What Did Jesus Say

About Christmas?
 The Christmas Experience

The perfect Christmas tree is bought. Adorned with ornaments and glittering
with tinsel, it stands by the window. The stores are crammed with shoppers
hunting for presents and the little ones anxiously waiting for Santa.

Busy with Christmas fever, wonder did you ever, did the Bible or Jesus made
any injunction on Christmas ever?

Ponder upon the following analysis on Christmas, and the Truth will become
clearer and clearer.

Does Christmas have Biblical Evidence?

The word 'Christmas' does not exist in the Bible. The Bible has closed lips on
the entire feast of Christmas, with one exception, the decoration of a tree. The
Bible itself criticizes the decoration of the (Christmas) trees:

"The customs of the people are worthless, they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel, they adore it with silver and gold, they
fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter" (Jeremiah 10-3,4).

European Pre-Christian pagans superstitiously believed that the green trees

had special protective powers. In fact the use of the Christmas tree began only in
the 17th century in Strasbourg, France and from there it spread to Germany,
Britain and then to the U.S. "Tree worship was a common feature of religion
among the Teutonic and Scandinavian peoples of northern Europe before their
conversion to Christianity…German settlers brought the Christmas tree custom to
the American colonies in the 17th century. By the 19th century its use was quite
widespread". (Compton's Encyclopedia, 1998 Edition)

Was Jesus born on Dec. 25?

Neither the date 25th Dec. nor any other date on Jesus' birth is mentioned in
the Bible. It was not until the year 530 C.E. that a monk, Dionysus Exigus, fixed
the date of Jesus' birth on Dec. 25th. . "He wrongly dated the birth of Christ
according to the Roman system (i.e., 754 years after the founding of Rome) as
Dec. 25, 753". (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998 ed.) This date was chosen in
keeping with the holidays already indoctrinated into pagans beliefs.
 Roman pagans celebrated Dec. 25th as the birth of their 'god' of light, Mithra.

"In the 2nd century A..D., it (Mithraism) was more general in the Roman
Empire than Christianity, to which it bore many similarities" (The Concise
Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 ed.

Other pagan 'gods' born on Dec. 25th are: Hercules the son of Zeus (Greeks);
Bacchus, 'god' of wine (Romans); Adonis, 'god' of Greeks, and 'god' Freyr of
Greek-Roman pagans.

What about Santa Claus?

If aliens descended on earth during the Christmas season, they would

undoubtedly believe Christmas as being Santa's birthday. The words 'Santa
Claus', appear nowhere in the Bible.

However, Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) was a real person, a bishop, who was
born 300 years after Jesus. According to legend, he was extremely kind and set
out at night to bring presents to the needy. After his death on 6th of Dec., school
boys in Europe began celebrating a feast day each year.

Queen Victoria later changed the celebration date from Dec. 6th to Dec. 24th
eve.

Did Jesus or his Companions Celebrate Christmas?

If Jesus meant his followers to celebrate Christmas, he would have practiced it

himself and enjoined it on his followers. There is no mention in the entire Bible
that any of his followers ever celebrated Jesus' birthday like Christians do today.

"The church did not observe a festival for the celebration of the event of
Christmas until the 4th century" (Grolier's Encyclopedia)

Thus we see that neither the Bible nor Jesus and his companions say anything
about the celebration of Christmas which currently involves fanfare,
commercialization, and extravagent spending, devoid of any spiritual relevance.

We'll now analyze the real person of Jesus (peace be upon him), in the light of
the Bible and Islam.

What did Jesus Say about Himself?

 In many places in the Bible, Jesus, referring to himself as a Prophet said:

"A Prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own
house" (Matthew 13:57),

"Nevertheless I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following, for it
cannot be that a Prophet persists out of Jerusalem". (Luke 13:33).

Jesus Received God's Revelation

Similarly, Jesus Christ too, as a Prophet, received revelations from God: "But
now you seek to kill me, a man that had told you the truth, which I heard of God"
(John 8:40)

Jesus Prayed to his God

"And when he (Jesus) had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a
mountain apart to pray" (Matthew 14:23)

Obvious question: If Jesus was God, who was he praying to?

Jesus put himself Equal to other Humans

Jesus put himself equal to other humans in the eyes of God.

"My father and your father, my God and your God" (John 20:17)

God does not have a God, But Jesus had a God! Moreover, the gospel writers
referred to Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) as the 'son of man' about 85 times in
the Gospels, and never once did he explicitly called himself 'God', or 'God the
Son', or 'The Begotton Son of God'.

Jesus Preached God's Oneness

Jesus Christ, as a true Prophet of God, taught monotheism. When asked,

'What is the first of all commandments', Jesus replied:

"...The first of all the Commandments is, Hear O Israel; the Lord our God is
One Lord" (Mark 12:29)

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou has sent" (John 17:3)
 Prophets of God

God, by his mercy, sent numerous Prophets throughout history to all nations
as guides and role models. Some of the prophets were Noah, Abraham, Ishmael,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and the Last Prophet Muhammad (peace be on all of
them). They all came with the same basic message, which is the Oneness of God,
without any partners, sons or daughters.

This Oneness of God in its complete essence, preached by all prophets, was
later distorted by some segments of humanity and naming these 'distortions' as
'religions', they left the worship of one true God and replaced it with worshiping
humans, cows and fire. To purify humanity, God sent His last Prophet, Muhammad
(peace be upon him) as a guide for all mankind and through him revealed in His
last Messge, The Quran:

"They have adopted their scholars and monks as lords besides God and (also)
Christ, the son of Mary, although they have been ordered to serve only God alone.
There is no god but Him. Glory be to Him ! He is beyond what they associate (with
Him)...." (Quran 9:31)

This utmost obedience and worship to one God, in its truest sense forms the
basis of Islam. The entire Quran has been committed to memory by millions of
Muslims around the world and preserved by God Himself from any interpolations,
unlike previous scriptures, to provide guidance for all ages.

What Does Islam Teach?

Islam calls humanity to the service of the One, Omnipotent Creator ('Allah' in
Arabic). Islam teaches the oneness of mankind in the eyes of God regardless of
superficial differences such as race & nationality. In Islam there is no superiority
of whites over blacks or vice versa. Anything that disrupts society's harmony and
deviates humans from worshiping one true God is disliked in Islam. Thus Islam
recognizes the evils of alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, gambling etc. and advises
humans to stay sway from these Satan's handiwork. Islam further provides
detailed instruction about a person's relationship with God, with his family and the
society. Thus no aspect of a person's life is outside of the guidance provided by
God.
 Born Sinless!

Islam teaches that every child is born sinless with a pure heart and an inner
instinct to realize the oneness of God. It is the parents or the environment that
deviates this child to associate partners with God (in the form of multiple gods) or
to reject God altogether.

No Mediator

There is no mediator between God and man. There is no need of one, for God,
the All knowing, can listen and answer our sincere prayers regardless of our state
and place.

Salvation comes through submitting to the pure belief in One God and
following His guidance as revealed in the Quran, and not through the vicarious
sacrifice (murder) of an innocent human being. Thus Islam is a rational religion
based on justice and self accountability, and not on unjust and mysterious
doctrines formulated by humans. Islam provides solutions to all the ills plaguing
humanity. An example of Islam's stand on racial justice is provided below.

Islam Dispels Racis

One person's superiority over another is not based on his race, economic
status or nationality but on his God-Consciousness and purity of character. God
proclaims in the Quran:`"O mankind ! We have created you from a single (pair) of
a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know
each other and not that you may despise each other. Verily the most honored of
you in the sight of God is the most righteous..." (49:13).

Likewise Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) proclaimed: "No Arab has
any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over a
black man, or the black man any superiority over the white man. You are all the
children of Adam, and Adam was created from clay."

After studying Islam, Malcolm X, became a true Muslim. He remarks:

 "...America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that
erases from its society the race problem..."

The Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, but translations of its
meaning are available in English and other languages for non-Arabs. Likewise
Islam is not restricted to people of the east or Arabs, it is a universal religion
revealed for all of mankind.

We invite all sincere humans to study Islam with an unbiased mind. Don't
blindly follow the whims and paganistic influences of the environment around us.
God bestowed upon us this superb mind to seek and live the truth; for we all will
be accountable on the Day of Judgment for our beliefs and deeds. Don't delay
your salvation.