# Should Muslims Celebrate Halloween? **Author:** Tom Facchine **Series:** Explained **Published:** 2024-10-29 **YouTube:** https://youtu.be/sj8OxMDjb1w **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/should-muslims-celebrate-halloween-explained **Topics:** Family & Community, Islamic Ethics, Parenting, Politics & Practical Theology ## Description With Halloween approaching, it’s a great moment to ask yourself, “Am I truly comfortable with standing out?” Imam Tom Facchine offers his reflections and insights. As humans, we find comfort in the company of others; but as Muslims, “most people” will not take us where we need to go. To excel... ## Summary **Should Muslims Celebrate Halloween?** ## Key Takeaways - The central issue is not merely whether a particular holiday is permissible but the underlying attitude it can instill in children. Teaching them to celebrate simply to fit in cultivates a mindset of needing to be like everyone else, which over time can erode their attachment to their faith far more than any single holiday. - True success is reframed away from being liked or accepted by others and toward seeking the approval of Allah. The Qur'an does not locate success in the acceptance of people but warns that those who fail to uphold and carry the faith may be replaced by people who love Allah and are unbothered by the blame or mockery of others. - The desire to participate in celebrations like Halloween or Valentine's is presented as a symptom of a larger disease, namely the pursuit of approval from people who do not value one's faith. Set against the image of taqwa as walking carefully through a thorny field, the believer is urged to ask whether a given choice reflects concern for what God thinks or merely concern for what others think. ## Transcript **[0:00]** Halloween is coming up and I want you to ask yourself one simple question. Do you have enough self-respect to be different? Do you have enough self-respect to stick out? Do you have enough love for Allah's deen to not care if you look like everybody else and you do what everybody else does? **[0:15]** Are you comfortable with being different? Because there's a bigger problem at play if you think that you just have to let your kids celebrate Halloween just because they want to fit in, just because that's what everybody else is doing, just because they're going to have some sort of uncomfortable conversations in school if they don't do that. **[0:31]** That entire mentality, that entire attitude that you're teaching your children is an attitude that's going to absolutely obliterate their Islam. And that is a bigger deal than whether this particular holiday is permissible, that particular holiday or any sort of particular individual remembrance. **[0:46]** The attitude that you give them of loving and cherishing and leaning into being different, that being proud to follow Allah's deen and being content with what Allah's deen gave us to get away from the inferiority complex or the mentality that we just have to be like everybody else **[1:02]** and be accepted and be likable. That's really what success is. That's not what success is. Allah doesn't tell us anywhere in the Quran that success is in being liked by other people or being accepted by other people. Allah says the opposite, that if you don't uphold this deen, if you don't protect this deen, **[1:18]** if you don't take it as a banner and as a torch and carry it forth and bring it to the people and show them the beauty of it, Allah will replace you. Allah will replace you with other people that love Him and He loves them. And one of the characteristics that Allah mentions, **[1:33]** وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ And they don't even care if they're blamed. They don't even care if people make fun of them. They don't even care if people want to laugh and say, oh, this guy's weird or look at all the things that he does. Who cares? Are you after the approval of the people or are you after the approval of Allah? **[1:50]** And that's really what it comes down to when it comes to Halloween or Valentine's Day or any of these other celebrations. It's a symptom of a much larger disease and that larger disease is trying to find the approval of other people that don't love you anyway for your deen. Don't concern yourself with the love of the people. **[2:07]** Concern yourself with the love of Allah. You know, the scholars, they say that taqwa, having piety and conscientiousness and having concern and awareness of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is like walking on eggshells. It's like wiqaya. It's like walking through a thorny field. **[2:23]** It's something where you are going to walk very carefully because you're concerned about what your Lord thinks about you. Now, tell me, letting your kids celebrate Halloween, is that demonstrating an attitude where you care what your Lord thinks about you? Or is it rather demonstrating an attitude **[2:39]** where you care what your neighbor thinks about you? Whether you care what your boss thinks about you? Answer that question for yourself and stay away from Halloween. ## Other Episodes in "Explained" - [Bosnia's Genocide, Up Close and Personal | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/bosnias-genocide-up-close-and-personal-dr-omar-suleiman.md) - [Palestine’s 1936 Great Revolt: A lie that divided Muslims and Christians | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/palestines-1936-great-revolt.md) - [You Could See The Blood From Space: Sudan Genocide Explained | Sh. 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