Short Description: A brief article on what Did Jesus Say About Christmas? In the light of The Holy Quran and The Sunnah.
Publisher: www.islamhouse.com
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The
Christmas Experience
The perfect Christmas tree
is bought. Adorned with ornaments and glittering with tinsel, it stands by the
window. The stores are crammed with shoppers hunting for presents and the
little ones anxiously waiting for Santa.
Busy with Christmas fever,
wonder did you ever, did the Bible or Jesus made any injunction on Christmas
ever?
Ponder
upon the following analysis on Christmas, and the Truth will become clearer and
clearer.
Does Christmas have Biblical Evidence?
The
word 'Christmas' does not exist in the Bible. The Bible has closed lips on the
entire feast of Christmas, with one exception, the decoration of a tree. The
Bible itself criticizes the decoration of the (Christmas) trees:
"The
customs of the people are worthless, they cut a tree out of the forest, and a
craftsman shapes it with his chisel, they adore it with silver and gold, they
fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter" (Jeremiah 10-3,4).
European
Pre-Christian pagans superstitiously believed that the green trees had special
protective powers. In fact the use of the Christmas tree began only in the 17th
century in Strasbourg, France and from there it spread to Germany, Britain and
then to the U.S. "Tree worship was a common feature of religion among the
Teutonic and Scandinavian peoples of northern Europe before their conversion to
Christianity…German settlers brought the Christmas tree custom to the American
colonies in the 17th century. By the 19th century its use was quite
widespread". (Compton's Encyclopedia, 1998 Edition)
Was Jesus born on Dec. 25?
Neither
the date 25th Dec. nor any other date on Jesus' birth is mentioned in the
Bible. It was not until the year 530 C.E. that a monk, Dionysus Exigus, fixed
the date of Jesus' birth on Dec. 25th. . "He wrongly dated the birth of
Christ according to the Roman system (i.e., 754 years after the founding of
Rome) as Dec. 25, 753". (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998 ed.) This date was
chosen in keeping with the holidays already indoctrinated into pagans beliefs.
Roman
pagans celebrated Dec. 25th as the birth of their 'god' of light, Mithra.
"In
the 2nd century A..D., it (Mithraism) was more general in the Roman Empire than
Christianity, to which it bore many similarities" (The Concise Columbia
Encyclopedia, 1995 ed.
Other
pagan 'gods' born on Dec. 25th are: Hercules the son of Zeus (Greeks); Bacchus,
'god' of wine (Romans); Adonis, 'god' of Greeks, and 'god' Freyr of Greek-Roman
pagans.
What about Santa Claus?
If
aliens descended on earth during the Christmas season, they would undoubtedly
believe Christmas as being Santa's birthday. The words 'Santa Claus', appear
nowhere in the Bible.
However,
Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) was a real person, a bishop, who was born 300
years after Jesus. According to legend, he was extremely kind and set out at
night to bring presents to the needy. After his death on 6th of Dec., school
boys in Europe began celebrating a feast day each year.
Queen
Victoria later changed the celebration date from Dec. 6th to Dec. 24th eve.
Did Jesus or his Companions Celebrate Christmas?
If
Jesus meant his followers to celebrate Christmas, he would have practiced it
himself and enjoined it on his followers. There is no mention in the entire
Bible that any of his followers ever celebrated Jesus' birthday like Christians
do today.
"The
church did not observe a festival for the celebration of the event of Christmas
until the 4th century" (Grolier's Encyclopedia)
Thus
we see that neither the Bible nor Jesus and his companions say anything about
the celebration of Christmas which currently involves fanfare,
commercialization, and extravagent spending, devoid of any spiritual relevance.
We'll
now analyze the real person of Jesus (peace be upon him), in the light of the
Bible and Islam.
What did Jesus Say about Himself?
In
many places in the Bible, Jesus, referring to himself as a Prophet said:
"A
Prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own
house" (Matthew 13:57),
"Nevertheless
I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a
Prophet persists out of Jerusalem". (Luke 13:33).
Jesus Received God's Revelation
Similarly,
Jesus Christ too, as a Prophet, received revelations from God: "But now
you seek to kill me, a man that had told you the truth, which I heard of
God" (John 8:40)
Jesus Prayed to his God
"And
when he (Jesus) had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart
to pray" (Matthew 14:23)
Obvious
question: If Jesus was God, who was he praying to?
Jesus put himself Equal to other Humans
Jesus
put himself equal to other humans in the eyes of God.
"My
father and your father, my God and your God" (John 20:17)
God
does not have a God, But Jesus had a God! Moreover, the gospel writers referred
to Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) as the 'son of man' about 85 times in the
Gospels, and never once did he explicitly called himself 'God', or 'God the
Son', or 'The Begotton Son of God'.
Jesus Preached God's Oneness
Jesus
Christ, as a true Prophet of God, taught monotheism. When asked, 'What is the
first of all commandments', Jesus replied:
"...The
first of all the Commandments is, Hear O Israel; the Lord our God is One
Lord" (Mark 12:29)
"And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom thou has sent" (John 17:3)
Prophets of God
God,
by his mercy, sent numerous Prophets throughout history to all nations as
guides and role models. Some of the prophets were Noah, Abraham, Ishmael,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and the Last Prophet Muhammad (peace be on all of
them). They all came with the same basic message, which is the Oneness of God,
without any partners, sons or daughters.
This
Oneness of God in its complete essence, preached by all prophets, was later
distorted by some segments of humanity and naming these 'distortions' as
'religions', they left the worship of one true God and replaced it with
worshiping humans, cows and fire. To purify humanity, God sent His last
Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a guide for all mankind and through
him revealed in His last Messge, The Quran:
"They
have adopted their scholars and monks as lords besides God and (also) Christ,
the son of Mary, although they have been ordered to serve only God alone. There
is no god but Him. Glory be to Him ! He is beyond what they associate (with
Him)...." (Quran 9:31)
This
utmost obedience and worship to one God, in its truest sense forms the basis of
Islam. The entire Quran has been committed to memory by millions of Muslims
around the world and preserved by God Himself from any interpolations, unlike
previous scriptures, to provide guidance for all ages.
What Does Islam Teach?
Islam
calls humanity to the service of the One, Omnipotent Creator ('Allah' in
Arabic). Islam teaches the oneness of mankind in the eyes of God regardless of
superficial differences such as race & nationality. In Islam there is no
superiority of whites over blacks or vice versa. Anything that disrupts
society's harmony and deviates humans from worshiping one true God is disliked
in Islam. Thus Islam recognizes the evils of alcohol, drugs, premarital sex,
gambling etc. and advises humans to stay sway from these Satan's handiwork.
Islam further provides detailed instruction about a person's relationship with
God, with his family and the society. Thus no aspect of a person's life is
outside of the guidance provided by God.
Born Sinless!
Islam
teaches that every child is born sinless with a pure heart and an inner
instinct to realize the oneness of God. It is the parents or the environment
that deviates this child to associate partners with God (in the form of
multiple gods) or to reject God altogether.
No Mediator
There
is no mediator between God and man. There is no need of one, for God, the All
knowing, can listen and answer our sincere prayers regardless of our state and
place.
Salvation
comes through submitting to the pure belief in One God and following His guidance
as revealed in the Quran, and not through the vicarious sacrifice (murder) of
an innocent human being. Thus Islam is a rational religion based on justice and
self accountability, and not on unjust and mysterious doctrines formulated by
humans. Islam provides solutions to all the ills plaguing humanity. An example
of Islam's stand on racial justice is provided below.
Islam Dispels Racis
One
person's superiority over another is not based on his race, economic status or
nationality but on his God-Consciousness and purity of character. God proclaims
in the Quran:`"O mankind ! We have created you
from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and
tribes, that you may know each other and not that you may despise each other.
Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most
righteous..." (49:13).
Likewise Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) proclaimed: "No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does
a non-Arab have any superiority over a black man, or the black man any
superiority over the white man. You are all the children of Adam, and Adam was
created from clay."
After studying Islam,
Malcolm X, became a true Muslim. He remarks:
"...America needs to
understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society
the race problem..."
The
Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, but translations of its meaning are
available in English and other languages for non-Arabs. Likewise Islam is not
restricted to people of the east or Arabs, it is a universal religion revealed
for all of mankind.
We
invite all sincere humans to study Islam with an unbiased mind. Don't blindly
follow the whims and paganistic influences of the environment around us. God
bestowed upon us this superb mind to seek and live the truth; for we all will
be accountable on the Day of Judgment for our beliefs and deeds. Don't delay
your salvation.
