This article concerns those who think it is permissible to celebrate the festivals(eg. Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Holi, etc.) of other religions.

Refuting the cultural excuse:

Lots of people use culture as excuse. According to them they preserve the culture by celebrating such festivals. This is a very ignorant stance.

Just because people in the past did it doesn’t mean you have to too.

For example the practice of Sati in India, in which a Hindu widow burns alive—either voluntarily or by coercion—on her deceased husband’s funeral pyre. Sati was practiced well into the 19th century until the British passed a law to put an end to this horrible practice.

The most important thing you need to consider is how these festivals begin before you celebrate.

Christmas for example has no connection to Christianity or Jesus. According to the most authentic historical opinion Jesus’ birth date is unknown

Christmas comes from the Pegan (idol-worshippers) festival of Saturnalia, dedicated to the worship of the Roman god Saturn.

I don’t want to go into too much details on each festivals but Halloween as well has it’s roots in Celtic(Pegan) festival of Samhain.

And about Easter Sunday I’ll quote ABC Australia, “Well, it turns out Easter actually began as a pagan festival celebrating spring in the Northern Hemisphere, long before the advent of Christianity.”

Some would argue this is to promote “Religious Harmony “ to that I would urge you to look at Chapter 109 of the Holy Quran, Surah al-Kafirun and it’s context.

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The context of Surah al-Kafirun from “Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum”:

Although the Quraish tried to challenge the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Jahl tried to kill him, they still hoped to come to some terms of agreement with the Prophet ﷺ since they were not completely convinced that he was false. Rather they felt about the Message, as Allah said:

إِنَّهُمْ لَفِى شَكٍّۢ مِّنْهُ مُرِيبٍۢ

“They are in grave doubt concerning it.” [11:110]

They saw that the Prophet ﷺ was firm in the matter of his religion, and they wanted to meet him somewhere in the middle of the road.

They were willing to give up some of their faith, requesting him to give up some of his. They thought that through this method they would be able to arrive at the truth, if what he called them to was indeed true.

Ibn Ishaq reported that some people were mocking Allah’s Messenger while he was circumambulating around the Ka’bah. They included Al-Aswad bin Al-Muttalib bin Asad bin ‘Abdul-‘U zza, Al Walid bin Al-Mughirah, Umaiyah bin Khalaf, and Al-‘ As bin Wa’il As-Sahmi, and these were the elders of their people.

They said, “O Muhammad! Come and let us worship what you worship, and you worship what we worship. We can be partners with you in this matter. If the one you worship is better than what we worship then we will get some kind of benefit. Whereas, if what we worship is better than the one you worship then you will get some kind of benefit. So Allah revealed:

“Say: ‘0 you disbelievers! I will not worship what you worship…” to the end of the Surah al-Kafirun [109]

‘Abd bin Humaid and others reported that Ibn Abbas said that the Quraish said,

” I f you submit to our gods then we will worship your god.” So Allah revealed:

“Say:’0 you disbelievers! …”to the end of Surah al-Kafirun[109]

At-Tabari and others report that Ibn ‘Abbas said that the Quraish said,

“Worship our gods for one year, and we will worship your god for one year.”

So Allah revealed: “Say: ‘Is it other than Allah that you order me to worship 0 you fools?” [39:64]

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Quraish wanted the “Religious Harmony” we hear of nowadays and this is what Allah asked his Messenger ﷺ to reply them with,

“You have your religion, and I have my religion.” [109:6]

The following narration should serve as a warning for those who contemplate,

Ibn Umar narrated: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

“Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”

Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4031; Sahih according to Al-Albani