Why shouldnt we celebrate New Year?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Dear Mr.Burhan,
What is wrong is
celebrating New Year, I can understand not celebrating 25th December as
Christmas but what's wrong with New Year.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad
(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Each people have their own
culture and days of celebrations. And
Allah and His Messenger (saws) have ordained the two Eids
and every Friday as a day of celebration for the believers. That is the culture of Islam; and every
believer, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, must adopt the
culture of Islam and celebrate the days which Allah and His Messenger (saws)
have ordained for them to celebrate.
Besides, the Islamic New Year is
the first of Moharram; and that too, is not dedicated
as a day of celebration! Thus, it does
not behove a believer, who
sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, to celebrate a holiday of the
pagan or western culture; especially when we have our own rich and proud
culture of Islam. To celebrate a day of another culture, is in fact to accept
their culture… and although it may not sound like a big deal, it may just be a
start for the person to start accepting foreign cultures and in time it might have
an effect on his own culture.
It is indeed true that the
Gregorian New Year has no religious significance; and seems harmless … but for a believer,
it should not constitute a day of celebration ….as it has nothing to do with
Islam and its teachings and guidance.
Besides, one should
realize that the pagans celebrate the advent of the New Year with nothing more
than parties of mixed-sexes, singing, dancing, free flowing of alcohol, etc.,
which are all prohibited in Islam anyways!
It just does not behove a believer, who
sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, to sacrifice his high Islamic
morals and culture, in exchange for a pagan celebration of the mixing of sexes,
dancing, music, singing, alcohol, etc.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
