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)
*******
