fbpx
37.6 F
Spokane
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeCommentaryAmerican Muslims and the Christmas Holiday

American Muslims and the Christmas Holiday

Date:

Related stories

My Journey through Homelessness Part Five: Learning to Live Outside the Box

The value of my homeless experience lies not so much in having learned how to live outside — at least not in the geographical sense. The value of my homeless experience lies in having learned how to live outside the box.

Lost in Translation: Isn’t It Time We Moved Beyond a Fear-Based Repentance?

When I hear the kingdom is at hand, followed immediately by the command to repent, the good news is overshadowed by the fear that I’m not good enough to be part of the kingdom of God.

Inspiring Others: How Our Marriage Turned 50

As we prepare to celebrate 50 years there are so many thoughts and memories going through my head. I have joked about how I don't know how you've put up with me for this long, which is really true in a sense with my Irish enthusiasm and temper.

Taking the Road ‘Less Traveled by’ Has Made ‘All the Difference’

Pete Haug remembers hearing Robert Frost read his poem "The Road not Taken" 65 years ago. It reminded him of his spiritual journey out of the Christianity of his youth into choosing the Baha'i faith as an adult.

Ask an EOC: Can You Confess in Private to God but not in Church Confession and be Forgiven?

Concerning the sacrament of Confession, Christ directly gave the authority to his Church to remit or retain the sins of the penitent. 

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img

American Muslims and the Christmas Holiday

By Maimoona Harrington

During his college years when my younger son returned from his retail job, he would often be humming, “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” which happens to me one of my favorites. This and many other similar Christmas jingles are playing all over America this time of year in shopping malls, restaurants, coffee shops and offices. Right after Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations are lit all over the country and almost every household, business, shopping mall have decorated Christmas trees on display. Flashing sales are on to attract the holiday buyers. The sweet aromas of chocolate, caramel, peppermint, pumpkin spice and cinnamon flavor surrounds you everywhere. All of this is very hard to resist, or even ignore.

Living in America for over a decade I have always noticed that many American cultural traditions and holidays raise ambiguities between Muslim communities. The Christmas holiday season particularly is challenging for many American Muslims because of the religious interpretation of Jesus (peace be upon him).  

The significant differences of Jesus’s place in Christianity and Islam makes most of the Muslims in America uncomfortable to participate and celebrate. Many Muslims feel that by celebrating, or even acknowledging the Christmas holiday, they are going against their monotheistic belief. Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon him) known as Isa ibn, Maryam is a revered prophet in Islam. Like Christianity, Muslims also believe Jesus (peace be upon him) to be the Messiah. In fact his mother, Mary, is the only woman mentioned in the Quran with a chapter dedicated to her name.

In addition to my own observations, I decided to get a better understanding of my fellow Muslim Americans sentiments by conducting a brief survey. I had an overwhelming response.

Based on my survey:

  • 21% decorate a Christmas tree and 79% do not
  • 37% listen to Christmas music and 63% do not
  • 44% exchange gifts and 56% do not
  • 49% attend Christmas parties and 51% do not
  • 94% take advantage of many discounts offered by the retailers and 6% do not.

I was especially curious to learn if they avoid the holiday season altogether or embrace it by creating their own traditions. The level of participation varied. Twenty-eight (28%) said they completely avoid the many activities of the holiday season. Thirteen (13%) said they fully embrace it and 22% make their own traditions. Twenty-one (21%) neither avoid, participate nor make their own traditions.

While some avoid it, some celebrate it in their own way within Muslim terms. Some said that their Islamic views and beliefs are not threatened by simply celebrating any holiday. Some participants felt that in this season of giving they love contributing with their non-Muslim fellow Americans. Some felt they embrace it feeling it is a great opportunity to show their children how to love and respect other beliefs as holiday celebrations are reflection of cultures.

We can enjoy the festivities of the holiday season by highlighting and focusing on the commonalities than the differences.

To my surprise, while researching this topic I discovered there are many majority Muslim countries, especially in the Middle East with diverse religious population that celebrate Christmas. There is no better place to witness the co-existence of Christians and Muslims during Christmas time than the Middle Eastern countries themselves. This makes perfect sense since Middle East is the birthplace of Jesus (peace be upon him).

Christmas is considered both religious as well as a secular event to celebrate. Countries including Egypt, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Palestine decorate Christmas trees, illuminate buildings and streets, have holiday parties, exchange gifts with Christian family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Bosnia-Herzegovina is another great example of interfaith co-existence. I visited Sarajevo during the Christmas season and witnessed this phenomenon for myself. 

Many Muslim countries including those I have mentioned have interfaith families, so they not only celebrate Christmas but Muslim holidays like Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha as well.

Over 50 Muslim majority countries observe Christmas holiday. Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey are some examples of these Muslim majority countries.

Growing up in Pakistan I had Christian class fellows, friends, co-workers and helpers. Here in America, I have an interfaith family. We get together on Christmas evening, share a nice meal and exchange gifts.

In my opinion soon our children or their children will be the first-generation immigrants, so it is imperative to work on inclusivity. We can show them how they can integrate through these holidays and at the same time make their own traditions. Christmas in America is celebrated both religiously and secularly so being a part of it does not make us go against our belief. We can simply join our fellow Americans in their joy by eating together or exchanging gifts.

Islam is a multicultural and multiethnic religion. Integration is one of the many reasons why it was able to spread from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world.

“Integration is not about losing identity. Rather it is about maintaining identity and belief while being able to celebrate differences and work with others in civic society.”

Cardiff

Integration and participation in any cultural traditions and holidays is a great way to bridge the gap between communities. It gives us a chance to embrace diversity by learning about other cultures and faiths. This is also a great time to share our own culture and faith.

I feel we can integrate better by being a part of everyone joy as this gives us a bigger opportunity to share our own!

Maimoona Harrington
Maimoona Harrington
Maimoona Harrington was born and raised in Pakistan. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies. As a practicing Muslim with extensive world travel and living in the West, she has devoted herself to spread awareness of Islam as a goodwill gesture. In an effort to do this, she started writing from her own personal experiences with religion, beliefs and life in a different culture. She also has special interest in all the religions and how and why they are all important to its followers. Her primary focus is on the co-existence and harmony between all human beings. Her message is to spread peace not division. She strongly believes that if you want to be closer to your creator then love His creation unconditionally and expect nothing in return for He loves us unconditionally and forgives us no matter how sinful we are!

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img
spot_img

1 COMMENT

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
trackback

[…] American Muslims and the Christmas Holiday – December 21, 2021 […]

spot_img
1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x