Who is Valentine's Day for?
- Categories: Muslim Women's Issues -
By Khaled ibn Abdul-Rahman Al-Shayi'
People naturally
like occasions of happiness and pleasure, whether private or
public, including eids (feasts or days of celebration). For the
sake of this inclination, the Shari'a came with the legitimacy of
the Fitr and Adha Eids: Two valid eids in the year, and Allah has
legislated in them (reasonable) spending and the showing of
happiness which people need, in addition to a weekly eid which is
Friday. And this is part of the mercy of Allah upon this nation of
Mohammad (peace be upon him).
If we look at the
celebrations that other nations have, we will find that they have
quite a number of them: one for each national occasion and season,
Mother's Day, Labor Day, a day for agriculture and so on, to the
extent that there is barely a month without a specific eid.
All this is from their innovation.
Allah the Exalted
has said (interpretation of the meaning)
{But the monasticism
which they invented for themselves We did not prescribe for them}
(Al-Hadid 57:27) and for this reason the dates of the occasions
have changed through the years according to political and social
desires, and they are accompanied with more rituals, habits and
types of amusement than can be listed, according to the details in
specialized books.
Among the strange eids in the world today are those of the pagans and the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), connected to their gods, rabbis and monks, such as the days of St. Michael, St. Andrew, St. Valentine, etc. These eids are accompanied with several acts including decorating homes, lighting candles, going to the church, buying certain types of candy, specific songs and so on.
After that it has
become the habit of non-Muslim nations to celebrate birthdays in
which people invite their friends, prepare special food, light
candles according to the age of the person etc.. and some Muslims
have imitated them in this innovation!
After this
introduction to the eids of the nations, it is worth mentioning
that a Muslim should be confident that the most complete guidance
and the best legislation is that which the Seal of the Prophets and
Messengers (peace be upon him) came with.
Allah the Exalted
has said (interpretation of the meaning)
{This day have I
perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you and
have chosen for you Islam as your religion} (Al-Maida 5:3).
All the eids that
the other nations have are innovation and misguidance, in addition
to their disbelief in Allah. Allah the Exalted has said
(interpretation of the meaning)
{If anyone desires a
religion other than Islam never will it be accepted of him; and in
the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all
spiritual good) } (Al-Imran 3:85)
Due to the
importance of this subject and the attention it should be given - I
mean what has come to Muslims from the eids of disbelievers and the
occasions they relate to their religion - Islam has given the
matter eloquent and specific care. Allah has described His
believing servants as avoiding disbelievers in their eids: {Those
who witness no falsehood} (Al-Furqan 25:72). Falsehood in this
verse refers to the eids of the disbelievers. Allah has
legislated for His believing servants eids that suffice them from
copying those of others:
Abu Dawood, Nasa'i
and others have authentically reported that Anas (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to
Madinah at a time in which people had two days in which they
played. He told them: "Allah has replaced these two with what
is better: the days of Fitr and Adha."
Hafiz Ibn Hajjar
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: "From this it is deduced that
it is disliked to be happy during the pagans' eids and to imitate
them."
In what follows we
will consider an eid that some Muslims have imitated and taken from
the disbelievers, namely Valentine's Day, which Christians have
specified as the 14th of February, according to a certain creed
that they have and which we will not go into the details
of.
Normally we would not have considered this eid nor given it any attention, as it is one of the tens of eids that they have, but because some Muslims and Muslimahs have become affected by this, it has become necessary to inform our brothers and sisters who attempt to participate in this occasion with its specific 'rituals' and do not know that Valentine's Day is deeply rooted in the Christian creed. The latter - i.e., the Christians - differ on whether this is something they inherited or something inherited from the Romans, who had gods according to their desires: they appointed gods for love as they do with other gods for light, darkness, crops, rain, seas, rivers, and so on.
Some of the things observed by disbelievers during Valentine's Day include their clothes, gifts, greeting cards, red roses (they use red as a symbol for a certain obscene behavior). They also celebrate by writing phrases of love and passion on the cards that are exchanged between young men and women, purchasing red teddy bears with hearts and words of love on them which are sold at high prices as presents that symbolize love!
One of the things that has increased the spreading of these issues in some Muslim countries is what many forms of media (whether read or viewed) - and particularly satellite channels - do by advertising this behavior using various methods, to the extent that the matter is no longer evident to simple people who do not have sufficient educational sense to protect them from these twisted behaviors, and particularly male and female students in public and higher education.
According to what
has been presented, we would like to confront our brothers and
sisters - fellow Muslims - who participate in any of the types of
celebrations mentioned, and we say:
Today those of you
who celebrate Valentine's Day and similar do this for something
within yourselves. But I think that with your instinct of the
oneness of Allah, that if you knew the religious background of this
celebration and what it bears of symbols of innovation, paganism,
and demonstrating that there are other gods than Allah - may Allah
be exalted from that - you would realize how grave your mistake is
and the awfulness of the direction you have taken and how you have
been effected.
Scholars have said that a Muslim should not accept any gift or food prepared for the sake of the disbelievers' eids. For this reason, it is incumbent upon fathers and mothers to pay attention of this in their children, and particularly if they see their daughters wearing red blouses, jackets or the like specifically on that day. Likewise, if children ask them to buy roses or greeting cards that are specific for that day, they should tell them the truth about this issue in a religious, educational and convincing manner.
We also greatly admonish those Muslims who sell symbols of disbelievers' celebrations, whether by importing or producing them. For example, those who sell and provide flowers specifically on that day, and owners of stores that sell toys and wrap gifts. These people are helping in the celebration of disbelievers' eids, and undoubtedly they are cooperating in vice and aggression and participating in the spreading of the beliefs of the disbelievers. However, may Allah be praised, they have a lot of other things to sell that are not used in the celebration of the disbelievers' eids.
Another thing we should mention here is that Muslims who carry the knowledge or work for the media should play their role in protecting Islamic thoughts from their media counterparts who contempt Islam and Muslims.
We would like to
conclude our topic with the fatwa of the great scholar Sh. Mohammad
ibn Saleh Al-Othaymeen (may Allah have mercy upon him). He
was asked about celebrating and participating in Valentine's
Day. His answer was:
"Celebrating
Valentine's Day is not permitted because:
1. it is an
innovated eid that has no basis in shari'a
2. it invites people
to love and passion
3. it invites
people's hearts to be busy with these insignificant issues that are
against the path of the previous righteous people, may Allah be
pleased with them.
So it is
forbidden to perform any 'eid rituals' on this day - whether food,
drinks, clothes, gifts, etc.
A Muslim should be
proud of his/her religion, and should not by an imitator who
follows every caller.
I ask Allah to
protect Muslims from all temptations, both visible or hidden." [End
of the shaikh's fatwa]
Thus it is evident
"who Valentine's Day is for", as this day is not of the practices
of Islam nor its guidance, but rather the result of the social and
educational pitfalls of the disbelievers. Any Muslim who
participates in celebrating this day does so because of whims
within him/herself and because of personal defeat, inadequate
educational sense, and weakness of Islamic protection in those
whose own selves deceived them into imitating disbelievers and
mimicking them in their unworthiness and misguidance.
May peace be upon
our prophet Mohammad and his family and companions.