From next week onwards the top right corner of your FaceBook Wall will remind you for a few days that Nisaar Yusuf’s birthday falls on 10 March. Well, I know there are many people in this world who are happy that I share some space in this world with them and some even accommodate me in their hearts and their supplications.
Come along with me and have a little different look at the birthdays from a different angle.
Here we go:
The first two verses from Surah Ambiya frighten me every birthday:
“Closer has come to mankind their day of accounts and they are still heedless! They listen with ridicule to each fresh warning that comes to them from their Lord and remain engaged in the sports!”
(World cup cricket, Grand Slams Olympics, World cup Soccer…..)
The Surah further reminds us the plight of a few nations before us who were humiliated and driven out of the world through a dreadful punishment, never can they come back.
Next time when some one wishes you a happy birthday, ask him: “Are you happy that I have lost a precious year form my life and I am on the way to death”?
Let us see who are the people whose birthdays are celebrated and Why?
Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, celebrated his birthday by executing his chief baker (Genesis. 40:1-23)
The New Testament figure, Herod the Tetrarch, reluctantly ordered the beheading of John the Baptist on his birthday.(Mattew 14:3-11)
Gandhiji’s Birthday is celebrated on 2 October, Sri Krishna’s Birthday is celebrated on Gokulastmi, Buddha’s Birthday is celebrated in Vesak, Ambedkar’s Birthday is celebrated on 14 April, and so is Mahavir’s Birthday celebrated on Bhadrapad and also Rama’s Birthday is celebrated in the month of April as Ramnavami. Jesus Christ’s Birthday is celebrated on 25 Dec.
If you study the list of these big people whose birthdays are celebrated you will notice three striking points:
1. Many of them are worshipped as Gods by their followers.
2. Those who are not worshipped as Gods are feared to be forgotten by the later generations if no one reminds about them.
3. Barring people born in the past century, i.e Gandhiji and Ambedkar, there are no records of the birthdays of the rest of the birthdays celebrated! They are only un mathematical assumptions.
Even the birth date of Jesus Christ goes unrecorded in the Bible!
Celebrating birthdays is not the custom of Ahl e kitab but Pagans.
Study any reputable encyclopedia or visit a well-stocked public library and you will discover that Christmas was celebrated by immoral, pagan idol worshippers—people who many times sacrificed their own children to pagan gods—2,000 years before Christ was born!
December 25th originally marked the time of the winter solstice. These idol worshippers held pagan festivals to celebrate the “rebirth” of the sun when the days began to lengthen.
In fact, the Bible is silent on the exact dates of the births of all God’s faithful servants—Jacob, Sarah, Noah, Abel, Samuel, Job, Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Moses and the rest of the good people.
Do we require to celebrate the birthday of our Prophet (pbuh) too ?
My Prophet (Allah’s peace and mercy be upon him) never celebrated his birthday, though some people celebrate his birthday. Their brand of celebration includes screaming their love towards the Prophet (pbuh) and cursing those who don’t join them in their celebrations. If you have noticed minutely, this year the pomp and show was brighter than the past years but the crowd has surely shrunk. Even the companions did not celebrate the Prophet’s birthday. Rather, they celebrated his prophet hood in every part of their life by adhering to his commands and traditions. We also accommodate him in our salahs by reciting the Durood upon him before we end the salah.
According to the sixth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000), Muhammad is the most common given name in the world, including variations. It is estimated that more than 150 million men and boys in the world bear the name Muhammad.
What a memorable way of keeping his memories alive!
Infact it is not important when you were born but how you live your life that matters.
by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala
Author: Nisaar Yusuf loves to promote Islamic values through his speeches and articles. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com
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