Defending Christmas

As we are in the Christmas season, many people will object to the observance of Christmas as a ‘pagan’ holiday even among Christians. Many Muslims accuse Christians of observing paganism if they celebrate Christmas. Is this true? The observance of Christmas is a grey area for Christians, it is neutral. The celebration of the birth of Jesus is neither commanded, or prohibited in the Bible. It is up to each Christian to observe it or not (see Romans 14:5-6). In Islam however, 4 of the 5 Pillars of Islam (salat / praying 5 times a day; observing Ramadan; zakat / almsgiving; and the hajj / pilgrimage) are all pagan in origin, practiced and observed by the pagan Arabs long before Muhammad, including circumambulating around the Kaba and kissing and caressing the black stone at the corner of the Kaba. Worshiping stones was a standard pagan practice. These Pillars are commanded in the Qur’an as coming from Allah and therefore divine, although scholars have long acknowledged that these 4 Pillars in Islam are pagan, so that Islam is essentially paganized monotheism.

Check out Season 4 on the Third Degree videos where I and my good friend Pastor Sule deal with the most common asked questions about Christmas. A Merry Christmas to all our visitors and readers on the Answering Muslims blog.