Let’s Soar Amidst the Celestial Valentine

As usual; before any Christian religious occasion, Islamists blow their warning horns; be ware not to fall in the traps of the crusaders, who are cunningly dragging you to embrace their tampered faith with love cliché. And Valentine to Islamists is the biggest threat of them all. It is the occasion for love. Matters of heart are not very easy to handle.

My junk mail is usually loaded with e-mails from Islamists, but last week’s mail surpassed its previous ones in number. Most of which carried warnings about the idea behind Valentine. Some others like this one carried some innovative ideas, throwing competitions for the best banner designs that exposes the viciousness of Valentine occasion:

عــــــــــــيد .. حب .. سعــــــــــــيد ۞

الأحبة فى الله ….

عيد الحب ….

يوم الحب ….

يوم فـالنتاين ….

أهنئكم بمناسبة عيد الحب .

وسيكون موضوعنا لمسابقة الأسبوع هو ” عيد حب سعيد ”
اليوم هو يوم الحب وأن الناس يحتفلون به ويتبادلون التهاني.. إنه احتفال بالحب، بالرومانسية، بالصدق، إنه يوم فـالنتاين.

آه أعتذر …..
أخذنى الكلام وكدت أنسى بأننا مسلمين .

لمن عيد الحب .. إنه عيد فالنتاين … هل تقبل أن تحتفل به بعد أن تعلم أن عيد الحب ما هو إلا احتفال ديني خالص تخليداً لذكرى إحدى الشخصيات النصرانية..

احذر … فهو ليس لنا .

احذر … أن تكون مثلهم …

وتذكر أن العالم أجمع ونحن منهم إلا من رحم ربي نشاهد ما يفعله اليهود الملاعين فى الأقصى .

فاحذر أن تجعل مثل هذه الأعياد تشغلك عن دينك .

فما تجرأ علينا حثالة الشعوب إلا بعد إتباعنا الأعمى لضلالاتهم … ونسياننا لأولويات ديننا .

تجرأوا علينا لأنهم لم يجدوا فى الأمر صعوبة فى أن يشغلونا أن أهم أمورنا .

قال الله تعالى{ورهبانية ابتدعوها ما كتبناها عليهم} هل تريد أن تتبع بدعهم وأعيادهم …

عن أنس ـ رضي الله عنه ـ قال: قدم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم المدينة ولهم يومان يلعبون فيهما، فقال: (قد أبدلكم الله تعالى بهما خيرا منهما: يوم الفطر والأضحى).

قال الحافظ ابن حجر ـ رحمه الله ـ : واستنبط منه كراهة الفرح في أعياد المشركين والتشبه بهم”.
الأحبة فى الله …..

هذا هو موضوع وحملة الرابطة لهذا الأسبوع .

وشعارنا فيها ” عيد الحب لمن ؟!؟ ”

وها نحن نقدم لكم اليوم التصميمات المشاركة فى مسابقة تحدى الأسبوع السادس .

والتى فاز فيها التصميم رقم ” 16

Others went one step further to enquire what shree3a (through clerics) has to say about this type of celebrations:

سئل فضيلته: انتشر بين فتياننا وفتياتنا الاحتفال بما يسمى عيد الحب (يوم فالنتاين)وهو اسم قسيس يعظمه النصارى يحتفلون به كل عام في 14 فبراير، ويتبادلون فيه الهدايا والورود الحمراء، ويرتدون الملابس الحمراء، فما حكم الاحتفال به أو تبادل الهدايا في ذلك اليوم وإظهار ذلك العيد جزاكم الله خيرًا.

فأجاب حفظه الله:

أولاً: لا يجوز الاحتفال بمثل هذه الأعياد المبتدعة؛ لأنه بدعة محدثة لا أصل لها في الشرع فتدخل في حديث عائشة رضي الله عنها أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: (من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد) أي مردود على من أحدثه.
ثانياً: أن فيها مشابهة للكفار وتقليدًا لهم في تعظيم ما يعظمونه واحترام أعيادهم ومناسباتهم وتشبهًا بهم فيما هو من ديانتهم وفي الحديث: (من تشبه بقوم فهو منهم).
ثالثاً: ما يترتب على ذلك من المفاسد والمحاذير كاللهو واللعب والغناء والزمر والأشر والبطر والسفور والتبرج واختلاط الرجال بالنساء أو بروز النساء أمام غير المحارم ونحو ذلك من المحرمات، أو ما هو وسيلة إلى الفواحش ومقدماتها، ولا يبرر ذلك ما يعلل به من التسلية والترفيه وما يزعمونه من التحفظ فإن ذلك غير صحيح، فعلى من نصح نفسه أن يبتعد عن الآثام ووسائلها.
وقال حفظه الله:
وعلى هذا لا يجوز بيع هذه الهدايا والورود إذا عرف أن المشتري يحتفل بتلك الأعياد أو يهديها أو يعظم بها تلك الأيام حتى لا يكون البائع
مشاركًا لمن يعمل بهذه البدعة والله أعلم

الشيخ عبد الله بن جبرين

Now the question that comes to mind is; why Moslems are so frightened by anything attributed to Christianity? Especially Valentine? And do they have any base for their fear?

Trying to find answers to at least the last part of that question; I first had to examine the origin of valentine.
And here is what Wikipedia has to say about this day:

“Saint Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine’s cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine’s Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.”
here is more

But the celebration of this day goes beyond that date. Let’s look a little further into the origin, from Wikipedia again:

“On the ancient Athens calendar, the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.

In Ancient Rome, February 15 was Lupercalia. Plutarch wrote:
Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.

The word Lupercalia comes from lupus, or wolf, so the holiday may be connected with the legendary wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning “Juno the purifier” or “the chaste Juno,” was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia. Some historians argue that Candlemas (then held on February 14, later moved to February 2) was promoted as its replacement, but this feast was already being celebrated in Jerusalem by AD 381. The pope also declared in 496 that the feast of St. Valentine would be on February 14.”

Sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera? But who is Zeus? And who is Hera.

Zeus was the ancient Greek “God of Gods”. Astrological books of the medieval epoch depicted Him as the powerful, Justus and omniscient God, in the form of man associated with weather; usually he carries a thunderbolt. and Hera “the Goddess of marriage”, who regained her virginity each February to prepare herself to be married off to Zeus every year. Zeus was also identified with Jupiter; the Roman’s God.

We also learn from Wikipedia:

“The planet Jupiter has been known since ancient times and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. The Romans named the planet after the Roman god Jupiter (also called Jove).”

And out of curiosity; what does Jupiter or Jove mean?

From Wikipedia:

“Jupiter is a vocative compound derived from archaic Latin Iovis and pater (Latin for father), this was also used as the nominative case. Jove is an English formation based on Iov-, the stem of oblique cases of the Latin name (accusative Iovem, genitive Iovis, dative Iovi and ablative Iove – an irregular declension). Linguistic studies identify his name as deriving from the Indo-European compound *dyēus- pəter- (“O Father God”)….

So in a nutshell; February is the month of marraige of planet Jupiter to the Goddess of marriage; whatever the astrological interpertation of that may be. In other words; it’s all about astrology.

Ok, now I’ll get to the root of the question again; do Muslims have any base for their fear of Valentine?

Not really, February, as we saw from the above, was the month of ancient’s love since the Roman and Greek times, and may be even before that. Christian clerics only Christianized the ritual, just like Moslems who islamized the pagan rituals of Haj bait Allah from their pagan ancestors (I know, jumla dasha 3arth, but I had to spit it out :p)

And here I end my journey to conclude that Valentine is not a Christian celebration, nor it is about paganism, it’s all about astrology. The Roman God’s attributes were linked to that of planets. Jupiter is also believed to have had its significance in many other cultures including Hinduism, also based on astrology. So Muslims don’t have to worry about the Crusaders, they have to watch out for the stars.

Islamists can never deprive masses of celebrating love, and that’s why Valentine is their scarecrow.

Now if you believe in astrology you have to believe in February being the month of love; whether that was named Valentine or Louis Vuitton. But if you are like me who does not believe in astrology, yet, can’t resist the temptation of love, then just feel the positive vibration this day can bring to the world as long as it is associated with love, be it pagan or not.

Have a happy Valentine you all, and may the stars of love shine within you, but be ware of their powers over your pockets ;D