Valentine day: The Ummah is bleeding, can we be celebrating? By Ibrahim Muhammed

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue
…Valentines Day is definitely not for YOU!!!
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Valentine’s Day is a jaahili Roman festival, which continued to be celebrated until after the Romans became Christian. This festival became connected with the saint known as Valentine who was sentenced to death on 14 February 270 CE. The kuffaar still celebrate this festival, during which immorality and evil are practised widely.
Secondly:
It is not permissible for a Muslim to celebrate any of the festivals of the kuffaar, because festivals come under the heading of shar’i issues which are to be based on the sound texts.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Festivals are part of sharee’ah, clear way and rituals of which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way” [al-Maa’idah 5:48]
“For every nation We have ordained religious ceremonies which they must follow” [al-Hajj 22:67]
— such as the qiblah (direction faced in prayer), prayer and fasting. There is no difference between their participating in the festival and their participating in all other rituals. Joining in fully with the festival is joining in with kufr, and joining in with some of its minor issues is joining in with some of the branches of kufr. Indeed, festivals are one of the most unique features that distinguish various religions and among their most prominent symbols, so joining in with them is joining in with the most characteristic and prominent symbols of kufr. No doubt joining in with this may lead to complete kufr.
Partially joining in, at the very least, is disobedience and sin. This was indicated by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he said: “Every people has its festival and this is our festival.” This is worse than joining them in wearing the zinaar (a garment that was worn only by ahl al-dhimmah) and other characteristics of theirs, for those characteristics are man-made and are not part of their religion, rather the purpose behind them is simply to distinguish between a Muslim and a kaafir. As for the festival and its rituals, this is part of the religion which is cursed along with its followers, so joining in with it is joining in with something that is a cause of incurring the wrath and punishment of Allaah.
“And whoever seeks a religion[a way of life] other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers”
[The Holy Quran-Aal ‘Imraan 3:85]
The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH ) told us that groups of his ummah would follow the enemies of Allah (swa) in some of their rituals and customs. The Prophet (Muhammad (PBUH ) said:
“You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until even if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” We said, “O Messenger of Allah Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH ), (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?” He said, “Who else? !”
[Sahih Bukhari]
The Prophet (Muhammad (PBUH ) said:
“Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”
[Narrated by Ahmad]
History: Who was Valentine? Why is this day observed? Valentine’s Day began as a pagan ritual started by Romans in the 4th century BCE to celebrate “Feast of the Wolf” on February 15, also known as the Feast of Lupercalius to honor the god Lupercus. The main attraction of this ritual was a lottery held to distribute young women to young men for “entertainment & pleasure”-until the next year’s lottery. Christianity tried, without success, to stop the evil celebration of Lupercalia. The only success it had was in changing the name from Lupercalia to St. Valentine’s Day. It was done in CE 496 by Pope Gelasius, in honor of some Saint Valentine. There are as many as 50 different Valentines in Christian legends.
How can anyone in the Ummah really enjoy this Haraam Occasion when there is so much brutality and suffering going on in the world today. The rivers of blood flow freely from the veins of our brothers and sisters from across the Muslim world. Celebrating unislamic occassions like Valentines Day , New year, Christmas and shouting the names of musical heroes and watching Bollywood & Hollywood Movies drown out the screams coming from the dungeons of Uzbekistan where brothers and sisters are boiled alive in vats of water. How many will take out valuable time and spend it for the upliftment of Islam? How many will sacrifice for our kin in Gaza , Kashmir, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine, and Iraq?
There are many more killing fields as well across the Asian and Arab world. Will you climb on theatre chairs and express your rage over Guantanamo Bay and other gulags where our brothers and sisters are being tortured, raped, sodomized, beaten, and burned? Or will you just switch off and enjoy with the Kuffar in celebrating this evil custom?
Oh,Muslims,wake up! The Ummah is not bleeding; it is haemorrhaging.
Anas Bin Malik (R.A ) said:
“When the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH ) came to Madina, the people had two holidays from the days of Jahiliyyah(ignorance). He (pbuh ) said, “When I came to you, you had two holidays you used to celebrate in jahiliyyah. Allah (SWA) has replaced them for you with better days, the day of Fitr and the day of slaughter (Adha).”
Listen to the pain of your global family! The enemies of Allah (SWA) are destroying Islam and we are following in their footsteps!
Be pro active and DO NOT- ENGAGE, SUPPORT OR ENCOURAGE THIS EVIL….!!!
If you were intending to engage in this haraam practice and Now changed your mind, then do a noble deed by donating the money to an ISLAMIC CHARITABLE CAUSE which will make you the BELOVED of ALLAH (SWA) and will earn you an immense reward in the everlasting life of the hereafter!
To conclude: the Muslims should not do any of their rituals at the time of their festivals; rather the day of their festival should be like any other day for the Muslims. The Muslims should not do anything specific in imitation of them.
Al-Haafiz al-Dhahabi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: If the Christians have a festival, and the Jews have a festival, it is only for them, so no Muslim should join them in that, just as no Muslim should join them in their religion or their direction of prayer.
The hadeeth to which Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah referred was narrated by al-Bukhaari (952) and Muslim (892) from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: Abu Bakr came in and there were two young girls of the Ansaar with me who were singing about what had happened to the Ansaar on the day of Bu’aath. She said: And they were not (professional) singing girls. Abu Bakr said: “Musical instruments of the shaytaan in the house of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?!” and that was on the day of Eid. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “O Abu Bakr, every people has a festival and this is our festival.”
Abu Dawood (1134) narrated that Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah, they had two days when they would play. He said: “What are these two days?” They said: “We used to play on these days during the Jaahiliyyah.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has given you instead of them two days that are better than them: the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr.” This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
This indicates that festivals are among the characteristics by which nations are distinguished, and it is not permissible to celebrate the festivals of the ignorant and the mushrikeen (polytheists).
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: In recent times the celebration of Valentine’s Day has become widespread, especially among female students. It is a Christian festival where people dress completely in red, including clothes and shoes, and they exchange red flowers. We hope that you can explain the ruling on celebrating this festival, and what your advice is to Muslims with regard to such matters; may Allaah bless you and take care of you.
He replied:
Celebrating Valentine’s Day is not permissible for a number of reasons.
1- It is an innovated festival for which there is no basis in Islam.
2- It promotes love and infatuation.
3- It calls for hearts to be preoccupied with foolish matters that are contrary to the way of the righteous salaf (may Allaah be pleased with them).
The Muslim should be proud of his religion and should not be a weak character who follows every Tom, Dick and Harry. I ask Allaah to protect the Muslims from all temptations, visible and invisible, and to protect us and guide us.
And Allaah knows best.