Question Summary:
Secret Eid/Sahaba Question Detail:
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
Answer :
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The phrase Secret Santa refers to the Western Christmas tradition of exchanging gifts among members of a group or family. Participants are randomly assigned another person for whom they must buy a gift. Gift givers remain anonymous and recipients typically don’t know who has given them their present. Though the idea of a Secret Santa gift exchange has gained popularity in recent years, the practice of anonymous gift-giving actually dates back centuries to a Scandinavian tradition known as ‘Julklapp’. In Scandinavian, the word ‘Jul’ means ‘Christmas’ and ‘klapp’ means ‘to knock’. According to custom, people knock loudly on a door, open it and quickly leave a gift without being seen. Instead of a card, the person leaving the gift writes a short, funny message and guests at a gathering must then try to guess the recipient for each gift, usually to everyone’s great amusement.[1] In essence, the giftor does not choose whom he shall gift.
From the above we understand the following regarding secret santa :
1. Its origins can be traced back to Christianity and Paganism.
2. It is a secret exchange of gifts wherein the family has to guess who is the gifter.
3. It is a way of creating excitement during Christmas.
You enquire about the position of the Shari’ah regarding muslims adopting a similar practice of secret sahaba during Eid.
At the outset, you should understand that as muslims we are sensitive to our Imaan and values of Imaan. We are averse to kufr and anything associated to kufr. The very concept of Christmas is erroneous. As such, anything associated to Christmas would be incorrect. It is a fact that secret santa is a custom specific to Christmas.
You are correct to state that taking part in secret santa is detrimental to ones Imaan. Initiating a practice of secret sahaba imitating secret santa would be equally detrimental as one would be imitating a practice of the Christians in the context of Christmas and Christianity.
Consider the following verses of the Holy Quran,
Surah Maaidah, Verse 73,
لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ إِنَّ اللّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلاَثَةٍ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلاَّ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ وَإِن لَّمْ يَنتَهُواْ عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
“They have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allah is the third of three." And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment”
Surah Maaidah, Verse 51,
يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَـرَى أَوْلِيَآءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَهْدِى الْقَوْمَ الظَّـلِمِينَ
“O you who believe! Do not take friends from the Jews and the Christians, as they are but friends of each other. And if any among you befriends them, then surely, he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the wrongdoers.”
Surah Hud, Verse 113,
وَلاَ تَرْكَنُواْ إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاء ثُمَّ لاَ تُنصَرُونَ
“And do not incline toward those who do wrong, lest you be touched by the Fire, and you would not have other than Allah any protectors; then you would not be helped”
The Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam said,[2]
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ
“Whoever imitates a nation/people then he is from them.”
It is also important to note that the concept of secret santa also goes against the spirit of gifting in Islam. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam said,[3]
"تَهَادَوْا تَحَابُّوا"
“Exchange gifts with one another thereby increasing love amongst yourselves”
In Islam it is encouraged to exchange gifts at any time of the year including during the times of happiness like the day of Eid. However, the purpose of gifting is to honour the individual and create a personal and mutual bond of love and respect. In order to achieve this, one should know who the giftor is as soon as a gift is recieved. The giftee will be honoured and that will create love for the giftor in the heart of the giftee. That is not so in secret santa. The giftee will have to guess who the giftor is. The essence of honour and love is subdued by the excitement of guessing who the giftor is. An honourable act of gifting is reduced to a game.
As muslims we know that the day of Eid is a day of excitement in of itself. We do not need to resort to external factors to bring us happiness and joy. The unique spiritual attachment to Eid that a muslim enjoys cannot even be compared to material possessions of this world. On the day of Eid-ul-Fitr, millions of muslims express joy at their achievements of worshipping Allah, gaining his pleasure and forgiveness during the blessed month of Ramadhaan. This joy is clearly visible on the face of each and every muslim. On Eid-ul-Adha, muslims all around the globe offer their sacrifices to Almighty Allah in remembrance of the great sacrifice of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam. All of us go for the Eid salaah enthusiastically proclaiming the takbeer. In both days of Eid, we are happy because of what the day is itself and the status it holds in our eyes, we don’t need to borrow from the practices of the Christians to enjoy ourselves on these blessed days.
In conclusion, it is clear that secret santa is a practice that goes against the core values of Tawheed and against the spirit of gifting in Islam. The concept of secret sahaba is not permissible.[4]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Bilal Yusuf Pandor
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
[1] http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/secret-santa
[2]
سنن أبي داود ت الأرنؤوط (6/ 144)
حدَّثنا عثمانُ بنُ أبي شيبةَ، حدَّثنا أبو النضرِ، حدَّثنا عبدُ الرحمن ابنُ ثابتٍ، حدَّثنا حسانُ بنُ عطيَّهَ، عن أبي مُنيب الجُرَشيٍّ
عن ابنِ عُمَرَ، قال: قال رسولُ الله - صلَّى الله عليه وسلم -:، مَن تَشَبَّه بقومٍ فهو منهم
[3]
الأدب المفرد مخرجا (ص: 208)
حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ خَالِدٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا ضِمَامُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ مُوسَى بْنَ وَرْدَانَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: تَهَادُوا تَحَابُّوا
[4]
The principles and codes of law in Hanafi Fiqh pg 146
Tuhfatul Ulama. Urdu pg 129
Imdaadul Fataawaa Maktaba Darul Uloom Karachi Vol 4 Pg 265
Fataawaa Mahmoodiyya Maktaba Mahmoodiyya Vol 27 Pg 403
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