An Unhappy Day

An Unhappy Day

By: Um Bilal

At the approximately same time that our beloved Prophet Muhummed (S) was эborn in the Arabian peninsula, the island that we now call Great Britain was ruled by men эlike King Cuthwulf of Wessex and King Theodoric. While the day of our dear Prophet's эbirth came and went with few people acknowledging the wondrousness of the day, the эbirthdays of these kings was celebrated with grand festivity. э

Possibly the earliest recorded birthday comes to us in the following passage эtranslated from Hebrew. It's found in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of эGenesis; "And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made эa feast unto all his servants."э

We can see that Pharaoh clearly celebrated the day he was born, in exactly the эsame way that many people do today. Perhaps you're thinking to yourself that this seems эharmless; it's not something that involves your deen, your actual faith. Did you know that эour beloved Prophet predicted that you would say something like that? He knew that a эtime would come when the Muslims would love the things of this world much more they эwould love to follow what he left behind for them? In this beautiful and amazing hadith эwe're told about our current actions: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported Allah's Messenger (S) эsaying: You would tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch эand step by step so much so that if they had entered into the hole of the lizard, you would эfollow them in this also. We said: Allah's Messenger, do you mean Jews and Christians, эby your words "those before you"? He said: Who else than those two religious groups? э

There are arrogant Muslims who say that acts like celebrating birthdays is not at эall similar to the words of the hadith: "entered into the hole of the lizard," which implies эto do something extremely dangerous and stupid. But the following facts about birthday эcelebrations should open your eyes to the fact that everything about birthdays is stupid эand actually extremely dangerous to our faith! э

Remember the kings mentioned in the opening paragraph; well they died and эwere replaced by men like King Oswald and Prince Edwin. By the way, these men lived эat approximately the time when Prophet Muhummed (S) was beginning to raise his own эfamily! The monarchs all throughout Europe celebrated their own birthdays and the эbirthdays of their little princes with a great deal lot of festivity. As a matter of fact, the эreason that children today wear a crown on their birthday is because the royalty were the эonly people in ancient times who celebrated their birthdays. They were the only ones who эcould afford to; and they of course always wore their ornate crowns on that special day! эSo today, the birthday child wears a birthday-crown imitating the Christian royalty of эMedieval Europe! "Whosoever imitates a nation is amongst them," a hadith from the эsunan of Abu Dawud seems applicable here. э

The tradition of the birthday cake at the celebration is very ancient. It goes as far эback as ancient Greek culture and its origins are pagan, extremely pagan! The first эbirthday cakes were described as honey cakes round as the moon and lit with thin эcandles, placed on the temple altars of Artemis. Would you like to know who Artemis is? эShe's the goddess-daughter of Leto and Zeus, and the twin of Apollo. Those are all Greek эgods by the way! Today's birthday cakes are exact replicas of those nice round honey эcakes that the pagan Greeks placed on alters to their pagan gods. YaLateef!э

Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic powers for эgranting wishes. Lighted candles and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic эsignificance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. Birthday candles are thus an эhonor and tribute to the birthday child to bring good fortune. Look at those words again: эBirthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic powers for granting эwishes. Lighted candles and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever эsince man first set up altars to his gods. Birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to эthe birthday child to bring good fortune. Those words were taken from an Internet site эwritten by a non-Muslim, but their meaning is abhorrent to the true believer in Allah the эAlmighty. Every time a Muslim child blows out candles on a birthday cake, they are эactually imitating the pagan actions of lighting a sacrificial fire to bring good fortune; эpure kufur!э

The tradition of blowing out the candles in the hopes of a birthday wish coming эtrue came from the belief that people praying over flames would protect them from evil эspirits, and that smoke carries prayers to the gods. That

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