Saudi Arabia: American Imam Warns Congregants About Saying ‘Merry Christmas’

Americans may say there’s a war on Christmas — but at least saying the phrase “Merry Christmas” in the United States won’t get you beheaded or jailed or otherwise physically punished.

Not so in Saudi Arabia.

The Middle East Media Research Institute obtained a video of an imam delivering a sermon to his congregation in Jeddah — and among his remarks was a stern warning to not say “Merry Christmas.”

The Conservative Tribune has more:

Those who mockingly dismiss Christians’ concerns about a war on Christmas better humble themselves real quick, because a speech delivered last week in Saudi Arabia by Lebanese-American imam Abu Musaab Wajdi Akkari indubitably proves this war does exist.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, which obtained a video recording of Akkari delivering a sermon to a congregation in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, the imam warned his listeners against being “weak” and saying “Merry Christmas.”

“If it’s not endorsed by the divine entity, it is from the worst of the shaytan (Satan),” he said. “And therefore, that acknowledgment of yours is problematic. You are indirectly acknowledging a Satanic festivity, a Satanic holiday, which Allah azzawajal (almighty) did not legislate.”

Akkari further attacked Christmas for allegedly being a phony holiday.

“(T)hey’ve invented so much into this it’s almost like a big joke and a big gimmick and people continue to buy into it,” he said, referencing Christmas trees, Santa Claus and other aspects of the age-old holiday.

“It’s business at the end of the day,” he added. “It’s a business. All of this stuff is business. Valentine’s is a business. Christmas is a business.”

While it’s true Christmas is designed primarily to celebrate the birth of the Christian savior, Jesus Christ, Akkari’s hatred blinds him to all the meaningful values inherent in the tale of Santa Claus.

“Santa Claus embodies Christian values such as kindness, generosity, forgiveness — every child soon realizes that even if they have not been perfect all year, Santa comes through,” explained Keri Wyatt Kent in a post for Christianity Today a couple years back.

But see, Akkari knows nothing of generosity or kindness of spirit, as evidenced by the sick response he spits out whenever anyone says “Merry Christmas” to him.

“(Y)our whole religion is a joke, mine is not,” he said, acting as if he were replying to a Christian wishing him well. “I’m thinking about Jannah (paradise) and Jahannam (hell) on a daily basis. When was the last time you thought about Jannah and Jahannam?”

“I mean, you’re partying in your life from the time you’re born until you die. Now you wanna tell me that we are the same? We’re not the same,” he concluded.