Dr. Hüseyin Kâmi BÜYÜKÖZER, the president of the Association for the Inspection and Certification of Food and Supplies and the Dunya Halal Foundation, has stated that they are against the Christmas celebrations. Celebrations on the New Year damage our belief, worship, ethics, culture, social and economic life. This celebration, definitely, damages our Imaan (faith).
According to Islamic teaching, celebrations and games of chance cannot be welcomed or approved, since it means emulating foreigners, adopting their behavior and attitude, perceiving them as superior and taking them allies. Allah (SWT) expresses that in a verse: “Let not believers take disbelievers as allies [i.e., supporters or protectors] rather than believers. And whoever [of you] does that has nothing [i.e., no association] with Allah, except when taking precaution against them in prudence…” (Surah Ali ‘Imran, 28).
In a hadith, our Prophet (SAW) states the following: “You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a mastigure, you would follow them.” We said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! (Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said, “Whom else?”
In conclusion, we can say that, as stated in the books of many fuqaha (Islamic scholars), a Muslim who performs an action with the intention of celebrating the New Year’s Eve or conducing someone towards it, “If someone has the intention of glorifying in his action –we seek refuge in Allah (SWT)-, he will fall into disbelief.”. If there is no intention of glorifying, least of all, it is haram and he becomes a sinner. We have to avoid such kind of a celebration, which endangers our Halal and Tayyib life-system.
The Holy Qur’an commands Muslims to do good and prohibit the bad. In a hadith stated in Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, ““Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” (Muslim). While it is the weakest of faith to act with the hearth, what is the position to applaud and even personally participate in bad deeds?
Therefore, trying to emulate non-Islamic cultures and constantly trying to be like them have always been distracted us from our identity and culture. If we do not change our route to the true path, the degeneration of Islamic society will continue and I am afraid that one day, Islam will leave us.
