Our forts threatened

14/02/2010| IslamWeb

Even during the worst periods and the lowest points in Muslim history, we were more attached to our Islamic ideals than we are in this age. The enemies of Islam may have conquered most of our lands by force, but they did not shake our belief in the Islamic Creed. Today, why do we willingly run to emulate their values and lifestyle, despising our own religion, creed and values?

Consider this scene:

A group of girls enter the lecture halls on February 14, each wearing a red dress and red cosmetics, with stickers of red hearts on their faces. They begin to exchange warm kisses and gifts wrapped in red.

This has happened in more than one university in a Muslim country, and even in an Islamic university, in celebration of the "festival of love" or what is called Valentine's Day. On this day, many female students in secondary schools brought expensive red roses, applied red cosmetics to their faces and wore red earrings as well. They too exchanged gifts and warm loving statements in celebration of Valentine's Day.

What is the story of this day and why is it celebrated?

On February 14 every year, the Christians celebrate the "festival of love" or Valentine's Day. Valentine was a Christian saint and this day is named after him.

According to Christian sources, the story of this festival is that in Roman times, young villagers used to gather in mid-February, write the names of the girls in their village on pieces of paper and place them in a box. Each youth would then pull a paper from the box and the girl whose name was written would be his girlfriend the following year.

In order to firmly establish Christian beliefs in the Romans' hearts, they [the Christians of the time] related a story that there was a saint named Valentine who lived at the end of the third century CE, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. On February 14, this emperor executed Saint Valentine under the charge of calling to Christianity.

To make St. Valentine a symbol of love and passion, another narration adds,

The emperor observed that single soldiers were stronger while participating in war than those who were married. Therefore, he issued orders to prevent the church from concluding new marital contracts. However, St. Valentine opposed this and started secretly concluding marital contracts in his church. When he was discovered, he was taken to jail, where he managed to cure the jailer's daughter of blindness, and after that she fell in love with him. When it was the time to execute him, he sent her a love letter with the signature "from your Valentine".

Customs of Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has particular customs, that include printing passionate love poems on cards and distributing them among relatives and loved ones. Some of these cards feature humorous pictures and funny words, and they often contain the phrase “Be my Valentine”. Often dance parties are held during the day. Valentine's Day is still celebrated on a large scale by the Europeans. In Britain, sales of flowers on this day reach an estimated £22 million. Chocolate is bought in large quantities by customers and some companies air free messages on their internet websites for advertising and promotion purposes.

Over the years, Valentine's Day celebrations have moved to some Arab and Muslim countries as well as communities that we thought were far removed from this dementia. It was observed that in Riyadh, the price of roses on that day increased dramatically. The price of only one rose reached SR 36 after it had not been more than SR 5. Shops selling gifts and cards competed in designing cards and gifts for the occasion. Some families hung red roses on their windows during the day.

In Kuwait, several malls, restaurants and hotels organized special events on the occasion. Most shops and commercial centers were decorated in red with red balloons and toys on display. Restaurants did not forget to participate in this occasion either, and set their tables in red.

In conformity with the customs of Valentine's Day as well as an indication of its pagan origins, a prominent restaurant in Kuwait displayed a scene of Cupid (the god of love in Roman mythology), a semi-naked being along with his bow and arrow. An eminent actor accompanied by some actresses chose 'Mrs. and Mr. Valentine' from among the audience.

Restaurants with more limited resources celebrated this day in their own way. Some restaurants changed ordinary shaped dishes to heart-shaped dishes and replaced regular colored tablecloths with red ones. They also put a red rose on each table so that each lover could present it to his beloved.

One of the most eye-catching trends observed on Valentine's Day was when an owner of a gift shop in Kuwait imported small live French rabbits with red eyes, put a bow around each rabbit's neck and placed it in small boxes to be presented as a gift.

An old scourge

In a Fatwa (religious verdict), Ibn Taymiyyah said, "The Muslim is not permitted to sell something which will help Muslims imitate non-Muslims in their festivals. This implies helping them to do evil things."

Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {And [they are] those who do not witness falsehood….} [Quran 25: 72]

Commenting on this verse, some of the righteous predecessors said that falsehood in this context refers to the non-Muslims' festivals. When this is the ruling regarding merely witnessing non-Muslim festivals, then what about participating in activities which are specific to them?

In a statement by the Permanent Committee of Academic Research and Fatwa, it was stated that it is impermissible for the Muslim to cooperate with non-Muslims in their festivals in any way, including making their festivals known, promoting them or calling to them in any way. It is also impermissible to attend, to participate or to offer help in any form. Doing so implies disobedience to Allah The Almighty and violation of His prohibitions. Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Severe in penalty.} [Quran 5: 2]