Don’t celebrate V-Day
VELENTINE’S DAY
The practice is clearly unislamic and Muslims must not contribute anyway to anything that means celebrating the day, writes Dr. Faiz Fazili.Muslim authorities decry Valentine’s Day celebrations as many of the Muslims follow customs and ways of behavior like non Muslims, and imitate them in some of their rituals by celebrating their holidays. In recent years, a new phenomenon has spread among the Muslim youth which does not auger well for them. They celebrate Valentine’s Day without knowing its origin and whether it is permissible in Islamic beliefs or not. Islam commands its followers to avoid many things that contradict some of the doctrines which a Muslim is supposed to believe in. Some of them are prohibited because they are immoral, unethical or unhealthy or they represent disobedience to the devotional duties, the violation of which may constitute a major sin. Prophet (SAW) told us that a section of his ummah would follow the enemies of Allah in some of their rituals and customs, “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until even if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” (Bukhaari/Muslim). What the Prophet (SAW) spoke of has indeed come true and has become widespread in recent times. Many Muslims follow non-Muslims in many of their customs and ways of behaving, and imitate them in some of their rituals and in celebrating their holidays.
There is a lot of debate and disagreement among scholars about the origins of Valentine’s Day. There were many myths associated with this festival; most famous being the Roman belief that Valentine Day originated in 5th Century when the Romans were engaged in a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating a young man’s rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of a year, after which another lottery was staged. The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. The early church fathers sought to end this practice. They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier. At that time the Roman Emperor Claudius-II had issued an edict forbidding marriage. He felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.
Valentine, seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this “friend of lovers,” and had him arrested. The emperor, impressed with the young priest’s dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the roman gods, to save him from certain execution. Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing fully its consequences. While Valentine was in prison awaiting his fate, he came in contact with his jailor Asterius. The jailor had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius’ daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that lived ever after, and the first Valentine card grew out of this practice. Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, who appears as a child with two wings, carrying a bow and arrows became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.
In Islam, the festivals are clearly defined and well established. They have been prescribed for us by Allah, “For every nation we have ordained religious ceremonies which they must follow” (al-Hajj 22:67). Muslims should not follow Western cultures in the name of modernization and without knowing that such culture is against the Islamic teachings. Valentine’s Day goes back to non Islamic era of Romans and celebrating it means resembling or imitating the Romans. The Prophet (SAW) has said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” (Ahmad, Abu Dawood). Officials in Islamic states like Malaysia, and Muslim scholars are urging Muslims to shun Valentine’s Day, saying, “It conflicts with Islamic principles and could cause moral erosion. Unmarried couples might come together and mingle with each other in unacceptable ways”. In neighboring Brunei, spiritual leaders used mosque sermons to express concerns about this day. It is sad to note that our youth also celebrate such an occasion without knowing its origin, and whether it is permissible in Islamic beliefs or not. Muslims should not follow Western customs blindly in the name of modernization without verifying its permissibility in Islam.
The Fatwa of the Standing Committee and opinions of Muslim scholars concerning Valentine’s Day clearly forbids Muslims from taking part in such holidays. “The Muslim’s attitude towards this day should be clear. It is forbidden for the Muslim to help with this festival or any other forbidden celebration in any way, be it food, drink, clothing, exchanging gifts ,buying, selling, manufacturing, corresponding, advertising or in any other way, because all of that constitutes helping one another in sin, transgression and disobedience towards Allah and His Messenger. So Muslims must adhere to the Qur’an and Sunnah in all their affairs, especially at times of fitan (temptation and tribulation) and when corruption is widespread.” He should be careful to avoid falling into the misguidance of those who have earned the anger of Allah and of those who went astray, and of the evildoers who hope not for reward from Allah and do not show any respect towards Islam”.(Al-Lajnah.. wa’l-Iftaa’).
Large numbers of Female Muslim students wear red heart-shaped stickers on their faces, writing names and shaping hearts on their hands, or just initials, printing love poems on cards and exchanging red balloons on which are written provocative words. Some tie a red ribbon on the right wrist. And the things that result from partying, idle play, singing, music, impertinence, unveiling, wanton display, mixing of men and women etc are means which lead to immorality . Without resorting to moral policing, we must oppose these forbidden things by all possible means, while respecting the privacy of people under prevailing local laws. Let us pray to Allah to protect the Muslims from the harm of temptations and from the evil of their own selves and the plots of their enemies
(Mail at fiazmfazili@yahoo.com)
