Salam,
Calling all goons and goblins, Trick or treat? Smell my feet, Oh wait I don’t have wudu, ha ha. Oh and if your wondering about the picture, you will probably see alot of people dressed up as joker this year, maybe even Sarah Palin since she is losing the election and will have time to waste.
First of all I would like to say I love eating candy although I should chill out because diabetes runs in my family like cheetahs. I don’t want to be shooting up insulin anytime soon. Back in the days when I didn’t know anything about Halloween and I was keeping it hood, I used to be mad cheap and just throw mad powder on face, the bootleg Casper. It was economically efficient for the hood, sort of like cleaning your jewels with toothpaste, ha.
Anyhows I am not against giving kids candy when they come to my door, with the condition they don’t toss eggs. What does bother me is Muslims celebrating Halloween without knowing it’s history.
Now of course as a Muslim you live life according to certain principles. We all know that Islam merges with culture as long as it brings about religious values. Now Halloween as a holiday has an interesting history, I didn’t say religious holiday because Christians don’t identify it as a religious holiday. Though there is still some uncertainty on my end.
Nevertheless here are some quick facts about Halloween that I believe you should know before you break out the jack o lanterns and take some ghost tours.
- Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, the Traditionally, the festivalpagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores.
was a time used by the ancient - The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops.
- The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them
That’s some freaky stuff, oh yea and as far as jack o lanterns are concerned. This is a short history about how they came up with Halloween.(source:wikipedia)
Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the “head” of the vegetable to frighten off any superstitions.
Now that’s how it all started, and yea you might say well now it’s completely different. It’s all about candy, wylin out, going to parties, watching eggs break. The bottomline is that it has an origin based on ideas and beliefs that contradict Islam, so as submitters to the will of the one true god (Allah swt) we fall back and celebrate when the time is right on the holidays given to us by God Almighty and celebrated by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Let’s keep it real, It’s all about consumerism. Everyone get’s hyped off some character they want to be, this year everyone is going to be sweating the joker costume and barrack Obama or John McCain. Oh yea one more quick point, this Halloween issue might not be that serious to most of you but it was relevant for the time so I put it up. So yea having your kids wear a devil mask and begging for candy will psychologically have an affect on them.
I conclude by saying that as Muslims we act upon intention and guidance. So it is what it is for the case of Halloween, don’t get it twisted. I end with this with a funny video, of one my friends a couple of years ago on the bus to the Icna convention asking one of our imams a question about Halloween. As you will see he gets the on the spot phatwa. (listen closely haha), so chill yo no hiding the face yo.
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Hey salaam.. i think last year you couldn't write about halloween so it was nice reading about it now.. I go to this darse (islamic class you know) with friends and all so im thinking about sharing your article.. its tonight so it'd be pretty relevant..
good post bro. LOL at the Sarah pic. And hey that's Ashraf uncle ain't it? Give the Imam proper recognition!
Saad how you gonna put me on the internet like that?……..damn now i gotta deal with the fameee………good post bro
SNAP, that video is gotta be like 10 years old or something.
But all in all, definitely a good post. We need to put this word out more often so muslims know about the origins of Halloween and other holidays. I dunno if you can say this, but as much as Christmas has become a time to give gifts regardless of religion, its still a religious celebration, and Halloween sits in the same boat, it was a religious celebration which has been turned into a candy giving day.
Keep on writing bro!
Asalamalaykom,
Just spent time today telling the little kids in my class not to celebrate Halloween because we only celebrate two eids. I wonder which ones are dressing up right now…
Time is precious, ya? And spending time and effort and enthusiasm on Halloween just isn't right. Focus on what is good, true, and pure and that isn't girlies dressing like hookers or little dudes dressing like villians.
And candy? We are given all the bounties of Allah's creation, yet we act like CANDY is the best thing around? No way.
Oh, and don't forget BEGGING. Going from door to door? It just isn't the career goal you hope your child to aspire to.
Let's be different. Let's be better. Them to their ways and us to ours. Inshahallah
Yeah, I had an argument with the folks at home telling them to stop celebrating shaitan's eid.
Pretty old school video…
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Assalaamu' Alaikum Brother,
Just a friendly question.
Since you've established that going out and getting your ghoul on is not legit because it is participating in a holiday that Allah (swt) did not mandate for us, doesn't that include being the one at home, doling out the kit-kats and airheads?
Trick or treat, do wudu and wash your feet, give me some halal marshmallows to eat….chill with the haram-o-ween…get on your halal-o-deen.
So I wasn't the only person to come up with the Haramoween joke? I don't feel quite so special anymore… but good post bro. Man, today at Sunday school we should have taught the kids that, today outside the Masjid I saw a little girl wearing a giraffe costume and only then did I remember today was Haramoween.
Fail on my part. But yeah we have to let the Muslims know not to celebrate it. Especially the little kids. They don't know better, and their parents apparently don't either, so they do this stuff without knowing it's a bad thing, and some older kids will say, well it's just getting candy nowadays, but they don't get the actual message.
Salaams,
In my view, Halloween–at least in a Western cultural and social context–is quite harmless. There's nothing wrong with choosing not to celebrate it for the typically cited religious reasons, but I find this un-Islamic-origins argument quite weak. Cultural practices are like words ub this respect–their meaning in the minds of their users (and, thus, their moral significance) can change drastically over time. Today, it's no more religious than Mother's Day.