‘And of men is he who takes idle tales in exchange for guidance to lead men astray from the path of Allah, without knowledge.....’ (Holy Quran Chapter 31, verse 7).
Two videos to watch:
1st: http://www.alislam.org/v/2472.html
The above link will take you to a youtube video of an Ahmadi TV programme from Pakistan which is in Urdu but easy to understand for Urdu speakers and it pretty much answers all the points about birthdays as well as clearing many misconceptions. Definitely worth watching the whole program (30 min). It deals with:
- The pagan origins of birthdays
- The negative aspects of birthdays
- The false notion that as we are living in the West we therefore need to adapt to their ways, giving a great example of Khalifa Rabih himself
- What Khalifa Rabih really said about birthdays
- What is the Islamic viewpoint on birthdays
- And much more....
2nd: Is it permissible to organize birthday parties if only family members are invited?
http://www.alislam.org/v/2334.html
The above link will take you to a youtube video of a Q&A session with Khalida Rabih where he himself answers the above question.
Another Islamic viewpoint:
There is an hadith which states that ‘arrogance’ is the last sin to leave a person. Why? Because it is the most difficult sin to rid oneself of as it is so easy to be arrogant i.e. having pride in one’s wealth, in one’s caste, in one’s knowledge over another, in one’s physical strength etc. In order to truly rid oneself of arrogance, one needs to be ever watchful of not only one’s actions but also of one’s thoughts in every situation. No wonder why the hadith states that arrogance is the last sin to leave a person.
It is also obvious that any form of arrogance is a sin. It is also quite understandable that the opposite of ‘arrogance’ is ‘humility’ (being humble).
The problem with celebrating birthdays is that one is celebrating oneself and giving importance to oneself which is completely contradictory to being humble but is certainly in line with being arrogant. So in celebrating birthdays, you are promoting the wrong attributes within the child/person, not to mention also greed (wanting presents from everyone).
Becoming involved in such worldly practices will lead to the destruction of character. Worldly birthday festivities, under the guise of a “party spirit,” are often focused on greed—the desire for gifts and attention—as well as on vanity, selfishness and a wrong spirit of competition. Such attitudes are inappropriate as part of any celebration, not just birthday celebrations.
It is therefore no wonder that no prophet of Allah is ever known to have celebrated their birthday and we need to remember that Allah sent these prophets as the examples for us to follow.
It should also be highlighted that celebrating birthdays is in fact a ‘biddat’ (bad custom or practise) and as the Urdu programme above stated, one of the purposes of the coming of Promised Messiah (as) was to rid us of all ‘biddat’. The fact that we have believed in the Promised Messiah (as) should be enough a reason to immediately stop every ‘biddat’ including the celebrating of birthdays, instead of still finding some pathetic excuse to involve ourselves in these things.
Below you will find more information on the following:
- Origins of birthdays in more detail.
- How birthdays were never even part of the Jewish or Christian faith.
- How birthdays became to be so widely observed.
- Birthdays according to Satanism.
Early Origins of Birthdays
So what is the origin of birthdays? Where did the idea of birthday celebrations come from?
“Originally the idea of birthday greetings and wishes for happiness was rooted in magic. The working of spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one’s personal spirits are about at that time. Dreams dreamt on the birthday eve should be remembered, for they are predictions of the future brought by the guardian spirits which hover over one’s bed on the birthday eve. Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day. Good wishes bring good fortune, but the reverse is also true, so one should avoid enemies on one’s birthday and be surrounded only by well-wishers. ‘Happy birthday’ and ‘Many happy returns of the day’ are the traditional greetings” (The Lore of Birthdays, Linton, p. 20)...
The giving of birthday gifts is a custom associated with the offering of sacrifices to pagan gods on their birthdays. Certainly the custom was linked with the same superstitions that formed the background for birthday greetings. “The exchange of presents… is associated with the importance of ingratiating good and evil fairies… on their or our birthdays” (ibid.).
The traditional birthday cake and candles also have their origin in ancient pagan idol worship. The ancients believed that the fire of candles had magical properties. They offered prayers and made wishes to be carried to the gods on the flames of the candles. Thus we still have the widely practiced birthday custom of making a wish, then blowing out the candles. The Greeks celebrated the birthday of their moon goddess, Artemis, with cakes adorned with lighted candles...
“The Egyptians… discovered to which of the gods each month and day is sacred; and found out from the day of a man’s birth, what he will meet with in the course of his life, and how he will end his days, and what sort of man he will be” (Herodotus, Persian Wars, Book II, ch. 82)
Since it was believed that the positions of the stars at the time of birth influenced a child’s future, astrological horoscopes came into being, purporting to foretell the future, based on the time of birth. “Birthdays are intimately linked with the stars, since without the calendar, no one could tell when to celebrate his birthday. They are also indebted to the stars in another way, for in early days the chief importance of birthday records was to enable the astrologers to chart horoscopes” (The Lore of Birthdays, p. 53). Rawlinson’s translation of Herodotus includes the following footnote: “Horoscopes were of very early use in Egypt… and Cicero speaks of the Egyptians and Chaldees predicting… a man’s destiny at his birth"...
A Christian perspective:
‘When we examine the principles of God’s law closely, as they relate to birthday celebrations, we can understand why neither Christ, nor His Apostles, nor their true followers, observed their birthdays. As noted earlier, the practice has its origin in idolatry and the worship of the sun, moon and stars...Some may view birthday customs as purely secular, lacking any religious significance. Yet we need to be aware of the broader perspective of their origins, and the religious significance they have had—and still have—for vast multitudes of people.’ (Reynolds, Rod. Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Living Church News, May-June 2002. pp.16-18).
Furthermore, the book The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952) by Ralph and Adelin Linton, on pages 8, 18-20 had this to say:
The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune...
Thus it is clear that birthdays had their origin in mythology, magic and paganism. Idolatry was at the very root, with horoscopes also probably playing a role.
From the viewpoint of Jews, Jewish Christians and Old Testament
But what were early Jewish practices?
The first century Jewish historian Josephus noted that Jewish families did not celebrate birthdays:
Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess (Josephus. Translated by W. Whiston. Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 26. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing, 1977, p. 632).
Pagan practices, like astrology, were specifically prohibited in the law of the Bible.
Since nearly all of the first Christians were Jewish, this may partially explain why the celebration of Jesus' birth would not be consistent with that early custom.
Notice two reports that would seem to support this:
"There is no tradition in Judaism of celebrating birthdays as holidays, otherwise we would expect holidays for the birthdays of Moses and Abraham, among others, but there is no such thing. The Bible does not even record their brithdays, just as the New Testament does not record the date of Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) birth." http://www.amfi.org/mailbag/messiahmas.htm
In fact, with over 100,000 prophets of God appearing, we find that the birth date for not even one prophet has been revealed to us by God Almighty, including the birth date of the Seal of Prophets himself, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) thus proving that birthdays were never meant to be celebrated.
The interesting thing about birthday celebrations is that, for much of our history, they were not a very "Jewish" custom....as a rule, Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. Indeed, while the dates of passing (yahrtzeit) of the great figures of Jewish history are recorded and commemorated, their dates of birth are mostly unknown. (Your Jewish Birthday. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2527/jewish/What-Happened-on-Your-Birthday.htm)
The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: "The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual." In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).
The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, "The day of death is better than the day of one's birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrash explains, 'When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil. http://www.ritualwell.org/lifecycles/babieschildren/firstmilestones/BirthdaysJewishly.xml/view?searchterm=birthdays
There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13-14).
The Hebrew calendar itself makes the celebration of birthdays somewhat difficult when one attempts to superimpose it on our modern (essentially Roman-derived) calendars. And the reason for this is that it is about 11 days shorter than the annual orbit around the sun, and hence it adds a thirteenth month seven times in every nineteen year cycle. Thus, one's "birthday" on a modern calendar will vary 11 or so days from year to year--and the positions of the constellations in the sky would always to some degree be different. Therefore, from an astrological perspective, one's alleged "sign" would often be different. If God wanted birthdays celebrated, He probably would have given the children of Israel the type of calendar which would have made it possible for the "birthday" to fall on the same solar calendar day each year--instead that basically cannot happen but a relatively few times in a life.
For Jews and Muslims (both being from among the People of the Book i.e. taught through divine guidance), their calendars are based on the lunar year whereas the solar calendar is Roman-derived (who were pagans i.e. not divinely guided).
If you search any of the scriptures you will notice that many people are mentioned being born, but that the precise date (either with a lunar or solar calendar reference) is not given. If God wanted birthdays to be celebrated, than surely He would have given specific birth dates - but He did not.
Gentiles and Birthdays in the New Testament
What are the teachings of the New Testament itself?
It is interesting to note that while the New Testament is clear about the specific time of certain holy days such as Passover (Matthew 26:17-20) and Pentecost (Acts 2:1), it never mentions the date, nor even the precise month, of Jesus' birth (see Matthew 1 and Luke 1;2:1-20). Nor does it ever specifically endorse the celebration of birthdays. Nor does it ever give the date (with either a solar or lunar calendar reference) for any one being born.
The presiding evangelist of the Living Church of God specifically taught:
"We don't celebrate our birthdays" (Meredith RC. Building Faith and Courage. Sermon, Charlotte-NC, 6/21/08).
Furthermore, there is no recorded instance of any of the apostles or other early Christians celebrating the birth of Christ.
Originally, even as more and more Gentiles began to profess Christ (so much so that they outnumbered those of Jewish heritage that did), the early Gentile leaders also did not endorse the celebration of birthdays. No early church writer endorsed the observance of birthdays by Christians, nor are they ever listed in the early observances of the Christian church.
No early religious/church writing from the second century that I have seen seems to endorse (or even suggest) the celebration of birthdays by any who professed Christ.
Although he was not part of the Church of God, the writings of the early third century Catholic theologian Origen of Alexandria show that, even that late, Orthodox Catholics were against the celebration of birthdays. The Catholic Encyclopedia states:
Origen, glancing perhaps at the discreditable imperial Natalitia, asserts (in Lev. Hom. viii in Migne, P.G., XII, 495) that in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday (Martindale C. Christmas, 1908).
Here is some of what Origen wrote:
...of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world below (Origen, in Levit., Hom. VIII, in Migne P.G., XII, 495) (Thurston H. Natal Day. Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to Margaret Johanna Albertina Behling Barrett. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
The writings of the late third century Catholic theologian Arnobius show that, even that late, Catholics objected to the celebration of birthdays as he wrote:
...you worship with couches, altars, temples, and other service, and by celebrating their games and birthdays, those whom it was fitting that you should assail with keenest hatred. (Arnobius. Against the Heathen (Book I), Chapter 64. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1886. Online Edition Copyright © 2005 by K. Knight).
Thus birthday celebrations, even of gods and leaders, were condemned as far as the late third century by even Roman Catholic leaders.
How Birthdays Ended Up Being Observed
It does not seem that the celebration of birthdays became common among those that professed Christ until the fourth century. During that century, infant baptism started to become customary and the celebration of Christmas became standard practices for the majority that professed Christ. Also, the fact that Roman emperors tended to celebrate their birthdays was undoubtedly another factor as it was in the fourth century that Roman emperors began to accept some form of Christianity.
Wikipedia notes:
History of celebration of birthdays in the West It is thought that the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, which originated in Persia but was spread by soldiers throughout the Roman Empire. Before this, such celebrations were not common; and, hence, practices from other contexts such as the Saturnalia were adapted for birthdays. Because many Roman soldiers took to Mithraism, it had a wide distribution and influence throughout the empire until it was supplanted by Christianity (Wikipedia. Birthdays. July 12, 2007 version).
Christmas is also relevant because December 25th was the day of celebration of the birthday of the sun-god Mithra. Perhaps it should also be mentioned that one of the key features of Mithraism was Sunday observance. The reason that this seems to be relevant is that the Roman Emperor Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to make a profession of Christ, was also the first Emperor to make Sunday laws--which he began to do on March 7, 321. Also, a few years later, the Council of Nicea that Constantine convened in 325 A.D. declared Sunday to be the "Christian day" of worship.
According to the fourth century historian Epiphanius, some who observed Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, claimed that Emperor Constantine mandated a Sunday observance of it in the Council of Nicea in 325 in order to somehow honor his birthday:
"You changed the Passover to Constantine's birthday" (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verse 9,4. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp. 410-411).
The World Book Encyclopedia notes,
Christmas...In 354 A.D., Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the people to celebrate on December 25. He probably chose this date because the people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun (Sechrist E.H. Christmas. World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, Chicago, 1966, pp. 408-417).
Hence, it would seem to follow that since those who professed Christ as late as the third century did not celebrate birthdays, that it was not after a Roman Emperor implemented Sunday, that perhaps he and others were amenable to adopting other practices of Mithraism--one of which was birthday celebrations. This is apparently how birthdays became to be celebrated amongst those that professed Christianity. A celebration for the date of Jesus' birth in Rome probably began near this time, but was mandated no later than 354 A.D.
Thus it appears that the "birthday of the sun" festivities were a major factor in the date chosen for followers of Greco-Roman Christianity to celebrate. And once those that professed Christ began to widely celebrate that "birthday", other birthday celebrations became more common.
The Satanic Bible and Birthdays
Back in 1969 Anton Lavey wrote The Satanic Bible. On page 96 on the 1976 version, it mentions birthdays:
THE highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one's own birth. This is in direct contradiction to the holy of holy days of other religions, which deify a particular god who has been created in an anthropomorphic form of their own image, thereby showing that the ego is not really buried.
The Satanist feels: "Why not really be honest and if you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as yourself." Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one. So, the Satanist celebrates his own birthday as the most important holiday of the year. After all, aren't you happier about the fact that you were born than you are about the birth of someone you have never even met? Or for that matter, aside from religious holidays, why pay higher tribute to the birthday of a president or to a date in history than we do to the day we were brought into this greatest of all worlds?
Despite the fact that some of us may not have been wanted, or at least were not particularly planned, we're glad, even if no one else is, that we're here! You should give yourself a pat on the back, buy yourself whatever you want, treat yourself like the king (or god) that you are, and generally celebrate your birthday with as much pomp and ceremony as possible.
After one's own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht and Halloween (or All Hallows' Eve).
(Lavey A, Gilmore P. The Satanic Bible. Avon, September 1, 1976, p. 96--note it is on page 53 of an online version found also).
It is interesting that birthdays are considered the most important holiday to these Satan worshipers (the founding of their "church" (Walpurgisnacht) and Halloween are the other ones of importance to them). This comes as no surprise.
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