u/Glum-Technology5409

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, brothers and sisters.

Here's my posts about Chrismas and Halloween:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Muslimbenefits/s/9NXjuQgKAN

https://www.reddit.com/r/Muslimbenefits/s/4K4FvEjiL4

So, this will be a brief reminder, not a deep-dive into the history. We already know anything but the two Eids are haram to celebrate.

Do not sit in a gathering of people lighting fireworks, even smoke bombs and sparklers.

Do not light fireworks yourself.

Advise your brothers and sisters to not participate at all.

Fireworks are loud and obnoxious, scaring veterans (In the US, obviously the military here is horrible, but still), children, people in general, and animals (many outdoor pets go missing because they get scared and run). They're also the cause of many (forest) fires.

Fear Allah and stay away from these holidays. They're not for us.

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, sisters and brothers.

I already made a post about Christmas (https://www.reddit.com/r/Muslimbenefits/s/yZijKZXuBz), so let's move on to All Hallows Eve, or Samhain, as it's originally called.

- The Origins of Halloween Traditions

Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and wearing scary costumes are some of the time-honored traditions of Halloween. Yet, the Halloween holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”), a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor saints. Soon after, All Saints Day came to incorporate some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Eve, and later, Halloween. Here is a look at the origins of some of the classic Halloween traditions we know today.

- Carving Jack-o’-Lanterns

The tradition of carving Jack-o’-Lanterns originated in Ireland using turnips instead of pumpkins. It is allegedly based on a legend about a man named Stingy Jack who repeatedly trapped the Devil and only let him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell. But when Jack died, he learned that Heaven did not want his soul either, so he was forced to wander the Earth as a ghost for eternity. The Devil gave Jack a burning lump of coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way. Locals eventually began carving scary faces into their own turnips to frighten away evil spirits.

- Seeing Ghosts

The festival of Samhain marked the transition to the new year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter. Celtic people believed that during the festival, spirits walked the Earth. Later on, Christian missionaries introduced All Souls’ Day on November 2, which perpetuated the idea of the living coming into contact with the dead around the same time of year.

- Wearing Scary Costumes

In order to avoid being terrorized by all the evil spirits walking the Earth during Samhain, the Celts donned disguises in order to confuse the spirits and be left alone.

- Trick-or-Treating.

There is much debate around the origins of trick-or-treating, but generally there are three theories. The first theory suggests that during Samhain, Celtic people would leave food out to appease the spirits traveling the Earth at night. Over time, people began to dress as these unearthly beings in exchange for similar offerings of food and drink.

The second theory speculates that the candy boon stems from the Scottish practice of guising, which is a secular version of “souling.” During the Middle Ages, generally children and poor adults would collect food and money from local homes in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls’ Day. Guisers dropped the prayers in favor of non-religious practices with the inclusion of songs, jokes, and other “tricks.”

A third theory argues that modern American trick-or-treating stems from “belsnickeling,” a German-American Christmas tradition where children would dress in costume and then call on their neighbors to see if the adults could guess the identities of the disguised. In one version of the practice, the children were rewarded with food or other treats if no one could identify them.

- Black and Orange

The traditional Halloween colors of black and orange also traces back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. For the Celts, black represented the “death” of summer while the orange symbolized the autumn harvest season.

- Pranking

Playing pranks often varies by region, but the pre-Halloween tradition known as “Devil’s Night,” is credited to a different origin depending on the source. Some say that pranks started as part of May Day celebrations. But Samhain, and eventually All Souls Day, also included good-natured mischief. When Irish and Scottish immigrants came to America, they brought with them the tradition of celebrating Mischief Night as part of Halloween.

- Lighting Candles and Bonfires

For much of the early history of Halloween, towering bonfires were used to light the way for souls seeking the afterlife. These days, lighting candles have generally replaced the large traditional blazes.

We already know these Holidays aren't for us. But I hope my posts give more depth as to how serious it is that we don't celebrate them in any way. They aren't 'fun holidays!'. They're rituals made up to worship false Gods. This is (major?) shirk. AstagfirAllah. I've seen people talk about 'halal' costumes, but there is no such thing. Fear Allah and leave these things.

I also don't have time to find it right now. But I thought Halloween (Samhain) was also much more satanic, with sacrifices and much darker aspects. If I can find evidence to that, I'll make a part two.

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, brothers and sisters.

We all know Christmas is haram, and that's all we need to know. We don't celebrate anything except that which the Quran and Authentic Hadiths tells us to.

But let's delve into why Christmas is evil (most of the text below is copy pasted from BPL Blogs).

- The Origins and Practices of Holidays: Yule and Shaheedi Chaar Sahibzaade.

Yule is a Wiccan/Pagan holiday. As with many other pagan celebrations, it celebrates the changing of seasons. Yule happens on the winter solstice, and it celebrates rebirth and renewal. This is because the shortest day and longest night occur on the solstice. After the solstice, the days start to get longer, and Yule celebrates the beginning of the return of the sun.

Their celebration included feasting and merrymaking. Until the 1500s, most animals were killed around the solstice. People did this so they wouldn't have to feed them during the winter, when food was scarce. This meant that at Yule there was plenty of fresh meat available to feast upon.

The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, which was a week-long party, also with feasting and merrymaking. The festival was to honor the G**od of agriculture, Saturn. One of the main parts of the celebration was giving each other gifts.

The Celts' celebration of Yule included lighting a bonfire and drinking alcoholic spiced cider. Holly, ivy, evergreen trees, and mistletoe were used as decoration. They did this to invite nature spirits to join the celebration. Yule logs were also burned in each house. The log was decorated in seasonal greenery, such as branches. Then, people set it aflame with a piece of last year's log (saved for this purpose). Many other cultures had some sort of winter solstice festival, which often included candles, and bonfires, to provide much needed light on this shortest day.

In present day, pagans take part in many different traditions. Here are a few common traditions:

Having a feast, or large dinner gathering that focuses on the solstice, but acknowledges other religious celebrations related to the solstice, such as Christmas and New Year’s Eve. They may also exchange gifts.

Decorating the house with traditional pagan colors of red, green, and white. Wiccans may place holly, ivy, evergreen wreaths and pine cones around the home. They often will include mistletoe as a good luck charm.

Exchanging gifts or sending greetings with friends and family, in the spirit of Saturnalia

Meditating in darkness, and then welcoming the birth of the sun by lighting candles and singing pagan songs. If they have a fireplace, they may burn a Yule log and save a bit for next year’s fire. They also may decorate the house with electric lights.

Donating clothes, money, and time to organizations that help the earth and/or humanity.

There's the origin of Yule. But now let's get into when it became known as Christmas, a 'Christian' holiday.

- The Origins and Practices of Holidays: Christmas

Christmas is a Christian religious holiday (stolen holiday), and an American federal holiday observed on December 25 of each year. However, many people of other faiths celebrate Christmas in a non-religious context (shows how confused people are). Christians celebrate this day as the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God, on December 25. Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7.

In the 4th century, church officials decided to start celebrating the birth of Jesus. However, the bible did not state the date of Jesus’s birth. Around this time, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Before this, Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a winter festival, celebrated in late December. Saturnalia involved a week-long feast and celebration. One part of the celebration was giving each other gifts (as you just read above). When the Emperor converted, many Saturnalia customs were absorbed into the Roman Christmas celebrations. A few years later, Pope Julius I chose December 25 as the official date for the celebration of Jesus’s birth (Because somehow they have the authority to add and take anything out of their false book).

The drinking, feasting, and giving of presents led many to believe that Christmas was not really a religious holiday. Puritans in New England and in England banned its observance because they believed it was not a religious holiday. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and you could be fined for celebrating it.

It wasn’t until the 1800s that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans changed the holiday from a community party holiday into a family-centered day of peace. One of the reasons why Christmas became popular at this time is that there was a lot of tension between classes. During this conflict, Washington Irving wrote The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas. The stories featured a wealthy man who invited peasants into his home for the holiday. This created the idea that Christmas should be a warm holiday that brings all classes together. Also around this time, A Christmas Carol was published, which also had a message about being charitable at Christmas. These books inspired the American people, and demonstrated the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

See how misguided people are? They're either ignorant and go with the flow of "I'm not even going to question why we do these rituals (christmas tree, decorating a certain way with specific colors, ect)!" Or they're of the group that's told it's a christian/pagan holiday and still celebrate it because "It's not religious anymore." Both groups are false. As Muslims, next time Christmas rolls around, do not be of the people who partake in any rituals. When someone says to you "Have a merry Christmas." Don't return it. Don't say "You too!" Instead just nod, or even better say "I don't celebrate."

We, as Muslims, don't partake in worshipping false idols even to feel the "Christmas spirit" or fit in. Proudly be odd and weird to the pagans and disbelievers. Do not find comfort in them thinking you're like them.

Abdullah ibn ‘Utbah reported: Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Verily, people were judged by revelation in the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and the revelation has ceased. We only judge now what is manifested outwardly of your deeds. Whoever shows us good, we will trust him and bring him close. It is not for us to judge anything of his inner secrets. Allah will hold him accountable for his inner secrets. Whoever shows us evil, we will never trust him or believe him even if it is said his intentions are good.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2641

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Bukhari

I've seen some people argue that they have good intentions while sinning. But we, the people, cannot see your intentions. It's beyond easy to sin and claim you had good intentions, except we can't tell if that person is telling the truth or not. Because what they say is "I intended good!" But what they did is evil.

And judging is beneficial. You need to judge friends, because keeping bad company makes you part of them. You need to judge family, and while I'm not saying to cut off family, not everyone needs to be in your inner circle. Judge who has good character and will make a good companion. But also judge yourself the harshest, because you need to be worthy of pious company. "Why did I say that?" "Why did I do that?" "Did I say something incorrect?" "Allah dislikes this charactaristic. Do I have it?" And so on.

Narrated Anas bin Malik:

I never prayed behind any Imam a prayer lighter and more perfect than that behind the Prophet (ﷺ) and he used to cut short the prayer whenever he heard the cries of a child lest he should put the child's mother to trial.

Sahih al-Bukhari, 708

Such kindness and consideration, shortening the prayer to ease a mother's distress, allowing her to go to her crying child instead of being distracted during prayer.

Many people now would be annoyed by the cries of a child and not considering the mother.

May Allah inspire such kindness in our hearts. Ameen.