As Muslims we do not celebrate holidays like Easter or Christmas. However if you were involved in an interfaith marriage (with someone from the "people of the book"), would the other person be prohibited from celebrating such holidays? Or are they allowed to celebrate as long as you (as a Muslim) do not, but just wish them "well" out of respect and politeness? Where does Islam stand on this?

I know that congratulating non-muslims in their celebrations is not permissible. However, since i'm in a country where many people celebrate it, some people tell me "merry christmas" or whatever they say. **How should I respond without being rude?**

Can Muslims celebrate Valentine's Day ? I'm not asking if it is shirk (as in https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/29661/17163) . Instead, I am asking if it is permissible to celebrate Valentine's Day. Maybe, the married couple could go out together, and enjoy a night out having dinner at a restaurant or something like that. Are they allowed to spend time together, on this particular day?

Are there any Hadith/Quran citations that refer to celebrating an individual's birthday? Is birthday celebration allowed? If yes, what is and is not appropriate? What other basic rulings are relevant for planning one?

Is celebrating Mawalid (birth of the Prophet) bidat (innovation)? Please note this question is different of "if Mawalid is Halal or Haram" because one action can be bidat but still halal. Or it might be not be bidat, but still haram. *Please mention the reasoning for your answer from Quran or authentic hadith and not only a fitwa.*

I heard about mothers day and father's day we write letters to them that we love them but my parents said it was haram to celebrate mothers day and fathers day so I just wanted to know if it's true it's haram to celebrate mothers day and fathers day

I haven't celebrated anyone's birthday in years, someone has decided that they want to have a surprise birthday celebration for a family member. I have read that birthday celebrations that are celebrated yearly are not permissible but since I have not attended a celebration in years I don't know whether or not attending this one is permissible. Would giving gifts and having cake with candles make it haram? I know that a lot of the people attending the celebration hold a lot of birthday celebrations but I don't. The only reason I was considering attending is to bring about closeness with family who I haven't seen in a while. Please support any statements with evidence.

I'm a convert, but follow mostly Sunni teachings from Hanafi or Maliki. I'm wondering if celebrating the birth of the Prophet (SAW) is bidah, and thus a sin. My husband thinks so, but he tends to lean highly conservative. I'm of the opinion that it may be innovation, but it's harmless, and just brings the family together for a day of joy. I'm looking for someone to give me hard facts, and prove if it's a harmful bidah or not. I'm aware that taraweeh prayers are technically bidah, and I have heard that Umar praised them as a "beautiful bidah," although I'm at the moment unable to validate this claim. So, if there can be a bidah that's harmless, and even praised and encouraged, then how can all bidah be harmful, and is the celebrating the Prophet's birthday really so bad?

What’s the issue of celebrating certain cultural events, that has nothing to do with religion? That’s to say, would celebrating Birthdays, New Years or maybe Independence day be HARAM? I know (at least I heard) birthdays are a no go zone for Muslims, but why is it? What about the other celebrations, I have mentioned. As a matter of fact, how do we define celebration in Islam? In general, a celebration can be thought of as going to the movies or eating out for dinner with family as a way of celebrating and rewarding yourself for good grades in exams. A celebration can also be thought of as crowds of people coming together establishing cultural carnivals….. Which definition/if any other, does ISLAM favours?

There is a word **Bid'ah** in Islam and it means innovation in religious matters. Some Islamic scholars says that birthday is Bid'ah as it was not celebrated by any of the prophets, apostles and their companions so if we celebrate it then it connotes that we are followers of Bid'ah. But, I am always urged to think that Birthday's celebration doesn't belongs to religion and nor there is any rulings about birthday's celebration in Islam then why is it said to be prohibited?. We know very well that innovations are much here as compared to the era of prophets, companions and companions of companions. For instance, *Hazrat Bilal (Rz)* never used electronic mikes to pronounce Adhan, There were no guns usage in wars etc. But today, guns are used and mikes are also used but they are not called **Bid'ah**. Then why call birthday's celebration Bid'ah? Now, when there is no answer to this, the scholars show the ayah of Koran as stated, > “Follow what has been sent down unto you from your Lord, and follow > not any awliyaa’ (protectors, helpers, etc.) besides Him. Little do > you remember!” [al-A’raaf 7:3] And I have also an answer to this argument which is quite logical. My answers says that the God, here, commanding us to not follow something beside' about which God has given order. For instance God has declared that fast is what during which a believer has to stay hungry and thirsty till a certain time. But if anyone says that we can drink and can't eat during fast or vice versa then, to me it is actually Bid'ah and celebration of birth is not so because no any restrictions have been made by God about this nor there are commands that oppose birthday's celebration. There are other Ayahs which are placed before us be like argument and that is, > “O you who have believed! Do not take the Jews and the Christians as > allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an > ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed > Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.” [Koran 5: 51] > > "And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget > themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient." [Koran 59: 19] > > “Follow [O Mankind] what has been revealed to you from your Lord and > do not follow other than Him any allies…” [Koran 7: 3] *Hadiths related to current argument:* 1- > “He who imitates a people will be from among them (on the Day of > Judgement).” **Anonymous** 2- > [Abu Daawood] And in another narration, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa > sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “The one who imitates > people other than us (i.e., in faith) is not from us. Do not imitate > the Jews or the Christians.” **Anonymous** Again I arise a question here that what if I discover a day, say "pencil day" and I announce it's celebration every year. Since I am a Muslim other than Jewish and Christians thereby the peoples can follow me and celebrate this day. And as far as my knowledge is concerned, I don't think that the imitation of a Muslim is prohibited in Islam... So my argument says that the Ayahs and hadiths quoted above must be telling us something different. What I think is that it may be disliked to attempt imitation and not Forbidden.

As per below reference, Shia scholar Majlisi points out importance of ***nawrooz*** for Twelver Shia. > -العلامة بهاء الدين علي بن عبدالحميد النسابة دامت فضائله رواه باسناده إلى المعلى بن خنيس عن الصادق (عليه السلام)(1) ” ان يوم النيروز هو اليوم الذي اخذ فيه النبي (صلى الله عليه وآله) لامير المؤمنين (عليهالسلام) العهد بغدير خم فاقروا له بالولاية فطوبى لمن ثبت عليها والويل لمن نكثها،بحار الأنوار – العلامة المجلسي – ج ٣٧ – الصفحة ١٠٨ > > “Al-Mu’alla Ibn Khanis narrates that Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: “***Verily the day of Nowrooz is the day when the Apostle*** (blessings be upon him and his family) took the hands of Ali (peace be upon him) and took the oath at Ghadir Khum from him and declared his Wilayah, so glad tidings to the one who accepted it and woe to the one who neglected it.” > > [Bihar Al-Anwar by Al-Majlisi, vol 37, page 108] My question is it obligation on Twelver Shia to observe majoos new year nawrooz?

Some people says if your body part is colored by Hindus in Holi (festival of colours), it will be struck off on judgement day. Is it correct? I live in India and at my work place our Hindu colleagues play holi and they also put color on my face and body. I do not have any intention to take part in their celebration but I can't deny them also. Am I doing any sin?

Is it shirk for a Muslim to celebrate Valentine's Day , according to the Sunna? Wikipedia writes: > Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, and is recognized as a significant cultural and commercial celebration in many regions around the world, although it is not a public holiday in any country.

Birthdays are not allowed in Islam, likewise I would like to know is it allowed to celebrate death days. This question may seem little bit strange though, as by celebrate I means, calling people on that particular day giving food to all of those who are present there, even a young imam (it means a young guy studying under an imam) or imam will be present there for praying for the dead. Honestly the gathering over these kind of places I hardly or you can say 99% of them may not grieve for the dead, and on the other side all are laughing, having food something like a mini wedding party. Also I find on the 3rd day after death a similar kind of party you can find among few Muslims, then after 14 or 17th day followed after 40 days and to yearly basis. Is there any Islamic backing for the above mentioned action?

These types of arguments come up when discussing the Mawlid with a Muslim who believes it is not an innovation. However, likewise we use taps and showers for wudhu and ghusl but 1400 years ago they used their hands, a cup out of a tumbler or bucket of water to make those ablutions. The way of doing them has not changed so it's not an innovation? Please answer the microphone question.

I would like to know, because I've done it in the past.

I understand that many (most?) Muslims prefer not to really celebrate Christmas, due to conflicting religious views. However, in truth Christmas is a composite event, of secular (arguably: predominantly), pagan, and Christian origin. Now, it happens that in Russia and many Eastern churches (Christian), the dates are different - and notably: split. The secular part is effectively new year (including gift-giving, celebration of friends and family etc), and the religious festival is on (IIRC) the 7th January. So: hypothetically, if this were more generally the case: would more Muslims be happy to celebrate "wintertime" (insert whatever preferred name) - meaning: just the secular end-of-year celebration, without any confusion of religious overtones? Would there be any haram in such?

Is it halaal to eat birthday cake? When I ask this question, I *do* know that celebrating birthdays is a practice of non-Muslims and so we aren't allowed to celebrate it. However, that is *not* the aspect of this matter that I am talking about. Also, the cake itself is of halaal ingredients, so that too is not the question. Rather, a friend once told me that when we sing "Happy birthday to Ahmed" (assuming it's Ahmed's birthday), it is as if Ahmed's name has been invoked upon the birthday cake as it is being cut. This thing itself makes the cake haraam since a name other than Allah has supposedly been invoked upon it. This question is very relevant to my situation because, though my wife and I never celebrate birthdays (we are reminded by phone calls from family and friends that it's our or our kids' birthday), in many of the companies that I work in birthdays are celebrated with much gusto. After the cake-cutting the entire staff is given a piece of the cake (including myself). I avoid eating the cake owing to this issue, though I do not mind eating any of the other food on the plate other than the cake. However, I would like to have more accurate information on this. I would be grateful for any information about this matter. Jazakaalhu khairan!

Is it allowed for us as Muslims to congratulate Christians in their eids? (I.e. Merry Christmas, etc.) > {This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion} Quran 5:3 Does wishing constitute to accepting their religion?

Is the celebration of the birthday (Mawlid) of our Prophet (Saw) halal?