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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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 Topic initiated on Friday, April 1, 2005 - 11:21 AM 
no to haloween/christians
salam (peace) all
i was delighted in the clinic yesterday when as i mentioned haloween while suggesting next appontment time to a patient "shall see you in 6 months, around haloween time :) " (as patients seem to remember better the dates by events here) and she said
' we say 'no' to haloween being christians' 
'hmm .... thats a god surprise for me' i said, 'cause many of the people celebrating here are christians i suppose. which sector do you belong to'
'just the main line christians we are but we believe that jesus pbuh came to bring an end to the evil n witch craft, not to promote it' |
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nadya
USA
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 Posted - Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 12:30 AM 
I think I'll have to say I agree with those Christian patients of yours!
Indeed all prophets came to guide us and prevent us from falling into evil ways so any festivals celebrating the themes of evil seem contrary to the spirit of those teachings.
I am sure a lot of people just practice such festivals "for fun" and are not consciously doing anything which seems not in line with the spirit of their faiths but I think we all need to consider even our entertainment activities and and the effect they may have on us.
Halloween in no more a festival of the west, I think a lot of people in the east, at least I know of people in Pakistan who do celebrate it.
I think people no matter which faith they belong to often end up in cultural activities or traditions which might not be in line with the spirit of their religion and such activities get assimilated into their lives. Therefore I think we all need to consciously examine and question a lot of things before just accepting them.
I read the following about Halloween in a book, I thought it would be an interesting to share.
Experiencing the World Religions
Second Edition
Michael Molloy
Pg: 50
"Halloween means the evening before All Hallows' (All Saints') Day which falls on November 1. Although Halloween gets its name from Christianity, the celebration is, in fact, a continuation of Samhain (pronounced sa'-win), the new year festival celebrated in pre-Christian England and Ireland. There is a strong theme of death and rebirth, as winter comes on and the old year disappears. It was believed that the spirits of the ancestors roamed free at this time and needed to be fed and placated. We see this underlying the practices of children going door to door, receiving food. We also see it in the many Halloween costumes that suggest death (skeletons) and communication with the spirit world (angels. devils and religious figures)." |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 2:54 PM
yes, and movies like 'Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas' project the 'fun' and spooky part of halloween. but its good that our Muslim children in this society get the chance to compare the values of different cultures and traditions.
human nature wants to believe in some sort of un-seen, like a colleague of mine mentioned the other day when there were no patients in clinic , "There must be some aliens among us that we should be aware of?" and after a discussion we concluded, "why not think of/be aware of the aliens that we've already been told about: the angels and the devils who are always with us." |
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