Saudi cleric says celebrating birthdays un-Islamic

can't even celebrate your own birthday eh? go blow something else except candles dude

Talk about a party pooper.

What if they have a pinata shaped like an infidel?

What if they have a pinata shaped like an infidel?

I had to LOL.

I declare missles to be a foreign weapon, along with the machine gun and the airplane. Weapons of the infidel and unIslamic I say, and all Muslims are hereby forbidden to use them. You think they will go for that? No, a good idea is a good idea. Celebrating birthdays is a good idea. If they want to put an Islamic spin on it, they could place more emphasis on the mother that actually did something special rather those who were merely birthed.

--Cirroc

If I'm correct, Jahova's don't celebrate birthdays either. more reason to ban religion.

Awww bollocks. Damned fundie islamists really are party poopers.

Jehovah's Witnesses aren't allowed to celebrate birthdays either - not even Jesus's. One lady told me the only birthday mentioned being celebrated in the Bible is that of Herod the Baddie, which proves that only baddies celebrate birthdays and God Doesn't Approve.

But whether it's Christian, Muslim, Hindu or whatever, religion has no place coming between parents and children. If people want to celebrate their own or their children's birthdays - or their parents' or friends - it's nothing at all to do with some crusty dried-up old cleric sitting on top of an ivory totem pole contemplating his own navel.

Maybe the world would be in a better state if people looked for more things worth celebrating and fewer innocent things to ban.

If celebrating birthdays is un-Islamic, then Islam is un-human.

But another Jiddah resident, Riham Ahmed, 20, said she doesn’t like birthdays. “It’s enough to have two eids,” said the economics major. “My birthday is a normal day. Even my parents don’t congratulate me.”

Not even a little 'Happy Burkha-day to You' every now and then?

Maybe the world would be in a better state if people looked for more things worth celebrating and fewer innocent things to ban."

I like that!

It would seem to me that Saudi Arabia is more than half way up the road to unavoidable doom as they have emulated the west is so many ways. Profiteering is OK according to Islamic teachings?

>I declare missles to be a foreign weapon, along with the machine gun and the airplane. Weapons of the infidel and unIslamic I say, and all Muslims are hereby forbidden to use them.

LOL, I think birthdays are easier to ban than guns and missiles.

I do wonder though, is drilling for and selling oil un-Islamic? It is definitely an innovation.

The cleric is just angry that he's getting old and will die without ever seeing any porn.

Religions all over have their strange rules.

Baptist - No dancing or card playing on Sunday.

JW - No celebrating of their B-Days.

Then there are the Islamics.

Do your thing without bringing light on yourself I guess.

Don't worry, be happy. < :-)

Saudi Arabia’s most senior Muslim cleric recently denounced birthday parties as an unwanted foreign influence

Sounds like someone's not ageing too gracefully.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. They also have the least eccentric and most tolerant Muslim population. Celebrating a birthday is human, religious and thanking God for life. Saudi Arabia’s most senior Muslim cleric, what's his name?, has his work cut out for him in restricting and forbidding un-islamic behavior in his country. He'd better start at eradicating THE trace of western behavior: trading the fruits of the earth which belong to all man for profit. The Koran, Talud, Bible all prohibit this. Good bye, Saudia Arabia.

Austria also has a very large muslim (and jewish/both pre and post WWII) population and we got cited as a model for their integration.

I remember when the Vienna Goverment build a mosque for them, big hubblah about unbelievers doing it/etc/yaddah. When it was finished they found it fit 110% their rules and beliefs.

In short they integrated well as we are open to most religions and faiths. heck we got a jewish synagoge right next to a russian orthodox church.

Myself worked with Muslims and many other faiths and they are just like us, just want to raise their families, etc.

Eye-opener for me was during the gulf-war(1st) and listening to my muslim co-workers. Their sons(teens and uni guys) wanted to join the jihad and asked for guns/planes,　etc to kill the US infidels. Their parents/co-workers slapped them and told them to ease off as violence is not the answer. Nor would they know which end of the gun goes towards the enemy.

In short the majority of the guys/gals are just like us prefering to avoid confrontation/violence.

Also many forget that Islam is the third religion after Judeo-christan, they also follow the testaments, etc but accept jesus as prophet same way as christians accept moses, etc.

In short all 3 religions pray to the same god, yeah scripture interpretations vary. But all 3 religions are part of the same parcel.

Dons asbestos suit.

"....are an innovation ... and people are in no need of innovations.”

Thus the decline of science and mathematics in the Arab world and the general subjuation of the whole lot by the British and French during the colonial period. And these guys wonder why they are behind every other culture in the world?

I'll give you a hint - when you throw out half the brainpower in a country because of ridiculous rulings on what is allowed in a religion you are well down the path to the bottom.

Andhappy birthday to the bum as well!

If I'm correct, Jahova's don't celebrate birthdays either. more reason to ban religion.

Skip,

I never heard of the JW's having a police force hired to enforce this behavior on their own believers or on non-believers. Can you see the difference?

Your own behavior is driven by some set of core beliefs. Whether those beliefs spring from an organized religion or some other source there shouldn't be a government-sponsored ban. You seem to advocate the flip-side of the Saudi coin. They want to dictate religious behavior by force, and you want to dictate secular behavior by force.

I think it is just another fundie way of repressing people. They fundies do it in all religions. I think an argument could be made not to act prideful in your celebration and by that I mean an excessive ego. I am a secular humanist but I find quite a bit of value in religion/spirituality when it is centered around family and community and builds bonds in both those respects. I am all too familiar with religions that have control as their main interest. I am impressed when I see a person's behavior to be stellar and if they credit their religion as the source I tend to believe that they have found a good community.

That was a thought-provoking post, goodDonkey.

My sense is that as a person becomes more truly spiritual, the "baggage" of the material world starts to lose its appeal. So many of the man-made holidays like Christmas, Valentine's Day, birthdays, are about little more than commerce and consumption. For the quasi-religious to ban these practices in order to force on people "religious" behavior, however, is a bit like forcibly shaking a dog's tail in order to compel it to be happy.

(Yes, Christmas is a man-made holiday, as is Easter -- named after the pagan god of fertility, Ishtar -- hence the rabbits and eggs.)

Somebody should check if guns,bombs,cars,tv,phones,pictures..all civilized products are un- Islamic or not? Birth day celebration is just a fun thing to do; if you feel fun do it, if you feel it is "mendokusai" then do not bother.

First this is one guys voice. Second I dont see it in today's papers yet.

Another thing is I can go to the local shopping center and buy anything for a birthday party right off the shelf, yes candles, hats, confetti and the lot. I can also go down the street to the bakery and buy a birthday cake. I can even do this in almost any supermarket with a bakery.

You all talk like this guy is a loon and rightly so but look at yourselves for a moment. You all seem to follow the teachings of dubya and sarge.

You all seem to follow the teachings of dubya and sarge." No, I'm following common sense. There is no god above me. Religion is an outdated method of controlling people. I hate GWB for even mentioning support faith based programs with tax money. He should have been impeached then for that.

I even told my mother to leave her chicken head cutting religion at the door

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. They also have the least eccentric and most tolerant Muslim population

I think that actually would be a country without a Muslim majority, in line with the comment from TheNewZen. For countries with a Muslim majority it would probably be Malaysia. If I recall correctly, Indonesia was where they had major mob violence against Chinese about ten years ago.

If this religious leader wants to instruct his followers in this way, fine, as long as he doesn't use it as a pretense to promote hate.

i don't practice santeria. i ain't got no crystal ball...

I can also go down the street to the bakery and buy a birthday cake. I can even do this in almost any supermarket with a bakery.

You got real stones!

Gooddonkey:

" I think it is just another fundie way of repressing people. They fundies do it in all religions. "

No, fundies don´t do that in all religions. Christian and Buddhists fundies can go to a monestary and not bother you. The drive submit the entire world under brutal Shariah laws by force is a typical islamic characteristic. Remember, islam means "submission".