Well, of course. The two largest fun holidays are the Eids. The more important one is at the end of Ramadan, and looks a lot like Christmas in most Western countries: dress up, get together with family, eat lots of unhealthy but delicious food, and give presents to the kiddies. I forget what the other one commemorates, alas, but I’m assured it’s also fun and involves lots of unhealthy but delicious food as well.
I haven’t asked for the religion of the little witches and zombies that have rung my doorbell over the years, but they have not all been ethnic Norwegians and some may well have been Muslim. Heck, I even know one little Muslim girl who gets a Christmas stocking… because it’s Isa’s birthday, you understand, and Isa was a holy man and a prophet - not because Mom can’t resist another chance to spoil her only child
“The” mosques? Which mosques are “the” mosques? Most mosques? All mosques? Just the mosques in your area? How many mosques are you familiar with? :dubious:
And you do realize that Muslim children don’t attend “Sunday school”, right? That the day of worship for most Muslims is Friday? Maybe you meant, “Friday-school kids”?
Yes, I meant Muslims living in the US, and no, Halloween is not a Christian holiday. Any religious–Christian or Pagan–aspects of its origins are irrelevant to the actual participants.
The main aspects of Halloween are:
[ul]
[li]Putting up spooky or death-themed decorations because for some reason it’s fun. [/li][li]Dressing up in masquarade costumes which increasingly haver noting to do with death.[/li][li]Ritually handing out candy to children who come to the door, which strengthens neighborood ties.[/li][/ul]
I’m not aware of any Jewish kids not being allowed to participate in Halloween (Ultra Orthodox?), but yes a minority of Christian households are hard-core fundy enough to ban it. I’m just guessing that a large proportion of Muslims–given how many other aspects of our culture that they abhor–would be particularly freaked out by all the freakish imagery that abounds this time of year.
I think you need to give Muslims a bit more credit. My family is Muslim and even though I personally don’t really believe/wasn’t raised religiously, I know a lot of people you are, and none of them have beliefs even remotely close to what you’re describing.
Then consider yourself educated: Orthodox (“ultra” or otherwise) Jews do not participate in Halloween. That’s not to say that we won’t have candy available for non-Jewish kids who good-naturedly knock on our door, but our kids aren’t out trick-or-treating, and we’re not carving Jack-O’Lanterns.
Perhaps the Christian foundations of All Hallows Eve (the day before All Saints Day) have gotten lost in the secular American market-driven society, but they aren’t ignored by Jewish religious law. (And that goes more so if you think of it as a pre-Christian pagan holiday.)
The ones in the Washington, DC area and other parts of the country. As a rule, mosques in America are dominated by the more conservative or fundamentalist stripe of Muslims in the community. The exceptions to this are few.
Yes they do. I’ve seen them doing it. Lots of places in different parts of th country.
No. Friday school is regular school (Monday through Friday). They have Sunday school for kids at the mosque because that’s the day people have off of work in America.
I’m talking about American mosques only, because that’s where Thanksgiving is accepted by many Muslims who encounter it. In other countries they’ve probably never heard of it. There are also hardline fundie types who are against everything and they’ll reflexively say Thanksgiving is haraam, because pretty much everything you can think of is haraam by them.
I’d just like to point out that the day of worship for Jews is Saturday, yet when I was going to Hebrew School they commonly held classes on Sunday. (Also two weekday evenings.) As Johanna said, it made sense: There was no conflict on that day.
So the only people who think of it as a religious holiday are those who have nothing to do with it?
It’s not a question of any Christian (or mutually exclusive Pagan) “foundations”* having gotten “lost”; they’ve been eliminated.
*(I prefer “origins” to “foundations” because the latter implies something solid, and that’s what it ain’t.)
But while I welcome the knowledge that some Jews are superstitious about Halloween even while more aren’t, I’d still like to see some anecdotes about how various Muslims living in areas where Halloween is popular react to it.
Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى ‘Īd al-’Aḍḥá, IPA: [ʕiːd al ʔadˁˈħaː], “feast of sacrifice”) or “Festival of Sacrifice” or “Greater Eid” is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma’il) as an act of obedience to God
Fun for the whole family! Hey kids, let’s recreate Abraham and Ishmael’s trek up the mountain! Don’t worry, mom will bring the ram.
I know Muslims who celebrate Halloween. I know some Christians who do not.
I think that this holiday is primarily commercial except to those who oppose it and it depends on the family.
Oh, and plenty of masjids have Arabic and Islamic School on Sunday morning, especially in the west, because of scheduling difficulties on Friday. Since they play sports and work and go to school etc. My own kids (I’m not Muslim, my ex-spouse is) did this. :shrug:
I wouldn’t go to the ones on Sunday if you’re looking to borrow a turban and an AK-47, though. We are talking about the approximately 1 billion Muslims worldwide who are normal people living normal lives and who just want to watch the game and mow the lawn and get their daughter into guitar lessons and stuff like that.
Im not sure of when they were younger, but most of my Muslim friends went out on halloween while in highschool. Not necessarily trick or treating though.
OK, good. I can imagine that Muslim women are quite a bit more restricted in how revealing their costumes can be, but so long as none of them feel as though they’re not allowed to go out in costume at all, then that’s fine.
