Muhammad Abdul-Raoof Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 09 | Size: 1.5 MB
Halloween is an annual Western
celebration based on Celtic and European pagan doctrines and
traditionally applied to the evening of October 31st. It is derived from
rituals involving dead spirits and devil worship and symbolizes the
beginning of the ancient Druid’s New Year, who hold that the dead
revisit their homes at that time. In essence, Halloween represents the
devil worshipper’s New Year.
Muslim commemoration of such a day is
therefore sinful and haram; as it involves the most evil elements of
polytheism and disbelief. Indeed, participation in Halloween is worse
than participation in Christmas, Easter or Good Friday, as those
innovated days commemorate the birth and supposed death of a Prophet,
whereas Halloween is a commemoration of the worshippers of Satan. Thus,
participation in it is more sinful than congratulating the Christians
for their prostration to the crucifix. How therefore is the Muslim to
understand this issue in the light of the shari’ah? Firstly, the Prophet
(salla Allahu ‘alihy wasallam) said in an authentic narration: “Whosoever resembles a people is from them.” [Authenticated by Al-Albani]
“من تشبه بقوم فهو منهم ” صححه الألباني
This is a general statement prohibiting
the Muslims from imitation of the kuffar. Any Muslim, who thereby
participates with the non-Muslims in their celebrations, particularly
those that involve clear shirk and kufris asking for the wrath of Allah
and misguidance to descend upon him like it has descended upon the
non-Muslims. For a proper understanding of this modern American
celebration on October 31st, we should retrace the historical
development of three early celebrations that have come together to form
today’s Halloween.
The first of these precursors to
Halloween dates back to pre-Christian Ireland and Scotland to a
celebration of the Druids or Celtic priests. The Celtic year began on
November 1st with a festival of called Samhain. The ancient Druids,
believed that on that evening, Samhain, the lord of the dead, called
forth hosts of evil spirits. On the eve of Samhain, October 31st,
laughing bands of young people disguised themselves in grotesque masks
and carved lanterns from turnips and carried them through villages. This
harvest festival was also thought of as a festival of the dead. The
druids believed it was on that night when the earth comes into closest
contact with the spiritual world and consequently ghosts, goblins and
witches supposedly destroyed crops, killed farm animals and wreaked
havoc on the villagers. According to their belief, while spirits of the
dead roamed around, villagers lighted bonfires to either drive them away
or to guide the spirits of the dead back to their homes.
Among the ancient Celts, Halloween was
the last evening of their year and was regarded as an advantageous time
for examining the portents of the future. The Celts also believed that
the spirits of the dead revisited their earthly homes on that evening.
After the Romans conquered Britain, they added to Halloween, features of
the Roman harvest festival held on November 1 in honor of Pomona,
goddess of the fruits of trees.
The second precursor to Halloween dates
to the Dark Ages in central Europe. There, the Christian church
destroyed many of the temples of various Greek gods and goddesses, such
as Diana and Apollo. However, this pagan worship was never completely
eradicated and later took on the form of witchcraft. One of the most
important aspects of witchcraft is a number of celebrations each year
which are called “Witches’ Sabbaths.” One of the highest of the Witches’
Sabbaths is the High Sabbath or the Black Sabbath of Witches on October
31st. Today, much of Halloween’s folklore such as black cats,
broomsticks, cauldrons and spells come from the Black Sabbath.
The third precursor to Halloween dates to
the early Roman Catholic Church. The church had appointed specific days
to honor each of its saints and basically ran out of days in the year
for all their saints to have a day, so they decreed to have one day to
remember all the saints, calling it All Saints’ Day. In the eighth
century, Pope Gregory the 3rd changed All Saints’ Day from May 13th to
November 1st. In the year 834 Pope Gregory the 4th extended this
celebration to the entire Roman Catholic Church. This event was called
Allhallowmass, and as one might suppose, there was a celebration on the
evening before on October 31st, called ‘All Hallow E’en’, “all hallow”
meaning “all of the hallowed ones.” The contraction of hallow and e’en
is thus where the word Halloween is derived. The Celtic tradition of
lighting fires on Halloween survived until modern times in Scotland and
Wales, while the concept of ghosts and witches is still common to all
Halloween observances. Traces of the Roman harvest festival survive in
the custom, prevalent in both the United States and in Great Britain, of
playing games involving fruit, such as ducking for apples in a tub of
water. Of similar origin is the use of hollowed-out pumpkins or
jack-o-lanterns, carved to resemble grotesque faces and lit by candles
placed inside.
The jack-o-lantern, also known as
will-o-the-wisp, fox fire and corpse candle, among other things, was
believed to be a wandering soul which could not find refuge in either
heaven or hell because of a particularly evil deed committed in its
lifetime. The Finns believed that it was the soul of a child buried in
the forest. A corpse candle is said to be a small flame moving through
the air in the dark and is believed by the superstitious to be an omen
of the observers’ imminent death. According to ancient folklore, a
will-o-the-wisp wanders about swamp areas, enticing victims to follow.
These strange fires were also known as “foolish fire,” because according
to legend, only a fool would follow them. Today’s pumpkin face is
symbolic of that mocking spirit.
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