Regarding Christmas and New Year

حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ رُشَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعَيْبُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ، عَنِ الأَوْزَاعِيِّ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو قِلاَبَةَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي ثَابِتُ بْنُ الضَّحَّاكِ، قَالَ‏:‏ نَذَرَ رَجُلٌ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ يَنْحَرَ إِبِلاً بِبُوَانَةَ، فَأَتَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ‏: ‏إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ أَنْ أَنْحَرَ إِبِلاً بِبُوَانَةَ.‏ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏:‏ ‏"‏هَلْ كَانَ فِيهَا وَثَنٌ مِنْ أَوْثَانِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يُعْبَدُ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالُوا‏: لاَ‏.‏ قَالَ‏: ‏"‏هَلْ كَانَ فِيهَا عِيدٌ مِنْ أَعْيَادِهِمْ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالُوا: لاَ‏.‏ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏: ‏‏"‏أَوْفِ بِنَذْرِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ لاَ وَفَاءَ لِنَذْرٍ فِي مَعْصِيَةِ اللَّهِ وَلاَفِيمَا لاَ يَمْلِكُ ابْنُ آدَمَ‏"‏‏.‏ صححه الألباني

Narrated Thabit ibn ad-Dahhak: In the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) a man took a vow to slaughter a camel at Buwanah. So he came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: I have taken a vow to sacrifice a camel at Buwanah.

The Prophet (ﷺ) asked: Did the place contain any idol worshipped in pre-Islamic times?

They (the people) said: No.

He asked: Was any pre-Islamic festival observed there?

They replied: No.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Fulfil your vow, for a vow to do an act of disobedience to Allah must not be fulfilled, neither must one do something over which a human being has no control. Sunan Abi Dawud 3313

As we witnessed the implementation of the name of Allah (the Forbearing) when we saw the readiness of millions of people to celebrate the feast of the birth of the Son of God - Glory be to Allah and may He be exalted above what they say - and their gathering for joy as the heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in devastation, and their Lord, the Forbearing is not punishing them. And also those who share their joy with the polytheists, while they have in their chest: Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

Some will claim that the (New Year's Day) is not a religious holiday! The mistake that they are not aware of is their belief that there is a religious festival and a social festival, and this is wrong, because the festival itself is a religion, and it is not permissible to innovate in it, and some of the predecessors among the scholars when it was the day of Nowruz (the Persian festival of their new year), they would observe i’tikaaf (staying) in their mosques, then they said: (Indeed, these people observed i’tikaf for their disbelief and we retreated for our faith, so forgive us).

As It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: Whoever passes through the land of the non-Arabs and celebrates their Nowruz and Mahrajaan (Mehrgan), and imitates them until he dies in that state, will be gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection. Moreover, festivals comes under the heading of laws, teachings and rituals concerning which Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said (interpretation of the meaning): “And for every nation We have appointed religious ceremonies” [al-Hajj 22:34] – such as the direction to be faced when praying, prayer and fasting. So there is no difference between their participation in the festival and their participation in any other religious ceremony or practice. Going along with them in the entire festival is going along with them in disbelief, and going along with them in some minor aspects of it is going along with them in some branches of disbelief. In fact festivals are among the most unique features by which religions are distinguished and are among the most apparent of ceremonies and rituals; therefore going along with them in these matters is going along with them in the most unique and most apparent rituals of disbelief.

Ruling on celebrating non-Muslim holidays and congratulating them

Greeting the kuffaar on Christmas and other religious holidays of theirs is haraam, by consensus, as Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said in Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah: "Congratulating the kuffaar on the rituals that belong only to them is haraam by consensus, as is congratulating them on their festivals and fasts by saying ‘A happy festival to you’ or ‘May you enjoy your festival,’ and so on. If the one who says this has been saved from kufr, it is still forbidden. It is like congratulating someone for prostrating to the cross, or even worse than that. It is as great a sin as congratulating someone for drinking wine, or murdering someone, or having illicit sexual relations, and so on. Many of those who have no respect for their religion fall into this error; they do not realize the offensiveness of their actions. Whoever congratulates a person for his disobedience or bid’ah or kufr exposes himself to the wrath and anger of Allaah."

Congratulating the kuffaar on their religious festivals is haraam to the extent described by Ibn al-Qayyim because it implies that one accepts or approves of their rituals of kufr, even if one would not accept those things for oneself. But the Muslim should not accepts the rituals of kufr or congratulate anyone else for them, because Allah does not accept any of that at all, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): "If you disbelieve, then verily, Allah is not in need of you, He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you. . ." [al-Zumar 39:7]

". . . This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion . . ." [al-Maa’idah 5:3]

So congratulating them is forbidden, whether they are one’s colleagues at work or otherwise.

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 Allah. These festivals are innovations in their religions, and even those which may have been prescribed formerly have been abrogated by the religion of Islam, with which Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to the whole of mankind. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): "Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [Aal ‘Imraan 3:85]

It is haraam for a Muslim to accept invitations on such occasions, because this is worse than congratulating them as it implies taking part in their celebrations.

Similarly, Muslims are forbidden to imitate the kuffaar by having parties on such occasions, or exchanging gifts, or giving out sweets or food, or taking time off work, etc., because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever imitates a people is one of them." Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in his book Iqtidaa’ al-siraat al-mustaqeem mukhaalifat ashaab al-jaheem: "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."

Whoever does anything of this sort is a sinner, whether he does it out of politeness or to be friendly, or because he is too shy to refuse, or for whatever other reason, because this is hypocrisy in Islam, and because it makes the kuffaar feel proud of their religion.

Allah is the One Whom we ask to make the Muslims feel proud of their religion, to help them adhere steadfastly to it, and to make them victorious over their enemies, for He is the Strong and Omnipotent. Majmoo’ah Fataawa wa Rasaa’il al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 3/369)

Greeting Christians on the occasion of their festivals

What is forbidden with regard to congratulating the Christians on the occasion of their festivals is expressing joy to them, being overly polite and showing approval of their actions, even if that is only expressed outwardly without feeling it inwardly. 

The prohibition concerns those who show any kind of participation or approval, such as giving gifts, verbal greetings, taking time off work, making food, going to places of leisure, and other customs of celebration. Having any intention other than what is said (when congratulating them) does not make it permissible. The outward appearance of these actions is sufficient to say that it is prohibited. 

It is well known that most of those who take a lenient attitude towards such matters do not intend to join the Christians in their shirk; rather what motivates them in some cases is showing politeness, and in other cases it is shyness, but politeness with regard to falsehood is not permissible; rather what is required is to denounce the evil and strive to change it. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (2/488): It is not permissible for the Muslims to imitate them in any way that is unique to their festivals, whether it be food, clothes, bathing, lighting fires or refraining from usual work or worship, and so on. And it is not permissible to give a feast or to exchange gifts or to sell things that help them to celebrate their festivals, or to let children and others play the games that are played on their festivals, or to adorn oneself or put up decorations. 

In general, (Muslims) are not allowed to single out the festivals of the kuffaar for any of these rituals or customs. Rather the day of their festivals is just an ordinary day for the Muslims, and they should not single it out for any activity that is part of what the kuffaar do on these days. 

As for what the Muslims do deliberately, that was regarded as makrooh by a number of the earlier and later generations. As for singling out (such days) for the things mentioned above, there is no dispute concerning that among the scholars; in fact some of the scholars are of the view that the one who does these things is a kaafir, because it involves venerating the symbols of kufr. And some of them said that the one who slaughters a sheep on the day of their festival, it is as if he slaughtered a pig. 

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas said: The one who follows the tradition of non-Muslims and observes their Nawrooz and Mahrajaan (festivals), and imitates them until he dies like that, will be gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection. 

Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, the Sahaabah and all the imams of the Muslims stipulated that they should not celebrate their festivals openly in the lands of the Muslims; rather they should do that privately in their houses. 

One of the early generations said concerning the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And those who do not witness falsehood” [al-Furqaan 25:72]: (This refers to) the festivals of the kuffaar; if that has to do with witnessing them, and not actually doing anything, then how about doing things that are unique to those festivals? It was narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in al-Musnad and as-Sunan that he said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” According to another version he said: “He is not one of us who imitates others.” This is a jayyid isnaad. If this is the case with regard to imitating them, and if this has to do with customs, then how about imitating them in matters that are more serious than that? The majority of imams regard it as makrooh, either in the sense of it being prohibited or in the sense of it being discouraged, to eat meat that they slaughter at the time of their festivals and sacrifices, and they include that under the heading of that which is sacrificed for something other than Allah and that which has been sacrificed on stone altars (for idols). Similarly they also forbade helping them in their festivals by giving gifts or selling to them, and they said: It is not permissible for the Muslims to sell to the Christians anything for the purpose of their festivals, whether that be meat, blood or garments; they should not hire out any mounts to them or help them with any of their religious affairs, because that comes under the heading of venerating their shirk and helping them in their kufr. Those in positions of authority should forbid the Muslims to do that, because Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Help you one another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression”[al-Maa’idah 5:2]. Moreover, it is not permissible for the Muslim to help them in drinking alcohol by pressing the juice and so on, so how about helping in that which is one of the symbols of kufr?! If it is not permissible for him to help them himself, then how about if he is the one who is actually doing that? End quote. 

Is saying to a kaafir “I wish you well” or “I wish you all the best” on his festival regarded as congratulating him?

It seems that sending a message to those of them who you know, on the day of their festival, saying “I wish you well” or “I wish you all the best” is a kind of congratulations. 

But if you send this message on a day other than their festival, with the intention of calling them to Islam and hoping that they will be guided, there is nothing wrong with that. 

It was narrated that Abu Moosa said: The Jews used to sneeze in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), hoping that he would say to them, “Yarhamakum Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you).” But he would say, “Yahdeekum Allaah wa yuslihu baalakum) (may Allaah guide you and reform you).” 

Narrated by Imam Ahmad (19089), Abu Dawood (5038) and al-Tirmidhi (2739); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Irwa’ (1277). 

It says in ‘Awn al-Ma’bood: i.e., he did not say to them “Yarhamakum Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you)” because mercy is only for the believers; rather he prayed for them as was appropriate, that they be guided and enabled to believe. 

There is nothing wrong with praying for a kaafir to be guided aright, rather it is proven that this is the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). 

If a Christian congratulates a Muslim on special occasions, how should he respond?

The response to a greeting should be similar to it or better than it. Is it not the case that if the People of the Book greet us by saying “As-salaamu ‘alaykum (peace be upon you),” we should respond by saying “Wa ‘alaykum (and also upon you)”?

This means that we are praying for wellbeing for them, and what may be understood from that is that it is permissible to pray for worldly benefit for a disbeliever, so long as he is not openly hostile towards the Muslims.

This is in accordance with the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it [in a like manner]. Indeed, Allah is ever, over all things, an Accountant” [an-Nisa’ 4:86].

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It should be understood that it is not permissible to pray for forgiveness for him and the like, which is not appropriate in the case of the disbeliever. But it is permissible to pray for his guidance, good health, well-being and so on. End quote from al-Adhkaar (p. 317).

He also said: Abu Sa‘d al-Mutawalli (one of the senior Shaafi‘i scholars, who died in 478 AH) said: If he wants to greet a dhimmi (non-Muslim living under Muslim rule) he should do so without saying as-salaamu ‘alaykum, such as saying “May Allah guide you” or “Good morning.”

I say: There is nothing wrong with what Abu Sa‘d said if there is a need for that. So he may say “Good morning” or say something to wish him happiness or wellbeing, or wish him a joyful morning. And Allah knows best. End quote from al-Adhkaar (p. 245)

Based on that, if a Jew or Christian says in his greeting “Kull sanah wa anta tayyib (every year may you be well)”, it seems that there is nothing wrong with responding in kind, such as saying, “Wa anta tayyib (lit. ‘and may you also be well’ – the traditional response to the greeting) and so on.

Moreover, in that regard the best thing is for the one who responds to intend thereby to pray that he be guided and attain the best state by giving up what he is following of false religion and by entering the religion of Allah.

Abu Dawood (5038) and at-Tirmidhi (2739) narrated that Abu Moosa said: The Jews used to (pretend to) sneeze in the presence of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) hoping that he would say to them, “Yarhamukum Allah (may Allah have mercy on you,” but he used to say: “Yahdeekum Allahu wa yuslihu baalakum (may Allah guide you and set your affairs straight.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel (1277).

Ibn ‘Allaan (may Allah have mercy on him) said: What appears to be the case is that they would pretend to sneeze by making a sound similar to sneezing, or they would make themselves sneeze by leaving their heads uncovered. They would do this in the presence of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in the hope that he would say to them “May Allah have mercy on you”, so that the blessing of his supplication would come to them, for in their hearts they knew that he was a Prophet and Messenger, even though outwardly they denied it out of envy and stubbornness.

“but he used to say” out of graciousness, and so as not to deprive them of the blessing of his presence and of sitting before him, “May Allah guide you” that is, may He cause you to follow the path of guidance, for if it be His will to cause you to be guided, you will believe and be guided.

“and set your affairs straight” i.e., with regard to that which was of concern to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), namely religious matters, by guiding them to Islam, making it fair-seeming to them, and enabling them to embrace it. End quote from Daleel al-Faaliheen (6/361). See also: Fath al-Baari by Ibn Hajar (10/604).

Ibn Muflih (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The author of al-Muheet, who was a Hanafi, said: If he intends in his heart to pray that Allah grant (the disbeliever) long life in the hope that he might become Muslim, there is nothing wrong with that. And if he says to a dhimmi “May Allah guide you”, that is good.

Ibraaheem al-Harbi said: Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked whether a Muslim man may say to a Christian man, “May Allah honour you.” He said: Yes, he may say “May Allah honour you”, meaning: with Islam.

Similar to that is what was mentioned above about praying for him to have a long life, and that it is like praying for him to be guided. End quote from al-Aadaab ash-Shar‘iyyah wa’l-Minah al-Mar‘iyyah (1/368).