SBS Arabic24 took to the streets of Sydney to canvass the opinions of several Muslim members of the Arab community in the central business district.
Listen to the audio in the player above (in Arabic). Some highlights below:
Do Muslims celebrate Christmas in the first place?
Rana, a mother of four, says she does not celebrate Christmas. However, she says she respects others’ celebration and greets them on the occasion.
"Islam has its own celebrations that are prioritized by Muslims and celebrated properly," Rana told SBS Arabic24.
"I might greet my Christian neighbor but I will not actually take part in celebrations," Rana added.
Shadi opposed Rana’s opinion and regarded Christmas as an opportunity to bring Muslims and Christians closer by sharing celebrations.
“I’ve been celebrating Christmas for 15 years and I don’t see any problem with that," Shadi said.
On the other hand, Raya does not celebrate Christmas but respects those who do, like she would like them to respect her celebrations of Islamic holidays.
“I don’t agree with Muslims who do celebrate it because it’s not what we were taught," Raya said.
“They don’t celebrate our Eid, why should we conform to the Western life and celebrate theirs; we should respect their celebrations nonetheless,” Raya told SBS Arabic24.
“Muslims leaders around the world don’t make a big deal of Eid but on Christmas they do; That’s what I find wrong, not celebrating Christmas.”
We also spoke to Ghandoura who found an "Islamic" excuse to celebrate Christmas, highlighting that Jesus is regarded in Islam as a prophet and celebrating his birthday is absolutely fine.
“I celebrate Christmas because I believe Jesus is a prophet whom God created without a father and later on ascended to the sky. We celebrate by praying and thanking God for his grace,” Ghandoura said.
Do you believe Sydney is overly-decorated for Christmas?
It is undeniable that retailers are more concerned with the commercial aspect of Christmas rather than its religious significance with expectations that spending will reach billions of dollars this season.
"I do believe Christmas is being commercialised," Wissam said. "However, I don’t mind the decoration around the city."
It was almost a consensus among our interviewees that Christmas decorations around the city bring joy to everyone - we did not find anyone who expressed resentment.
If your kids asked: Why don’t we have a Christmas tree, how would you respond?
Although a good percentage of Muslims in Australia do not mind greeting their friends on Christmas or even take part in celebrations, it is still not socially acceptable – to a certain extent – to take a step further and actually set up a Christmas tree at their homes.
“I explain to my kids that Christmas belongs to certain people and we do celebrate it - differently however," Rana said.
“I don’t mind decorating my house on Christmas because for us, it is not linked with any religious significance."
On the other hand, Wissam said he does not mind purchasing and decorating a Christmas tree.
“I don’t mind decorating my house on Christmas because for us, it is not linked with any religious significance,” Wissam said.
Since it’s not a black or white topic, some parents find themselves explaining to their kids the significance of Christmas in Christianity, while maintaining the balance by delivering messages of openness and tolerance.
“It’s too early for me to judge, but I’ll most probably pass on our beliefs (Islamic) to my children and teach them the values of accepting others at the same time,” Rayyan told SBS Arabic24.
How do Muslims spend the Christmas holidays?
Mohammed said he has Christian friends, whom he greets on the holidays.
“We are part of this community and of course we wouldn’t mind greeting our Christian friends," Mohammad told SBS Arabic24.
Ghandoura took the opportunity to propose celebrating Islamic holidays on a bigger scale.
"We do celebrate Christmas without breaching the learning of our religion; we don’t drink alcohol,” Ghandoura added.
“I think it’s a good idea to also celebrate Muslim holidays to reflect a true image of Islam.”
