Think twice before celebrating it
Nowadays, whenever a person visits some of the Muslim countries, they'll find out that the circumstances within them are quite different to what they would have expected. One only needs to set foot in these countries and begin to wander their streets to witness the tragic behaviour of its inhabitants.When one observes the level of joy and ecstasy as the different classes of people within the Muslim communities prepare to receive Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it seems impossible to believe what one previously heard about the Muslim countries and how its people were adhering to Islam.The entrances of hotels, cafés and stores are festooned with Christmas decorations; Photographers dress up as Santa Claus and go around taking souvenir photos of people; Florists compete in selling their products for people who rush to buy it for this occasion regardless of the price; Muslims of all persuasions prepare to hold parties in their houses and hotels and these hotels have tempting special offers for people to hold their parties in their halls and party rooms during that period.
Alcohol sales rocket in many stores to the extent that there are no youth or elderly or rich or poor except that they have their share of it; Confectionary stores completely sell out of all candies and sweets, old or new - indeed it seems as if as if this period is the first time that people see such items in the stores.The media plays a huge part in propagating these celebrations; it prepares various television programmes and series in anticipation of these events. When New Years Eve arrives, people stay up all night committing sinful acts such as adultery, fornication, drinking alcohol and other things which Satan himself would be ashamed of mentioning; witnessing all this, one would think that he is in the capital city of a western country. The fact of the matter is that all of these actions represent a comprehensive imitation of western culture and can only be the result of very low levels of faith or indeed a total lack of it; to exhibit this type of behaviour is to strip oneself from the distinction and superiority of Islaam and it is also an evil which makes Muslims who partake in such celebrations be included in the saying of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam “He who imitates a people will be from among them (on the Day of Judgement).”
When Muslims imitate the disbelievers their rank in the sight of Allah decreases. This is because a Muslim is superior to a disbeliever, so if he were to imitate a disbeliever then he would descend from his lofty rank to that which is inferior and this is a form of being ungrateful for the bounties of Allaah and an insult to the religion of Islam because Islam is superior to everything else and nothing should be given priority over it.Islam has established a path to guidance which differs from the culture and customs of the disbelievers regardless of whether they are from the people of the book or otherwise. Islam abrogates all previous religions and legislations and our Muslim nation is the one to be followed and not one which should blindly imitate others.Muslim merchants and traders must not participate in any aspect of celebrating this day; they should not imitate the Christian merchants in the types of merchandise they sell during this period and they should refrain from decorating their shops with special lights and other kinds of decorations to commemorate this occasion.It is our religious duty to boycott these celebrations; are we unable to prevent our children and other members of our household from participating in these immoral celebrations? How can a Muslim father watch his children prepare for these parties on New Years Eve and remain silent? Some parents even participate in this by purchasing items for the parties and by making their own plans for that night with their friends and relatives so that the way is paved for their children to spend the night with their girlfriend or boyfriend by listening to music, dancing, intermixing with the opposite sex and many other acts that Allah has prohibited and which would make morality shed tears and chastity protest.
Such parents seem to consider these actions as normal, despite the fact that they will certainly be held to account for the cultivation and upbringing of their children; Allaah says that which means: “O you who believe! Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones…” (At-Tahreem: 6); did such fathers, who did not prevent their children from celebrating the New Year protect themselves and their children from the Hellfire?Fear Allaah in your behaviour and actions; remain firm on His obedience and refrain from disobeying Him; encourage your family to adhere to Islamic rulings and assist them in this; rebuke them and restrain them from committing sins. so that you may protect yourselves from the Hellfire....amin....
