The Truth about Halloween and Other Pagan Festivals - Abu Usamah

Virtually all Halloween traditions are based either in ancient pagan culture, or in Christianity. From an Islamic point of view, they all are forms of idolatry (shirk). As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honour and uphold our faith and beliefs. How can we worship only Allah, the Creator, if we participate in activities that are based in pagan rituals, divination, and the spirit world? Many people participate in these celebrations without even understanding the history and the pagan connections, just because their friends are doing it, their parents did it ("it's a tradition!"), and because "it's fun!"

So what can we do, when our children see others dressed up, eating candy, and going to parties? While it may be tempting to join in, we must be careful to preserve our own traditions and not allow our children to be corrupted by this seemingly "innocent" fun. When tempted, remember the pagan origins of these traditions, and ask Allah to give you strength. Save the celebration, the fun and games, for our 'Eid festivals. Children can still have their fun, and most importantly, should learn that we only acknowledge holidays that have a religious significance to us as Muslims. 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

About the Speaker-

Abu Usamah was born in New Jersey and brought up as a practicing Christian. He embraced Islam in 1986 and went on to study at the prestigious Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia for eight years, where he graduated from the College of Da'wah and Usool ad-Deen.

He has been active in da'wah since the day he embraced Islam and has been the Imaam of various mosques throughout the US and the UK. His zeal and passion in conveying the true message of Islam has led him to many parts of the world delivering lectures and seminars, as well as translating for many of the scholars from the Middle East.

He has been blessed in studying with some of the major scholars of our time, to name a few, Shaikh Abdullah Al-Ghunayman, Shaikh Muhammad al-Jaami, Shaikh Saleh al-Fawzaan and many more. Shaikh Abu Usamah was also very fortunate to have spent two summers in intensive study under the great scholars Shaikh Ibn Baaz [raheemaullah] and Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen [raheemaullah].



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