At PJMedia I discuss the ongoing Islamic jihad against Christmas — that is, the Muslim struggle to make sure Christians get in their exercise and take their kids to school:
Armed guards are patrolling outside churches in Nigeria. Christians
in Pakistan and Indonesia are cowering in fear. Why? Because it’s
Christmastime.Many Muslims take a dim view of Christmas at best, and at worst
actively menace Christians celebrating it. This is a worldwide
phenomenon. Sheikh Yahya Safi, the head imam of Australia’s largest
mosque, summed up an all-too-common view when he warned in a fatwa Saturday
that “disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight
path,” and that “a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas
Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them.”Likewise the chairman of Indonesia’s top organization of Muslim clerics declared:
“It’s better if they don’t say “˜Merry Christmas.” It’s still up for
debate whether it’s halal or haram, so better steer clear of it. But you
can say “˜Happy New Year.–The popular online fatwa site Islam QA of the influential Saudi cleric Muhammad Saleh al-Munajjid explains further:
“It is not permissible to imitate the kuffaar [unbelievers] in any of
their acts of worship, rituals or symbols, because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “˜Whoever imitates a
people is one of them.– Indeed, “it is haraam [forbidden] to imitate
the disbelievers and that it is obligatory to differ from those who are
doomed to Hell.”As might be expected from a religion that expects its adherents to be
the executors of the divine wrath in this world, these condemnations of
Christmas and Christians, and prohibitions on giving good wishes or
joining in the celebrations, sometimes metastasize into intimidation and
open violence. The Qur’an, after all, says that the unbelievers” works
will come to naught in this world as well as in the next (cf. 3:22), and
Muslims must ensure it by making the lives of the infidels as miserable
as possible.“Indonesia is supposed to be a free country, but it doesn’t feel that way, especially at Christmas,” said
one Indonesian Christian who is a member of a church that Muslims first
forced to close on Christmas day 2009, and which has remained so ever
since. The congregation prays on the street outside the church, braving
the Muslim mobs that have thrown stones, rotten eggs, and bags of urine
at them.