Celebrating Thanksgiving as Muslim in America:
What is Thanksgiving Day?
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada.
Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. It is said that Thanksgiving had roots in religious and cultural tradition but today Thanksgiving is primarily celebrated as a secular holiday.
It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.
The Thanksgiving holiday’s history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the late-November date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated
Question answered by Mufti Sahab on Celebrating Thanksgiving as Muslim in America
Someone asked Mufti sahab,
“I was wondering if I can celebrate thanksgiving ? I live in America and I have seen Muslims celebrate it with making a big dinner and having turkey, etc. my family doesn’t celebrate it and I wanted to do a big thanksgiving dinner this year for the first time. Am I allowed to ? Or shouldn’t I?”
Mufti Abdul Azīm bin Abdur Rahman replied,
In principle, imitating the disbelievers in any of their religious festivals (holidays) is totally impermissible and intolerable. It is also impermissible to imitate non-Muslims by celebrating their national festivals (holidays).Therefore, even if Thanksgiving does not symbolize or represent any non-Muslim ideology, it is nevertheless a distinguishing mark of the nation, making its celebration impermissible.
As Muslims, Allah Taa’la has showered his mercy upon us by bestowing us with the wealth of Islam. Islam is the way of life that is perfect and complete. There is no need to look towards other avenues and roads when success of both the worlds is guaranteed in loyalty to Allah and His Deen. In conclusion, to celebrate Thanksgiving is totally against the sense of honor of a believer and impermissible.
Thanksgiving as Muslim
Thanksgiving is an essense of Islam because Allah says,”And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’ “”(14:7)
Allah says, “Be grateful to Allah .” And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] – then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.(31:12)
Islam does not only teach us to thank Allah, but we are also told to thank our parents, our spouses, our friends, our neighbors, and all those who do any good to us. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Those who do not thank people, they do not thank Allah” (At-Tirmidhi).
How do we Thank?
We thank Allah by saying the recommended dhikr and Hamd we thank People by saying Jazak Allah Khair and by giving them gifts, visiting them , greeting with Salam and fulfilling their rights.
When we eat and drink we say, “Thanks be to Allah Who gave us food and drink and made us Muslims” (Sunan Abi Dawud 3850).
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَنَا وَسَقَانَا وَجَعَلَنَا مُسْلِمِينَ ” .
Whenever we put new garment, we say,
اللّهُـمَّ لَـكَ الحَـمْـدُ أنْـتَ كَسَـوْتَنيهِ، أََسْأََلُـكَ مِـنْ خَـيرِهِ وَخَـيْرِ مَا صُنِعَ لَـه، وَأَعوذُ بِكَ مِـنْ شَـرِّهِ وَشَـرِّ مـا صُنِعَ لَـهُ
O Allah, praise is to You. You have clothed me. I ask You for its goodness and the goodness of what it has been made for, and I seek Your protection from the evil of it and the evil of what it has been made for.Reference:Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi.
“O Allah, thanks be to You; You gave me this to wear. I ask You to give me the good of this dress and the good for which it is made and I ask You to protect me from the evil of this dress and from the evil of that for which it is made” (At-Tirmidhi).
When we wake up we say ,”الحَمْـدُ لِلّهِ الّذي أَحْـيانا بَعْـدَ ما أَماتَـنا وَإليه النُّـشور” “Praise is to Allah Who gives us life after He has caused us to die and to Him is the return.”
Beautiful! Right? What are your opinion on celebrating Thanksgiving as Muslim ? Do feel free to start a chat in the comment box below.
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