Valentine Day, Birthdays, and Other Daze
What commercial and cultural propaganda presents as beautiful is rooted in ugly
paganism but most blind followers do not know.
By Khalid Baig
POSTED: 24 ZUL-QA'DAH 1422, 7 FEBRUARY 2002
There is a group of practices that we can consider as the twin sister of
bid'ah. Like bid'ah they flourish on the twin foundations of ignorance and
outside influence. Like bid'ah they entail rituals. But unlike bid'ah the
rituals have not been given an Islamic face. They are followed because they are
considered an acceptable cultural practice or the hottest imported "in" thing.
Most of those who indulge in them do not know what they are doing. They are
just blind followers of their equally blind cultural leaders. Little do they
realize that what they consider as innocent fun may in fact be rooted in
paganism. That the symbols they embrace may be symbols of unbelief. That the
ideas they borrow may be products of superstition. That all of these may be a
negation of what Islam stands for.
Christianity tried to stop the evil celebration of Lupercalia. Its only success
was in changing the name from Lupercalia to St. Valentine's Day
Consider Valentine's Day, a day that after dying out a well deserved death in
most of Europe (but surviving in Britain and United States) has suddenly
started to emerge across a good swath of Muslim countries. Who was Valentine?
Why is this day observed? Legends abound, as they do in all such cases, but
this much is clear: Valentine's Day began as a pagan ritual started by Romans
in the 4th century BCE to honor the god Lupercus. The main attraction of this
ritual was a lottery held to distribute young women to young men for
"entertainment and pleasure"--until the next year's lottery. Among other
equally despicable practices associated with this day was the lashing of young
women by two young men, clad only in a bit of goatskin and wielding goatskin
thongs, who had been smeared with blood of sacrificial goats and dogs. A lash
of the "sacred" thongs by these "holy men" was believed to make them better
able to bear children.
As usual, Christianity tried, without success, to stop the evil celebration of
Lupercalia. It first replaced the lottery of the names of women with a lottery
of the names of the saints. The idea was that during the following year the
young men would emulate the life of the saint whose name they had drawn. (The
idea that you can preserve the appearance of a popular evil and yet somehow
turn it to serve the purpose of virtue, has survived. Look at all those people
who are still trying, helplessly, to use the formats of popular television
entertainments to promote good. They might learn something from this bit of
history. It failed miserably) Christianity ended up doing in Rome, and
elsewhere, as the Romans did.
How can anyone in his right mind think that Islam would be indifferent to
practices seeped in anti-Islamic ideas and beliefs?
The only success it had was in changing the name from Lupercalia to St.
Valentine's Day. It was done in CE 496 by Pope Gelasius, in honor of some Saint
Valentine. There are as many as 50 different Valentines in Christian legends.
Two of them are more famous, although their lives and characters are also
shrouded in mystery. According to one legend, and the one more in line with the
true nature of this celebration, St. Valentine was a "lovers'" saint, who had
himself fallen in love with his jailer's daughter.
Due to serious troubles that accompanied such lottery, French government banned
the practice in 1776. In Italy, Austria, Hungry, and Germany also the ritual
vanished over the years. Earlier, it had been banned in England during the 17th
century when the Puritans were strong. However in 1660 Charles II revived it.
From there it also reached the New World, where enterprising Yankees spotted a
good means of making money. Esther A. Howland, who produced one of the first
commercial American Valentine's Day cards called--- what else--- valentines, in
the 1840s, sold $5,000 worth--when $5,000 was a lot of money--the first year.
The valentine industry has been booming ever since.
It is the same story with Halloween, which has otherwise normal human beings
dressing like ghosts and goblins in a reenactment of an ancient pagan ritual of
demon worship. Five star hotels in Muslim countries arrange Halloween parties
so the rich can celebrate the superstitions of a distant period of ignorance
that at one time even included the shameful practice of human sacrifice. The
pagan name for that event was Samhain (pronounced sow-en). Just as in case of
Valentine's Day, Christianity changed its name, but not the pagan moorings.
Christmas is another story. Today Muslim shopkeepers sell and shoppers buy
Christmas symbols in Islamabad or Dubai or Cairo. To engage in a known
religious celebration of another religion is bad enough. What is worse is the
fact that here is another pagan celebration (Saturnalia) that has been changed
in name ---and in little else--- by Christianity.
During joys and sorrows, during celebrations and sufferings, we must follow the
one straight path --- not many divergent paths.
Even the celebration considered most innocent might have pagan foundations.
According to one account, in pagan cultures, people feared evil spirits -
especially on their birthdays. It was a common belief that evil spirits were
more dangerous to a person when he or she experienced a change in their daily
life, such as turning a year older. So family and friends surrounded the person
with laughter and joy on their birthdays in order to protect them from evil.
How can anyone in his right mind think that Islam would be indifferent to
practices seeped in anti-Islamic ideas and beliefs? Islam came to destroy
paganism in all its forms and it cannot tolerate any trace of it in the lives
of its followers.
Further, Islam is very sensitive about maintaining its purity and the unique
identity of its followers. Islamic laws and teachings go to extra lengths to
ensure it. Salat is forbidden at the precise times of sunrise, transition, and
sunset to eliminate the possibility of confusion with the practice of sun
worship. To the voluntary recommended fast on the tenth of Muharram, Muslims
are required to add another day (9th or 11th) to differentiate it from the then
prevalent Jewish practice. Muslims are forbidden to emulate the appearance of
non-Muslims.
A Muslim is a Muslim for life. During joys and sorrows, during celebrations and
sufferings, we must follow the one straight path --- not many divergent paths.
It is a great tragedy that under the constant barrage of commercial and
cultural propaganda from the forces of globalization and the relentless media
machine, Muslims have begun to embrace the Valentines, the Halloween ghost, and
even the Santa Claus. Given our terrible and increasing surrender to paganism
the only day we should be observing is a day of mourning. Better yet it should
be a day of repentance that could liberate us from all these days. And all this
daze.
