Monday, February 21, 2011

WHY WE MUST NOT CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, NEW YEAR…

And when they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe," but when they are alone with their Shayâtin (devils - polytheists, hypocrites, etc.), they say: "Truly, we are with you; verily, we were but mocking.”
Al Quran :: Surat al-Baqara :: Verse 14

Islam and the Muslims are under siege today; they are abused, deterred, threatened, ridiculed, and lured into believing that they are orthodox. They have been under this siege ever since, and will remain so till the Last Day. However, many of us do not amply realize the significance and gravity of this situation. While we at times might be able to outwit the element of siege in most of the cases, the last one – being lured to believe that we are orthodox – is seldom offset by prudence. An offshoot of this same aspect is the rampant and incandescent urge to portray ourselves as unorthodox and contemporary, at times at the cost of belying the premises of our belief and Islam. Just imagine how you would feel when you are ridiculed in your office when you tell your colleagues, “I do not celebrate my birthday!”…
A lot of people argue that there is no specific reference to celebrate or not to celebrate these occasions in Quran and Sunnah. Quran and Sunnah, for example, do not say either celebrate or DO NOT celebrate them. However, before we explore this aspect, let us first explore the concept of birthdays or anniversaries and then retrospect on the aspect of celebrating them or not with reference to Quran and Sunnah. I have carefully selected a verse from Surah Baqarah as the starting of this article; since Surah Baqarah follows a pattern of first describing the believers, then disbelievers, and then the munafeqeen. Insha Allah, I will also try to follow a pattern to discuss this aspect.

Birthday/Anniversary Leading to Disbelief or Shirk


Wikipedia states the following with respect to how birthday celebrations kick started – “A number of possible superstitious origins for customs associated with birthday celebrations have been suggested. One source states that the tradition of birthday parties started in Europe. It was feared that evil spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays and to protect them, they would be visited by friends and family, who would bring good thoughts and wishes.”
I chose Wikipedia for this exploration since it is considered one of the most authentic sources for retrieving information on contemporary issues. Therefore, if we are to believe the above citation by Wikipedia, the very spirit of celebrating/observing/practicing birthdays and anniversaries directly leads to Shirk or disbelief. On second thoughts, some observers also note that the practice of celebrating birthday is relatively new. “Egyptians observed birthdays, but only for their rulers. They held parades, circuses, gladiatorial contests, and sumptuous feasts! The Romans staged parades and chariot races to celebrate birthdays; some of which were created for their gods. Mere mortals were not honored or even remembered on the day of their birth.” Another citation from the same source says – “In ancient times, people prayed over the flames of an open fire. They believed that the smoke carried their thoughts up to the gods. Today, we believe, that if you blow out all your candles in one breath, your wish will come true.” [Reference: The Phrase Finder :: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/10/messages/836.html] Going by these citations again, the primary spirit of celebrating birthdays and anniversaries directly leads to Shirk or disbelief.

Birthday/Anniversary Leading to Innovation or Biddah


We might at times be tempted to believe that birthdays are impious customs started by Christians. The fact; however, might stand out pretty differently. Wikipedia, if it is to be believed, talks about the opposite – “The early Christians did not celebrate Christ's birth because they considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom. … Jehovah's Witnesses and some Sacred Name groups refrain from celebrating birthdays on the basis that they are portrayed in a negative light in the Bible and have historical connections with magic, superstitions, and Paganism.”
Wikipedia further states with reference to Genesis – “Now on the third day [yohm] it turned out to be Pharaoh’s birthday [literally, “the day (yohm in Hebrew and Yawm in Arabic) of the birth (hul·le′dheth) of Pharaoh”].” So it is certain that Job 1:4 does not refer to a birthday, as is unquestionably the case at Genesis 40:20. It would seem that Job’s seven sons held a family gathering (possibly a spring or harvest festival) and as the feasting made the week-long circuit, each son hosted the banquet in his own house “on his own day. Job 3:1,3 does not talk about a yearly birthdays celebration, but about the day he was actually born. That is quite clear from the last part of verse 3. In this account, Job [Prophet Ayoub, peace be upon him] is being tested by Satan being stricken by every sort of torture to test his loyalty toward Jehovah God and in his sufferings he is at this point, of losing everything, is regretting his birth (hul·le′dheth) altogether.”
Going by these discussions, we must admit that these practices have been inhibited in Christianity and other religions as well. The followers of Judaism and Christianity [the Jews and Christians we see today] have definitely transgressed upon the teachings of their religious scriptures and have conceived innovations outside their religions, as per their whims and fancies. In terms of Islam, conceiving innovations outside the religion is considered as Biddah. We have ample resources, evidences, and discussions with respect to Quran and Sunnah that tell us about the rot of innovating in the religion:
And (remember) when We appointed for Mûsa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) – Al Quran :: Surah Baqarah :: Verse 51
The previous verse from Surah Al Baqarah has special relevance for people who celebrate birthdays and anniversaries in ignorance or arrogance, without acknowledging the truth about the same. In these verses, Allah describes about the state of the Children of Israel. When Moses [peace be upon him] went off for fasting as per Allah’s Command, one of the people of Israel innovated instantly and lured the people to seek a deity similar to what the people of Firaun had, so that they would worship the same. Thereafter, they brought a golden calf and started worshipping it, without paying heed to the reprimanding of Prophet Harun [peace be upon him].
Let us look at some facts among ourselves. We tend to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Mohammad [peace be upon him] as a religious festival, similar to Christmas. We celebrate the first of Moharram as the Islamic New Year, similar to the Gregorian New Year on the first of January. We also tend to celebrate and observe the ascent of Prophet Mohammad [peace be upon him] to the Heavens [Shab-e-Me’raaj or Shab-e-Baraat, as it is popular in India] with a lot of pomp and gaiety.
Let us see what the Sunnah of our Prophet [peace be upon him] has to say about these celebrations. Al-Bayhaqi reported in his Sunan that Anas Bin Maalik [RA] said: “When the Prophet [peace be upon him] came to Medina, the people had two holidays from the days of Jahiliyyah.” He [peace be upon him] said: “When I came to you, you had two days which you used to celebrate in Jahiliyyah. Allah has replaced them for you with better days, the days of slaughter (Adhaa) and the day of Fitr.”
Allah has REPLACED the celebration days of Jahiliyah with better days; are we then required to contrive innovations and chose for ourselves worse than what has been offered to us? I am reminded of the following verses from Surah Al Baqarah again:
“And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quails, (saying): “Eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you,” (but they rebelled). And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves. – Al Quran :: Surah Baqarah :: Verse 57
The Children of Israel or the followers of Prophet Moses [peace be upon him] disliked the better food provided to them by Allah, and instead wished for something inferior in quality thereof. Do we subscribe or endorse to the same idea with respect to observing and celebrating birthdays and anniversaries?? Don’t we see this blemished semblance with the Children of Israel??!!

Celebrating Birthday/Anniversary Traits of Munafeqeen


Still some others wish to be LIBERALS with respect to following Islamic injunctions, and do not feel shy of celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. By doing so, they wish to prove amply that Islam is not an orthodox religion. Alas, Islam IS THE MOST CONTEMPORARY religion and way of life; however, our efforts to prove it this way only lead to conceiving innovation in the religion. What is most dangerous is illuminated by the first citation at the beginning of the article. The verse talks about the munafeqeen – who are neither believers nor disbelievers in their façade. An important trait of munafeqeen is that they side with believers when amongst them; and then side with the disbelievers when they are amongst the disbelievers. We tend to say that we are believers; but when we are among the disbelievers, we tend to say that we are similar to them – see, we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, New Year; we are liberals, not like the orthodox and ghettoized Muslims – at times even mocking at them… It has also become our intellectual fashion and passion to revile and taunt and mock anyone who appears orthodox or spells orthodoxy with respect to Islam [Dr. Zakir Naik??!! Refer to Shakeel bhai’s article Sachin Tendulkar and Dr. Zakir Naik: Two Gems from Mumbai].  
Some final citations with respect to imitating the disbelievers; direct or implicit:
1.    At-Tirmidhi narrated that Ibn Abbas [RA] reported that the Prophet [peace be upon him] said: “He is not one of us who imitates other than us. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians.”

2.    At-Tabarani and Abu Dawud narrated that Ibn Umar and Hudhayfah RA reported that the Prophet [peace be upon him] said: “Whoever imitates a people, he is one of them.”
How strong are the wordings with respect to imitating the people of the book; irrespective of the reasons/logic…
Let’s take this time to reflect on whether celebrating birthdays and anniversaries is right for us; whatever logic or reasons thereof. Ignorance is not bliss for us, since we are predestined not to be ignorant. How can we claim ignorance when we have Quran and Sunnah with us??!!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

As salaam bhai.

Question: I am using a mobile phone/computer/glass/shirts/have hair on the head/...imitations all .....so am I not one of Muslims?...

Wikipedia is not an authentic source for quoting.,as...it can be changed by anyone...

Also, please do not quote At-Tabarani and Abu Dawud or anyone out of context. Specify why they said what they said..AND in which context.

"And (remember) when We appointed for Mûsa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) – Al Quran :: Surah Baqarah :: Verse 51"


The above quote does not refer to birthdays or celebrations or any such event..it simply and directly says that people have done wrong in worshipping the calf....no other mention of any event is made there.

My question to you is this....

If there is no direct evidence of birthday being NOT allowed .....and you believe that it IS not allowed...and hence call the people who celebrate it as Kafirs...then maybe you are yourself culprit of inventing (Bida'h) in Islam...

Only Allah knows best what is right and what is wrong... mortals do not have the right to judge other mortals...

Arman said...

Reply to Anonymous Comment

You said: As salaam bhai.

Reply: Assalamoalaikum waRahmatullah waBarkatuh bhai!!

You said: Question: I am using a mobile phone/computer/glass/shirts/have hair on the head/...imitations all .....so am I not one of Muslims?...

Reply: Imitation means to reproduce someone else’s behavior – as a definition; probably if you are not already aware. Mobile phone, computer, shirts, etc. are all resources and equipment that we use in our day to day life. Using them is not imitation; if you feel so, you are falling into something called logical fallacy. Having hair is a gift from Allah; where does imitation come into play in that case? Yes, of course if you get your hair styled in a manner that resembles a disbeliever [Sikhs, for example], that is what we would call as imitation in the logical sense. Therefore, your examples of imitation are precariously misplaced and lack logic; do check them again please, for the sake of your own knowledge.

The Prophet [peace be upon him] must have also surely used ax, ploughs, clothes, and other such resources and equipment in his day to day life. However, he [peace be upon him] never celebrated birthdays… Bring me ONE authentic reference to ONE authentic Hadith that proves that the Prophet [peace be upon him] celebrated anything resembling an annual celebration of any kind; other than the two Eids; and I would have no objection in whatever you say.

Whether you are one of Muslims in true sense [or even to that matter, I am one of Muslims in true sense] is a matter for Allah Almighty alone to judge. Therefore, I leave it to Allah Almighty…

Arman said...

You said: Wikipedia is not an authentic source for quoting.,as...it can be changed by anyone...

Reply: Content on Wikipedia may be editable, but Wikipedia IS ONE OF THE MOST AUTHENTIC SEARCH ENGINES AND RESERVE OF INFORMATION –

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia.org_is_more_popular_than...

http://www.thegooglecache.com/white-hat-seo/966-of-wikipedia-pages-rank-in-googles-top-10/

Request you to please talk sense and supplement your claims with proper statistics.

You said: Also, please do not quote At-Tabarani and Abu Dawud or anyone out of context. Specify why they said what they said..AND in which context.

Reply: I have quoted the PROPHET [PEACE BE UPON HIM] through authentic sources; that is, At-Tirmidhi and others. What context do you want in a Hadith such as this – “He is not one of us who imitates other than us. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians.”???? IT CLEARLY SAYS – DO NOT IMITATE THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. OTHER THAN US, OTHER THAN THE PROPHET [PBUH] AND HIS SAHABAS. Repeating – Imitate means to reproduce someone else’s behavior – as a definition; probably if you are not already aware. HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND PLAIN AND SIMPLE ENGLISH… If not, please do let me know and I would insha Allah try to procure the authentic Hadiths in languages you understand best.

AGAIN, BRING ONE AUTHENTIC REFERENCE CLAIMING THAT THE PROPHET [PBUH] OR HIS COMPANIONS CELEBRATED BIRTHDAYS OR ANY ANNUAL EVENTS IN ANY WAY, I HAVE NO OBJECTIONS…

Arman said...

You said: "And (remember) when We appointed for Mûsa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) – Al Quran :: Surah Baqarah :: Verse 51"

The above quote does not refer to birthdays or celebrations or any such event..it simply and directly says that people have done wrong in worshipping the calf....no other mention of any event is made there.

Reply: And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it is a Fâhishah [i.e. anything that transgresses its limits (a great sin)], and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allâh forgives him). Surah Al Israh – Verse 32

Brother, the previous verse refers to unlawful sexual intercourse. Does this verse quoted above DIRECTLY refer to watching pornography on a DVD?? Does it DIRECTLY refer to vulgar chatting with the opposite sex on the Internet? So, would you deduce from this that watching pornography is allowed, since nothing has been mentioned about it in the Quran DIRECTLY???!!!!

Your logic would surely be flawed if you do so – on the contrary, this verse semantically refers to watching pornography – it is similar to going near to unlawful sexual intercourse. This is a sign of similitude to watching pornography that we see in the verse.

Do you know why the verses in the Quran are called Ayah? Do you know what the meaning of Ayah is? Ayah in Arabic means signs; signs for us to REFLECT, think, draw semblance, and be saved from Allah’s wrath. Allah says in the Quran at several places [perceived meaning – not exact translation] that Quran and all other creations of Allah are signs for people to reflect. The verses quoted above refer to a SIGN of the people of Moses. The people of Moses wanted to imitate the people of Firaun and wanted an idol similar to them so that they could worship it – even when Moses had brought out the truth. It is a SIGN to specify that these people wanted to have something SIMILAR to a disbelieving community for themselves. If we want birthdays, anniversaries, and new years for our own sake, similar to these people of Moses [the Children of Israel], when Allah has given us things more superior; this is a clear sign that we are probably following their footsteps. Allah is not happy with these people and they have been made to wander on the Earth henceforth…

Arman said...

You said: My question to you is this....

If there is no direct evidence of birthday being NOT allowed .....and you believe that it IS not allowed...and hence call the people who celebrate it as Kafirs...then maybe you are yourself culprit of inventing (Bida'h) in Islam...

Reply: My answer to you brother is clear, simple, and logical – there is no direct reference in the Quran for pornography and seeing it on televisions and computers, DVDs, and others. There is no clear DIRECT EVIDENCE that WATCHING PORNOGRAPHY is NOT allowed – would you then say it is ALLOWED [nauzubillah]???!! Or would you probably follow the signs towards this Haram thing in the Quran?

Then again, I am not equating birthday with pornography, but giving this example as an argument to your own example – therefore, please don’t jump to another fallacious conclusion that I may be equating the two.

Biddah is innovation in the religion; what I have mentioned is that birthday WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE CULTURE AND RELIGION AS PER THE PROPHET [PBUH]- IT CANNOT BE BIDDAH TO SAY THAT IT WAS NOT INCLUDED. IT IS BIDDAH TO SAY THAT IT WAS INCLUDED SURELY - SO WHAT WAS NOT INCLUDED THEN IS NOT TO BE INCLUDED NOW. IF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE INCLUDES IT - THAT IS BIDDAH. PLS CHECK YOUR LOGIC ONCE AGAIN...

Arman said...

You said: Only Allah knows best what is right and what is wrong... mortals do not have the right to judge other mortals...

Reply: Only Allah knows best what is right and what is wrong [YOU LEFT IT INCOMPLETE; LET ME COMPLETE THIS] – and Allah has TOLD US ALL WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG, THROUGH THE QURAN AND SUNNAH. Allah has also enjoined upon us to TELL EVERYONE ELSE WHAT IS WRONG AND WHAT IS RIGHT: “Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islâm), enjoining Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful.” – Surah Al-Imran, Verse 104.

I have written this article to comply with the preceding quoted verse; not to judge other mortals. Request you to do the same and not to judge what my intensions are – since you too are incapable of judging any mortal.

Arman said...

One final request - I do not like people hiding behind anonymity and talking senseless and nonsensical arguments. Please have the guts to login with your account details and comment further. Any anonymous reply to these comments will not be entertained... Thanks...

Unknown said...

To Anonymous..

"Man Tashabbaha biquamin fahuwa minaha". Au kama Qala Alaihissalam.

This is the authentic hadith that indicate that do not celebrate the birthday, anniversaries etc etc.

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