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Should Muslims Celebrate Halloween?

By , About.com GuideOctober 15, 2009

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A Halloween parade in New York City features images of death and the supernatural. The colorful costumes and candy are in the shops, enticing children into the Halloween excitement. Do Muslims celebrate Halloween? How is Halloween perceived in Islam? To make an informed decision, we need to understand the history and traditions of this festival.

Photo by Rick Gershon / Getty Images: A Halloween parade in New York City features images of death and the supernatural.

Comments
October 29, 2009 at 8:50 am
(1) Bonnee(salma :

I really see nothing wrong with muslims celebrating halloween.Its a chance for the little ones to have a little fun & Allah knows no matter what side of this big world we’re living on,we all deserve a little fun once in awhile.So yes I think they should celebrate this day.I see no harm in this.

October 29, 2009 at 9:17 am
(2) shaka :

Well I agree there’s nothing wrong with having some fun with the kids….if muslims want to celebrate halloween they should! We live in this envoirment so its nothing wrong with that…:)

October 29, 2009 at 9:36 am
(3) RosaRosa :

Halloween is not part of the sunnah. The “having fun” justification opens the door to other things that will send the wrong message to children, adults and even non-Muslims. Halloween, like many holidays, is based on pagan customs with nothing associated with Allah, but rather with shaytaan. There are alternatives to this, but trick or treating is not sahih. Note that at every Eid I gave bags of candy to children. At the last one, a little girl whose family was new to Islam stated “This is better than Halloween!” If we took our holidays seriously, then our children would not be so likely to view other non-Muslim celebrations with desire.

October 29, 2009 at 9:44 am
(4) GARBA B. ALI :

SALAMU ALAIKUM, BEFORE MOSLEMS CONCLUDE ON ATTENDING HALLOWEEN OR NOT, MOSLEMS HAS A GUIDE BOOK, THE QURAN AND THE PROPHETIC SAYING (HADITHS), LETS FIND OUT WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THINGS OF THIS NATURE, WHATS IS THE ORIGIN , ITS INTENTION, WHO ARE THE MAJOR ACTORS, ISLAM IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK BUT WHAT ARE THE LAWS, BECAUSE MOSLEMS DON`T LIVE IN ISOLATION,THEY ARE BEING GUIDED, DONT THINK.. FIND OUT FIRST IF YOU ARE A TRUE MOSLEM

October 29, 2009 at 11:50 am
(5) Mrs Farooq :

Assalamoalaikum,the day Muslims stop being apologetic about their religion,they will start appreciating it and not make excuses for adopting everything that others do.I have seen people going to work on Eid and Eid ul Adha.They go for the Eid prayers in the morning,come home,change into work clothes and go to work.Many don’t even bother to do that.For them going to work is more important.Why can’t they take two days off for Eids and spend quality time,having fun with their family?What kind of a message are they giving to their children?The Jews have holidays every other month,why can’t the Muslims ask for days off from work celeberate their Eids?When kids see that there’s nothing to celeberate in Islam,they will turn to what other people do.Why can’t the Muslim houses be lit up during Ramadan and Eids.Why can’t our children be given candy if they pray and behave well during Taraweeh in Ramadan.I started it at our Masjid last year,this year a few other ladies did it too.Not only do the children love it,the older girls and mothers want candy too because they were good.I agree that we are living in a society where our children are exposed to a lot of things which look very attractive,but can be very destructive.The adults/parents have to brush up their act.They have to make a conscious effort at home,and lead by example.Just sending them to Friday,Saturday or Sunday school is not enough. Stop being so defensive and apologetic about Islam.Learn to be proud Muslims,only then will your children follow it with pride.

October 29, 2009 at 12:14 pm
(6) hajrah :

As salaamu alaikum. I dont think there is any harm in muslim children trick or treating and dressing up in general costumes like docters, police officers, ballerinas, etc. this gives the children something fun to do and something to look forward to. im not talking about dressing like cartoon characters or ghost and witchs, we all know these things are not real.let the children enjoy the candy and treats as long as there is no haraam acts and no dressing up like the kuffars. when you take everything children are used to away thats when they feel trapped and start to hate what thet feel forced to do. Allah knows best. fear allah to the best of your ability.

October 29, 2009 at 2:50 pm
(7) Elizabeth :

The issue with halloween is not the fact that it is a “fun holiday”, it is the fact that it is a pagan holiday and could be defined as shirk. The christians tried to christianise it by calling it all hallowes eve, or halloween, but it is the one holiday celibrated today that kept most of it’s pagan roots. Trick or treating, the jack-o-lantern, the costumes are/were originally pagan. I converted to islam from 11 years of paganism. I still know websites and have many books supporting what I say.

October 30, 2009 at 12:27 am
(8) Rayaan :

asalaamu calaykum. Islam is all about finding the truth.. I always ask myself are the chirstian holidays better than ours? did we ever ask ourselves that do the chirstain and the jews or non muslims celebrate our holidays? The answer is esay and it is “NO” SO WE DO WE KEEP FOLLOWING THEM when they do not follow us. Allah said (LAKUM DIINUKUM WALIYA DIIN) I waould like to tell my brothers and sisters follow your religion and be proud to be a muslim.. And i would like elizabeth to tell me the websites. thank u all

November 1, 2009 at 12:16 am
(9) LizM :

I converted to Islam 6 years ago and I would never allow my children to take part in Halloween. There are plenty of ways for our children to have fun without taking part in Pagan celebrations. Sure, costumes and candy are fun, but is that reason enough to allow our children to take part in a day that has its roots in worship of the sun and of the dead??? I think not..

November 2, 2009 at 12:04 pm
(10) olive :

Then the moslems people need to work together, help each other and not separate or hurt each other no matter what conflict they have. this should be the only politic every moslem leader should focus….

November 2, 2009 at 11:26 pm
(11) Cynthia :

Hello. I am a Christian and I do not celebrate halloween at all. It is not a Christian celebration! I do not celebrate Valentines day or St Patricks day. I don’t color eggs or buy chocolate easter bunnies. I stay away from any pagan practices. The Catholics tried unsucessfully centries ago to change pagan holidays to Christian holidays, but part of the paganism remained. These holidays have nothing to do with Christianity.

November 4, 2009 at 2:07 am
(12) Nora :

I agree that we should allow our children to have fun so they don’t feel left out. But this doesn’t imply that you have to have to follow other religions. So here is a thought what about christmas and easter should we then bring christmas trees in our homes and let the kids go egg hunting? The answer is simple NO WAY. On halloween night this year Our Masjid organized a fun Pizza party for kids where they gave out goody bags filled with candies. This ways the kids not only got to have fun but also obtained sawab by praying maghrib and Isha prayer in jamaah. So here is my opinion there is a remedy for everything, children are very smart and it all depends upon which way you steer them as I recall none of the kids even thought about wearing costumes or going trick or treating because they got what they wanted and that is FUN. We can all have fun within our boundaries.

November 5, 2009 at 9:36 am
(13) Cynthia :

I wonder where this idea that Christians followed pagan practices began? I don’t follow any of them. Understand that non-religious people that don’t know any better follow this stuff. If you think we follow pagen practices watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6FE8d05vpE

January 21, 2010 at 5:02 pm
(14) DW :

Being neither pagan or christian what am I . I do love nature and believe all is connected but I dont beieve in many or even one god or goddesses. We celebrate all holidays and teach the children in our home that was the past and now today and the future will be different . Fith in hope and love is fine but you dont need to be a certain religion to have hope be full of joy and happiness is possible with out any gods or god priests preiestesses or godesses. It is all myth any how in many peoples eyes. I have read the bible visisted studied other religions and studdyied many of the roman and greek gods the pagan gods and christian god, well any way : Science and evolution is what we are into

June 16, 2010 at 1:56 am
(15) asma :

its not goood to celebrate anything except eid
but as u can see the world is changing and sometimes we cant resist but u have to avoid celebrating other festivals except

June 16, 2010 at 1:57 am
(16) asma :

its not goood to celebrate anything except eid
but as u can see the world is changing and sometimes we cant resist but u have to avoid celebrating other festivals except eid

ps:i m 10 years old , so no bad replys plzz

July 15, 2010 at 4:30 am
(17) haaris :

im a muslim and i dont care about the rules made by the scholars.

August 21, 2010 at 2:18 am
(18) khirman :

im a muslim and i dont go trick or treating but i do dress up

October 12, 2010 at 4:10 pm
(19) Melissa :

I am not yet Muslim, but I have decided I will be converting. I am still torn on Halloween, as it is one of my favorite holidays, and every year my friend’s family and I get together, dress up in costume, and hold an annual party for several of my friend’s daycare families and her children’s friends. It is a huge party, and it is something I look forward to participating in every year. The party is harmless and we always try to steer away from anything that involves the devil and we do our best to keep it “kid friendly”. As of before yesterday, I was planning to wait until closer towards the end of the year to finalize my transition to Islam, but now that I’ve started praying 5 times a day and dealing with some outside issues that I wish to find ways to control, I am feeling like maybe I should just drop everything and go straight to an Imam tomorrow. But the only thing I am worried about at this point is my commitment to my friends on the Halloween party. Being an American (and former Christian) convert, I guess there was a part of me that wanted to get everything “out of my system” — no more bad music, no more occasional drinks, no more bacon or sausage, no more cussing, lack of patience, etc. Most of it I have managed to expel, or in some cases, at least dilute, but I don’t know that I am ready to convert without at least one last Halloween party. I guess also a part of my wanting this one last celebration is like many of you have said–where is the fun with the Muslim Holidays? Always I ask my Muslim friends from across the world — What did you do to celebrate Eid? What do you do to celebrate your holidays? I guess I keep waiting to hear something exciting like “we lit up the house and decorated”, or “we opened gifts and had a huge meal together”. But never do they say anything like that. I am still wondering to this day if Muslims really know how to have any kind of fun, or if they have simply restricted any and all real enjoyment in their lives, all in the name of Allah?

Well, on a side note, I have read that quite of you are converts. I am wondering if some of you converts would be willing to E-mail me and tell me about your experiences. Although I know that this is the choice I want to make for myself, I am having a hard time making the “cultural” switch from one completely different lifestyle to another. I am really feeling alone in this, and I think that is a second reason as to why I have been so apprehensive as to make the switch. So if anyone out there who knows and understands what it is to go from living one type of life, to living the exact opposite, please feel free to contact me through E-mail. I would really appreciate all the help and support I can get.
Thanks for your time – Melissa

October 31, 2010 at 9:43 pm
(20) sara :

really cant say anything, my klids love halloween more than eid as they get a chance to dress up and enjoy candy and have fun, they dont even know the history behind this and we dont have any intention to go against islam and its spirit.. if everything is on niat then what the big deal?
when they will grow up they will understand and wont have it anymore its only like few years and then we never have Christmas , Easter etc..we do have eids in US but let me be a bit blunt here, whet do we ppl muslims do on eid for kids? what do we do for them in ramadan? except for attending dinners and leaving them up and awake late nights when we should be at home.. no fun activity nothing everything is focused on eating and showing off dresses and houses … i cant understand when we need to live separate from the rest of the society why we even bother to migrate why not to live in a highly discriminative Arab society where they will treat you like dog or go live in 3rd world muslim countries.. why do we take advantages of the system thats totally based on tax paid by ppl who drink ,gamble celebrate Halloween and eat pork and then complain as well that we had been treated with racism? really if taking mortgage on interest could be halal if you are in a non muslim country whats the blast in celebrating something innocent that you can always leave when you grow up…pls i need answers

November 1, 2010 at 9:01 am
(21) Fatimah :

Asalamu Alaykum;

@sara and others who believe in the celebrations of Halloween:

Virtually all Halloween traditions are based either in ancient pagan culture, or in Christianity. From an Islamic point of view, they all are forms of idolatry (shirk). As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honor and uphold our faith and beliefs. How can we worship only Allah, the Creator, if we participate in activities that are based in pagan rituals, divination, and the spirit world? Many people participate in these celebrations without even understanding the history and the pagan connections, just because their friends are doing it, their parents did it (”it’s a tradition!”), and because “it’s fun!”

At the end of the day it’s not about “what you feel or think about”. It’s about what the Qur’an and Sunnah has to say about celebrations for pagan holiday.

@Sara if I’m not mistaken not only are you being judgemental and disrespectful, a lot of times there’s no home to go to once ones’ own country is suffering economically,financially and so forth. Let us be clear about why we were created in the first place. Don’t be tempted by your desires and expect others to follow.

Lastly, may Allah accept anything khair which I’ve written and forgive me for my mistakes. Ameen.

And Allah knows best.

November 1, 2010 at 9:40 am
(22) Amuslim :

ur allowed to celebrate halloween just for the candy as long u dont believe deeply into it as if u think vampires will eat u or a witch will cast a spell on u stuff like that kk Arabs dont celebrate this holiday but middle eastern people do!

January 8, 2011 at 2:40 am
(23) Just sayin :

Islam is so boring and rigid I really feel sorry for anyone stuck adhering to it. Why not just dress normal, trick or treat, light a pumpkin and have some fun? Life is short enjoy it! And have a drink while you’re at it!

October 7, 2011 at 6:34 pm
(24) Fred :

Muslims can because it’s not a devil holiday like some ppl believe, it’s just like acting in a movie pretending ur something ur not. Because trust me a 3 year old girl dressed up as Cinderella is pro ally not a devil worshiper, p.s I’m Muslim and I celebrate Halloween….

October 10, 2011 at 9:57 pm
(25) Zee :

I think that several of the sisters up there had great ideas, but before that… I really don’t think there’s much to “celebrate” about Halloween. To me it’s like Labor Day: you get a day off so you enjoy something nice with the family. It’s not like you’re letting your kids go worship the shaytaan; you’re letting them take a day to get some treats. As long as it’s not the costume of a kuffar does it make a difference? Are my children worshipping their costume? No. if not I, my wife certainly raised them well enough to look to Allah alone for worship. But even so, one might say that the costume is too fine a line.
That’s why I like the idea of the sister who mentioned having a special night at the masjid for kids to go pray (maybe listen to stories about the prophet p.b.u.h., some can be great for children if the storyteller is good) and get treats (healthy ones hopefully!). Children will always look for fun, but to be safe and keep them on the good path, why not make it so they can enjoy all of Allah’s bounty? That’s why I also agree 100% with everyone who mentioned taking Eid seriously. If Allah has given you two holidays to celebrate the whole year.. enjoy them!! Islam is as much about enjoying whatever Allah has provided you here in this life and being thankful to Allah from your heart, as it is about preparing form the hereafter. If one rejects the goodness of what he has in the here and now, he is ungrateful to Allah and this is as terrible as forgetting that our lives here are only temporary.

October 22, 2011 at 6:30 pm
(26) JOUJOU :

IAM MUSLIM AND I CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN AND I THINK U GUYS SHOULD JUST CALM DOWN AND HAVE A LIL INNOCENT FUN!!!!

October 24, 2011 at 4:29 pm
(27) Ahmed :

Muslims should celbrate Halloween. We should show the non-muslims that we can assimilate to their customs.

October 27, 2011 at 12:04 am
(28) Kim :

Assalamu alaykum,

Like many here, I am also a convert/revert to Islam, now going on six years, alhumdulilah. I relate to the stress some of you are feeling about leaving Halloween behind, especially once you have kids and realize it’s not just about your own “fun,” but rather about raising thoughtful, observant, faithful children. I, too, grew up celebrating (and LOVING) the fun of Halloween; however, I have had a change of heart about passing this holiday onto my children. It took me years to arrive at this decision and to feel truly sure of what I am doing, but I hope Allah recognizes my faithfulness in celebrating only our two Eid holidays. Speaking of which, I make a very *big* deal about Eids. We decorate, we bake special treats, we wrap and give gifts, we visit amusement parks or go on a mini-vacation. We celebrate both Eid holidays for the full three days each. And I must say, it rivals any Christmas or Easter I ever celebrated as a child. Knowing that we are celebrating the two holidays that Allah has designated for the believers, my heart is at peace. And there is still lots of FUN to be had during those two holidays.

October 31, 2011 at 4:25 pm
(29) ..aYshAh... :

ii thiink celebrating hallowean is a disgrace because this allowsz muslimsz tooo be influenced on the horrible activity!! ii will never be allowed or take part in this disgracefuul; fiiing!! NOOOOOO MUSLIMS SHOULD NEVER TAKE PART IN THIS ACTIVITY!

October 31, 2011 at 10:36 pm
(30) zack :

well I’m a Muslim and what i think about this Halloween is by your intention if you are celebrating Halloween like it was a big deal than and a died people celebration then yes it is bad but if you are just doing it for fun and trick-or-treating for candy and just having fun then that is okay. this is my opinion

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