Merry Christmas! This warm greeting will echo around the world these days among the largest religious community on earth: Christians. Many will exchange gifts, enjoy festive lights and decorated trees, and at least some will reflect on what this now-global celebration is really about – the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus Christ, to be “the Light of the World,” as the Gospels proclaim.
What about the world’s second-largest religious community, Muslims? How do they view Christmas?
Sadly, this question has been tainted in recent years by terrorist attacks on Christmas celebrations in the West carried out in the name of Islam – one in Berlin 2016, another in Strasbourg in 2018. But the culprit behind these horrors was ISIS, the most extreme of all jihadist extremists, which has also killed countless Muslims, and has targeted many Islamic holy places as well, such as mosques, tombs and shrines. Their monstrosity, which surfaced again in the recent anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Sydney, should not be underestimated. But it should also never be seen as representative of Islam.
In contrast to such bloodthirsty zealotry, mainstream Islam has always accommodated Christmas as a part of the Christian religion, which, along with Judaism, has been tolerated in Islamic law with certain limitations. Hence in major Islamic empires – from the Umayyads, to Abbasids, and to Ottomans – Christian minorities were generally permitted to honor the birth of Jesus without interference, provided celebrations remained in their own churches and quarters and did not involve proselytizing. In late Ottoman Empire, the last seat of the Caliphate, broader freedoms for non-Muslims also allowed very public celebrations of Christmas – as seen in early 20th-century photographs from Christmas parades in Ottoman Bethlehem.
This pluralist background explains why Christmas is still openly celebrated by Christian minorities across the Middle East today. It is officially recognized in five Arab countries: Syria, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. In Lebanon, it is a big holiday with public decorations, massive trees, and fireworks in Beirut and Jounieh. In Bethlehem, West Bank, thousands attend Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, with processions and a giant tree in Manger Square. In Jordan one can see trees, lights, concerts and markets in Amman, Madaba, and Fuheis. In Egypt, Coptic Christmas on Jan. 7 is a public holiday with grand church liturgies, decorations, and feasts in Cairo and Alexandria.
There are, however, also narratives among Muslims against Christmas. This stems largely from its rising visibility and magnetic cultural allure, which have influenced Muslim societies since the 19th century – via colonialism or soft Westernization. In pre-modern Islam, Muslims tolerated Christmas, because it was their (the Christians’) religious event. In the modern era, with twinkling trees and jolly Santa Clauses gracing films and public spaces alike, it became a part of our world, raising a reactionary anxiety. This is also true for Muslims living in the West, some of whom happily blend into the surrounding culture, while others fear being too deeply absorbed.
That is why a quick search about Christmas on the conservative Islamic web will give you online fatwas (religious opinions) that say a “Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them [Christians.]” Or you can find TikTok videos renouncing Christmas as a “pagan” ritual rooted in “devil worship” that Muslims must strictly avoid.
Meanwhile, luckily, more nuanced conservatives have issued more sympathetic fatwas: that while religious boundaries must be preserved, “Islam does not prohibit Muslims from exchanging Christmas greetings with Christians.” It would “promote coexistence and harmony in a world that is in dire need.”
Yet there may be one more step to take towards coexistence and harmony: finding in Christmas a religious commonality between Christianity and Islam.
That is because the very theme that is at the heart of Christmas – the miraculous birth of Jesus from his virgin mother, Mary – is not just a Christian but also an Islamic article of faith. It is indeed one of the major stories in the Quran narrated in two separate chapters: Ali ‘Imran and Maryam.
The latter, named after none other than Mary, the mother of Jesus, tells a story that resembles the Gospel of Luke: Mary is a pious, chaste woman untouched by any men. But one day God sends her an angel “in the form of a perfect man,” who has some big news for her:
He said: “I am but a Messenger from your Lord, to announce to you the gift of a pure son.”
She said, “How can I have a son when no man has touched me? I have not been unchaste.”
And he said, “This is what your Lord said: ‘It is easy for Me. We shall make him a sign to all people, a blessing from Us.”’ (Quran, 19:19-21)
That is how Mary conceives Jesus, whom the Quran repeatedly praises as a great prophet sent by God to the Israelites and as the Messiah they had been awaiting.
After the Annunciation, the Quran also narrates the miraculous birth of Jesus. Mary, as her eponymous chapter tells us, experiences labor pains and withdraws into the wilderness. There she is comforted by an angelic voice and nourished beneath a palm tree with ripe dates and a miraculous spring of water. While this birth account differs from the manger in Bethlehem familiar to Western Christians, it has curious parallels with apocryphal Eastern Christian traditions – as I have shown in my book The Islamic Jesus.
Now, here is something remarkable: the birth of Jesus is the only birth-day story narrated in extended, vivid detail in the whole Quran. (In comparison, the birth of Islam’s own prophet, Muhammad, is not even mentioned in the Islamic Scripture. Hence it became a holy day, as Al-Mawlid Al-Nabawi, only much later, and remains a contested tradition.) The Quran, in verse 19:33, also quotes Jesus saying, “Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised to life again” – again a rare Quranic reference to the birthday of a prophet.
Sure, the same Quran also rejects the divinity of Jesus – insisting that, as holy as he was, he was still a prophet and servant of God, not God incarnate. That marks an important if not permanent gap between Islam and Christianity.
Yet still, while keeping that difference in mind, Muslims can still see in Christmas the celebration of some unique event in history venerated by not just the Bible but also the Quran. A few contemporary Islamic scholars have made this point – such as Maulana Wahiduddin Khan of India and Shabir Ally of Canada – and an American Muslim artist, Raeef, made a lovely “Muslim Christmas Song.”
As another Muslim, I also believe that Muslims can say happily say “Merry Christmas” to their Christian neighbors. That is, first, out of courtesy, sympathy, and common humanity. Second, it is also out of a shared belief between Christianity and Islam: That Jesus Christ, or Isa al-Masih in Arabic, was no ordinary man, and that there is something remarkable about his birth that resonates in our scriptures. So, while disagreeing on his nature, we can agree on cherishing his memory, honoring his legacy, and following his wisdom.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
Mustafa Akyol
Mustafa Akyol is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, where he focuses on the intersection of public policy, Islam, and modernity. Follow him on X at: @AkyolinEnglish.
