Muslim and celebrating Christmas?

Growing up, Christmas was my favorite time of year! As soon as December rolled around I would only listen to Christmas music, I would hang up decorations and prepare presents for my friends and family.

When I was a child my mom and dad would hang up stockings for my sister and I and every morning when we woke up we would find a small present, I was 100 % sure that it was from an elf! Just thinking about it brings back so many memories! Waking up early on a cold, snowy December morning, running to my stocking, finding a little present. My family wasn't rich so it was always just very small surprises, but to me it was the thought that counted, and the excitement!

A normal Christmas eve for us has always been starting with a traditional Danish Christmas dinner, no pork of course, my mom usually cooks, duck with caramel potatoes, red cabbage and a sauce (gravy as some would call it, my mom just hates that word), then we sing songs, after my sister and I converted we steer clear of very religious songs, then we hold eachother by the hand and walk around the Christmas tree and then we exchange gifts. We usually finish the night with lots of cake and sweets and maybe a nice movie.

Now, to clarify, I am Danish and in Denmark traditional Christmas is more about celebrating the light returning (because the days get longer after the 24th) during the cold and dark months of winter. Growing up we never celebrated Christmas as a religious thing, my parents are very old-fashioned, both of them archeologists so history is very important to them.

To me it has never been about the birth of our great Prophet Jesus, we weren't brought up believing that. Fun fact: most Christians in Egypt don't celebrate Christmas until some time in January because that's when they believe the birth of Prophet Jesus is.

My parents always taught me that we light up the candles on the Christmas tree as a symbol for the light returning. That has always been a huge part of our Christmas eve. If you translate most Danish Christmas songs you will find a lot of them are about the Christmas tree and lighting the candles, and yes, we always use real candles.

Now I'm a mom to a toddler and I feel like it's important for her to grow up believing in Santa and having her own stocking with a little new surprise every day in December. That was something that brought so much joy to me during my childhood and I would love for her to experience that joy and excitement as well.

So why shouldn't I be able to teach my daughter about the way we celebrate Christmas, even though she is 100 % Muslim, but if it's not anything religious, but only something fun and exciting for her to dream about and look forward to, then I really don't see it harming her in any way, in fact I think it will only help her as she is growing up, I always say knowledge is important.

Christmas is such a sensitive topic when it comes to people who have converted, some still participate because of their families while others say it's strictly haram.

This will be our third Christmas since my dad passed away, Christmas has always been very important to him aswell, and I think my mom in many ways connect with him during Christmas. She has about three boxes filled with decorations, some she made with her dad when she was a child, others she made with my dad. Opening those boxes brings back so many memories of my dad. My parents have been married for 22 years, and they have been a couple for 42 years, that's a very long time! So Christmas is a very special time for us, a time to remember my dad.

My mom celebrate Ramadan and Eid with us every year, she doesn't fast or go to the mosque, but she does participate in the different family gatherings we have. She understands that it's a big part of our religion, but she doesn't participate in any religious way, just like I understand Christmas is a big part of her, but I don't participate in any religious way whatsoever. To me it's just a nice time spend with family, filled with joy and hope (that Santa might find us ;))

Happy Holidays!

Cecilie