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Australia’s largest mosque issues fatwa against Christmas, then withdraws it after criticism and says it was taken “out of context”

Dec 23, 2012 4:28 am By Robert Spencer

“Out of context”? Sheesh. All these years and they still fall back on that tired dodge? Isn’t there anyone in the Islamic Supremacist Talking Points Factory who can come up with anything new and more convincing?

“No merriness here: mosque puts fatwa on Christmas,” by Natalie O’Brien for the Sydney Morning Herald, December 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):

THE Lakemba Mosque has issued a fatwa against Christmas, warning followers it is a ”sin” to even wish people a Merry Christmas.

The religious ruling, which followed a similar lecture during Friday prayers at Australia’s biggest mosque, was posted on its Facebook site on Saturday morning.

The head imam at Lakemba, Sheikh Yahya Safi, had told the congregation during prayers that they should not take part in anything to do with Christmas.

Samir Dandan, the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, which oversees the mosque, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

The fatwa, which has sparked widespread community debate and condemnation, warns that the “disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight path”.

It also says that Christmas Day and associated celebrations are among the “falsehoods that a Muslim should avoid … and therefore, a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them”….

The fatwa quotes the teacher Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim as saying that congratulating disbelievers for their rituals is forbidden, and if a “Muslim who says this does not become a disbeliever himself, he at least commits a sin as this is the same as congratulating him for his belief in the trinity, which is a greater sin and much more disliked by Almighty Allaah than congratulating him for drinking alcohol or killing a soul or committing fornication or adultery”….

And then: “Christmas wish appears in sky over mosque,” from ABC News, December 23:

The Lebanese Muslim Association says it arranged for a Christmas wish to be written in the sky above the country’s biggest mosque, in response to reports it had banned Muslims from wishing people a happy Christmas.

Over the weekend, a message appeared on the Facebook page for Lakemba Mosque, saying that Muslims were forbidden from taking part in Christmas traditions or wishing people a merry Christmas.

The entry implied it was a fatwa, or Islamic ruling, and was based on a lecture given at the mosque during Friday prayers.

The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, says the comments were taken out of context and the group harbours no anti-Christmas sentiment.

Samier Dandan from the the Lebanese Muslim Association says a junior staff member of the association copied and pasted text from another website that the mosque had not endorsed.

“From our perspective this is an innocent mistake done by a youth member who’s employed by this organisation,” he said.

“We are basically not going to apologise for what I perceive to be an innocent mistake, which is not necessarily reflective of the true mindset and belief of this organisation.”

This afternoon, the organisation arranged to have the words “Merry Xmas” written in the sky above Lakemba Mosque….

But the earlier report said that “the head imam at Lakemba, Sheikh Yahya Safi, had told the congregation during prayers that they should not take part in anything to do with Christmas.” Is Sheikh Yahya Safi a “youth member” and “junior staff member” also?

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Filed Under: Australia, Islamic bigotry and intolerance, Islamic supremacism, War is deceit


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