Aslam

Praise be to Allah.Praise be to the One God, who begets not, nor is

begotten.

You seem to have misinterpreted the condemnation

of celebration of Christmas as a matter of disrespect for Christians. In reality,

it is out of respect for Allah and Jesus and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad,

peace be upon them. It is an integral part of our faith to reject celebrations

that have not been prescribed and/or that have a basis in falsehood, as inevitably

they lead to misguidance and alterations in faith, as has happened with Christianity.

There is nothing "radical" or "fringe" about this. It is

our basic right to protect our faith and practice from distortion and falsehood.

Surely no one has a right to condemn us for this.

Do you think Encyclopedia Britannica is rational

and honest? Please read what they have to say about Christmas:

Excerpts quoted directly from http://www.britannica.com

:

The word Christmas is derived from the Old English

Cristes maesse, "Christ's Mass." :

( There is

no certain tradition of the date of Christ's birth. Christian chronographers

of the 3rd century believed that the creation of the world took place at the

spring equinox, then reckoned as March 25; hence the new creation in the incarnation

(i.e., the conception) and death of Christ must therefore have occurred

on the same day, with his birth following nine months later at the winter solstice,

December 25).

...

According to a Roman almanac, the Christian festival

of Christmas was celebrated in Rome by AD 336...

( The reason why Christmas came

to be celebrated on December 25 remains uncertain, but most probably the reason

is that early Christians wished the date to coincide with the pagan Roman festival

marking the "birthday of the unconquered sun" ) (natalis solis

invicti); this festival celebrated the winter

solstice, when the days again begin to lengthen and the sun begins to climb

higher in the sky. The traditional customs connected with Christmas have accordingly

developed from several sources as a result of the coincidence of the celebration

of the birth of Christ with the pagan agricultural and solar observances at

midwinter. In the Roman world the Saturnalia

(December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchange of gifts. December 25 was

also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of

Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with

greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these

observances were added the http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/idxref/0/0,5716,266282,00.htmlGerman

and Celtic

Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central

Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and

fir trees, and gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this

festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always

been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian. Since the

European Middle Ages, evergreens, as symbols of survival, have been associated

with Christmas...  [end quote]

So as any rational person can see, there is no

sound basis for Christmas, nor did Jesus (peace be upon him) or his true followers

celebrate Christmas or ask anyone to celebrate Christmas, nor was there any

record of anyone calling themselves Christians celebrating Christmas until several

hundred years after Jesus. So were the companions of Jesus more righteously

guided in not celebrating Christmas or are the people of today?

So if you want to respect Jesus, peace be upon

him, as Muslims do, don't celebrate some fabricated event that was chosen to

coincide with pagan festivals and copy pagan customs. Do you honestly think

God, or even Jesus himself, would approve or condemn such a thing? If you say

approve, then obviously you are not interested in the truth.

We ask Allaah, the One, Singular God, with no partners

or sons, the God of all creation and mankind, to guide us all to the path of

guidance and sincerity.