My neighbor is a Christian and I, as Muslim, wish him Merry Christmas

By David Khoirul

Thursday, December 25, 2014

People are so sensitive with religion. In Indonesia, particularly, you can find Muslims who say it is forbidden to wish Merry Christmas. As a Muslim, I don't agree with this because these people argue that the prohibition is based on the hadith that says, "Those who follow the style of kafir belongs to them." How many aspects of Christian life have we followed? We follow them in many ways, from clothing to technology. We cannot avoid any of their cultures in this modern life. If you insist in refusing their style, then you have to go back to the ancient style of the prophet, riding camel and brush your teeth with siwak.

Tonight, as I ate eggs and noodles as dinner, I read a lot of comments on my Facebook post. Many of them are reluctant to wish Merry Christmas because they think it will make their faith filthy. Also read For Muslims, wishing Merry Christmas is not haram. It is no different from using solar calender.

What a funny thing! How can you destroy your faith just by saying Merry Christmas and how dare you think just by wishing it you will convert to Christian? I have a neighbor who is Christian. This morning, I said Merry Christmas to him and I feel better by saying that rather than not, and I am still Muslim.

Tag : diary