Who is Valentine's Day for?

 

People naturally like occasions
of happiness and pleasure, whether private or public, including eids (feasts
or days of celebration). For the sake of this inclination, the Shari'a
came with the legitimacy of the Fitr and Adha Eids: Two valid eids in the
year, and Allah has legislated in them (reasonable) spending and the showing
of happiness which people need, in addition to a weekly eid which is Friday.
And this is part of the mercy of Allah upon this nation of Mohammad (peace
be upon him).

If we look at the celebrations
that other nations have, we will find that they have quite a number of
them: one for each national occasion and season, Mother’s Day, Labor Day,
a day for agriculture and so on, to the extent that there is barely a month
without a specific eid.  All this is from their innovation.

Allah the Exalted has said (interpretation
of the meaning)

{But the monasticism which they
invented for themselves We did not prescribe for them} (Al-Hadid 57:27)
and for this reason the dates of the occasions have changed through the
years according to political and social desires, and they are accompanied
with more rituals, habits and types of amusement than can be listed, according
to the details in specialized books. 

Among the strange eids in the world
today are those of the pagans and the People of the Book (Jews and Christians),
connected to their gods, rabbis and monks, such as the days of St. Michael,
St. Andrew, St. Valentine, etc.  These eids are accompanied with several
acts including decorating homes, lighting candles, going to the church,
buying certain types of candy, specific songs and so on.

After that it has become the habit
of non-Muslim nations to celebrate birthdays in which people invite their
friends, prepare special food, light candles according to the age of the
person etc.. and some Muslims have imitated them in this innovation!

After this introduction to the
eids of the nations, it is worth mentioning that a Muslim should be confident
that the most complete guidance and the best legislation is that which
the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers (peace be upon him) came with.

Allah the Exalted has said (interpretation
of the meaning)

{This day have I perfected your
religion for you, completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam
as your religion} (Al-Maida 5:3).

All the eids that the other nations
have are innovation and misguidance, in addition to their disbelief in
Allah. Allah the Exalted has said (interpretation of the meaning)

{If anyone desires a religion
other than Islam never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter
he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good) } (Al-Imran
3:85)

Due to the importance of this subject
and the attention it should be given - I mean what has come to Muslims
from the eids of disbelievers and the occasions they relate to their religion
- Islam has given the matter eloquent and specific care.  Allah has
described His believing servants as avoiding disbelievers in their eids:
{Those who witness no falsehood} (Al-Furqan 25:72). Falsehood in this verse
refers to the eids of the disbelievers.  Allah has legislated for
His believing servants eids that suffice them from copying those of others:

Abu Dawood, Nasa'i and others
have authentically reported that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to Madinah at a time in which 
people had two days in which they played.  He told them: "Allah has
replaced these two with what is better: the days of Fitr and Adha."

Hafiz Ibn Hajjar (may Allah have
mercy on him) said: "From this it is deduced that it is disliked to be
happy during the pagans' eids and to imitate them."

In what follows we will consider
an eid that some Muslims have imitated and taken from the disbelievers,
namely Valentine's Day, which Christians have specified as the 14th of
February, according to a certain creed that they have and which we will
not go into the details of.

Normally we would not have considered
this eid nor given it any attention, as it is one of the tens of eids that
they have, but because some Muslims and Muslimahs have become affected
by this, it has become necessary to inform our brothers and sisters who
attempt to participate in this occasion with its specific 'rituals' and
do not know that Valentine's Day is deeply rooted in the Christian creed. 
The latter - i.e., the Christians - differ on whether this is something
they inherited or something inherited from the Romans, who had gods according
to their desires: they appointed gods for love as they do with other gods
for light, darkness, crops, rain, seas, rivers, and so on.

Some of the things observed by
disbelievers during Valentine's Day include their clothes, gifts, greeting
cards, red roses (they use red as a symbol for a certain obscene behavior). 
They also celebrate by writing phrases of love and passion on the cards
that are exchanged between young men and women, purchasing red teddy bears
with hearts and words of love on them which are sold at high prices as
presents that symbolize love!

One of the things that has increased
the spreading of these issues in some Muslim countries is what many forms
of media (whether read or viewed) - and particularly satellite channels
- do by advertising this behavior using various methods, to the extent
that the matter is no longer evident to simple people who do not have sufficient
educational sense to protect them from these twisted behaviors, and particularly
male and female students in public and higher education.

According to what has been presented,
we would like to confront our brothers and sisters - fellow Muslims - who
participate in any of the types of celebrations mentioned, and we say:

Today those of you who celebrate
Valentine's Day and similar do this for something within yourselves. But
I think that with your instinct of the oneness of Allah, that if you knew
the religious background of this celebration and what it bears of symbols
of innovation, paganism, and demonstrating that there are other gods than
Allah - may Allah be exalted from that - you would realize how grave your
mistake is and the awfulness of the direction you have taken and how you
have been effected.

Scholars have said that a Muslim
should not accept any gift or food prepared for the sake of the disbelievers'
eids.  For this reason, it is incumbent upon fathers and mothers to
pay attention of this in their children, and particularly if they see their
daughters wearing red blouses, jackets or the like specifically on that
day.  Likewise, if children ask them to buy roses or greeting cards
that are specific for that day, they should tell them the truth about this
issue in a religious, educational and convincing manner.

We also greatly admonish those
Muslims who sell symbols of disbelievers' celebrations, whether by importing
or producing them.  For example, those who sell and provide flowers
specifically on that day, and owners of stores that sell toys and wrap
gifts.  These people are helping in the celebration of disbelievers'
eids, and undoubtedly they are cooperating in vice and aggression and participating
in the spreading of the beliefs of the disbelievers.  However, may
Allah be praised, they have a lot of other things to sell that are not
used in the celebration of the disbelievers' eids.

Another thing we should mention
here is that Muslims who carry the knowledge or work for the media should
play their role in protecting Islamic thoughts from their media counterparts
who contempt Islam and Muslims.

We would like to conclude our topic
with the fatwa of the great scholar Sh. Mohammad ibn Saleh Al-Othaymeen
(may Allah have mercy upon him).  He was asked about celebrating and
participating in Valentine's Day.  His answer was:

"Celebrating Valentine's Day is
not permitted because:

1. it is an innovated eid that
has no basis in shari'a

2. it invites people to love and
passion

3. it invites people's hearts
to be busy with these insignificant issues that are against the path of
the previous righteous people, may Allah be pleased with them.

So it is forbidden to perform any
'eid rituals' on this day - whether food, drinks, clothes, gifts, etc.

A Muslim should be proud of his/her
religion, and should not by an imitator who follows every caller.

I ask Allah to protect Muslims
from all temptations, both visible or hidden." [End of the shaikh's fatwa]

Thus it is evident "who Valentine's
Day is for", as this day is not of the practices of Islam nor its guidance,
but rather the result of the social and educational pitfalls of the disbelievers. 
Any Muslim who participates in celebrating this day does so because of
whims within him/herself and because of personal defeat, inadequate educational
sense, and weakness of Islamic protection in those whose own selves deceived
them into imitating disbelievers and mimicking them in their unworthiness
and misguidance.

May peace be upon our prophet
Mohammad and his family and companions.