CHRISTMAS IS ANTI-CHRIST, ANTI-GOD.

A Ritual Of Pagan Religion

‘Christmas Is Anti-Christ, Anti-God’

It was not observed for the first 300 years of Christianity

Views of Christian Scholars

(By: M. Javed Naseem)

Deut. 6:13

“Fear the LORD your God, serve him only

and take your oaths in his name.”

CHRISTMAS is not Christian! As a matter of fact it’s got nothing to do with Jesus Christ or Christianity. On the contrary, it is an anti-Christ, anti-God or anti-Lord tradition dating back to Nimrod or the period of Abraham (or even before?). It is a part (or ritual) of Pagan religion.

“Christmas was NOT among the earliest

festivals on the Church … the first evidence

of the feast is from Egypt. Pagan customs

centering around the January calends

gravitated to Christmas.”

(Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition)

Since the whole affair is man-made, there is no reference to it in the Semitic religions and their holy Books/Scriptures. Christmas and its accessories (Santa Claus, red-nosed reindeer, mistletoe, holly wreath, tinsel-decorated tree, stockings full of gifts and candies, exchanging gifts, celebrating 25th of December, etc.) were added to Christianity three hundred years after the death of Jesus by those pagans who became believers and converted to Christianity. Most of them brought their pagan customs and rituals (or festivals) and ‘Christianized’ them as they did not want to abandon them. Later on, these customs/rituals were accepted by both Catholic and then Protestant Churches and became important part of Christian faith.

وَقَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم بِعَيسَى ٱبْنِ مَرْيَمَ مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ

مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَاةِ وَآتَيْنَاهُ ٱلإِنجِيلَ فِيهِ هُدًى وَنُورٌ وَمُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا

بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَاةِ وَهُدًى وَمَوْعِظَةً لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

وَلْيَحْكُمْ أَهْلُ ٱلإِنْجِيلِ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِ وَمَن لَّمْ

يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـٰئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَاسِقُونَ
“And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary,

confirming the Law that had come before him. We sent him

the Gospel; therein was guidance and light, and confirmation

of the Law that had come before him; a guidance and an

admonition to those who fear Allah. Let the people of the

Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. If any

do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah has revealed,

they are (no better than) those who rebel.”

(al-Quran 5:46-47)

The pagan and polytheists, converted to Christianity almost two thousands years ago, thought that their pagan customs, traditions and rituals were harmless, as thought by the Christians of today. What they did not realize that by adding pagan rituals to their Faith, they had not only corrupted it but also made the Christianity look ridiculous as a religion. They have made it look like a joke, fun! They have made it almost a pagan religion whereas Jesus delivered God’s message to mankind to alleviate paganism. The nations of all Prophets had been doing the same thing to their Faith. That shows the strong influence Satan has over humans. 

Let’s revert to the real teachings of Jesus who will come back to guide and rule the world before the Day of Judgment.

Allah says in the Holy Quran:

وَبِكُفْرِهِمْ وَقَوْلِهِمْ عَلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ بُهْتَاناً عَظِيماً

وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ

وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ لَفِى

شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مَا لَهُمْ بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلاَّ ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِيناً

بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزاً حَكِيماً

وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَابِ إِلاَّ لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ

وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَامَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيداً
“That they rejected Faith; that they uttered against

Mary a grave false charge. That they said (in boast):

"We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger

of Allah"; but they killed him not, nor crucified him,

but so it was made to appear to them, and those who

differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain)

knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety

they killed him not. Nay, Allah raised him up unto

Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
And there is none of the People of the Book but must

believe in him before his death; and on the Day of

Judgment he will be a witness against them.”

(al-Quran 4:156-159)

Let us separate the facts from fiction! The word ‘Christmas’ was derived from the ‘Mass of Christ’ (Christ-Mass) and was given to the world by the Roman Catholic Church. It has no connection with the Bible or the original Apostles of Jesus.

As a matter of fact ‘Christ’ was not even the name of Jesus. He was always called ‘Jesus, the son of Mary’ or ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. The Greek, while translating the Gospel from Hebrew, added an attribute ‘Christos’ (meaning ‘the anointed’) to Jesus, making it ‘Jesus, the anointed one’. Later, the English translators made ‘Jesus Christ’ of it.

Here is what Herbert W. Armstrong, a Christian minister and the founder/publisher of ‘The Plain Truth’ says about Christmas:

‘Since the celebration of Christmas has come to the world from the Roman Catholic Church, and has no authority but that of the Catholic Church, let us examine the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, published by that church. Under the heading ‘Christmas’ you will find:

“Christmas was NOT among the earliest

festivals on the Church … the first

evidence of the feast is from Egypt.

Pagan customs centering around the

January calends gravitated to Christmas.”

                                                         

Natal Day:

And in the same encyclopedia, under the heading ‘Natal Day’, we find that the early Catholic father, Origen, acknowledged this truth:

“… In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast

or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only SINNERS

(like Pharaoh and Herod) who made great rejoicings over the

day in which they were born into this world.”

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, has this: ‘Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ)… Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church… It was not instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Bible authority. It was picked up afterward from paganism.’

The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition, says: ‘Christmas … It was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth …’ (The ‘Communion’, which is instituted by New Testament Bible authority, is a memorial of the death of Christ). … A feast was established in memory of this event (Christ’s birth) in the FOURTH century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the Day of the Old Roman Feast of the Birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.’

These recognized historical authorities show that Christmas was not observed by Christians for the first three hundred years – a period longer than the entire history of the United States as a nation! It got into the Western (or Roman) Church by the fourth century A.D. It was not until the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official Christian festival!

THE BIRTH OF JESUS:

Jesus was not born in the winter season. When the Christ-child was born, “there were in the same country shepherds ABIDING in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). This never could have occurred in Judaea in the month of December. The shepherds always brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled them not later than October 15, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date. Notice that the Bible itself proves in Song of Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season not permitting shepherds to abide in open fields at night.

“It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send out their sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early spring), and bring them home at commencement of the FIRST RAIN”, says the Adam Clarke Commentary (Vol. 5, page 370, New York edition).

  

Clark continues: “During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and November (begins sometimes in October), we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole SUMMER. And, as these shepherds had not YET brought home their flocks, it is presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields BY NIGHT. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a CHRONOLOGICAL FACT … See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.”

Any encyclopedia, or any other authority, will tell you that Christ was not born on December 25. The Catholic Encyclopedia frankly states this fact. The exact date of Jesus’ birth is entirely unknown, as all authorities acknowledge. But there is a strong indication in the scriptures that it was in the early fall – probably September – approximately six months after Passover.

CHURCH ACCEPTS PAGAN CUSTOM:

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains in its article on ‘Christmas’: “How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (Dec. 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the ‘new sun’ … cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia WERE TOO DEEPLY ENTRENCHED IN POPULAR CUSTOM TO BE SET ASIDE BY CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE … The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia ACCUSED THEIR WESTERN BRETHREN OF IDOLATRY AND SUN WORSHIP FOR ADOPTING AS CHRISTIAN THIS PAGAN FESTIVAL.”

The Roman world had been pagan. Prior to the fourth century, Christians were few in number, though increasing, and were persecuted by the government and by pagans. But with the advent of Constantine as emperor, who made his profession of Christianity in the fourth century, placing Christianity on an equal footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept this now-popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands. But these people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which was this idolatrous festival of December 25. They enjoyed it and did not want to give it up.

ADOPTING SON DAY (OR SUN DAY):

Sunday was actually the day of pagan sun worship. It was the birthday of Sun-god. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains how the recognition by Constantine of Sunday, which had been the day of pagan sun worship, and how the influence of the pagan Manichaeism, which identified the SON OF GOD with the physical SUN, gave these pagans of the fourth century, now turning over wholesale to ‘Christianity’, their excuse for calling their pagan-festival date of December 25th (birthday of the SUN-god), the birthday of the SON OF GOD.

‘And that is how ‘Christmas’ became fastened on our Western world’, says Armstrong. ‘We may call it by another name, but it’s the same old pagan sun-worshiping festival still. The only change is in what we call it. You can call a rabbit a lion, but it’s still a rabbit, just the same’, says Armstrong.

Encyclopedia Britannica:

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica: ‘Certain Latins, as early as 354 A.D., may have transferred the birthday from January 6th to December 25, which was then a Mithraic feast … or birthday of the Unconquered Sun … The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending … that the feast of December 25, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus …’

THE REAL ORIGIN:

We got Christmas from the Roman Catholics and they got it from paganism; but where did the pagans get it from?

According to the publication ‘The Plain Truth’: ‘It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon. And it started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly this side of the Floods! Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of the Babylonian system that has gripped the world ever since – this system of organized competition – or man-ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, and many other cities. He organized the world’s first kingdom. The name ‘Nimrod’, in Hebrew is derived from “Marad”, meaning “he rebelled”.

According to Herbert Armstrong: ‘From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostasy from God that has dominated this world until now. Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod’s untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.’

MOTHER AND CHILD SYMBOL:

Herbert Armstrong continues: ‘Through her scheming and designing, Semiramis became the Babylonian “Queen of Heaven”, and Nimrod, under various names, became the “divine son of heaven”. Through the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod also became the false Messiah, son of Baal the Sun-god. In this false Babylonian system, the “Mother and Child” (Semiramis and Nimrod reborn) became chief objects of worship. This worship of “Mother and Child” spread over the world. The names varied in different countries and languages. In Egypt it was Isis and Osiris; in Asia, Cybele and Deoius; in pagan Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet is to be found the counterpart of the Madonna, LONG BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST!’

‘We, who have been born in such a Babylonian world, reared and steeped in these things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy and sacred. We never questioned to see where they came from – whether they came from the Bible or from pagan idolatry!’

‘We are shocked to learn the truth – some, unfortunately, take offense at the plain truth! But God commands His faithful ministers, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression!”

Shocking as these facts are, they are the plain facts of history and the Bible. The real origin of Christmas goes back to ancient Babylon. It is bound up in the organized apostasy which has gripped a deceived world these many centuries. In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for “Queen of Heaven”) was born December 25th. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Christ.

DECEMBER 25th:

December 25th is NOT the birthday of Jesus, the true Christ! The apostles and early true Church never celebrated Christ’s birthday at ANY time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Bible – rather, the celebrating of birthdays is a pagan, not a Christian custom, believe it or not. Thus the ancient idolatrous “Chaldean Mysteries”, founded by this wife of Nimrod, have been handed down through the pagan religions under new Christian-sounding names.

MISTLETOE, HOLLY, YULE LOG:

Among the ancient pagans the mistletoe was used at this festival of the winter solstice because it was considered sacred to the sun, because of its supposed miraculous healing power. ‘The pagan custom of kissing under the mistletoe was an early step in the night of revelry and drunken debauchery – celebrating the death of the “old sun” and the birth of the new at the winter solstice. Mistletoe, sacred in pagan festivals, is a parasite’, says Armstrong.

Holly berries were also considered sacred to the sun-god. The Yule log is in reality the ‘sun log’. Yule means ‘wheel’, a pagan symbol of the sun. Yet today professing Christians speak of the ‘sacred Yule-tide season’!

Even the lighting of fires and candles as a Christian ceremony is merely a continuation of the pagan custom, encouraging the waning sun-god as he reached the lowest place in the southern skies.

The Encyclopedia Americana:

The Encyclopedia Americana says: ‘The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log … are relics of pre-Christian times’. Of paganism!

SANTA CLAUS:

Santa is not holy as many suppose. The name ‘Santa Claus’ is a corruption of the name ‘St. Nicholas’, a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 5th century.  The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 19, pp. 648-649 says:

‘St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, a saint honored by the Greeks and Latins on the 6th of December … A legend of his surreptitious bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen … is said to have originated the old custom of giving presents in secret on the Eve of St. Nicholas (Dec. 6), subsequently transferred to Christmas day. Hence the association of Christmas with Santa Claus …’

Through the years, parents punish their children for telling lies. Then, at Christmas time, they themselves tell their little children this ‘Santa Claus’ lie! No wonder many of them, when they grow up and learn the truth, begin to believe God is a myth, too. God says, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness’. And God also says: ‘There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death’. ‘Old Nick’ also is a term for the devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an ‘angel of light’, to deceive (II Cor. 11:14; Rev. 12:9).

CHRISTMAS TREE:

Bible does not tell the Christians to observe Christmas, but it does have something to say about the Christmas tree. This will come as a real surprise to many, but here it is:

Jeremiah 10:2-6: ‘Thus saith the Lord, LEARN NOT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN … FOR THE CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE ARE VAIN: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.’ The fifth verse says: ‘Be not afraid of them; for they (the trees) cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.’

EXCHANGING GIFTS:

From the Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 12, pages 153-155, we quote: ‘The interchange of presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and MUST HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY THE CHRISTIANS FROM THE PAGANS, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows.’

The fact is, this custom has not a single trace of Christianity about it. This does not celebrate Christ’s birthday nor honor it or him. Suppose someone you love has a birthday. You want to honor that person on his/her birthday. Would you lavishly buy gifts for everyone else, trading gifts back and forth with all your other friends and loved ones, but ignore completely any gift for the one whose birthday you are honoring? Rather absurd, when viewed in that light.

Here is what the Bible says about the wise men giving gifts when Christ was born. It is in Matthew 2:1-11:

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? … And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

Now, why did they present gifts to Jesus? Was it his birthday? Not at all, because they came several days or weeks after his birth. They did not exchange gifts among themselves or the family and friends. They gave gifts to Jesus, the King of the Jews.

Here is a quote from the Adam Clarke Commentary, Vol. 5, page 46: ‘Verse 11 (They presented unto him gifts). The people of the East never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the East, and in some of the newly discovered South Sea Islands’ – even as the Queen of Sheba brought gifts to Solomon.

The observance of pagan customs and traditions is for sinners. The custom of birthdays is not a Christian, but a pagan custom, observed by sinners! God says plainly in the Bible: ‘Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them (the pagans in their customs) … that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God; for every abomination to the Eternal, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods’ (Deut. 12:30-31).

Jesus says: ‘God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:24). And the Bible says God will not accept worship when people take a pagan custom or manner of worship and try to honor Jesus with it.

Again Jesus said: ‘In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men’ (Matt. 15:9). Jesus said further, ‘full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition’.

This is precisely what millions of people are doing today. They are ignoring the commandment of God and following the pagan customs. According to Armstrong: ‘We have professed to be Christian nations, but we’re in Babylon, as Bible prophecy foretold, and we don’t know it’.

‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues’ – now soon to fall – is the warning of Revelation 18:4.

CHRISTMAS WAS OUTLAWED:

In England, as the authorized Bible became available to the common people by the decree of King James II in 1611, people began to discover the pagan roots of Christmas (Yule, its true name) which are clearly revealed in Scripture. The Puritans in England, and later in Massachusetts Colony, outlawed this holiday as witchcraft. Near the end of the nineteenth century, when other Bible versions began to appear, there was revival of the celebration of Christmas.

Last Trumpet Ministries Int’l.:

According to the Last Trumpet Ministries International, Beaver Dam, WI, USA, ‘In both witchcraft circles and contemporary Christian churches, the same things are going on. Can we worship and honor God by involving ourselves with (pagan) customs and traditions, which God Himself forbade as idolatry? Can we obey through disobedience?’

The Last Trumpet Ministries Int’l declares:

To say that Jesus was born on December 25th is a lie! The true date is sometime in September according to the Scriptures.

Trees, wreaths, holly, mistletoe and the like are strictly forbidden as pagan and heathen! To say that these are Christian or that they can be made Christian is a lie!

The Lord never spoke of commemorating his birth but rather commanded us to remember the sacrifice of His suffering and death, which purchased our salvation.

Jehovah’s Witnesses:

Now, let us see what The Watch Tower publishers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, have to say on the subject. On their website, they have posted a commentary under the title of ‘A Counterfeit!’ Here is a quote from it:

A COUNTERFEIT!

“When examined in the light of the Bible, virtually every facet of Christmas is either pagan in origin or a distortion of the Bible accounts. Hence, Christmas customs are Christian in name only. How did this come about? Centuries after the death of Christ, many false teachers arose, just as the Bible had foretold (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Those unprincipled men were more interested in making Christianity fashionable to the pagan masses than they were in teaching truth. Hence, they gradually adopted popular pagan religious festivals and labeled them ‘Christian’.”

“Such “false teachers”, the Bible warned, ‘will exploit you with counterfeit words. But as for them, the judgment from of old is not moving slowly, and the destruction of them is not slumbering’ (2 Peter 2:1-3). Jehovah’s Witnesses take those words seriously – as they do the entire Bible, which they view as the written Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). Hence, they reject false religious customs or celebrations. Has this stand deprived them of happiness? On the contrary! As we shall now see, they know from experience that “Bible Truth is Liberating!”

SOW WEEDS, REAP WEEDS:

This also is the viewpoint of Jehovah’s Witnesses: ‘At one time, church authorities fought “tooth and nail against (the) relics of heathenism”, says the book ‘Christmas Customs and Traditions – Their History and Significance. But in time, church leaders became more eager to fill pews than teach truth. Hence, they began to “wink at” those pagan practices. Later they embraced them.’ So, Christmas is imported!

‘What you sow, you reap’, the Bible says (Galatians 6:7). After sowing their fields with the seeds of paganism, the churches should not be surprised that “weeds” proliferate. A celebration allegedly honoring the birth of Jesus becomes an excuse for drunkenness and revelry, the shopping mall becomes more popular than the church, families go deeply into debt buying presents, and children confuse myth with reality and Santa Claus with Jesus Christ. Yes, for good reason, God said:

“Quit touching the unclean thing” – (2 Corinthians 6:17).

‘It appears that Jesus was born during the ancient Jewish month of Ethanim (September-October).’ – See the reference work ‘Insight on the Scriptures’, Vol. 2, page 56, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

‘In some European lands, such as Austria, “Santa is still not as eagerly expected as Christkind” or the Christ child, says a BBC news report. Nevertheless, the visit is still about presents.’

That was the view point of Jehovah’s Witnesses whose volunteers are not very welcome at the doorsteps of many American homes.

It is funny that all the pagan teachings and traditions that have been included in the Faith, were brought in by the People of the Book. Most of the ideas they imported from paganism, were not based on logic or reason. They were sometimes absolutely absurd and stupid. But ignorant people accepted them and later on they became part of the faith; and everybody accepted them. Allah says in the Holy Quran:

يٰأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَابِ لاَ تَغْلُواْ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ

عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلاَّ ٱلْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ

رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ

وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ فَآمِنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ

وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ ثَلاَثَةٌ ٱنتَهُواْ خَيْراً لَّكُمْ إِنَّمَا

ٱللَّهُ إِلَـٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ سُبْحَانَهُ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ

لَّهُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلأَرْضِ

وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلاً

“O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your

religion; nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus,

the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of

Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a

spirit proceeding from Him; so believe in Allah and

His messengers. Say not ‘Trinity’; desist! It will be better

for you; for Allah is one Allah. Glory be to Him (far

exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong

all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough

is Allah as a Disposer of Affairs.”

(al-Quran 4:171)

Allah has set the bounds; has drawn the line between Halal and Haram (permitted and not-permitted; right and wrong); and has commanded all believers to respect those boundaries or limits. That’s the only way to separate the right from the wrong. When we start trespassing, we are going against His laws. And that’s where we self-destruct ourselves. We can’t blame anybody else for that. Allah warns us:

قُلْ يَـۤأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَابِ لاَ تَغْلُواْ فِى دِينِكُمْ

غَيْرَ ٱلْحَقِّ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُوۤاْ أَهْوَآءَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ ضَلُّواْ

مِن قَبْلُ وَأَضَلُّواْ كَثِيراً وَضَلُّواْ

عَن سَوَآءِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ

“Say: O people of the Book! Exceed not in your

religion the bounds (of what is proper), trespassing

beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people

who went wrong in times gone by, who misled many,

and strayed (themselves) from the even way.”

(al-Quran 5:77)

The Devil is very powerful and can influence humans easily. He puts silly ideas in human minds; whispers in their ears; and people accept them without questioning. When Devil was expelled from the heavens, he said that he’ll misguide humans and will send the sons of Adam astray to prove his point that humans are evil-doers; they create mischief in the Earth. So far, he has been very successful. It has always been a small minority of humans who remain faithful servants to their Lord, the Creator. The majority of people get carried away. Allah says:

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يُجَادِلُ فِى ٱللَّهِ

بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّبِعُ كُلَّ شَيْطَانٍ مَّرِيدٍ

كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ مَن تَوَلاَّهُ فَأَنَّهُ يُضِلُّهُ

وَيَهْدِيهِ إِلَىٰ عَذَابِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ

“And yet among men there are such as dispute

about Allah, without knowledge, and follow every

evil one obstinate in rebellion! About the (evil) one

it is decreed that whoever turns to him for friendship,

him will he lead astray, and he will guide him

to the penalty of the Fire.”

(al-Quran 22:3-4)

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