| Ibrahim Greer | Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 01:28 pm
The Christian Holiday season has come and gone again and I am suprised to find that there are practicing Muslims carrying out Christian traditions. As a former Christian I feel the need to set the record straight in regards to the practice of Christmas and New Years.
The birth of Isa(Jesus,Pbuh) has never been determined by Biblical accounts. Christian scholars have agreed early fall or even spring could have been possible. December 25th actually represent the winter solstice according to the Julian calandar in which pagan Romans carried the Saturnalia Festivals worshipping their various gods. The fixing of December 25th as Christ's birthday to coincide with the Saturnalia was no accident. This was a political and religous way of being all inclusive of the many religous practice of the Roman Empire. This is a lengthy topic but you can do a web search on Christian traditions on the net and find many sources that verify what I have said.
Also, there are references throughout the Bible that condemm the decorating of trees, see Jeremiah chapter 10 versus 1-4. This was a pagan practice dating back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pagan Germanic tribes of Europe also had similiar practices involving use of evergreen trees.
Santa Claus is a mythical character. Although there was a sainted bishop ST.Nicholas of Myra in what is modern day Turkey that was reported to have shown great kindness to children and the poor. He did not however have a sled and reindeer and fly through the sky. That image was created by the Dutch.
News Years is a pagan celebration of the two headed god Janus,thus the name of our first month of the year Janu-ary. Janus looks back at the past and forward at the future.
This was just a brief overview. I encourage everyone to research these things. Why teach our children to practice pagan rituals. And may Allah (swt) guide us all in these matters. |
