Author: Ahsan Aqeel


Should Muslims be celebrating Halloween or taking part in its related events held on and off campus?

Before I discuss whether Muslims should be celebrating Halloween or not, I will describe its origin and how it evolved through out many years into what it is today.

Halloween is said to have originated from the Eve of Samhain. Samhain marks the start of winter and the first day of the New Year among the ancient pagans of the British Isles. At this time, it was believed that supernatural forces gathered together and that the barrier between the supernatural and human worlds was broken. They (the pagans) believed that spirits from other worlds (such as the souls of the dead) were able to visit earth during this time and wander. Also, on this occasion, another festival was celebrated for the “sun god” and the “lord of the dead”. The “sun god” was thanked for the harvest and the moral support for the upcoming struggle with winter. The pagans made sacrifices of animals and crops to please the gods. The pagans also believed that on October 31st, the “lord of the dead” gathered all the souls of the people who had died that year. The souls upon death would dwell in the body of an animal, then on this very day the lord would announce what form they were to take for the following year.

Christianity
When Christianity came to the British Isles, many churches attempted to get rid of these pagan rituals by replacing them with their own holiday on the very same day (e.g. October 31st & February 14). In Christianity, the Feast of All Saints recognizes the saints of the Christian faith as pagan gods by Samhain. The custom of Samhain survived and became intertwined with the Christian holiday. These cultural tradition and practices then became widespread and brought into the US and Canada through European immigration.

Halloween’s Traditions and Customs
Have you ever wondered why kids, teens, young adults and adults go from house to house saying: “Trick or Treat”?

It is believed that during the Christian holiday – the Feast of All Saints, many of the peasants went from door to door asking for money to prepare for the upcoming feast. Furthermore, people dressed in various costumes would play tricks on their neighbours and blame the resulting chaos on the spirits and goblins – so it was sort of like begging mixed with being the local jerk.

You might have seen images of black cats, bats, and vampires etc for Halloween. The reason for using these specific animals is that they were “able to communicate with the spirits of the dead” and that black cats housed the souls of witches.

As for games such as bobbing for apples, the ancient pagans used these as divination techniques to foresee the future. There were various methods of doing this, and many have continued through traditional games that are often played at children’s parties.

The Jack-O-Lantern is based on the mythology surrounding a stingy, drunken man named Jack. This legend is famous in Ireland and their culture. There are many, many different variations of this legend but all of them hover around the story that Jack played a trick on the devil whereby the devil promised not to take Jack’s soul. When death fell upon Jack, he was denied entry into heaven because he was mean, drunk and stingy. Since he already had an agreement with the devil, he became lost on earth with nowhere to rest. The devil then gave Jack a “lighted coal” from the hellfire, which Jack placed in a carved out turnip and used as a lamp. From that day onward, Jack travelled all over the world with his Jack-O-Lantern in search of a resting place. The practice of carving out vegetables to use as lanterns was common in Ireland and Britian, and this became embedded with the mythology surrounding the Jack-O-Lantern and eventually adopted into Halloween. When these practices were brought to America in late 1840s through immigration, the people discovered pumpkins made better lanterns and thus the usage of pumpkins for Halloween became an American tradition.

Islam on Halloween

As can be seen from the history of these practices, Halloween is deeply rooted in a number of major sins such as shirk (idolatry) and sihr (black magic) which are mixed with Paganism and Christianity. As Muslims, we believe firmly in tawheed (nothing is worthy of worship except for Allah) and we direct all of our acts of ibadah (worship) towards Allah, including prayer, sacrifice, and supplication. Any sort of reverence towards shayateen and seeking their help through black magic, fortune-telling and other rituals are seen as selling-out the akhira for a measly price in the dunya. As Muslims we should only celebrate what is permitted in Islam and honour and uphold our faith and beliefs. How can we as Muslims pray salat (or namaz), read Al Qur’an yet partake in these pagan rituals, divination and the crazy “spirit world”? It is important to educate ourselves about the roots of these holidays! Knowledge is heavily encouraged in Islam, and in today’s world informing ourselves about simple history is just a few clicks away :). Many might say that they do not believe in any of the ideas and only enjoy the candy, but even that requires a degree of compromise and agreement with what everyone is doing. Christians themselves used to be a people of tawheed at one point, but all of the compromises and mixing up of religion eventually lead to the norm we see today. So brothers and sisters, inform as many Muslims as you can about this pagan holiday and how sinful it is to part-take in any of its form. Holidays are not just excuses to binge and be reckless. In Islam, our holidays retain their religious importance, while allowing proper time for rejoicing, fun and games.

Verses from the Qur’an:

It is said in Al Qur’an:
“When it is said unto them, ‘Come to what Allah has revealed, come to the Messenger,’ they say, ‘Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.’ What! Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?” (Qur’an 5:104)

“Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed to them? That they should not become like those to whom was given the Book aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors.” (Qur’an 57:16)

Sources:
Wikipedia, “About.com – Shamhain”, Encyclopedia (Microsoft version)
Picture taken from getaroom (google images) of the halloween pumpkin.