Last holiday season my three-year old son, Zain, innocently asked me,
"Mommy, what is Santa bringing me for Christmas?" I should have known
that question was coming. After all, I sent him to preschool at a
Baptist church in Atlanta. He attended chapel every Monday and said
blessing before lunch every day. Once when he was two, he waddled over
to me and told me in his toddler voice, "Jesus is Love."
The question about Christmas and Santa was particularly unsettling
because we are Muslim. I didn't know how to explain to Zain that we
don't celebrate Christmas. I didn't want to say the wrong thing and
scar him forever or make him feel like a leper. Clearly he heard about
Christmas at his school. I didn't want him to feel awkward or different
from his classmates — even though he is.
Thoughts were racing through my head. Should I tell him Santa is coming and bringing him presents if he is a good boy? After all, isn't Christmas a consumer holiday devoid of any religious associations at this point? What was the harm in putting up a tree and buying the kid a few presents just to make him happy? Although Muslims exchange gifts during their two major holidays, both known as Eid, neither holiday is nearly as commercial as Christmas is in the West.
I thought back to my childhood when my parents, Palestinian immigrants, used to celebrate Christmas just like a typical American family. We decorated a Christmas tree, hung up stockings, and put up lights around the house. My parents even convinced us that Santa was real. On Christmas Day, we gathered around the fireplace and opened presents and wondered how Santa fit down the chimney. I always knew we were a Muslim family, but I never considered Christmas a Christian holiday that was contradictory to our Muslim faith.
Read the full story: http://www.babble.com/Would-having-a-tree-betray-our-faith-A-Very-Muslim-Christmas-Hadeel-Masseoud/
Buzz
