Valentine's Day - What Islam Says?

Valentine's Day. A celebration of love for the Christians. A celebration that connected with Saint Valentine. Below are the short history of the connection between Saint Valentine and Valentine's Day taken from IslamOnline.net:

Saint Valentine is a name which given to two of the ancient "martyrs" of the Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or that there was only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader Claudius. c.296 CE, a church was built in Rome on the site of the place where he died, to perpetuate his memory.

When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate their Feast of Love, but they changed it from the pagan concept of "spiritual love" to another concept known as "martyrs of love", represented by Saint Valentine who advocate love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers, and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could fine about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year.

The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called "Valentine's Books", which contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love letters

So it is a festival that associated with Christian beliefs. The question is why us Muslims should celebrating this festival of love? Ask your self a question, ask your self to give ONE GOOD reason for you Muslims to celebrate Valentine's Day. Below are the Islamic views on celebrating Valentine's Day also taken from IslamOnline.net provide by Dr. Su'ad Ibrahim Salih, Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University

Indeed, Islam is the religion of altruism, true love, and cooperation on that which is good and righteous. We implore Allah Almighty to gather us together under the umbrella of His All-encompassing Mercy, and to unite us together as one man. Allah Almighty says:(The believers are naught else than brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to Allah that haply ye may obtain mercy.)(Al-Hujurat 49: 10)

Focusing more on the question in point, I can say that there are forms of expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It stands to reason that the love for Allah, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of love.

Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another, and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine’s Day is an innovation orbid`ahthat has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.

Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.

Remember my Muslim brothers and sisters. It is not wrong to express love to your family and friends as long as it follows the shari'ah. We have our own culture. Use it. We are not Christians, we are Muslims. Valentine's Day is their (Christians) festival. Let them celebrate their festivals not us Muslims.

Wallahua'lam