This article is great in making one of my main points: how a majority of Muslims are forgetting not only their roots but integrating to the point that a couple generations down the road, nobody from their progeny would know who followed Islam in their forefathers or even what Islam is/was.
Take this example of a parent who, after a lot of questioning (& prodding) by kids finally gave in & let the kids enjoy Halloween. Mosques & Islamic centers in North America are coming out with "Halal-oween" to let the kids enjoy Halloween in an Islamic setting. Frankly, I don't even know how one would explain the concept of Halloween in an "halal" setting.
Now, the festivities of Halloween are borne out of a pagan ritual. It's nothing to do with Christianity. There is one another major ritual in Christian world, which is catching on around the world, which also has its roots in pagan rituals: Christmas. Because, as science has already proven it, that Prophet Jesus was born in spring/summer months & not in winter, & certainly, not on Dec 25th.
Anyway, so my concern is with making Halloween as "halal" is that next thing on the agenda would be making Christmas "halal". I mean why can't there be "halal" Christmas? After all, Muslims consider Jesus as a Prophet of God & respect him very much. Muslims consider Jesus as the son of Mary. So, what would stop an Islamic center to label Christmas as "halal"?
Next thing would be "halal" Valentine's Day (Muslim kids can send love messages to their parents or spouses to each other & siblings to each other etc.).
Problem with allowing one's own Muslim children to go out trick-or-treating or Islamic centers hosting "Halal-oween" is that it's a very slippery slope. It won't stop at only Halloween & will start snowballing into other Christian festivities becoming "Halal".
One or two generations down the road kids of today will be parents or even grandparents themselves, & they would be like, "well, I celebrated Halloween, Christmas & other Christian festivals. So no harm in doing it." Their kids will be celebrating it, too. However, those kids won't know the difference between Islamic "Halal-oween" & Christian "Halloween."
Now, it won't merely stop there, but young Muslim parents are also naming their kids with biblical names, e.g. Adam & Sophia. Now, Adam is considered a Prophet in Islam. There are several Prophets or religious men in the New Testament who are also considered Prophets in the Quran & as such respected by Muslims. So, in a few years, we will see Muslim parents naming their kids Jacob, Joseph, John, Mary, Zachary etc.
Now, if we couple the biblical names with celebrating Christian festivals, you may get an idea what will happen. But, if not, let me paint the picture for you:
So, by the mid-to-late 21st century, it might be common that a Muslim Jacob will propose to her Christian girlfriend, saying that "we celebrate the same holidays & I don't even know what Islam is, & hence, I don't even follow it, & you don't even need to convert to Islam. So why don't we get married?" Or a Muslim Mary will propose to her Christian boyfriend, saying the same as above. Their kids will of course wouldn't know the difference between any religion, since their parents are celebrating all holidays as same, & their names are all the same as biblical / Christian names.
Lo and behold, Islam is gone from that generation & Christianity has taken a firm hold on that generation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first (and last) time I went trick-or-treating, I was 5 years old. The week leading up to Halloween, I watched my best friend Alana’s mother turn yards of pink tulle & glitter into a Glinda the Good Witch dress. There was a sparkly silver wand & she was even allowed to wear frosted pink lipstick.
My mother had no intention of letting me trick or treat. She thought begging candy from strangers was odd. Worse — it seemed ill-mannered, & for my Hyderabadi mother, there is nothing worse than being rude. So she told me Muslims don’t celebrate Halloween, & left it at that.
But mom had a soft spot for my best friend’s mother, who had gifted her with a killer walnut brownie recipe. So on Halloween, when Alana showed up resplendent in her Glinda the Good Witch outfit (& frosty pink lipstick), I begged my mom to let me go.
There was just one problem. I didn’t have an outfit. The two moms cast about & settled on a classic solution.
For my first & only Halloween, I dressed up as a floral-bed-sheet ghost, with hastily cut-out eye holes. Underneath my ugly costume, I was grinning.
Flash forward several decades. My eldest son is 4. On Halloween he goes to school dressed in jeans & a sweatshirt. He tells me about the costume parade afterwards — a popular tradition where the younger grades show off their outfits to the older kids.
“How come I didn’t dress up?” he asked.
“Muslims don’t celebrate Halloween,” I tell him.
Then I pause. That answer is reflexive. But is it even really true?
“It’s not part of our family tradition,” I try again. My son looks a bit confused. “We can buy some chocolate tomorrow if you want,” I say, a little desperately. “It all goes on sale Nov. 1 anyway.”
The following Halloween, the same thing happens. My sons have questions & I don’t have any great answers.
Because here’s the thing: my kids love to dress up.
By the time he was 6 years old, my older son had not one, but 3 Batman costumes. He also had a doctor’s coat, a Viking helmet & various foam swords & shields. My mother sewed them both Harry Potter cloaks with iron-on Gryffindor badges when they went through their Hogwarts phase. My younger son has a Luke Skywalker costume, to match his older brother’s Darth Maul get-up.
So is Halloween really such a big deal for us?
The Supreme Court of Canada says that a religious belief is one that is sincerely held. Many religious & secular traditions avoid Halloween for lots of reasons.
But I didn’t know how I felt about it anymore.
I asked my husband what he thought about trick or treating.
“Why start now?” he argued. “They’ve stayed away all these years. Playing dress up & knocking on people’s doors are two different things.”
“Didn’t you go trick or treating until you were 12?”
“Fourteen. That’s not the point.”
I polled my friends. Some let their kids dress up for school, but skipped the evening candy collection. Some kept their kids home from school. Still others took their kids to events at the mosque dubbed “Halal-oween.” The mosque version includes dinner, loot bags & games. Some mosques hold a movie night.
Last year, my kids came right out & asked if they could go trick or treating. I decided to go with my gut.
“OK. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”
We walked around the neighbourhood after dinner. It was drizzling slightly, & cold. The kids were dressed up, but you could barely tell under their jackets. They rang the doorbells of brightly lit houses while I hung back, ready to tell them to run if a weirdo opened the door.
No weirdos, mostly just smiling grandparents. It was quiet, & a little bit dull.
They want to go again this year. My younger son has a new Storm Trooper costume & my older son wants to be Darth Vader. We might even check out the mosque Halal-oween party afterwards, to further develop our community participation (& candy collection).
Take this example of a parent who, after a lot of questioning (& prodding) by kids finally gave in & let the kids enjoy Halloween. Mosques & Islamic centers in North America are coming out with "Halal-oween" to let the kids enjoy Halloween in an Islamic setting. Frankly, I don't even know how one would explain the concept of Halloween in an "halal" setting.
Now, the festivities of Halloween are borne out of a pagan ritual. It's nothing to do with Christianity. There is one another major ritual in Christian world, which is catching on around the world, which also has its roots in pagan rituals: Christmas. Because, as science has already proven it, that Prophet Jesus was born in spring/summer months & not in winter, & certainly, not on Dec 25th.
Anyway, so my concern is with making Halloween as "halal" is that next thing on the agenda would be making Christmas "halal". I mean why can't there be "halal" Christmas? After all, Muslims consider Jesus as a Prophet of God & respect him very much. Muslims consider Jesus as the son of Mary. So, what would stop an Islamic center to label Christmas as "halal"?
Next thing would be "halal" Valentine's Day (Muslim kids can send love messages to their parents or spouses to each other & siblings to each other etc.).
Problem with allowing one's own Muslim children to go out trick-or-treating or Islamic centers hosting "Halal-oween" is that it's a very slippery slope. It won't stop at only Halloween & will start snowballing into other Christian festivities becoming "Halal".
One or two generations down the road kids of today will be parents or even grandparents themselves, & they would be like, "well, I celebrated Halloween, Christmas & other Christian festivals. So no harm in doing it." Their kids will be celebrating it, too. However, those kids won't know the difference between Islamic "Halal-oween" & Christian "Halloween."
Now, it won't merely stop there, but young Muslim parents are also naming their kids with biblical names, e.g. Adam & Sophia. Now, Adam is considered a Prophet in Islam. There are several Prophets or religious men in the New Testament who are also considered Prophets in the Quran & as such respected by Muslims. So, in a few years, we will see Muslim parents naming their kids Jacob, Joseph, John, Mary, Zachary etc.
Now, if we couple the biblical names with celebrating Christian festivals, you may get an idea what will happen. But, if not, let me paint the picture for you:
So, by the mid-to-late 21st century, it might be common that a Muslim Jacob will propose to her Christian girlfriend, saying that "we celebrate the same holidays & I don't even know what Islam is, & hence, I don't even follow it, & you don't even need to convert to Islam. So why don't we get married?" Or a Muslim Mary will propose to her Christian boyfriend, saying the same as above. Their kids will of course wouldn't know the difference between any religion, since their parents are celebrating all holidays as same, & their names are all the same as biblical / Christian names.
Lo and behold, Islam is gone from that generation & Christianity has taken a firm hold on that generation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first (and last) time I went trick-or-treating, I was 5 years old. The week leading up to Halloween, I watched my best friend Alana’s mother turn yards of pink tulle & glitter into a Glinda the Good Witch dress. There was a sparkly silver wand & she was even allowed to wear frosted pink lipstick.
My mother had no intention of letting me trick or treat. She thought begging candy from strangers was odd. Worse — it seemed ill-mannered, & for my Hyderabadi mother, there is nothing worse than being rude. So she told me Muslims don’t celebrate Halloween, & left it at that.
But mom had a soft spot for my best friend’s mother, who had gifted her with a killer walnut brownie recipe. So on Halloween, when Alana showed up resplendent in her Glinda the Good Witch outfit (& frosty pink lipstick), I begged my mom to let me go.
There was just one problem. I didn’t have an outfit. The two moms cast about & settled on a classic solution.
For my first & only Halloween, I dressed up as a floral-bed-sheet ghost, with hastily cut-out eye holes. Underneath my ugly costume, I was grinning.
Flash forward several decades. My eldest son is 4. On Halloween he goes to school dressed in jeans & a sweatshirt. He tells me about the costume parade afterwards — a popular tradition where the younger grades show off their outfits to the older kids.
“How come I didn’t dress up?” he asked.
“Muslims don’t celebrate Halloween,” I tell him.
Then I pause. That answer is reflexive. But is it even really true?
“It’s not part of our family tradition,” I try again. My son looks a bit confused. “We can buy some chocolate tomorrow if you want,” I say, a little desperately. “It all goes on sale Nov. 1 anyway.”
The following Halloween, the same thing happens. My sons have questions & I don’t have any great answers.
Because here’s the thing: my kids love to dress up.
By the time he was 6 years old, my older son had not one, but 3 Batman costumes. He also had a doctor’s coat, a Viking helmet & various foam swords & shields. My mother sewed them both Harry Potter cloaks with iron-on Gryffindor badges when they went through their Hogwarts phase. My younger son has a Luke Skywalker costume, to match his older brother’s Darth Maul get-up.
So is Halloween really such a big deal for us?
The Supreme Court of Canada says that a religious belief is one that is sincerely held. Many religious & secular traditions avoid Halloween for lots of reasons.
But I didn’t know how I felt about it anymore.
I asked my husband what he thought about trick or treating.
“Why start now?” he argued. “They’ve stayed away all these years. Playing dress up & knocking on people’s doors are two different things.”
“Didn’t you go trick or treating until you were 12?”
“Fourteen. That’s not the point.”
I polled my friends. Some let their kids dress up for school, but skipped the evening candy collection. Some kept their kids home from school. Still others took their kids to events at the mosque dubbed “Halal-oween.” The mosque version includes dinner, loot bags & games. Some mosques hold a movie night.
Last year, my kids came right out & asked if they could go trick or treating. I decided to go with my gut.
“OK. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”
We walked around the neighbourhood after dinner. It was drizzling slightly, & cold. The kids were dressed up, but you could barely tell under their jackets. They rang the doorbells of brightly lit houses while I hung back, ready to tell them to run if a weirdo opened the door.
No weirdos, mostly just smiling grandparents. It was quiet, & a little bit dull.
They want to go again this year. My younger son has a new Storm Trooper costume & my older son wants to be Darth Vader. We might even check out the mosque Halal-oween party afterwards, to further develop our community participation (& candy collection).
No comments:
Post a Comment