salams
first I need to say my work environment in with elderly retired people
Even though I tell them I don't celebrate Christmas they still say Merry Christmas And I would either say I don't celebrate and it always starts a convo which I don't always have time to explain because my work is very demanding so be gan to respond with " have a healthy one"
Is there a better way to deal with this issue?
A group of Toronto Muslims reacted with outrage yesterday after hearing that an Etobicoke mosque issued a warning to followers that wishing someone a Merry Christmas is like congratulating a murderer.
The notice went out on the Khalid Bin Al-Walid mosque's Internet message service on Christmas day, stating that congratulating non-Muslims on their festivals "is like congratulating someone for drinking wine, or murdering someone or having illicit sexual relations and so on."
Whoever wishes someone a Merry Christmas, it goes on to say, "exposes himself to the wrath and anger of Allaah." The members of the Muslim Canadian Congress, a group formed six months ago to promote a liberal and pluralistic Islam in Canada, denounced the message as shameful hate-mongering.
"These are the kind of bigots we don't need in our religion and we don't need in Canada," said Syed Sohail Raza, a founding member of the group who fled Pakistan for Canada in 1989 to escape religious persecution. "Although Canada is a democratic society, there is no room for hate-mongering and inciting people against other faiths. If I can't wish you a Merry Christmas on your most holy day, what kind of relationship am I going to form with co- workers and neighbours and with schoolchildren? This is the kind of thing that has to stop."
The mosque, located near Kipling Ave. and Highway 401, was filled with primarily Somali Canadian worshippers yesterday for Friday prayers. In between calls to worship, mosque director Abukar Sheikh Hussein said the e- mail had been sent out by a junior employee without his approval. "This is not our position," agreed Said Omar, one of the mosque's board members who was called in to speak with a Star reporter. "We didn't give permission to the person who sent this e-mail. We love the prophet Issa (Jesus Christ) more than anyone else because he is one of the prophets of Allah." However, two regular worshippers at the mosque, brought in to speak to the reporter, both agreed with the main message.
"For myself, it's a sin exactly," said Salah Suad, an immigrant from Iraq. Wishing someone a merry Christmas goes against what the prophet Mohammed advised.
"Do not share any celebration with non-Muslims, for if you share with them on the Day of Judgment, you'll be with them too."
Pointing out that freedom of religion is a fundamental tenet of the Canadian Constitution, fellow worshipper Alfaaz Karamat added: "This is no one else's concern. This is our belief and we have the right to practise in that way." The e-mail message explains that greeting the kuffaar (non-believer) on Christmas is haraam (forbidden) because "imitating them in some of their festivals implies that one is pleased with their false beliefs and practices and gives them the hope that they may have the opportunity to humiliate and mislead the weak."
It instructs its readers to stop greeting colleagues on Christmas with "Merry Christmas" and to avoid Christmas parties. "If they greet us on the occasion of their festivals, we should not respond, because these are not our festivals and because they are not festivals which are acceptable to Allaah," the message states.
Hussein said he could not refute the e-mail's points in particular, as he had decided not to read it. Reading it, he said, would be to condone it. "I don't say honestly `Merry Christmas.' Maybe I say `Happy holidays,'" he said. "I don't say it because it might be a sin. Historically, it's not right. The prophet Issa was not born on Dec. 25."
Muslim Canadian Congress founding member Tarek Fatah said the e-mailed message contradicted the spirit of pluralism espoused in the Qu'ran. "The Qu'ran very specifically states ? chapter 109, line 6 ? `To you, your religion, to me mine,'" said Fatah, host of the CTS-TV program The Muslim Chronicle. "This is the hijacking of my religion."
Fatah put the interpretation down to more proof that the radical Wahhabi movement, a sect that originated in the 18th century and is now the state- sanctioned doctrine of Saudi Arabia, has taken root in Toronto.
"I've been hearing this kind of thing in more and more mosques," he said.
"People started believing the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam is the only valid interpretation."
Fellow Muslim Canadian Congress member Zuhair Kashmeri summoned other Canadian Muslims to respond to the e-mail message by purposefully wishing as many people "Merry Christmas" as possible.
salams
first I need to say my work environment in with elderly retired people
Even though I tell them I don't celebrate Christmas they still say Merry Christmas And I would either say I don't celebrate and it always starts a convo which I don't always have time to explain because my work is very demanding so be gan to respond with " have a healthy one"
Is there a better way to deal with this issue?
Just smile and say 'Have a nice holiday', or better, 'thanks, same to you!'
You're being polite, yet you're not saying 'Merry Christmas'.
As-Salaam Walikum DO YOU Really THINK THAT Allah(SWT) wants YOU TO DO That you know how Allah Is would you rather risk your relationship with him just to win the pleasure of these people? Astagfirulla....
***MaSalaama***
That's the same as CELEBRATING their holidays.....
Eh? 'Happy holidays'? A holiday is a time that everyone gets off school or work. You're not wishing them a happy Christmas. You're saying 'Hey man, have a nice time off'. It's no different than saying 'Have a nice weekend'.
***MaSalaama***
*P.S. That is NOT People Skills it is RATHER Dumb Itiotic SKILLS....
Now, what possessed you to say that?
9. Beef will not be tolerated in any forum. Differences in opinion are expected, but please debate respectfully. (Beef are comments made for the purpose of insulting somebody else with negative intent, looking for a negative reaction, or blatantly insulting somebody)
And more to the point, haven't you heard the Hadith: 'The best among you are those with good manners'
What's wrong with being polite to someone who has unwittingly wished you a 'happy Christmas' because they assume you celebrate it? All one must do is politely inform them that one is Muslim, and then wish them a happy holiday.
i totally agree with muezzin. I myself living in australia find that many people wish me a merry xmas...so what!!! let THEM celebrate it. My INTENTION is not to, of course, but i aint gunna be rude! I always tell people to have a nice holiday..NEVER merry xmas.
We as muslims have to be the best in everything..that includes MANNERS!
My neighbour gave me chocolates for her xmas...i gladly accepted... She is a really nice person, and my husband and i are trying to give her dawah through the way we deal with her in kindness.
May Allah guide us all, and help us with our manners...AMEEN
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