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"Muslims are not our stuff": does Islam forbid celebrating the New Year?

2022-01-04T17:01:42.544Z


DECRYPTION - Rapper Gims opened the controversy over New Year's greetings, saying the party was not about Muslims.


Or how to start the year 2022 with a nice controversy.

“New Years, leave me with that, you know I never responded to that,

” rapper Gims said on Saturday, in a short video posted to Instagram. The 35-year-old artist, of Congolese origin, continued:

“Muslims are not our stuff. It's not mean. But let's stay strong on our values ​​”

. Before adding:

"Did the companions (of the prophet) celebrate the New Year?".

The video was quickly relayed on social networks.

"If even the rappers do it, then we did not leave the hostel"

, commented Azzeddine Gaci, the rector of the mosque of Villeurbanne.

Because the question regularly revives the controversy within the Muslim community: does Islam prohibit celebrating the New Year?

Read also "Let us focus on our own things": Gims asks Muslims to stop wishing him a happy new year

Muslims have their own New Year, called Ras-El-Am, which takes place at the beginning of the month of Muharram, the first month of the Hegirian calendar, marked by the exile of the Prophet Muhammad to Medina, in 622. This year, he will take place on Friday July 29.

But there are no special celebrations on this day, and most countries, including Muslims, have adopted the Gregorian calendar and January 1 as the first day of the year.

The New Year is celebrated in many countries around the world, including those with multiple calendars coexisting, such as China.

Even Saudi Arabia, where New Year's Eve has long been banned, was first celebrated in 2020.

Read alsoIs Santa Claus really a lie?

However, in France, many blogs advise Muslims to abstain from all festivities on December 31, in favor, as rapper Gims says, of

“their own”

holidays

.

"They refer to this place in a hadith which evokes the festivals celebrated by the inhabitants of Medina before the arrival of the prophet

", explains Abdelali Mamoun, imam at the mosque of Alfortville and theologian. The hadith indeed indicates:

"Allâh the (feast days) has replaced by two others which are better: the day of Eid Al-Adha and the day of Eid Al-Fitr."

In other words, Muslims would be required to limit themselves to these two celebrations

. “This interpretation is a deviation from the prophetic word. The prophet speaks only of religious ceremonies ”,

continues Abdelali Mamoun.

A "uniquely secular" party

A distinction should therefore be made between social festivals and religious ceremonies.

As much as Islam forbids celebrating rites of another religion, social and cultural celebrations are not prohibited.

"

Gims confuses culture and religion: New Year's Day is a secular celebration, more social than cultural, and which has nothing religious about it,

" says political scientist specializing in Islam Olivier Roy.

The European Fatwa and Research Council, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which gives legal opinions (fatwa) on various subjects, has even positioned itself in favor of these celebrations.

: "Regarding national and social holidays such as Independence Day, Union Day, Childhood Day, Mother's Day, etc., there is no embarrassment for Muslims to participate. to the celebration of these holidays in his capacity as a citizen or resident in these countries, ”

he writes on his site.

"The subject is debated only among the Salafists

," said Abdelali Mamoun.

“Gims shouldn't get involved with anything other than music.

It is irresponsible and it shows a separatist fringe of the Muslim population, which has a reluctance towards France and its values

, ”continues the author of

Islam against radicalism.

Counter-offensive manual

(editions du Cerf, 2017).

"Pagan holidays, such as New Year's Day or Halloween are regularly debated among the most conservative religious

," says Olivier Roy.

“Valentine's Day has also been banned until 2020 in Saudi Arabia.

But many Muslims celebrate New Year's Day, even in Iran or Pakistan! ”

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-01-04

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