Misconception Regarding Verse 5 of Suratul Maa-idah
(Q5: Vs 5):- Made
lawful to you this day are at-Tayyibat (all
good things). The food of the People of the Scripture is lawful to you*, and
your food is lawful to them**. (Lawful to you in marriage) are chaste women
from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture
before your time when you have given them their due, desiring chastity, not
illegal sexual intercourse, nor taking them as girlfriends (or lovers). And
whosoever rejects faith, then fruitless is his work; and in the Hereafter he
will be among the losers.
After Allah (exalted be His) mentioned the filthy things
that He prohibited for The Believers (i.e, the Muslims), in third verse of the
same Surah, and the good things that He allowed for us in the fourth verse of
this same Surah, He said next, what we have quoted above.
Allah mentioned the ruling concerning the food of the People
of the Book (i.e, the Jews and the Christians); and the food of the People of
the Book includes the animals slaughtered by them. The rule that 'our food is
lawful to them and theirs lawful to us' signifies that there need be no
barriers between us and the People of the Book regarding food. We may eat with
them and them with us. But this general proclamation of permission is preceded
by a reiteration of the statement: 'All
good things have been made lawful to you.' This indicates that if the
People of the Book either do not observe those principles of cleanliness and
purity which are considered obligatory by the Law or if their food includes
prohibited items, then one should abstain from eating them. If, for instance,
they either slaughter an animal without pronouncing the name of God or if they
slaughter it in the name of anyone else but God it is not lawful for us to eat
that animal. Likewise, if intoxicating drinks, the flesh of swine and any other
prohibited thing is found on their dining table we may not justify our
partaking of such items on the ground that the persons concerned are People of
the Book.
The same applies to those non-Muslims who are not People of
the Book, except for one difference - that whereas the animals slaughtered by
the People of the Book are lawful provided they have pronounced the name of God
at the time of slaughtering them, we are not permitted to eat the animals killed
by non-Muslims who are not People of the Book.
This is a general exegesis of that verse which is agreed
upon by Exegetes of Sunnah. And Allah knows best. As for your joining the
non-Muslims in their celebration of the so-called New Year (as well), this is
something objectionable and is also not permissible, because it is well-known
that the Muslims do not have any festivals except Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha,
and the weekly “Eid” that is Jumu‘ah (Friday). Any celebration of any
other festival is not allowed, and can only be one of two things: innovation (bid‘ah), if it is celebrated as a means
of drawing closer to Allah, such as celebrating the Prophet’s birthday (Mawlid), or imitating the disbelievers,
if it is celebrating by way of custom or tradition, not as an act of worship,
because introducing innovated festivals is the practice of the People of the
Book whom we are commanded to differ from. So how about if this celebration
itself is one of their festivals? Dear Reader, please reflect. What the Muslim
is required to do is not to single out these days for any kind of celebration,
decorating or adornment, or special foods, otherwise he will be joining the kuffaar in their festivals, which is
something that is undoubtedly haraam (forbidden).
May Allah grant us safety.
The fact that we Muslims have our own calendar known as the Hijr calendar, it is still forbidden to
celebrate this day or wish “Happy Muslim New Year” on those days as we do in
every Gregorian New Year because it has not been legislated.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on congratulating people on the
occasion of the Hijri new year, and how should one reply to a person who offers
congratulations?
He replied: If someone offers you congratulations, then
respond to him, but do not initiate such greetings. This is the correct view
concerning this matter. So if a person says to you, for example, “Happy New
Year”, then you can say, “May Allaah makes it a good and blessed year for you.”
But you should not initiate such a greeting, because I do not know of any
report that the salaf [early
generations of Islam] congratulated one another on the occasion of the new
year, rather the salaf did not regard
the first of Muharram as the first day of the new year until the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may
Allaah be pleased with him).
Praying for another Muslim in general terms, in phrases that
are not meant as a kind of ritual on
special occasions such as Eid (festive
period), is acceptable, especially if what is meant by this greeting is
friendship and to show a friendly face to one’s fellow Muslim. Imaam Ahmad (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said: “I do not initiate the greeting but if someone
greets me I return the greeting, because responding to the greeting is
obligatory. But being the first to offer congratulations is neither Sunnah nor
forbidden.”
Therefore, it is not permissible for the Muslims to exchange
greetings on the occasion of the Gregorian New Year, and it is not permissible
for them to celebrate it, because both of these matters involve imitation of
the kuffaar, and we have been
forbidden to do that. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: “Whoever imitates a people is one
of them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4031; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood
Moreover, offering greetings on this day that comes back
each year comes under the heading of celebrating it and taking it as a
festival, which is also forbidden. And Allah knows best.
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