Saudi Islamic scholars are warning Muslims not to participate in any New Year's festivities, arguing that they are only allowed to celebrate on the two days of Eid. However, this is not stopping some Saudis from celebrating the coming of 2010 by having parties and dinners with family and friends. Ehaab Atteyah, 26, from Jeddah, organizes a New Year's party every year and invites all his Muslim and non-Muslim friends. “Every year I organize a party at one of the well-known [local] restaurants to celebrate the coming of the new year. I have never considered it a religious event,” said Atteyah. Saudi scholars and imams are clear about the issue. They say it goes against the fatwa of the Higher Committee of Islamic scholars. In a fatwa issued in 2008 by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz Aal Al-Sheikh, New Year celebrations are prohibited. “Muslims have Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, and their weekly holiday on Friday, and only that,” he stated. “Non-Muslims have different occasions such as Mother's Day, and yearly birthday celebrations where candles are lit and food is distributed,” stated the Grand Mufti. It has also been reported that members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will close down any New Year's parties. Other scholars have expressed their support for this fatwa. “Congratulating and celebrating with non-Muslims is not allowed because it represents their religion and we don't belong to their religion,” said Sheikh Ahmed Al-Banani, an Islamic scholar. According to Sheikh Asem Al-Hakeem, from Jaffar Al-Tayyar mosque, Muslims should not celebrate the coming of the new year. “Even if celebrating the new year is not a religious event as non-Muslims say, we should not celebrate it because the habit is adventitious. It came from other societies to our Muslim society, so we should not follow them,” added Al-Hakeem. Sheikh Taha Hassan said that celebrating could result in “strengthening non-Muslim's pride” that their religion is “right”. “That's why we should avoid such celebrations,” said Hassan. However, Hassan said this does not mean Muslims can be unkind to non-Muslims. “We should not forget our role in society. We should be good examples to others. Islam urges us to be kind to everyone without any kind of discrimination [in terms of] faith or race. “It's allowed to celebrate with non-Muslims in any non-religious celebration or feast, to strengthen the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims,” he said. Students, who participated in the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, said that the issue needs to be considered from an Islamic perspective. Talal Sulaiman said that living in a foreign country and having non-Muslim friends had forced him to participate in their parties. “My friends congratulated me on the two Eids so they expected the same from me. I [was] forced to congratulate them because I was living with them,” he said. Hanadi Mohammad, a medical student who studied in France, said she was forced to attend Christmas dinner at the house of her instructor to discuss medical issues. “I was afraid that if I did not attend these meetings that my action [would be viewed] negatively. I did not mean to share in any celebrations with them.”
