Christmas is here and everyone has a lively way to celebrate this holiday, which comes with hustle and bustle on the malls, gifts and lit up houses, prayers, parties and Santa Claus.
Amidst all this excitement, I came across a unique situation at home.
My youngest son a week ago was crying and I was unable to understand why. I asked him the reason but he won’t tell me. Finally, when I calmed him he told me that he wanted to celebrate Christmas the way all his friends celebrate, share gifts and decorate their houses. Why we are not celebrating Christmas? His questions and arguments made me think how a Muslim family living in a diverse society should answer these questions.
How should I tell him that we do not celebrate the festival like the majority of people around us do? And why are we not lighting our homes? It looks convenient and easy to answer these questions apparently but, actually it is enormously challenging for a parent like me coming from a society where the majority of population is Muslim. Because it was not enough to say that “we are Muslims” since we also believe in Jesus. I started to find a way to answer his questions
So, I began talking with him like a friend. I explained to him that Christmas is a religious festival marking birthday of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) and that there are different religious festivals for communities like Eids and birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for Muslims.
I realized during the conversation how important it is to emphasize mutual respect in the multicultural society. So, I told him that everyone should respect other faiths and festivals.
Along with these conversations, giving toys and inviting friends and family were also part of my effort so that my son does not to feel him alone while his other friends are having fun holidays. I realized how important and noble it is to share gifts as a way to promote love and peaceful society.
This experience also made me think about the larger questions facing the society.
We cannot alienate our children from the society, where they are growing up and thriving. Being an immigrant parent, we ‘ve to give some liberty to our kids and let them accept norms of the multicultural society. There is a difference between adopting any ideology and understanding others religion and festivals. Although, it requires a struggle for the parents like me to teach our children about our religion and celebrations of all festivals of other faiths. But as a parent I am fully aware that when my child grows up and he has to deal with these questions.
My job is to make sure that my child not only respects his religion, but also gives value and respect to other religions and festivals. With the open minded and comprehensive attitude towards our children, questions and matters can be resolved, I felt.
We should teach children religious festivals in a way that promotes interfaith understanding and harmony.
Our community leaders, belonging to all faiths, should try to celebrate religious events with a message of inclusiveness and mutual respect. Ultimately religious occasions should be about message of peace, tolerance and coexistence.
Everyone has a right to keep and highlight his/her identity. But this should be done in a manner that does not fuel conflict but leaves space for dialogue.
Teaching kids about interfaith understanding, respect and coexistence can help address many of the problems that cause conflicts in minds.
“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the importance thing is they should be part of our daily lives.” __ The Dalai Lama
