Today is my birthday.
A year ago, I was out with friends eating cake and opening presents like any other ‘normal’ kid.
I recall a time when a friend of mine asked an elder sister why it was that Muslims were told to stay away from celebrating birthdays. Is it not harmless to cut a cake, light some candles and enjoy the wonderful being that is you?
Her response shook me then, and does so now as I finally gained the courage to adhere to her advice.
She said, let’s look at it in a very logical manner. What is a birthday a sign of? It means you’re getting older. So what are you celebrating? Would it not be better to spend that day reflecting on how you spent your last year and making goals for the next one? Does it make sense that you are joyous about growing older, probably weaker, and definitely closer to death? This day should be one where you think about where you are in life. This day should be a day when you praise Allah Ta’ala for giving you more time to please Him.
Perhaps needless to say, my friend and I did not take this too well. It is not a matter of what you could be doing instead, for must of us we just want an excuse to get gifts and hear how great we are. How silly is that, though? As Muslims, we should shy away from flattery. The only human beings that come even close to deserving that kind of treatment were the prophets, peace be upon them, and they would not dare come near something as self-loving and pointless as a birthday celebration.
All that scrutiny aside, though, the fact of the matter is that birthdays, just like Hallowe’en and Valentine’s Day, and all that other commercial bologna are a pagan holiday. Allah Ta’ala warns us severely against imitating the disbelievers and surely adopting their holidays is doing just that.
Lastly, a note on sincerity. The only thing that really drove these points home this year, alhamdulilah, was the fact that if Allah Ta’ala wanted us to join in birthday festivities, if there was any benefit to be reaped here whatsoever, He would have told us to. So the question really comes down to, how sincerely do we believe in His Wisdom? If He is All-Knowing, All-Wise, why the hesitation in following His rules?
Today is my birthday. A day like any other, alhamdulilah.
A year ago, I was out with friends eating cake and opening presents like any other ‘normal’ kid.
I recall a time when a friend of mine asked an elder sister why it was that Muslims were told to stay away from celebrating birthdays. Is it not harmless to cut a cake, light some candles and enjoy the wonderful being that is you?
Her response shook me then, and does so now as I finally gained the courage to adhere to her advice.
She said, let’s look at it in a very logical manner. What is a birthday a sign of? It means you’re getting older. So what are you celebrating? Would it not be better to spend that day reflecting on how you spent your last year and making goals for the next one? Does it make sense that you are joyous about growing older, probably weaker, and definitely closer to death? This day should be one where you think about where you are in life. This day should be a day when you praise Allah Ta’ala for giving you more time to please Him.
Perhaps needless to say, my friend and I did not take this too well. It is not a matter of what you could be doing instead, for must of us we just want an excuse to get gifts and hear how great we are. How silly is that, though? As Muslims, we should shy away from flattery. The only human beings that come even close to deserving that kind of treatment were the prophets, peace be upon them, and they would not dare come near something as self-loving and pointless as a birthday celebration.
All that scrutiny aside, though, the fact of the matter is that birthdays, just like Hallowe’en and Valentine’s Day, and all that other commercial bologna are a pagan holiday. Allah Ta’ala warns us severely against imitating the disbelievers and surely adopting their holidays is doing just that.
Lastly, a note on sincerity. The only thing that really drove these points home this year, alhamdulilah, was the fact that if Allah Ta’ala wanted us to join in birthday festivities, if there was any benefit to be reaped here whatsoever, He would have told us to. So the question really comes down to, how sincerely do we believe in His Wisdom? If He is All-Knowing, All-Wise, why the hesitation in following His rules?
Today is my birthday. A day like any other, alhamdulilah.
RSS Feed
