Valentine's Day From an Islamic Perspective

[TruthSeeker]

Valentine's Day From an Islamic Perspective

Question (to Islamonline):

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?

12/Feb/2007

IoL Answer:

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.

Read more: Valentine's Day From an Islamic Perspective - IslamonLine.net - Ask The Scholar

 

[Creder]

tell that to those girls that go all giggly over it

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

What is the TRUE Origin
of Valentine’s Day?

The Silence of Educators

Teachers are all too often silent about the origin of the customs they are forced to teach in today's schools! If they were to speak out, many would lose their jobs!

Isn't it time we examined why we encourage our children to celebrate St. Valentine's Day - when it is never mentioned in the Bible as a practice of the New Testament Church?

Today, candy makers unload tons of heart-shaped red boxes for February 14, while millions of the younger set are annually exchanging valentines. Florists consider February 14 - St. Valentine's Day - as one of their best business days. And young lovers pair off - at least for a dance or two - at St. Valentine's balls. WHY? Where did these customs originate? Where do we find any such practices in the Bible? How did we come to inherit these customs?

A Christian Custom?

Did you know that centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"?

The Romans called the festival the Lupercalia. The custom of exchanging valentines and all the other traditions in honor of Lupercus - the deified hero-hunter of Rome - was also linked anciently with the pagan practice of teenagers "going steady." It usually led to fornication. Today, the custom of teenagers dating only one person on a regular basis is thought very modern. It isn't. It is merely a rebirth of an old custom "handed down from the Roman festival of the Lupercalia, celebrated in the month of February, when names of young women were put into a box and drawn out by men as chance directed." That's the admission of the Encyclopedia Americana article entitled St. Valentine's Day.

When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.

It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a Christian custom:

"As far back as 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (page 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler).

But how did this pagan festival acquire the name of St. Valentine's Day? And why is the little naked Cupid of pagan Rome so often associated today with February 14? And why do little children and young people still cut out hearts and send them on a day in honor of Lupercus, the hunter of wolves? Why have we supposed these pagan customs in honor of a false god are Christian?

Who was the original St. Valentine?

Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name of their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in antiquity. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. But who was Lupercus? And why should he have also borne the name Valentine among the heathen Romans?

The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of Pan. The Semites called Pan Baul, according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" (Genesis 10:9). It was a common proverb of ancient time that Nimrod was "the MIGHTY hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was their hero - their strong man - their VALENTINE!

How plain that the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was Sanctuc or Santa, meaning Saint. It was a common title of any hero-god. No wonder that the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!

But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?

The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was bal (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible #H1168). The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal or Lord of the Babylonians!
Executed at Rome

Nimrod - the original St. Valentine - was also known as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god who hid from his pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is derived from the Semitic-speaking Babylonians. It means "be hid," "hide self," "secret," "conceal." The original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin Saturn is derived, is used eighty-three times in the Old Testament (see Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible under "Sathar," also "sether").

According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled from his pursuers to Italy. The Apenine mountains of Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before it was rebuilt in 753 B.C. was Saturnia - the site of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and slain for his crimes. Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made Nimrod - the St. Valentine of the heathen - a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him under the name of a Christian martyr.
Why February 14?

But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus - the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that day in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)

Nimrod - Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans - was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient time the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on December 25 and now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity for, the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after January 6 - Nimrod's original birth date - takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 - the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.

On this day in February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child."

The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The febru were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.
Cupid Makes His Appearance

Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" - meaning "desire." It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him - she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid - her desired one - and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son! Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris) was "the husband of his mother."

As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" (Daniel 11:37). Moffatt translates the word as Tammuz - a Babylonian name of Nimrod. He provoked so many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" (Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine - their strong or mighty her! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heart shaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.

Nimrod, the son of Cush the Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship. Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod, a child named Horus, born after the death of Nimrod. This child then became a "fair Cupid" of European tradition.

It is about time we examined these customs of the pagans now falsely labeled Christian. It is time we quit this Roman and Babylonian foolishness - this idolatry - and get back to the faith of Christ delivered once for all time. Let's stop teaching our children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun god - the original St. Valentine - and teach them instead what the Bible really says!

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Actually here the Valentine day is all about dating and exchanging gifts ..! And having chit chat on sms all night long ..
Unfortunately only those who do not get to have a chance to hook up wid sm1 curse this day and label it as an un Islamic .

Now wheres Fundamentalist ...

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

^You're mistaken. There are many who on their own accord do not try to 'hook up'.

Returning to the point: we cannot introduce extraneous innovations/'bid3aat' into our lifestyle/'diin'. That's an invariant. Any lifestyle that wishes to remain unchanged through time has to keep a similar purgatory principle.

 

[Shattered]

Valentine's Day From an Islamic Perspective

Question (to Islamonline):

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?

12/Feb/2007

IoL Answer:

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.

Read more: Valentine's Day From an Islamic Perspective - IslamonLine.net - Ask The Scholar

SO you can't celebrate valatines day in islam

islam is no fun at all D=.

 

[Kansu]

Everyday i spend with The Beloved is valentine's day for me...
no need such a day to remember her. a part of capitalism battle

 

[FreekiN]

Preparing for flamewar!

 

[Shattered]

Preparing for flamewar!

now why would you say that mate

 

[Vassnti]

All very well for a respected scholar who is probably 80 and doesnt have a girlfriend to say we should not celebrate valentines day.

If there is no card or flowers this weekend im

 

[Kompromat]

The Islamic view by Religion is explained.

Now if someone thinks its Right its up to them to go according or against.

My personal opinion is that Valentines day & Halloween must be Banned in Pakistan.

 

[Hyde]

The Islamic view by Religion is explained.

Now if someone thinks its Right its up to them to go according or against.

My personal opinion is that Valentines day & Halloween must be Banned in Pakistan.

100% agree...... such a useless event should definitely be banned in our country. We are a muslim country Valentines is definitely UnIslamic and must be strictly banned in our country

-------------

waise how many of you celeberate valentines day

 

[FreekiN]

I'm gonna watch My Name is Khan with my girl.

I cant wait!

I don't know about you guys, but i'm ready to have a good time.

Wait, scratch that, a GREAT time.

 

[Kansu]

The Islamic view by Religion is explained.

Now if someone thinks its Right its up to them to go according or against.

My personal opinion is that Valentines day & Halloween must be Banned in Pakistan.

Sir;
if you forbid people to celebrate these kind of days, you make them seem more special for the regular folk.
let me ask you how to ban these days. will you forbid people to go out in valentine's day? will you arrest if you see a couple eating in a restaurant together? what if they drink a cup of coffee together in somewhere? How??? how will you forbid people to do these things?

i think everybody should act through his own desire without disturbing other people. its their own right to celebrate it or not. as for me, i will not meet with that lady (i mentioned above) at that day. i dont say ''i heard but i dont obey''. please dont confuse these two.

but i repeat. you cant get anything if those days are banned... because these days are not something formal. it doesnt meet anything at law. if you forbid, they will become more and more crowded.

 

[Kompromat]

Sir;
if you forbid people to celebrate these kind of days, you make them seem more special for the regular folk.
let me ask you how to ban these days. will you forbid people to go out in valentine's day? will you arrest if you see a couple eating in a restaurant together? what if they drink a cup of coffee together in somewhere? How??? how will you forbid people to do these things?

i think everybody should act through his own desire without disturbing other people. its their own right to celebrate it or not. as for me, i will not meet with that lady (i mentioned above) at that day. i dont say ''i heard but i dont obey''. please dont confuse these two.

but i repeat. you cant get anything if those days are banned... because these days are not something formal. it doesnt meet anything at law. if you forbid, they will become more and more crowded.

We are an Islamic Republic and we would never allow such activities which are against our Constitution Simple is that.

Whoever will not abide by the law would be Punished , if someone is in Pakistan they must live by our rules of leave.