Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Permissibility of celebrating other religions' festivals

“We are living in a country where people are having faith in different religions. Every religion has got its own festival. Is it permissible for a Muslim to celebrate other festivals like Holi and Diwali? What is your advice for us?”Asked by Aamir Mauri, Kashmir

He answers at 0:10 in Question & Answer Jan 6th 2013 - Maulana Wahiduddin Kahn · 1 min 55 sec

His answer, in his own words
0:10
maulana, yeh sawal kashmir se aya hai, aamir jan mori sahib ka. unhon ne likha hai: "we are living in a country where people are having faith in different religions. every religion has got its own festival." maulana sahib, my question is: is it permissible for a muslim to celebrate other festivals like holi and diwali? what is your advice for us? dekhen, yeh koi sawal nahi hai.
0:47
asal sawal yeh hai ke aap yeh janen ke aap ka purpose of life kya hai, goal kya hai aap ka. yeh sab to, is ki koi ahmiyat nahi hai. aap yeh kyun nahi sochte ke tarah tarah ke festivals hotay hain to hum ko opportunity de rahe hain, wahan ja kar hum islami literature pohnchayen, logon se interact karen, logon se discussion karen, logon se dialogue karen. yani aik jagah, aise saare log mil rahe hain. rasool allah ke zamanay mein bhi aswaq hua karte thay, souq. yani wahan par aise jashn manate thay log, ikhatta hotay thay wahan par. wahan aap jatay thay, baqayda. aap parh lijiyay sahi sahi kitabon mein.
1:37
masla yeh nahi ke aap khud bhi jashn manayen. masla yeh hai ke un ke jashn ko avail kijiyay aap. take it as an opportunity. un se interaction kijiyay, un se discussion kijiyay, un se dialogue kijiyay, un ko kitaben dijiye, un ko quran ke tarjume pohnchaiye. yeh sab kijiyay. asal sochne ki cheez yeh hai. woh to koi sochne ki baat nahi hai. maulana, agla sawal dilli se hai, shah imran hasan sahib ka. unhon ne aap se poocha hai: hadith mein aya hai ke kam paise walay baray baray makan bananay lagen ge.
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