another holiday issue I had wanted to mention:
For a couple of years now, some Bay Area Muslims have been organizing "Muslim Christmas" gatherings. It is one thing for me as an individual to enjoy time with my non-Muslim relatives during the holidays. But given the proximity of Eid al-Adha this year (December 30th or 31 depending on your community) it seemed totally unnecessary for a group of organized Muslims to piggyback (so to speak) onto Christmas. Between the two Eids, Ramadan and Ashurah [2] there are plenty of Islamic holidays. If you want more we could celebrate Mawlid (which some think of as controversial). And if you want even more than that you can include Laylat ul Isra' wa-l-Miraaj and also Laylat ul Bara'ah. At least, that route makes more sense than "Muslim Christmas".
All this from a Muslim who writes incessantly about Kwanzaa every year...
For a couple of years now, some Bay Area Muslims have been organizing "Muslim Christmas" gatherings. It is one thing for me as an individual to enjoy time with my non-Muslim relatives during the holidays. But given the proximity of Eid al-Adha this year (December 30th or 31 depending on your community) it seemed totally unnecessary for a group of organized Muslims to piggyback (so to speak) onto Christmas. Between the two Eids, Ramadan and Ashurah [2] there are plenty of Islamic holidays. If you want more we could celebrate Mawlid (which some think of as controversial). And if you want even more than that you can include Laylat ul Isra' wa-l-Miraaj and also Laylat ul Bara'ah. At least, that route makes more sense than "Muslim Christmas".
All this from a Muslim who writes incessantly about Kwanzaa every year...
3 comments:
Salam Br.,
At least you're not blogging about Dia de los Muertos and gathering your family together for picnics at the gravesites of the dearly departed.
Kwanzaa, at least, has some character!
"well...", he says, looking down and around sheepishly...
i actually did blog about dia de los muertos
I guess I'll talk about pretty much any holiday on here, giving my take on their origins and significance...
I'm not syncretic in terms of *practice* but i'm willing to discuss all sorts of things.
I was just pulling a random holiday from my head, but HEY, someone needs to blog about all this great multiculturalism out there, and you do a great job mashaAllah. Dia de los Muertos just reminds me of my high school Spanish teacher making us eat skull cookies that weren't too tasty.
Hay que hablar de todos los asuntos!
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