Muslim Comics

Assalaamu Alaykum,

As Muslims we take our guidance from Allah and from His messenger. This is the best guidance of all. It has no errors and will lead to human happiness and success, in both this life and the final life to come. Unfortunately many Muslims are not satisfied with these two sources of guidance and decide to take their guidance from other sources. These other sources may have some truth in it, but unfortunately instead of keeping the truth and leaving the falsehood, they take everything altogether. Also many Muslims ignore the guidance of their Lord completely. Today I wanted to share 5 reasons why Muslims shouldn’t celebrate birthdays, but this would also apply to other holidays as well.

Reason # 1: It’s a Pagan Holiday

A quick Google search reveals the pagan origins of birthday celebrations. This is reason enough not to celebrate birthdays. Some may argue they no longer have religious connotations, but as Muslims we don’t want to even go near shirk. None of the Prophets nor their followers celebrated pagan rituals or holidays. If we claim to be followers of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH then we should have enough self control not to take part in pagan celebrations as well.

The idea of celebrating the date of your birth is a pagan tradition. In fact, many Christians didn’t celebrate birthdays historically, because of that link to paganism.

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/good-question-how-did-birthday-traditions-start/

The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a spirit that attended his or her birth, and kept watch. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the God on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays.

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/good-question-how-did-birthday-traditions-start/

Also I would argue that there is no such thing as an atheist from the Islamic perspective. Everyone worships something. If you don’t worship Allah, then you worship other than Allah. For instance some people worship, people (living and dead), saints, idols, celebrities, fame, money, women, their own desires.

أَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ أَفَأَنتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلًا
Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire? Then would you be responsible for him?

Quran 25:43

So even in a “secular” society or a Godless society, they are still making partners with Allah. In Arabic they are mushrikeen. A yearly festival that they invent would still be pagan from our perspective.

Here’s a link to a good article for further reading on the topic – https://justdawah.org/resources/festivals/pagan-origins-of-birthdays

Reason #2: Muslims Only Have 2 Eids

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, arrived in Medina during two days which they were celebrating. The Prophet said, “What are these two days?” They said, “We would celebrate these two days in the time of ignorance.” The Prophet said, “Verily, Allah has replaced these two days with two better days: Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr.”

Source: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 1134

Reason #3: Muslims Do Not Imitate the Non-Muslims

Before I go into the textual evidences for this, I want us to reflect on the concept first. As Muslims we believe we are following the guidance sent by the Creator of everything. Whereas everyone else is misguided, or following the guidance of shaitan, our biggest enemy.

So by default which makes more sense, imitating the best of mankind and his followers, or imitating people who are being misguided by shaitan? I believe the answer is obvious.

So if this is true why would you even want to imitate the non-Muslims? Why would you risk being misguided?

Here are a few evidences for why we shouldn’t imitate the disbelievers in anything except that which doesn’t go against Islam and is beneficial in nature.

Ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, drew a line in the sand with his hand and he said, “This is the straight path of Allah.” Then, the Prophet drew lines to the right and left, saying, “These are other paths, and there is no path among them but that a devil is upon it calling to its way.” Then, the Prophet recited the verse, “Verily, this is the straight path, so follow it and do not follow other ways.” (6:153)

Source: Musnad Aḥmad 4437

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمِ دِينًۭا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ
And whoever desires other than Islām as religion – never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.

Quran 3:85

إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمُ ۗ
The true religion with Allah is Islam.

Quran 3:19

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a mastigure, you would follow them.” We said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! (Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said, “Whom else?”

Sahih al-Bukhari 7320

From the seerah (biography) of the Prophet PBUH we read that the jews in madinah fasted Ashura (the day Moses and his people were freed from Pharaoh). But in order to differentiate ourselves from the Jews we fast an additional day before or after it.

Ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came to Medina and he found the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. The Prophet said, “What is this day you are fasting?” They said, “This is a great day in which Allah saved Moses and his people, and he drowned Pharaoh and his people. Moses fasted on it due to gratitude, so we also fast on it.” The Prophet said, “We are more worthy and closer to Moses than you.” The Prophet fasted the day of Ashura and he commanded fasting on it.

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2004, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1130

Al-Tirmidhi said, “It is reported from Ibn Abbas that he said to fast on the ninth and tenth of the month and to do so differently from the Jews, and this tradition is the same as was said by Al-Shafi’i, Ahmad, and Ishaq.”

Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 755

Ibn Umar reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Be different from the idolaters. Let the beard grow and trim the moustache.”

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5553, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 259

The call to prayer (Adhaan) was originally going to be a bell, although the Prophet PBUH did not like that, since it was copying the Christians.

According to the hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allah ibn Zayd ibn Abd Rabbihi, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) decided to use a bell even though he disliked it because it was like what the Christians used, ‘there appeared to me in a dream a man who was wearing two green garments, in whose hand was a bell. I said, “O slave of Allah, will you sell that bell?” he said, “What will you do with it?” I said, “We will call the people to prayer with it.” He said, “Shall I not show you something better than that?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Say, Allahu akbar Allah akbar … (to the end of the adhaan).”

Narrated by Ahmad, 1588; al-Tirmidhi, 174; Abu Dawood, 421, 430; Ibn Maajah, 698

Here’s an article going into further details of this – https://islamqa.info/en/answers/45200/ruling-on-imitating-the-disbelievers

Reason #4: Muslims Stay Away From the Grey Areas

The following hadith explains that Muslims should stay away from things they doubt. Celebrating birthdays is not a matter of doubt, as it is clearly haraam, but for those who still are not sure, this hadith is for them.

Al-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know. Thus, he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, and he who falls into doubtful matters will fall into the unlawful as the shepherd who pastures near a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily, every king has a sanctum and the sanctum of Allah is His prohibitions.

 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 52, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1599

If our goal is achieving paradise by worshipping Allah and staying away from sin, then it only makes sense that we should stay away from grey areas.

وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلزِّنَىٰٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَـٰحِشَةًۭ وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًۭا
Do not go near adultery. It is truly a shameful deed and an evil way.

Quran 17:32

Whatever you leave for Allah, Allah will replace it with something better. So do yourself and your family a favor by staying away from things you’re unsure of.

Reason #5: Muslims Don’t Blindly Follow

I put this reason last, because it’s more subjective. The first four reasons suffice. To be frank, simply the first reason should be enough, but some people like hearing the same information in different ways.

Muslims are people of intelligence. We are not people of blind following. The only two we follow blindly is Allah and His Prophet. But this is only after establishing that the information is indeed coming from Allah and His Prophet. And we follow the Prophet PBUH because Allah commands us in the Quran to do so, so really we only follow Allah. Everything else should be evaluated and weighed.

So now when it comes to celebrating birthdays if we evaluate it and weigh it, it’s clear that it serves no beneficial purpose. Yes you can argue it brings the family together and all of that, but the family can be brought together on any day. Why limit it to only one day? Shouldn’t the family come together everyday, week, and month anyway? Shouldn’t the family live near each other and be connected to one another regularly anyways.

Which is better, bringing the family together twice a year on Eid, which is sanctioned by Allah, or bringing them on your birthdays which are pagan in origin?

Half my family is non-Muslim and even as a child I really didn’t appreciate only getting calls on my birthday. And they only called because they felt obliged to do so. Imagine getting a 5 minute phone call from your relative only once a year. What kind of connection would you have with this relative? Not a very strong one, as opposed to if he called you every week or month?

Not to mention giving gifts and having a party on someone’s birthday has nothing to do with achievements. You’re rewarding your child for simply staying alive, which ultimately isn’t in his/her control anyways. So you’re spoiling the child and adding to his arrogance.

I Agree With You, but How do I stop?

Muslims aren’t the only people who don’t celebrate birthdays. Many Christians don’t as well. They also don’t celebrate Christmas. They’re upon falsehood and yet they can stop themselves from these pagan celebrations, more than the people of tawheed (the pure oneness of Allah)?

Fully answering this question is beyond the scope of this article, but here are some tips that should help.

First be honest with your family. This is one of the most important things to remember when raising our children, but oftentimes we neglect it because it can be hard. We must never lie to our family. If we break their trust, then we have lost them completely.

If your child is wondering why they’re no longer celebrating birthdays, just be honest with them and say you didn’t know it was haraam before, but now you do. “Don’t we want to please Allah? Don’t we want to earn Jannah which is better than anything in this life? Don’t worry instead of having 3 average gifts for your birthday and the two Eids, you’ll have 2 awesome gifts for just the two Eids instead!”

Secondly I would give more smaller gifts regularly. A gift doesn’t have to be something material. It could be a trip to the museum or an amusement park. It could be having a family day where you play board games, read books and generally spend quality time together. These gifts should be for achievements such as memorizing Quran, getting good grades, winning a contest, and so on. If your child is used to getting gifts regularly then they won’t miss getting gifts on their birthdays.

Thirdly it’s recognizing that your child is new to this world. 50 years ago before the Xbox’s the Netflix, the iPhones and so on, kids weren’t yearning for these things. They were yearning for other things in their era. It’s not like the kids of yesterday missed out on what the kids of today are getting. Or that they had a worse childhood as a result. Kids are happy with whatever you give them, and whatever they know about. If your kid is constantly vising other kids who have all these devices that your kid doesn’t have, then yes they will yearn for it. So be selective of who his friends are, and maybe don’t have them waste so much time playing video games. Instead they could be playing sports or engaging in fruitful activities. They will thank you in the long run for sure.

Finally, whatever gifts your kid gets, he’s most likely going to get bored of it and move on. I remember getting gifts for my kids, and they would have more fun with the box the gift came in, than the gift itself! Or they would beg and beg for a certain gift, and be bored of it after less than a week. Rather than getting our kids a bunch of junk, it makes more sense to get them quality gifts that they can play with long term. Watch what your kids primarily play with and get toys in a similar vein, rather than getting stuff they’ll forget about after a couple of days.

I hope you’ve found this article beneficial. Raising kids can be challenging. Keep making dua and trying your best. Allah will reward you.

If you loved this post then you’ll love my books! Check out my books for Muslim children! Jazaka Allahu khayran!