CHRISTMAS seems to be the most sensitive of three major non-Muslim celebrations in multi-racial Malaysia, presumably because there is a more profound religious connotation attached to it as opposed to the Chinese New Year and Deepavali.
With 48 hours to go before Malaysians of the Christian faith usher in Yuletide, a netizen is flabbergasted over how having a picture taken with the Christmas pine tree and Santa Claus can be such a big deal.
This is probably sparked by a view expressed by controversial celebrity preacher Ustaz Azhar Idrus who was recently asked to comment on Muslims gleefully taking pictures with Christmas trees at shopping malls
His response was that Muslims should not arbitrarily imitate the actions of non-Muslims because this can spark misunderstandings.
“The tree is not haram (prohibitive) but what is haram is when we decorate the tree during the Christmas celebration till some people think our house is a Christian home. That is haram,” justified the 60-year-old Kuala Terengganu-born Azhar who is affably known as UAI to his followers.
Henceforth, Muslims are free to snap pictures of themselves with a Christmas tree “but should not glorify it”.
“People who imitate a race will be part of that race,” he reminded. “Remember, for every celebration of the infidels (orang kafir), we have to believe that what they do is batil (untrue).”
As a few non-Muslims tried to clarify that the Christmas tree and Santa Claus has no connection with Christianity but merely a European tradition, a few Muslim commenters are taken aback with the reflection of insecurity or how certain quarters tend to portray their faith as fragile.
Interestingly, JAKIM (Malaysian Department of Islamic Development) has taken down its social media postings of what was seemingly sensible advice that it was acceptable for Muslims to wish “Merry Christmas” to Christians so long as it is irreligious.
In a nutshell, Malaysia’s leading Islamic regulators had laid out three conditions necessary for the practice to be permissible to Muslim, namely:
- The intention is to promote goodwill and maintain good relationships.
- There is no intention to acknowledge or affirm the beliefs of another religion.
- It does not involve using religious symbols or emblems.
Nevertheless, JAKIM had prior to its “Merry Christmas” dos and don’ts issued a more general guidelines on how Muslims can participate in so-called religious festivities of non-Muslims. – Dec 23, 2024
- Focus Malaysia
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