Behold, this topic might be sensitive to some.
Valentine's Day.
A day marked for lovers, rememberance of the other significant other. In short, its the day for lovers all to celebrate with. I know some of us were being taught that it's not approppriate for Muslim to celebrate it as from what I heard and from wht i received from the forwarded e-mails ages ago - to quote "The day Saint Valentine conquered the mosque in Cordova, Spain". I know some of us believe that. As for me, I found that there is no need for me to even care about it since it's not a must to celebrate it but it's basically everywhere. It's hard to ignore those special discounts on chocolates and special promotions for flowers. Though I have to admit that it kind of perked up my curiosity on the origin of the celebrated date.
What is wrong about celebrating our loved one?
What is wrong in celebrating Valentine's Day?
My father happens to be a loyal subscriber to the monthly magazine 'Al-Islam' and an article written about Valentine's Day caught my interest. I was glad that the columnist shared my point of view and he even did a research about the famous Saint Valentine who was said to taint the mosque in Cordova and 14th February was the date of his victory. Through his research in Al-Islam, he wrote that Saint Valentine was one of the pious knights during his time. And now the good part. Is that true?
From the magazine, the Valentine event occurred in 280 A.D, nearly 3 hundred years before our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W was born. Could anyone explain to me how could anyone conquer a mosque in Cordova, Spain in 280 before Islam even set foot there? Islam reached Spain in 711 and the mosque in Spain was built in 755. So is it possible for a dead man to conquer Spain?
I have my hefty dose of doubt too and I went to do my own research. He was right, the Valentine event was before the birth of Nabi Muhammad and at that time, it was common for anyone who was pious to be called 'Saint'. In history, it was said that Valentine was a martyr who was killed by Emperor Claudius II of the Roman Empire because of his stand with his faith in one god, as he was one of the followers of Nabi Isa. That was during the Roman's religion in polytheism which is the faith in believing more than one god such as Jupiter, Mars, Neptune etc. Before his death, he was asked to prove the existence of his God which he did by asking god's help to heal the daughter of his jailer's sight and hearing. He managed to heal her with Allah's help but his head was chopped off nevertheless. The story was told over and over but then it was not said in the original text of his famous letter before his death to the jailer's daughter whom he healed which ended with "With love, your Valentine."
If you guys want to backread the issue of Al-Islam, I forgot which issue was it but I know it was the January or February issue for the year... 2004 or 2005. And, by all means, you could even check the year when Valentine died. If you want it the easy way, you could just surf for the information.
Not that I want anyone to go on celebrating Valentine's day because of Valentine himself, but just take the day as a symbol for lovers cherished. Remembering the day that symbolize love, is fine but idolizing him to the extreme is not okay. We might as well commemorate the sacrifice of Sumayyah and her family and Mashitah, the pharaoh's daughter's hair-comber (I don't know if the term is right or not) and all the warriors who were tortured and died because of their faith in Allah, right? So, we celebrate love. It's a good reason anyway. People might forget their anniversaries (I know wives and girlfriends might guillotine their husbands or boyfriends for forgetting the date) but nearly everyone knows 14th February.
Hence, this is just my thoughts on Valentine's Day. Depend whether you want to believe what I believe or not. If you want to celebrate it, go on, if you don't want to, nevermind since its not a compulsory celebration an. To those who celebrates it with their loved ones - celebrate pun celebrate jugak, tapi ada batas jugak.
I would like to borrow the line from my room-mate Za @ Aie - "Anyday boleh jadi Valentine kalau kita nak. Valentine's Day is just a date."
Valentine's Day.
A day marked for lovers, rememberance of the other significant other. In short, its the day for lovers all to celebrate with. I know some of us were being taught that it's not approppriate for Muslim to celebrate it as from what I heard and from wht i received from the forwarded e-mails ages ago - to quote "The day Saint Valentine conquered the mosque in Cordova, Spain". I know some of us believe that. As for me, I found that there is no need for me to even care about it since it's not a must to celebrate it but it's basically everywhere. It's hard to ignore those special discounts on chocolates and special promotions for flowers. Though I have to admit that it kind of perked up my curiosity on the origin of the celebrated date.
What is wrong about celebrating our loved one?
What is wrong in celebrating Valentine's Day?
My father happens to be a loyal subscriber to the monthly magazine 'Al-Islam' and an article written about Valentine's Day caught my interest. I was glad that the columnist shared my point of view and he even did a research about the famous Saint Valentine who was said to taint the mosque in Cordova and 14th February was the date of his victory. Through his research in Al-Islam, he wrote that Saint Valentine was one of the pious knights during his time. And now the good part. Is that true?
From the magazine, the Valentine event occurred in 280 A.D, nearly 3 hundred years before our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W was born. Could anyone explain to me how could anyone conquer a mosque in Cordova, Spain in 280 before Islam even set foot there? Islam reached Spain in 711 and the mosque in Spain was built in 755. So is it possible for a dead man to conquer Spain?
I have my hefty dose of doubt too and I went to do my own research. He was right, the Valentine event was before the birth of Nabi Muhammad and at that time, it was common for anyone who was pious to be called 'Saint'. In history, it was said that Valentine was a martyr who was killed by Emperor Claudius II of the Roman Empire because of his stand with his faith in one god, as he was one of the followers of Nabi Isa. That was during the Roman's religion in polytheism which is the faith in believing more than one god such as Jupiter, Mars, Neptune etc. Before his death, he was asked to prove the existence of his God which he did by asking god's help to heal the daughter of his jailer's sight and hearing. He managed to heal her with Allah's help but his head was chopped off nevertheless. The story was told over and over but then it was not said in the original text of his famous letter before his death to the jailer's daughter whom he healed which ended with "With love, your Valentine."
If you guys want to backread the issue of Al-Islam, I forgot which issue was it but I know it was the January or February issue for the year... 2004 or 2005. And, by all means, you could even check the year when Valentine died. If you want it the easy way, you could just surf for the information.
Not that I want anyone to go on celebrating Valentine's day because of Valentine himself, but just take the day as a symbol for lovers cherished. Remembering the day that symbolize love, is fine but idolizing him to the extreme is not okay. We might as well commemorate the sacrifice of Sumayyah and her family and Mashitah, the pharaoh's daughter's hair-comber (I don't know if the term is right or not) and all the warriors who were tortured and died because of their faith in Allah, right? So, we celebrate love. It's a good reason anyway. People might forget their anniversaries (I know wives and girlfriends might guillotine their husbands or boyfriends for forgetting the date) but nearly everyone knows 14th February.
Hence, this is just my thoughts on Valentine's Day. Depend whether you want to believe what I believe or not. If you want to celebrate it, go on, if you don't want to, nevermind since its not a compulsory celebration an. To those who celebrates it with their loved ones - celebrate pun celebrate jugak, tapi ada batas jugak.
I would like to borrow the line from my room-mate Za @ Aie - "Anyday boleh jadi Valentine kalau kita nak. Valentine's Day is just a date."
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