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Not really, mom. I only know what people do during Christmas. They have big sales
and all the streets and front houses have decorations and lights. Some people sing
and ask for money, and also there is Santa Klaus who comes at Christmas Eve,
actually, many Santas… Santa is supposed to reward children when they have been
good all year, except, of course, Muslim children. But I know it is a make belief
because, if Santa Klaus existed, why would he forget about Muslim children? We are
good children too, mommy, aren’t we?
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Yes, you are good; this is why Allah loves you. This is why He gave you to me and
to your father! See, Su, Westerners think Christmas is Christ birthday’s date.
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Who is Christ, mom? Is he a helper of Santa or his son maybe?
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No, Christ is another name for Jesus, Iesa in Arabic. Iesa is mentioned many times in
the Qur’an.
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We commit to memory a lot of passages of the Qur’an mom, but I never read in the
Qur’an about Iesa’s birthday!
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Me neither, Su. That’s because, in Islam, there is no such thing as a Prophet’s
birthday or anybody else’s birthday for that matter. See, prophets like Musa (Moses)
or Muhammad (Mohammed) or Iesa (Christ), Peace be upon Them, are only men for
us. They were men, but men of great piety, exceptional men of Faith; they were true
believers and Allah chose them as messengers. They received two great gifts from
Allah; the first one was the gift a prophecy; the second one differed from one Prophet
to another. For instance, Musa (PBUH) delivered the slaves from Egypt; Iesa
(PBUH) could heal sick people; Sulaiman (Solomon) (PBUH) could speak to
animals, and Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the seal of the prophets, that
means he ended the coming of prophets and was given the Qur’an as a revelation for
all mankind! Actually all the prophets were sent for a special tribe or a given people,
but Muhammad, peace be upon him, and the Qur’an, were sent for everybody!
Unlike Muslims, Christians think Iesa (PBUH) is a god or the son of God, so they
celebrate his birthday like the birthday of a king. On the contrary, Muslims think it is
wrong because only Allah has the right to be treated like a king, and nobody
celebrates His birthday. Besides, Allah does not have a wife and does not covet
children since he made us; He created us and that was easy for Him. Remember:
Lam Yalid wa lam Yulad
Wa lam yakun lahu kufuyan ahad
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Yes, of course, that’s one of the first verses I learned from the Qur’an about the
Unicity of Allah.
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Me too, Su. Muslims must believe in only One God, which is called monotheism.
On the contrary, Christians believe in 3 gods in one, and not only that, they also pray
saints, and Mary who was the mother of Iesa (peace be upon him). December 25 is
the date Christians have set for Iesa’s birthday, but that’s not the real date according
to historians. Anyway, this date would mark the creation of the Roman calendar; this
is why the New Year begins just after Christmas in Western countries. On one hand,
this Roman calendar is a proof that Prophet Iesa (PBUH) was a real man who did
something very special in his lifetime, something so special that people wanted to
remember it. BC really means Before Christ. On the other hand, the Muslim
calendar begins with the Hegira or Hijra of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The Hegira began when the followers of Islam fled from Mecca where they were
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