Islamic Clerics in Pakistan and India Denounce New Year's and Christmas Celebrations, Members of Jamaat-e-Islami's Youth Wing Attack New Year's Revelers in Lahore

On New Year's Eve, members of the youth wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan attacked revelers in the city of Lahore and smashed cars to protest against New Year's celebrations, while columnists and Islamic clerics in Pakistan and India declared the occasion as un-Islamic, urging youth to refrain from emulating the West on occasions like New Year's and Christmas.

The following are media reports about the New Year celebrations in Pakistan and India:

Armed With Sticks and Stones, Jamaat-e-Islami Youth Attack Revelers in Lahore

In Lahore, youth members of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan attack people celebrating New Year

On December 28, 2011, Shabab-e-Milli, the youth wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, warned the owners of hotels, guest houses, and private clubs not to organize "immoral programs" on December 31, 2011 to mark the arrival of 2012.[1]

According to a report in Roznama Jasarat, an Urdu-language daily published by the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Abid Mir, Secretary General of Shabab-e-Milli for the Lahore chapter, wrote two separate letters to senior police officers of Lahore Ghulam Mohammad Dogar and Ahmad Khan Cheema, asking them to stop "nonsensical programs" on New Year's Eve.[2] Mir also warned that the Shab-e-Milli members "will not tolerate any immoral program and that the police and district administration should tell the owners of hotels, clubs, and guest houses [not to organize such programs]."[3]

On New Year's Eve, members of Shabab-e-Milli armed with sticks monitored the streets of Lahore, and in some places attacked those celebrating, according to a video clip broadcast by Pakistani accessed via YouTube on January 1, 2012:[4]

"These activists who are laced with sticks held a sit-in at Main Boulevard, Gulberg [in Lahore] and raised slogans… They hurled stones when the function [celebrating the nw year] was not stopped; they also broke the glasses of some cars…. At the same time, some youths carried out attacks to disperse those youths who had gathered to celebrate the New Year party. They also broke the glasses of their vehicles….

"One can find the rage in them the way these people, laced with sticks, entered the area where some youths were celebrating the New Year Night… These people are holding sticks in their hands and are carrying the flag of … [Shabab-e-Milli] and some of them have even wrapped it on their heads and necks. They attacked and also broke glasses of some vehicles. Some youths have also been injured…

"The scenes that you are watching are seen from the Liberty Market of Lahore… You may watch that these youths are raising slogans with sticks in their hands. They are also carrying the flags of their organization and some of them have tied it on their heads…."

According to another report in The Pakistan Today newspaper, the Shabab-e-Milli youth indulged in violence despite the deployment of police on all major roads and markets in Lahore.[5] It added: "Indiscriminate firing was carried out in different parts of the city despite all warnings of police while fun-making youth gathered at The Mall, Gulberg, Canal Road, Ferozpur Road, and Main Boulevard Gulberg and Allama Iqbal Town…

"A large number of young boys also blocked the Mall Road near Regal Chowk and Main Boulevard Gulberg… Activists of Shabab-e-Milli, youth wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, also blocked M. M. Alam road and thrashed the cars in parking of different restaurants in order to stop people from celebrating the New Year Night."[6]

Pakistani Cleric Calls for Banning New Year Celebrations, Says: "Westernized Elements are Trying to Promote Immoral and Wayward Western Culture in Pakistan"

Mufti Muhammad Naeem, Rector of Jamia Binoria Al-Alamia seminary in Karachi

Sheikhul Hadith Mufti Mohammad Nayeem, a prominent Islamic cleric and Rector of Jamia Binoria Al-Alamia (an international Islamic seminary based in Karachi), condemned the New Year celebrations, stating that "Westernized elements are trying to promote immoral and wayward Western culture in Pakistan."[7]

According to a report in the Urdu-language daily Roznama Jasarat, Mufti Mohammad Nayeem said: "In the name of New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, and at times in the name of the joint [male and female] marathon race, Basant, and others, various types of poisonous, immoral, and nonsensical activities are being injected in the youths of Pakistan through planned schemes."[8]

The leading cleric also "called upon the people to offer special dua [prayer] for prosperity and peace in the country and asked the government to ban the programs [associated with New Year] that propagate un-Islamic and immoral things immediately, and those who do not follow the law should be severely dealt with."[9]

Islamic Cleric Qasim Mehmood: "The West has Taken Us Hostage to Spread Its Culture…. Our Rulers have Forgotten Their [Islamic] Legacy Just to Please the West"

Jamia Islamia Makhzanul Uloom in Karachi

Dr. Qasim Mehmood, president of the Karachi-based Islamic seminary Jamia Islamia Makhzanul Uloom, also condemned the New Year's Eve celebrations, accusing the West of colonizing Islamic culture in Pakistan.

According to a report in Roznama Jasarat, Dr. Qasim Mehmood said: "The West has taken us hostage to spread its culture…. Our rulers have forgotten their [Islamic] legacy just to please the West. Our identity is in the life and deeds of our Prophet [Muhammad]. The Western cultural attack has destroyed our youths."[10]

Addressing a meeting at a mosque in Karachi, the cleric added: "The Western machineries are misleading our youth. That is why this nonsense [of New Year celebrations] should be permanently ended, rather than taking time to bring measures against them."[11]

He noted: "Today's Muslim youths don't even know which is the first month of the Islamic calendar, but so far as the beginning of the Western calendar is concerned they start preparing for it months in advance… The role of media is important in the progress of any nation, but it is our ill fortune that today's free media is also playing in the hands of the West, forgetting our Islamic values."[12]

Urdu Daily Roznama Islam: "The Evidence of New Year's Eve in Pakistan Can Be Traced Back to the '50s…; This Practice has Now Reached to the Hotels of Up to 20 Cities of Pakistan"

A report in Roznama Islam, a pro-Taliban Islamist newspaper, criticized the practice of New Year's Eve celebrations, noting that the "new year was celebrated in Karachi for the first time in 1992."[13] Following are excerpts from the report:[14]

"The Islamic year begins with the month of Muharram, but because of the blind following of the West and foolishness of media, the new generation has started giving importance to the nonsense of New Year celebrations…

"The practice of New Year's Eve began a hundred years ago at the coast of British city Anadin [unclear, probably Aberdeen] in 1910, which was attended by British Royal Naval officials with their wives and fiancés. When the news reached the U.S., other things got included into it with every passing year; and wine, sex, and crackers became an inseparable part of it.

"And then the multi-national companies and media took this vile practice to the rest of the world. Media played an important role in promoting this vile custom in Pakistan to get advertisements, and today the situation is that 10,000 cities across 180 countries celebrate New Year's Eve.

"In this respect, big celebrations are organized at famous European sites where hundreds of thousands of couples gather, and all lights are put off at 12 in the night and then amidst the colors of fireworks, throbbing youthfulness, brimming glasses of wines, and dances on ice in full intoxication by the youths are telecast to every part of the world through the media so that none could remain spared of this 'virtuous thing.'

"The mere description of the amount that is spent on this nonsense program could give a shock to a common man. According to an estimate, around 500 billion [dollars] worth of wine is drunk in Europe and the U.S. alone on that night.

"Another dangerous aspect of this inhuman custom is that thousands of youths lose their lives in accidents and fights due to excessive drinking… The evidence of New Year's Eve in Pakistan can be traced back to the '50s, when New Year's Eve was celebrated at Standard Hotel, Regal Chowk in Lahore during 1952-1964.

"In Karachi, New Year's Eve was first organized amidst tight security at a hotel in 1992. This practice has now reached to the hotels of up to 20 cities of Pakistan due to no action against that party….

"According to the majority, Pakistan is an Islamic country in principle, where there is no place for such obscenity. That is why it is the duty of the government to punish the miscreants who are trying to destroy the moral of our young generation."

Scholar of Pakistan Studies: "We Find the American, Jewish, and Western Fashion and Festivals a Thing of Hundred Honors for Us, Although These are Not Less Dangerous Than the [U.S.] Drone and Military Attacks"

Farhan Fani, a columnist for Roznama Islam, in his article titled "The advent of New Year, our deeds and real demands, wrote:

"Cultural impacts are a fact, but the way we are putting the patches of Western culture in our culture has no parallel in the world… The impact of different civilizations and cultures and their conflict is in itself a different subject matter, [but] so far as the New Year celebrations are concerned we need to give them a second thought…

"However, the way the New Year celebrations are getting stronger with every passing year. It is important to point towards their negative aspects; otherwise it will not take much time to lose our tradition and identity.

"Dr. Safdar Mahmood is a specialist is Pakistan Studies. He had written about the wonderful spread of the imported culture of the West in one of his articles in a very heart-burning way: 'These Western juggleries are the part of Western culture, and there is the commercial aspect working behind it. Credit goes to the media that we are adopting it as a fashion and are going away from our cultural values. We strongly protest against the Western military aggression, drone attacks, and NATO attacks. We set U.S. flags and the U.S. president's effigy ablaze and we keep alarmed at the Jewish designs; but we find the American, Jewish, and Western fashion and festivals a thing of hundred honors for us, although these are not less dangerous than the drone and military attacks. They affect our minds through these designs and pick our pockets and befool us. At times, protesting on streets is also good, but it is more important to boycott fashion attacks and commercial tactics of the West, which destroy our values and strengthen their hands at our cost. For God's sake think over it and make efforts to put embankment on it.'"[15]

Vice Chancellor of India's Darul Uloom Deoband Seminary Terms New Year Celebrations as Un-Islamic, Says: "Today the Chaos among Muslims is Due to the Fact That They are Away from the Religion [of Islam]"

Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani Banarsi, the Vice Chancellor of India's Darul Uloom Deoband (the second largest Islamic seminary in the world after Cairo's al-Azhar University), criticized New Year celebrations in India, urging the Muslims of India to start using the Islamic calendar instead.[16]

According to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Sahafat, Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani Banarsi told a gathering of Muslim youth that New Year celebrations are against Islamic values, observing:[17]

"Today, the chaos among Muslims is due to the fact that they are away from the religion [of Islam] and that is why we should hold the rope of Allah strongly and try to do away with the spreading evils in society…

"If the environment of homes would be religious, the young generation will be religious and will refrain from evil… Allah does not like extravagance…

"Today the enemies of Islam are carrying out an organized and planned campaign against Islam, which is aimed at putting Muslims in a quagmire of heresy by taking them away from their faith and Islamic values.”

Kashmir's Top Clergy Mirwaiz Umer Farooq: "It is Un-Islamic to Celebrate New Year, and Muslims Should in Every Way Refrain from Attending the Functions Related to This Event"

Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq

In India's Jammu & Kashmir state, Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the top clergy in the state, declared that New Year celebrations are un-Islamic. The Islamic leader formed an organization called Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Imaan (Committee for Protection of Faith), whose aim was to prevent the activities of Christian missionaries in the Kashmir valley.

According to a Kashmiri website, Farooq declared New Year celebrations "un-Islamic," forbidding Muslims from joining such functions.[18] The Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Imaan said: "Holding functions with respect to New Year's Day is un-Islamic. Muslims should expressly refrain from joining such functions, as their new year begins with Muharram [first month of the Islamic calendar]…."[19]

A December 27, 2011, statement published on the website of the Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Imaan (Committee for Protection of Faith), which is led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, urged the Kashmiri youth to boycott New Year celebrations, noting:[20] "[The Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Imaan] has asked Muslims to desist from participating in the New Year day functions. It is un-Islamic to celebrate New Year, and Muslims should in very way refrain from attending the functions related to this event. Islamic calendar begins from Muharram and not from January…."

Article in Pashtu-Language Daily Denounces Christmas Celebrations, Says Christianity was Annulled by Islam

A few days after Christmas, Islamist Pakistani newspaper Wrazpanra Shahadat published an article by one Ikram Uddin Kamil, denouncing Christmas celebrations and arguing that Christianity has been annulled by Islam. Following are excerpts from the article:[21]

Prophet Muhammad Quoted as Saying: "Celebrating Christmas with Christians is Equal to Bowing Down Before the Crusaders…; It is a More Awful Sin Than Drinking Wine, Raping, and Other Wrongdoings in the Eyes of Allah"

"The word Christmas is derived from two words 'Christ' and 'Mass'. Christ means 'devoted' and Christians considered this word as epithet of Prophet Hazrat Essa [Jesus Christ], while word 'Mass' means Milad [birth]. Christmas is an annual commemoration celebrated by the Christian community on December 25, with this belief that it is the birthday of Prophet Hazrat Essa [Christ Jesus]. The Christian books have different opinions regarding exact birth date of Hazrat Essa. Anyhow, they finally agreed to celebrate the occasion on December 25…

"Order for Muslims regarding Christmas greeting: Ulema [Islamic scholars] of different schools of thought are unanimous on this point - that congratulating Christians or celebrating Christmas with them is Haram [forbidden] in Islam. Because [they believe] that this act will validate these 'elenchus' beliefs [of Christians] and bear resemblance of Christianity with true religion of Islam.

"Such type of religious ritual is purely a religious matter. According to a Hadith [saying of Prophet Muhammad] related to religion as narrated Ibn Qayyim (May Allah bliss him): 'Celebrating Christmas with Christians is equal to bowing down before the Crusaders. Rather, it is a more awful sin than drinking wine, raping and other wrongdoings in the eyes of Allah Almighty.' Many people who are less religious-minded can involve in such acts, and they are unaware that they are committing a big sin.

"According to Ahkam Ahl al-Dhimma by Ibn Qayyim: 'In case a Christian greets a Muslim on the occasion of Christmas, the Muslim should not respond.' Sheikh Ibn Al-Ashimeen (may Allah blessed him) in this regard says: 'If Christians greet us on the occasion of Christmas, we should not reply because that Christmas is not our religious festival; rather it is a discarded act in Christianity which they have created on their own… Christianity has been negated after emergence of Islam.'"

13th Century Islamic Theologian Ibn Taymiyyah Quoted As Saying: "Christianity has been Annulled [by Islam]"; Prophet Muhammad Said: "A Nation Which Bears a Resemblance to Other Nations Becomes Part of Them"

"Allah says [in the Koran]: 'If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual goods).' Chapter Al-e-Imran, Verse No. 85.

"According to Majmou'at Fatawi was-Rasa'el Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen [a series of books written by Saudi Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Uthaymeen] (329/3): 'bearing resemblance to Christians is Haram [prohibited in Islam].'

"O Muslim! Attending festivals, ceremonies, and other customs of Christians; [including] cutting Christmas cake; sending greeting cards and SMS messages; dinning out on Christmas day, distribution of sweets, and other such activities, are Haram [forbidden]. Because it is an act of resembling himself with Christians, and those who are found involved in resembling themselves with infidels will be considered as having joined that group.

"[9th Century Islamic theologian] Abu Dawood cited a Hadith of Prophet Muhammad as: 'A nation which bears a resemblance to other nations becomes part of them.'

"[13th century Islamic theologian] Ibn Taymiyyah (May Allah bless him) said: 'Bearing resemblance to Christians or participation in Christmas means to provide them opportunity despite the fact that they are on wrong side because Christianity has been annulled [by Islam]. Maybe they [Christians] avail of this opportunity to deviate a 'weak' Muslim from Islam and humiliate him [by converting him into Christianity].'

"According to Eqtidaa al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem Mukhalafat Ashab Al-Jaheem [a book written by Ibn Taymiyyah]: 'The Ulema of different schools of [Islamic] thought have reached consensus on that point that participation in Christmas celebration is forbidden and those [Muslims] who greet them [Christians] on the occasion of Christmas are out of the circle of Islam and will be considered as apostate.'"