Assalamu`alaykum,
Bismillah.
Bismillah.
Volume 2, Book 15, Number 770:
Narrated Aisha:
Abu Bakr came to my house while two small Ansari girls were singing beside me the stories of the Ansar concerning the Day of Buath. And they were not singers. Abu Bakr said protestingly, "Musical instruments of Satan in the house of Allah's Apostle!" It happened on the 'Id day and Allah's Apostle said, "O Abu Bakr! There is an 'Id for every nation and this is our 'Id."
This statement of the Prophet (SAW) "there is an Eid for every nation and this is our Eid" implies two things:
- Enjoying the day and its festivities is a good thing - it's Sunnah.
More on it here. - There is no other Eid or festival prescribed for Muslims other than the two Eids (Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Ad'ha).
Firstly: ‘Eid (festival) is the name given to something which returns (`aadaya`oodu), and is used to describe gatherings which happen repeatedly, on a yearly, monthly or weekly basis, etc. So an ‘eid includes a number of things, such as a day which comes regularly, e.g., ‘Eid al-Fitr and Friday; gatherings on that day; and actions such as acts of worship and customs which are done on that day.
Secondly: any of these things which are intended as rituals or acts of worship aimed at drawing closer to Allaah or glorifying Him in order to earn reward, or which involve imitating the people of Jaahiliyyah or any other groups of kaafirs, is a prohibited bid’ah, an innovation which comes under the general meaning of the hadeeth: “Whoever innovates
something in this matter of ours (Islam) that is not part of it, will have it rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim).
Examples of that include Mawlid al-Nabi (the Prophet’s birthday), Mother’s Day and national holidays, because in the first case there are innovated acts of worship which Allaah has not prescribed, and because it involves imitation of the Christians and other kaafirs. And in the second and third cases there is imitation of the kuffaar. But in cases where the intention is to organize work to serve the interests of the ummah and to put its affairs straight, or to organize programs of study, or to bring employees together for work purposes etc., which in and of themselves do not involve acts of worship and glorification, then these are a kind of benign innovation which do not come under the meaning of the hadeeth, “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours (Islam) that is not a part of it will have it rejected.” So there is
nothing wrong with such things, indeed they are allowed by sharee’ah.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 3/59[Taken from IslamQA]
To read more on the ruling on joining non-Muslims in their festivals, read this.
Wassalam.
