Why Muslims do not celebrate Christmas

What would you do if the neighbour, friend, or relative you hosted to a mega feast on Eid Day sometime in June now wants to return the favour by hosting you for Christmas? Would you simply tell them: ‘No thanks’? Fake a parallel programme? Or smile all the way to the serving table?

That is the dilemma Muslims in multicultural societies face every Christmas season, as their religion strongly rejects the Christian claim that Jesus is the Son of God and the entire Trinity; hence, Muslims are explicitly barred from engaging in anything Christmas, even a simple “Merry Christmas” greeting.

Islam recognises Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary, as a genuine prophet or messenger of Allah (God). And one is not Muslim if one doubts that, because doubting any of Allah’s messengers, including Jesus, is doubting Allah.

Then what’s wrong with celebrating Jesus’ birthday, especially since Muslims celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)? Sheikh Hassan Nsubuga, who has for years tackled the Christmas vs Islam puzzle whenever it is the season, calls that argument baseless, because the celebration of Muhammad’s birthday is itself premised on illegal innovations (Bid`ah).

“Islam does not celebrate birthdays. The Prophet [Muhammad] did not celebrate his birthday. Neither did his companions who succeeded him nor those who succeeded his companions, it is enough proof of its irrelevance. It is a tradition that was smuggled into Islam with no basis in Sharia. So, which business do we have with Christmas?” he wondered.

His submission supports the argument that if prophets’ birthdays are important in Islam, why not celebrate the birthdays of all prophets? After all were important messengers of the same God we serve. But the gist lies in boundaries.

“Accepting Jesus as Allah’s messenger, as he is documented in the Quran, doesn’t necessitate celebrating his birthday. And the Islamic Jesus was Allah’s messenger, endowed with the powers to perform miracles. Not the son of God, or the God the world is celebrating,” Sheikh Salim Bbosa, the deputy director of Sharia at the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, told Daily Monitor.

“And Allah hates the claim that He begot a son, as he says clearly in the Quran. How then does a sober Muslim engage in celebrations based on such claims?” Sheikh Bbosa added, “And there’s also no proof of December 25 as Jesus' birthday. So, the Sharia bars Muslims from celebrating Christmas or engaging in anything related to it. Because the claim of the birth of the son of God totally negates our faith.”

Avoid imitations

Some Muslims in Western countries or multicultural societies may buy the idea that Islam is rigid and archaic. But often, Imam Ahmad Kyeyune, a famous scholar and preacher, encourages Muslims to be proud of Islam as the best religion.

“Why the pressure to emulate un-Islamic norms and lifestyles? You’ve got gold, but you envy those carrying chalk?” he often reasons.

He reiterates that respecting other religions, for the sake of harmonious coexistence, as Islam strongly encourages, does not mean adopting their practices.

“What they call conservative, old-fashioned, and rigid is in fact consistency, which has preserved the purity of our religion for centuries, as Allah prescribed it for us. Unnecessary editions are the main cause of adulteration.”

Thus, Kyeyune is echoing Prophet Muhammad’s call to Muslims not to imitate Jews and Christians, which is captured in several hadiths like: “He who imitates any people [in their actions] is considered to be one of them.”

Solving dilemma

Beyond homesteads, Muslims at workplaces face the dilemma of embracing or avoiding Christmas matters altogether: to give, receive, or reject Secret Santa gifts, send or return Christmas messages, or attend Christmas parties. Sheikh Bbosa advises that you excuse yourself from such engagements in a respectful way.

“If you are a manager, head of department, or any leadership position, delegate to someone else because you have no excuse to engage in such stuff.”

He added: “Be frank, without disrespecting anyone, and tell them ‘my faith does not permit me to be part of that’. It’s about setting principles. If you tell your employer that you won’t cover events in bars, or that you will need a break to observe the mandatory daily prayers.

I’m sure they will grant you that right.” What about subordinates like Muslim house helps in Christian homesteads?

“Serve your master as usual, because you haven’t been hired specially for Christmas. You are also entitled to the food,” Sheikh Bbosa said.

But there are limits too: “Keep your distance from pork or alcohol, because these are haram to you, no matter when.”

For a child under a non-Muslim parent’s care, Sheikh Bbosa said: "Food is okay for you, whether it’s Christmas or not, and because this is your usual abode.”

What of the Muslim child taking care of a non-Muslim parent on Christmas? “Why do you wait for a particular day to show love to your parents?” Sheikh Bbosa wonders.

Make it a habit to give them meat, sugar, rice, soda, and if it coincides with Christmas, it’s up to them.”

What about the neighbour, friend, or relative I usually invite on Eid, and who has invited me for Christmas?

“Humbly tell them my religion doesn’t allow me. Tell them to invite you for a meal any other day.” Mr Hashim Mugabe, a Ugandan who has lived in the UK for 20 years, has experienced three Christmases in Sweden and one in California. He said unlike in Africa, where Christmas is a religious festival, in the West it is viewed more from a commercial perspective.

“The West reshaped Christmas into a commercial affair that includes everyone,” he said via a WhatsApp audio.

“It’s about enjoying holidays, families getting together, thinking about one another. And businesses boom because people buy and exchange gifts. Even in school nativity plays about Jesus’ birth, the focus is more on Santa Klaus, who brings kids gifts.”

And unlike in Africa, Mr Mugabe added that in the West, people hardly go to church on Christmas. “Christmas is a very quiet day.” He said even some Muslim families have Christmas trees because they regard it as a tradition of the land, not much about religion. “I also participated in Secret Santa about three times, but I stopped. Because people here are very respectful of everyone’s cultural worldviews.”

Christians against Christmas

Rejection of Christmas is not exclusive to Islam. Though all Christians consider Jesus the Son of God, some denominations like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, Armstrongite Churches, among others, also do not recognise Christmas for various reasons that resemble the Islamic viewpoint.