Yesterday when someone I was working with said we don't celebrate Halloween events because it clashes with our beliefs, its got me thinking is
Ok so it has pagan roots, but now in 2012 it’s just a another fun totally commercialised holiday full of sweet treats and dressing up right?
I asked a friends yesterday what her thoughts were, and if her kids were going to be “trick-or-treating,” well it’s just to make the kids happy so yes {I want happy kids} plus she hadn’t even thought about whether it would be haram or not. She actually looked at me like, who has that amount of time to even think that?!!
I’m no expert in this field; in fact both my girls have invites to Halloween parties later today. Part of me can’t help but think only an extreme Muslim would think of this "fun" night as wrong.
But then again maybe I’m just ignoring to really acknowledging the deeper significance or historical background of Halloween, but if I do accept it what about other days, where does it end? Birthdays, Anniversaries, Christmas, Valentine’s Day.
I’m a pretty liberal Muslim, but lately more than myself I have questioned my duty as a Muslim parent, I feel growing up I had a somewhat confusing childhood, being taught certain morals and values at home, yet seeing a something totally different outside and at school. I don’t really want my children to be like that.
So I sit here thinking what should I tell them, should I allow them to participate, after all their friends are? Who wants to be the odd one out? But if I know something is not correct according Islamic practices as a Muslim parents is it not my duty to point it out and explain to my children {not sure they would even understand}
On the other hand if I allow them to have Halloween fun now and then once their older decide they can now understand right and wrong, tell them to stop is that not a one way ticket to confusion.
This is not as easy as say what we eat, everyone for example know that pork is prohibited, so we all avoid it, so does that mean it's easier when we all do it, or in this case when we don't do it.
When was the last time you heard someone say Halloween is haram?
Another point maybe that an acts that are haram have the highest status of prohibition And the milder ruling than haram is "makruh", which means "disliked". So maybe in the case of Halloween it’s the latter ruling?
Ok so it has pagan roots, but now in 2012 it’s just a another fun totally commercialised holiday full of sweet treats and dressing up right?
I asked a friends yesterday what her thoughts were, and if her kids were going to be “trick-or-treating,” well it’s just to make the kids happy so yes {I want happy kids} plus she hadn’t even thought about whether it would be haram or not. She actually looked at me like, who has that amount of time to even think that?!!
I’m no expert in this field; in fact both my girls have invites to Halloween parties later today. Part of me can’t help but think only an extreme Muslim would think of this "fun" night as wrong.
But then again maybe I’m just ignoring to really acknowledging the deeper significance or historical background of Halloween, but if I do accept it what about other days, where does it end? Birthdays, Anniversaries, Christmas, Valentine’s Day.
I’m a pretty liberal Muslim, but lately more than myself I have questioned my duty as a Muslim parent, I feel growing up I had a somewhat confusing childhood, being taught certain morals and values at home, yet seeing a something totally different outside and at school. I don’t really want my children to be like that.
So I sit here thinking what should I tell them, should I allow them to participate, after all their friends are? Who wants to be the odd one out? But if I know something is not correct according Islamic practices as a Muslim parents is it not my duty to point it out and explain to my children {not sure they would even understand}
On the other hand if I allow them to have Halloween fun now and then once their older decide they can now understand right and wrong, tell them to stop is that not a one way ticket to confusion.
This is not as easy as say what we eat, everyone for example know that pork is prohibited, so we all avoid it, so does that mean it's easier when we all do it, or in this case when we don't do it.
When was the last time you heard someone say Halloween is haram?
Another point maybe that an acts that are haram have the highest status of prohibition And the milder ruling than haram is "makruh", which means "disliked". So maybe in the case of Halloween it’s the latter ruling?
Whats your thoughts?
ps my colleague wasn't a Muslim he was a Christian.
ps my colleague wasn't a Muslim he was a Christian.
No comments:
Post a Comment