Visiting London in December can be a magical time. In the centre of the city, the shops and streets are decorated with lights and Christmas trees. The courtyard of Somerset House has been transformed into a great ice-skating rink. In the middle of Trafalgar Square a great Christmas tree, the gift of the people of Norway, creates a mood of festivity and nostalgia, reminding everyone of childhood times when life's cares were something strange. The smells of roasting chestnuts tempt the senses as shoppers rush from one place to the next, trying to gather up the last gifts for their loved ones. Anyone visiting the city for the first time would be sure to be left with a very warm feeling that would remain with them forever. If only, they might think, it could be Christmas every day. There is a problem, though. The tinsel on the Christmas trees disguises much that is not worthy of a warm feeling. All that glitters is not gold. Christmas is now surrounded by so much media hype that many of the shops have begun to display their Christmas range from as early as October. After three months of “jingle bells”, shoppers have had enough! The pressure on parents each year to buy bigger and better toys for their children is so great. Many have to borrow money to cope with the financial burden Christmas brings. The current Global economic crisis has left many with no work and no money to spend on gifts this year, so Christmas will be a time of great stress. There are, in fact, charities set up at this time of the year to help people cope with the anxiety that Christmas can bring. Just around the corner from many of the High Street shops it is not difficult to find people begging for food to eat. Even devout Christians find it a scandal that obscene amounts of money are spent on food, drink, and Christmas decorations when millions in the world are starving. It might be well to remind ourselves for a moment, just what Christmas is all about. The actual feast of Christmas, celebrated on December 25 by most Christians, and on January 7 by some of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, remembers the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him). In ancient times, December 25 was a feast of the pagan sun god, celebrated in Europe in the depths of winter to give hope that the cold, dark days of December would soon pass. The Churches took over this date to remember the birth of Christ, although nowhere is it actually recorded when Jesus was born. Some of the Christmas symbols, such as the tree and the wreath of evergreens, remind people of growth and continuity in a season when much is dead. Put simply, the feast celebrates the belief that God sent His son into the world to redeem it from the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, and Christmas is the time when Jesus was born. That, in a nutshell, is what Christmas means. Whether any of the people staggering drunk around the streets of London or New York know this, is another matter. Whether the shoppers, frantically clamoring for gifts of any kind to give to relatives they hardly know, understand that this is what they are celebrating is doubtful. It is a fact that most of the countries of Europe are now only nominally Christian, but their predominant tradition is a Christian one. Christmas, as a traditional part of European and North American culture, is celebrated one way or another by almost everyone in these countries, whether or not they are church-goers or even believe in God. During the Middle Ages, almost everyone went to church. Nowadays, the majority do not. Nonetheless, Christmas has remained very much a part of these societies. For most people, it has become a time to celebrate the love of family and friends and to look back with fondness at happy memories of childhood and to a time when people did, perhaps, pray and have some belief in its power. This is one group who celebrate Christmas. The other group who celebrate Christmas are devout Christian believers. For them, it is a religious feast at the heart of their faith. All people of faith wish them a most happy feast. The most important part of the celebration for believers is not the turkey or the mince pies, but the religious service. Unfortunately for them, though, they are very much in a minority, and their feast has been robbed from them by the salesmen and the media. The Christian voice in Europe has been silenced. This is a matter of deep regret for all people of faith. Those who would impose a secular agenda have managed very cleverly to make religious practice seem a merely private thing that should have no impact on the life of the nation. People are encouraged to do whatever they wish behind closed doors, but should not bring it into the open. When the Archbishop of Canterbury speaks, for example, his message is reviled or ridiculed in the Press. Or even worse, it is just ignored as irrelevant. Just as in London, there are people, sincere believers, who spend this time of the year caring for the poor and the elderly who have been left behind by the Christmas consumer machine, so Christmas can be a time for all of us to think of those who are less well off than we are. If it is a time to remind childhood and happy days, that is OK. If it is only an occasion for self-indulgence then it is less so. But Christmas can be time for all people of faith, whether Muslim or Christian or Jew, to once more re-assert the fact that there is a place for God in our society. Clericalism and religiosity, we can do without, but to admit that there is a Creator, and to spend a few moments worshipping Him can only be a blessing to whatever society we belong to. To all the people of London and Egypt, religious or not, Happy Holidays!
British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University. The author of eight books about Islam, divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com
