With New Year’s celebrations approaching, we will no doubt begin to see flyers and pamphlets flooding our mosques, homes, schools and markets. All of these writings warn us against participating in these celebrations lest we appear to be copying Jews and Christians.
Had the individuals distributing the flyers and pamphlets shown a similar enthusiasm and determination and distributed ones denouncing the fatwas — religious edicts or pronouncements — that are detrimental to Islam, they would have performed a very great service indeed. They would have had an important role in helping to protect our young people from those who seek to brainwash and manipulate them.
Some people will definitely rush into misinterpreting my words, thinking that I support the celebrations and that I oppose those who distribute these writings cautioning against the celebrations. To those who think I am sympathizing with the people who celebrate this occasion, I say that I have never — now or in the past — called for celebrating New Year or any other such events. This has never been, and will never be, my intention.
What I always say is that we should direct the enthusiasm and energy shown by those who inveigh against the celebrations into educating our people. They need to be shown the dangers resulting from fatwas that do not conform to Islamic teachings and that lack the unanimous approval of Muslim scholars. The people who issue these fatwas are self-seekers wanting to secure themselves a place in society by drawing supporters and followers who accept them as muftis, religious leaders and reformers preaching an Islamic renaissance.
When faced with two evils, the focus should be on warding off the greater one. What is not acceptable is to focus on a passing threat and ignore a permanent one that is with us constantly. The danger of these campaigns is that the individuals conducting them consider themselves educators; at the same time, they are selective and apply only tactics that suit them. They attack celebrations of such events as New Year’s Day or Valentine’s Day that are not acceptable to us and should never play any real part in our lives. Those among us who do note these occasions do so out of ignorance or out of an innocent desire to have some fun.
The people who campaign against these celebrations do not view with the same concern, however, the much greater danger posed by some who claim to know Islam better than others and who issue fatwas without consulting recognized scholars and authorities.
The head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has been quoted as saying his organization has 5,000 members responsible for protecting morality. It is important to protect morality but what is even more important is to protect the faith on which that morality rests.
