How can there be a Christmas?
Have you ever heard of the god Saturn? How about Odin? Perhaps you’ve heard about Mithra? The names of these so-called gods have been extinguished from our vocabulary for centuries, and yet they are still being worshipped today. They are venerated in many modern Christmas traditions, celebrated by Christians, Hindus, and yes – even some Muslims.
It is becoming common knowledge that, while Jesus’ birthday is staunchly celebrated on the 25th of December, the actual date of his birth is unknown. While the Bible remains silent on the specific date, it does mention that Jesus was born while …. “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke2:8) Can you imagine shepherds needlessly watching over their flock, with only blankets to protect them from the bone-crushing chill of the stormy winter nights? No, it is more likely that Jesus’ birth would have occurred during the warmer parts of the year if this evidence is to be taken into account.
So if December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus then what are people celebrating? Long before Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth, the winter months were a time of celebration in different parts of the world. Cattle were slaughtered at that time of the year, so they would not have to be fed for the winters and the wine and beer set earlier in the year would finally ferment for drinking. With food, drink and levity being plentiful, this naturally lent to a festive air around that time of the year. In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule. In Germany, people honoured the pagan god Odin. The Romans observed Juvenalia.
As for the early Christians, they celebrated Easter – the death of Jesus – as their main holiday. There was no mention of celebrating his birth, even in today’s Bible. In an effort to spread Christianity and increase its popularity, it is commonly believed that Pope Julius chose December 25 to instigate the celebration of a new Christian holiday: “Christmas.” Interestingly, that date was already considered by many to be the most sacred day of the year, because it was the birthday of the Roman god, Mithra and also fell within the month-long celebration of the god Saturn. The worldwide acceptance of Christmas, and Christianity itself by extension, was due to its adopting the worship of other religions.
The Pagans’ main form of worship was to recognise the gods by throwing celebrations on their birthdays and completing the accompanying rituals. Many of the Christmas traditions that seem harmless are in fact, deeply rooted in rituals of worship. The Roman god Saturn was celebrated on the 25th of December. Saturn is described as an old man with a large white beard. The Romans used to sacrifice children in his name, to earn his favour. As such, he is often depicted as being surrounded by children.
Some pictures show him sitting in a flying carriage. Sound familiar?
Whether he is called Saturn or Santa, the sinister implications of this comparison are very clear. Terrified? The ancient Germans were too, around this time of year. It was said that their god Odin would go around on nocturnal flights, looking at everyone and deciding who would prosper or perish for the year. For them, making the naughty or nice list was much more detrimental than receiving a piece of coal.
Many more modern traditions start to make sense when compared to the traditions of the Romans. The twelve days of Christmas are a remnant of the extended celebration of Saturnalia. The Romans would send naked people around to sing at doors. We call them “Christmas carolers.” The Romans would eat pastries shaped like people. I imagine they would look something like this:
It was even a practice to decorate the home with greenery and berries, which were a symbol of Saturn, who was the god of agriculture.
Blindly following and adopting the ways of the disbelievers can have devastating effects on our Iman, little do we know. This knowledge brings a new depth of understanding to the words of Allah: “And if any amongst you takes them [Jews and Christians] as Auliya [friends, protectors, helpers, etc.], then surely he is one of them.” (5:51) The scholars have specified that this includes imitating their beliefs.
The Prophet ﷺ even went on to explicitly state that, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4031)
In a time when it feels like there is very little to celebrate, the merriment of gift-giving and Christmas shopping can become infectious. We must remember that those before us believed that falling into this was harmless and because of this misjudgment, their religions were extinguished and they became “one of them.” History often repeats itself. Just as their religion was lost to their children, so too can our legacies be extinguished. It is easy to get ourselves and our children caught up in the spirit of Christmas, but we are at risk of falling prey to the traps of Shaytan. By not distancing ourselves from this, we leave our children and the generations that come after them, vulnerable to the sin of Shirk.
Going forward we must be vehement in repelling the traditions of Shirk and “…hold firmly to the rope of Allah…” (3:103)
