A religious teacher in Hamas’ Ministry of Religious Endowments has announced that Muslims are not allowed to greet Christian at Christmas, not even to offer congratulations, because to do so would be a “denial of Islamic faith.”
It is the Middle East Media Research Center that has posted a video of Ahmad Kulab.
He is the head of the department of Training of Preachers in Hamas’ Ministry of Religious Endowments.
He warned that it is forbidden for Muslims to offer those holiday greetings. And he insists that any Christian celebrations must be restricted to Christian homes or places of worship.
Santa Claus didn’t escape his attention, either.
That image is forbidden since it “constitutes an invasion of Muslim countries” because it “glorifies” early Christian missionaries, he said.
He said, “We are not allowed to congratulate the Christians on their holidays. Christians must [keep] the celebration of their holidays to their homes, their houses of worship, and their churches.
“Are we supposed to congratulate the Christians for their denial of Allah?” he speculated. “This culture has entered our Muslim countries and erases Islamic identity and faith. It changes the behavior of our children and contaminates their immaculate faith. In addition, the Holy Quran encourages us to dissent against the dwellers of Hellfire, the Jews and the Christians.”
Regarding red-suited elf, he said, “Santa Claus is a witty and jolly personality who hands out sweets and presents in order to influence people. This image of Santa Claus constitutes an invasion of Muslim countries, because they want to ingrain the image of Santa Claus [among Muslims]. The character of Santa Claus glorifies prominent Christians, monks who used to propagate the Holy Trinity and Christianity among Roman youth, giving out presents, sweets, and so on.”
The correct response, he explained, for a Muslim to a holiday greeting is silence.
“If [a Christian] says to me: ‘Happy holidays!’, I can reply with something general, and say: ‘May you be happy, too.’ But I say that we do not even have to say this. Even if they congratulate us, we do not have to answer them. We can remain silent. That is better for us, in order to avoid falling into sin, as the Islamic scholars said.”
Hamas had been considered to have terror links by U.S. officials for years.
The Anti-Defamation League describes it as a “Palestinian Islamic extremist terrorist organization based in the Gaza Strip and West Bank that calls for the eradication of the state of Israel.”
Its name is an Arabic acronym for what in English is the Islamic Resistance Movement.
The ADL said it was founded in 1988 and has as its goal the elimination of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state ruled by Islamic theocratic law in place of the state of Israel.
The ADL explained, “Hamas is both a terrorist organization and a mass social, political and religious movement. It operates schools, medical clinics and youth groups. The division of Hamas into military and political/social wings has led some observers to erroneously assume that the social wing of Hamas is completely separate from its military wing. To the contrary, funds raised for the social programs of Hamas free up other funds for the military wing. Moreover, Hamas’ military wing utilizes the organization’s social wing for indoctrination and recruitment. The social, cultural, religious and educational institutions of Hamas, including youth groups and summer camps are well-known venues for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred and have served as recruitment centers for suicide bombers. ”
It has launched numerous deadly terror attacks in Israel.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
