Saying “Merry Christmas”

Question

Asalaam U Elykum,

I hope you are well by the great blessings of Allah SWT. I want to ask that some of my friends are living in UK, at Christmas time they always wish “marry Christmas” to their colleagues / neighbors.

  1. Is it permissible to say Marry Christmas ? 
  2. How we have to react when someone says Marry Christmas?  
  3. By only saying “Marry Christmas” , we are doing SHIRK ?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما

Answer

Islam is a complete religion whose teachings have been given to us by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala through his prophet (may peace and salutations be upon him). Neither is it permissible to add or subtract from the fundamental teachings of this divine creed, nor is it permissible to adopt customs from another religion. The prophet of Allah (may peace and salutations be upon him) said, “Whosoever resembles a nation is from amongst them.”

Therefore, it is our solemn duty as Muslims to completely abstain from practicing any custom or form of celebration whose roots lead back to another religion. Christmas, which might appear as a secular holiday, actually originates from another faith. Therefore, partaking in its celebration is not permissible, whether it is in the form of exchanging gifts, distributing cards, or merely wishing others “Merry Christmas”. Doing such acts is a grave sin, although it will not amount to shirk.

However, during the holiday season, it is customary amongst the non Muslims to wish “Merry Christmas” to one another. If a Muslim is greeted with the same phrase, he should simply wish them “Happy Holidays” with the intention that he wishes for them to enjoy their holiday season. If a peer or colleague were to say this to him, he should explain that he doesn’t celebrate Christmas.

والله اعلم

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

Taha Abdulkareem

Approved by Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani