Wednesday, February 14, 2007

St. Valentine's Day :|

Celebrating the Valentine's Day
By Nida Iqbal

Valentine's Day; a day long awaited by the youths, young couples and single people of every age all around the world. 'Why?' I ask. The answer is simple and we all know it.

Because on this day some people get to live out their romantic fantasies, their day dreams, which is a sickness in many of us living in the unrealistic world of romantic films and novels. But have we ever wondered what the actual significance of this day and its roots are? This is something that I want all of us Muslims to ponder on.

Some of us may be knowing it but don't bother to share it with others, to make them aware of the harm it has been doing to the young minds, young souls and most importantly the faith of so many in our country.

Valentine's Day's origins can be traced to roman pagan festivals and shortly afterwards, to Christianity.

We can't really truly say what they are as most of history has been mixed and merged and infiltrated but we can say one thing: that they are certainly 'un-Islamic'.

This reminds me of a verse from the Holy Qur'aan: "And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [Aal 'Imraan 3:85]

So, what we are doing here is the exact opposite of this verse of the Holy Qur'aan, we are impressed by other religions and their festivals and customs and in the process, we forget the teachings of our own.

This behaviour of ours was predicted by Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam):

"You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until even if they were to enter a lizard's hole, you would follow them."

We (the people present) said, "O Messenger of Allah, (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?" He said, "Who else?!" (Sahih Bukhari)

Festivals in Islam are clearly defined and established, there is no room for additions or subtractions.

Festivals are an important part of our worship and cannot be dictated by personal opinion, since they have been prescribed for us by Allah and His Messenger (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam):

'For every nation We have ordained religious ceremonies which they must follow.' [al-Hajj 22:67]

Now, what I want to advise my fellow Muslims is that we should not accept congratulations on Valentine's Day, because it is not a holiday or an Eid for the Muslims.

If the Muslim is congratulated on this occasion, he should not return the congratulations.

We must explain the true nature of this holiday and other festivals of the non-Muslims to those Muslims who have been deceived by them, and explain to them that it is essential for the Muslim to be distinguished by his religion and to protect his belief (aqeedah) and faith (iman) from anything that may damage it.

This should be done out of sincerity towards the Ummah and in fulfilment of the command to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil.

[http://jang.com.pk/thenews/feb2007-weekly/iqra-09-02-2007/index.html#3]

9 Comments:

At 5:55 am, Blogger Mariam said...

Thank you for the article. My position has always been this: Muslims follow the West in fashion & Valentine's day, which I don't find wrong. What I find bothersome is that they do not imitate the West in science and education.

The general position of some Muslim advisors (such as those who write for the Urdu edition of Iqra, Jang, and for akhbar-e-jehan, that raise my blood pressure every week :)) about Islam is summed up by what Ayatollah Khomeini said in 1979:

"Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be
serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious."

People should have fun - after they have worked hard.

 
At 6:52 am, Blogger Tauqeer said...

Now i'm more curious about what you wrote in your first comment!:'(

I do agree with bit of what you said but following west not in science and education is the biggest crime our leaders hath upon us.

And yes we all deserve bit of fun after hard work, though we can debate about halal ways of fun? May be laterz im well sleepy now bye :)

 
At 7:00 am, Blogger Mariam said...

My first comment was the same as the second, just minor alteration of words :D

 
At 7:01 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thing is... why is it just muslims that are in question here?
The entire world follows western cult..and traditions..

I think this day has been made commericalised.. Companies shops businesses earn their living off valentines day...

I think most western-muslims dont see harm in joining in by expressin their emotions..with all the cards balloons.. "eye candy" we can call it.. its tempting.. and some may just need an excuse to spoil their loved ones..

I dont totally agree with mariam... i think muslims in the world do hold some of the highest occupations.. as doctors lawyers engineers.. all the stereotypes that asian parents want...lol..

I agree with mariam on that last line.. People should learn when to also have fun...... Our religion does not restrict to having a smile or two or cherishing and loving the ppl we care for..

 
At 7:04 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

lol at getting into the politics of it all.. :s....


If valentines day is about two ppl.. caring and showing they care... as they could do any day of the year.. then why is it all of a sudden "gunnah"

Lol at halal ways of fun:|

 
At 9:59 pm, Blogger Sher said...

I agree with blackrose.

We as muslim who go out and do something special on the 14th of February aren't celebrating Valentine's day. We are simply singling out a single day of the year to show out love for our significant other.

Now people always say you shouldn't use the commercial crap on Valentine's just to show you love someone. Because we can't afford to do that sort of thing everyday and the stuff is much better during the valentine's period!

I think articles like this are counter-productive to integration of muslims in Western society. It is basically demonising showing your SOany sort of extra affection on the 14th Feb!

It is when you pretend that you are celebrating St Valentine's day and not celebrating your love for another individual that I beleive valentine's for Muslims is wrong.

The flowers are prettier on the 14th, the food is better, the gift shops have better soft toys.

To call going out with your SO on one particular day of the year every year haram is wrong. To chastise people for showing affection for their SO is wrong.

Just my 2 cents :)

 
At 10:00 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i just want to wish everyone a Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!!! :D

 
At 4:59 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

blackrose and sher... u said y is the fingerz alwayz pointed 2wardz muslimz yh...well as a muslim we hav are told 2 make aware 2 other muslimz what wrong and all..were told 2 be a mirror 4 each other ...and well what tauqeer wrote just identified tht ... and well we could also argue about motherz day 2 ... in islam motherz day is everyday ...but we still go out and buy flowerz or what not 4 are motherz.. at the end ov the day i think it boilz down 2 intentionz... ur intentionz are not 2 follow the karfir'z...but our actionz .say other... A matter ov actionz / intentionz it all boilz down 2 ..in my opinion;)

Reen Khan

 
At 5:01 pm, Blogger Tauqeer said...

agree with reen, yes such actions doesnot speak of your good intentions, its not just coz its a kafir tradition but all what goes after that

 

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