Name Lamya - Egypt
Title Valentine's Day from an Islamic Perspective
Question Respected scholars, As-Salamu `Alaykum! Thank you very much for
the wonderful service you provide and more grease to your elbow! Could you
please furnish me with the Islamic view on celebrating the Valentine's Day?
Date 9/Feb/2005
Mufti
Group of Muftis
Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon
His Messenger.
Dearest sister Lamya, thank you very much for having confidence in us,
and we invoke Allah Almighty to enlighten our hearts all to accept the truth
and to grant us success both in this world and on the Day of Judgement, Amen.
First of all, we'd like to shed light on the origin of this festival,
known as "Valentine Day" or "Festival of Love":
The Festival of Love was one of the festivals of the pagan Romans, when
paganism was the prevalent religion of the Romans more than seventeen centuries
ago. In the pagan Roman concept, it was an expression of "spiritual love".
There were myths associated with this pagan festival of the Romans,
which persisted with their Christian heirs. Among the most famous of these
myths was the Roman belief that Romulus, the founder of Rome, was suckled one
day by a she-wolf, which gave him strength and wisdom.
The Romans used to celebrate this event in mid-February each year with
a big festival.
One of the rituals of this festival was the sacrifice of a dog and a
goat. Two strong and muscular youths would daub the blood of the dog and goat
onto their bodies, then they would wash the blood away with milk. After that
there would be a great parade, with these two youths at its head, which would
go about the streets. The two youths would have pieces of leather with which
they would hit everyone who crossed their path. The Roman women would welcome
these blows, because they believed that they could prevent or cure infertility.
The connection between Saint Valentine and this festival:
Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient
"martyrs" of the Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or
that there was only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of
the Gothic leader Claudius, c. 296 CE. In 350 CE, a church was built in Rome on
the site of the place where he died, to perpetuate his memory.
When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the
Feast of Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of
"spiritual love" to another concept known as the "martyrs of love", represented
by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was
martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers,
and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.
One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the
names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls
of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get
married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would
put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so
that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or
they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the
following year.
The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they
considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women.
It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there
appeared shops which sold small books called "Valentine's books", which
contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his
sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love
letters.
The above quotation is excerpted, with slight modifications, from
www.Islam-qa.com
As regards the Islamic stance on this festival, Dr. Su`ad Ibrahim Salih,
professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University, states the
following:
Indeed, Islam is the religion of altruism, true love, and cooperation
on that which is good and righteous. We implore Allah Almighty to gather us
together under the umbrella of His All-encompassing Mercy, and to unite us
together as one man. Allah Almighty says: (The believers are naught else than
brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to
Allah that haply ye may obtain mercy.) (Al-Hujurat 49: 10)
Focusing more on the question in point, I can say that there are forms
of expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that
are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously
acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It
stands to reason that the love for Allah, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of
love.
Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one
another, and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly
imitating the West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine's Day. Hence,
commemorating that special day known as the Valentine's Day is an innovation or
bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is
rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one
another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is
totally rejected.
Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such
innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the
Valentine's Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur
on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true
meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to
a moral decline.
You can also read:
Can Muslims Celebrate Christmas?
Falling in Love: Allowed in Islam?
Islam's Stance on Love and Marriage
Allah Almighty knows best.
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juristic views and opinions of eminent scholars and Muftis. They do not
necessarily form a juristic approach upheld by this website. Click here to read
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