely giving gesture 🙂
Christmas eve tonight! Why not snuggle in with your family and watch the movie on how Jesus was born according to us?
It may help answer a lot of questions in our children’s minds about Christmas, as well as emphasise our similarities in honouring him too?
Hope you all have a lovely holiday!
An interesting read for all of us Muslim parents struggling with a similar issues…