Yes it\u2019s Christmas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For some people the festive period can be a stressful time. The black-sheep relatives come around who you\u2019ve never got on with; the excessive alcohol drunk and all that comes with it; and the mountains of cooking to be done.<\/p>\n
But for practising Muslims, there are other problems. You see Islamically, we\u2019re not supposed to encourage and venerate religious ceremonies, events, and sacraments of other religions. This is because often Islamic theology will be completely at odds with what is at the heart of another religion\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n
For example, Christmas is about the birth of Christ (though the day is almost certainly wrong) and mixed in to that are some historic pagan elements. Muslims don\u2019t believe Jesus is the son of God and we\u2019re not that keen on pagan rituals either. Similarly, Easter is about the sacrifice of God\u2019s son on the cross and rising again after three days. Again, Muslims believe something very different to this and don\u2019t regard Jesus as God, so there are clear theological tensions here.<\/p>\n
But of course you don\u2019t want to be a party-pooper, or come across as intolerant.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s why Muslims get nervous at Christmas. Secret Santa sends a shiver running down our spines. Advent calendar chocolates are met with a ghastly smile. Even buying Christmas-themed mince pies at the supermarket leaves one with a vague sense of guilt.<\/p>\n
There are lots of fiqhi discussions to be had here, such as the accepting and receiving of Christmas presents, but I won\u2019t go into that and instead refer you to Sh. Nizami\u2019s article<\/a> on this, and Sh. Qadhi\u2019s speech<\/a> on this.<\/p>\n Instead, since our focus here is Islamic Finance, let\u2019s think about buying and selling Christmas products.<\/p>\n Buying<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Buying something haram is generally a no-no. But that\u2019s not the big concern here, as Muslims aren\u2019t going out to buy crates of mulled wine.<\/p>\n What about buying something that\u2019s halal intrinsically but has Christmas packaging on it and is being sold for the particular occasion of Christmas \u2013 for example the various mince pie displays we see in the supermarkets right now?<\/p>\n Well the crucial things at play here is (a) am I supporting Christmas by doing this? and (b) what message am I sending to society?<\/p>\n Ultimately the act of buying something intrinsically halal is fine \u2013 as the act of buying is a private one (it is between you and the seller) and so there is little fear of you making a public statement \u2013 which is the overriding concern when it comes to all things Christmassy \u2013 namely that you\u2019re implicitly supporting or venerating it. So you are not in any clear way supporting the Christian morals that you may not theologically agree with by buying some mince pie.<\/p>\n We must also make an important distinction between two different kinds of messages that we could be sending: 1. \u201cI support and affirm the Christian festival of Christmas\u201d and 2. \u201cI\u2019m getting involved in the cultural end-of-year celebrations and secular symbology of a cultural seasonal phenomenon\u201d. The latter is fine, the former is impermissible.<\/p>\n Given that the only real message you will send to society in support of Christmas is the one to Mr Kipling\u2019s marketing team who get the sales figures from the local Tesco\u2019s where one of the digits will be one higher because of your purchase, you can be rest assured that your purchase is supporting a commercial populism surrounding Christmas, as opposed to making any deep theological point.<\/p>\n Of course one can go into this whole debate deeper and deeper. It is true our buying habits shape the economy and where money is invested, what advertising is run, and which products and themes are used. This is of course a symbiotic process \u2013 in that we\u2019re also influenced in turn by the ads, the products on display, and the themes being used. So, if anything, there might be mild case, from the point of view of taqwa, in favour of avoiding Christmassy products. But it would be too strong to say they\u2019re haram<\/em>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why, if given the choice, I still choose the plain packaging mince pie over the Christmassy packaged one. I want to make sure that I am not even mildly affirming something I theologically disagree with.<\/p>\n Selling<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to selling, there are two kinds of goods.<\/p>\n There are your Christmas trees, three wise men figurines, and advent calendars \u2013 the overtly Christmassy products with direct links to either paganism or Christianity. Then there are the Christmas-themed Freddo-Frog chocolate bars, or tinsel-wrapped Lindors, Santa Claus products, or snowflake-patterned Coca Cola bottles.<\/p>\n With the first kind of products \u2013 these are best avoided. By you displaying these products prominently you are making a public statement as a Muslim shopkeeper (as opposed to a private one as a Muslim buyer) that you support Christmas-the-religious-cum-pagan-festival. Your shop is part of a wider discourse around Christmas.<\/p>\n