As a Muslim living in a Catholic country, (Spain), Christmas is always an interesting time of year. I kind of dance around it, taking advantage of the time off work and the chance to catch up with friends, as it seems the apex of the year when everyone naturally gets together and good cheer emanates and effuses from every possible home, store, café and bar.
I often wonder how it works for other Muslims living in Christian or secular societies, now that Christmas has become such a commercial symbol. I read a great article about how Muslim families in Germany feel about Christmas on the Radio Netherlands Webpage.
When in Germany Do as the Germans?
Presents maketh Christmas, and some German Muslim families find their children feel left out when their Christian friends are being showered with gifts. So what do you do? Tell your children it’s not their festivity or put your own spin on Santa et al?
In the article Idan Suer, a Turkish sociology lecturer at one of Berlin’s universities, describes how a friend of his finds a happy medium with Christmas and his Islamic faith:
“Her family and some other Turkish families come together on Christmas Eve and they buy presents for their children. They do a Turkish version of Christmas. They have Turkish music, Turkish food and of course Santa Claus speaks Turkish as well. That is not a religious thing; it’s just making the children happy and buying them little gifts.”
A Public or Private Affair?
Burhan Kesici, vice president of Berlin’s Islamic federation feels it’s important to draw a line between what Muslims do in public to celebrate. Christmas and what they do in private
“If German friends invite you, then you can celebrate with them. But as a Muslim it’s not OK if you celebrate Christmas privately with your family, because it’s a non-Islamic day”. He says in the Radio Netherlands article.
While Mr Kesici acknowledges that to gift or not to gift can be a tricky issue for Muslim parents, he believes that Muslim parents should stick to their principles and explain to their children that Christmas (and the gifts it entails) are not a part of their own tradition.
Interestingly, he makes the observation that Christmas celebrations have had an effect on the way Muslims keep Ramadan. He notes how Ramadan now entails big celebrations and gift giving for kiddies.
The high-profile Muslim figure feels this is a proactive development, as now Muslim children in Germany and other countries can enjoy the same treats as their Christian counterparts. At the same time, the bigger, more obvious celebrations of Ramadan bring a greater awareness of Muslim holidays to non-Muslim communities.
Now that’s been cleared up, I think I’m off to join my compatriots and head to the after-Christmas sales!