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??!!