Christmas?

Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu,
May the peace, grace, and blessings of God be on all of you,

I've been getting questions on the origin of Christmas. Is it really the birthday of the Messiah Jesus (a)? What are its origins? Should we celebrate this?

I'd like to make things clear firstly. I am not here to offend Christians or Christianity. It is from my love of the Christians that I write this - because in this article, I am sharing vital information every Christian must be aware of concerning the Christian religious holidays. In fact, every Christian should try their best to make themselves best for their God and religion by seeking knowledge, demanding truth, and repair what is in need of fixing in their way of life. Use the following information to your advantage.

I will start with a clear note: The date of Prophet Jesus' birth was never mentioned in any scripture. It's not in the Bible, nor is it in the Qur'an, so the question is asked, where does Christmas originate?

As some of my readers may know, what we know today as Christianity happened as a result of the Roman Empire adopting one of the Christian branches under Emperor Constantine in the year 325 C.E. Before it became Christian, Rome was a predominantly pagan state, which had believed in various polytheist religions - mostly revolving around mythological or mystical figures.

Before Emperor Constantine was baptized on his deathbed, he had been part of the religion Sol Invictus. Sol Invictus literally means "Sun Invincible", and the religion revolved around the worship of the Sun and/or solar deities. The belief was that the Sun had a human Son, on earth, and Constantine believed that he was that Son.

He was said to have seen a revelation in the sky during one of his battles, which had convinced him to make Rome a Christian state. So, in 325 C.E., the council of Nicea was held. The council had contained top Roman officials, Christian leaders from the Pauline sect, as well as members of the Universal Church of Rome ( aka the"Roman Catholic Church" which was, at the time, a Church representing the pagan Roman religions). At this council;

• It was decided that Rome would adopt a form of Pauline Christianity (which is based on the teachings of St. Paul, derived from his mystical visions of Jesus)
• The table of contents of the Bible were decided; 4 Gospels were chosen, Matthew Mark Luke and John
• The Trinity was set in stone completely. It was defined as 3 persons, the Father Son and Holy Spirit, acting as 1 God
• Everything that did not coincide with these beliefs was considered heresy

After the council was concluded, the Roman Catholic Church had adopted this version of Christianity, and it was therefore forced on all citizens of Rome. All pagan statues and literature was destroyed, and those who declined Christianity were either killed or exiled. All of the other Gospels and Christian literature, including ones that are arguably more credible than the 4 Gospels, were therefore burned or hid away.

The Romans prior to Christianity had mainly celebrated two very large festivals: Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and the festival of Ishtar:

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (December 25th):

• Literally means "The Birthday of the Invincible Sun"
• It was on December 25th, Christmas Day, and the festival coincided with the winter solstice
• This was the first day when the Sun reversed its "southward retreat" and proved itself to be "unconquered". This is because the Sun is at the lowest point of the sky on December 21st, and on December 25th it begins to rise gradually again (day by day)
  
• On this day of Christmas, the Roman Church allowed the worship of the solar deities, or "Sun gods", the most prominent of which would be Mithra (on a side note, Christmas day was considered the birthday of many Sun gods, including Mithra and Horus)
• When Rome had converted to Christianity, it was forced to convert its festivals as well, in an effort to make a smooth transition between the worship of the Sun to the worship of Jesus (a)
• We still see many pagan influenes in the holiday till this day - it still takes place on the winter solstice, which holds religious importance to the Sun-worshipers. Christmas trees, candles, and such all come from the pagan traditions.

When was Jesus' real birthday? The Qur'an doesn't say, nor do we really need to know, however we could definitely know that it did not take place in the winter.

In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful:

"And shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, you will cause ripe dates to fall upon you" (Qur'an, 19:25)

This verse comes from Surat Maryam (Chapter Mary) and comes from a group of verses, revealing the details of the birth of the Messiah Jesus (a). When Mary (a) is in the pains of childbirth, God tells Mary (a) through an angel that there is a rivulet under her, and that ripe dates were on the palm tree she was leaning towards - this food and water would help comfort her during the birth of our Messiah (a).

Ripe dates do NOT grow in the winter; this eliminates any possibility of Jesus (a) being born in the winter time.

Festival of Ishtar (Easter)

• Ishtar, an Assyrian/Babylonian goddess, is also known as "Easter". This is where the Easter holiday gets its name.
• She was the goddess of fertility and love
  
• Prominent symbols used to represent Ishtar were the eggs and bunnies. Eggs were a symbol of both fertility and love for obvious reasons, and bunnies were also used to represent fertility
• The festival was replaced with what we know today as Easter, which commemorates the alleged death and resurrection of the Messiah Jesus (a).
• We still see many pagan influences in the holiday though, including the name of the holiday, the easter bunny, easter eggs, and many other influences.

The Prophet Muhammed (s) said: "Whoever fulfills the traditions of a nation is of that nation". Christmas day is different from, say, 'Milad al Nabi' (the birthday of the Prophet Muhammed [s]). Christmas Day, which is not even the birthday of Jesus (a), just has way too many pagan influences unrelated to Jesus (a) for us Muslims to have any part in it. Besides that, it is hugely a secular, commercial, and materialistic holiday, and all religious importance of the holiday are all but existant.

We pray to God that He gives us happiness in this life and the next; and keeps all harmful things away from us. May God bless all of the prophets, including Jesus (a), and may he bless Muhammed (s) and the Ahlul Bayt (a), just as He blessed Abraham (a) and his family.