Muslim Guy Celebrating His First Christmas Shares His Observations On Twitter, And They’re Hilariously Accurate
Christian families instill Christmas traditions into their children really early in their lives—by the time we become rational adults, we don’t question the ceremonies. We follow the etiquette, devoted, like members of a royal family, knowing precisely what responsibility each of us has. But what if you’re not Christian? What if last Christmas, you just ordered Popeyes and watched a movie, but this year, the pandemic trapped you and your roommates together? You could dissociate yourself from the holiday season… Or you could approach it with anthropological precision and share your observations on Twitter. Mohammad Hussain, who found himself in precisely such a situation, chose the latter. And over 300,000 people liked it.
More info: Twitter
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Image credits: MohammadHussain
“I want to applaud longtime Christmas celebrators,” Hussain concluded. “This is a lot of work and very tiring. I will say I am having a very pleasant time.”
Hussain, who works as a special assistant in the office of the Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, asked people to celebrate Christmas with him by donating to charities to help families through this particularly tough season. He suggested two in the Toronto area, near where he grew up: Milton Halal Food Bank and Parkdale Food Centre.
Mohammad told HuffPost Canada he’s glad that this story has resonated with so many people and hopefully brought a smile to people in a year we sorely need more smiles.
Image credits: MohammadHussain
Here’s what people said after reading Mohammad’s thread
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1. This is really cute. 2. 90% of commentors seem like assholes, nobody cares about your opinion, sit down.
I remember being inspired by Christmas gift giving when I was 9, so I tried it out by getting my sister's gifts on Eid, lol. I can't see myself doing that every year, it's such a high maintenance tradition. I also find secret santas stressfull, buying gifts for relatives and friend's is hard enough, and now I'm suposed to get something for that boy whose name I just found out. I love Christmas lights though, so pretty!
I can relate to this! I grew up in a secular Muslim household, first generation Americans so we really had no clue about Christmas. My parents would get me gifts just so I wouldn’t feel left out from my friends but nobody knew much about the traditions. When I grew up I went Christmas crazy. To me it’s obvious that Christmas doesn’t and never did have shït to do with religion. It’s a holiday for presents, Santa, snow and lights. Those are the true meaning of Christmas. I’m obsessed with giving and receiving gifts, so it works out that I just love Christmas. It’s kind of the only thing I liked about winter for years. Middle eastern people - don’t miss out on Christmas! Santa looks A LOT like Hajji Firuz.
Xmas is based on previous pagan traditions like Saturnalia or Yule. So don’t let any Christian fundamentalist tell you that you can’t celebrate it. There is nothing inherently Christian about the festivity. Enjoy it!
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This was really cute and quite sweet. Forget all the snarky Twitter comments saying that you have to be a Christian to celebrate, and enjoy your first Christmas holiday! (Also, I adore the everything bagel ornament.) I enjoy how there are so many unique traditions and ways to celebrate the holiday around the world.
Today (december 21st) I'm celebrating that tomorrow will be a LITTLE bit longer than today (I hate darkness, and it's particularly dark today), I hang some lights and burn some candles to feel some warmth and light in a(n extra) dark winter. I don't have a Christmas tree, but I like the idea of having an evergreen with lights in my living room in the middle of winter (I have enough cacti though, some of them with ornaments right now ;-) ). I really really don't care about baby Jesus. I guess I was a pagan in a previous life.
I decorate my house plants. Christmas lights on my large tree's.
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It's hilarious and I love it. Hope twitter will exist until his grandchildren will receive the everything bagel :D We have a nice family in our house who are Muslim. They brought us sweets for the fast-breaking ( Eid al-Fitr) and now decided to also celebrate a family fest when we do our Christmas. They liked the idea of everbody being together (thanks to Corona their first family fest will be much smaller than expected), having lights, putting snowmen on the windows. Yesterday I spotted an inflatable snowman on their balcony :D
I love this. I have Jewish friends who do parts of Christmas. Imo, when there is a reason to celebrate, just do it. Who cares if it is not YOUR reason? It's someone else's, and that's good enough.
Thanks for this, so funny! I would describe myself as a committed, educated Christian and I am sorry that most of us have very little sense of humor. Bet you get some eye-roll comments about “Jesus’ birthday” etc. Hope not too many! But perhaps you are used to it, which is pretty sad. yubarikuk allah ( hope that is the right wording for your particular tradition).
Enjoyed this and though is was funny. I'm now looking forward to " my Muslim friends teach me about Ramadan. "
I’ve always been fascinated with holidays that I don’t celebrate. I actually started celebrating dia de los muertos because I couldn’t bear missing out on it any longer.
I was always fascinated by Dia de los Muertos growing up. I find such an odd sense of beauty in a holiday that celebrates the triumph of life over death, and openly celebrates death as new beginning.
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"Family Reliquary" I had never thought of it that way, but I have two wooden crates my grandfather built to hold the Christmas decorations while he was in the army (one for the artificial tree, one for everything else). He wound up being stationed various places in the US, Canada and Europe, yet the crates and their contents survived. The idea of them being a 'reliquary' fits quite well, they literally hold the sum-total of the Christmas spirit.
This is a true classic! I am christian myself and it even boggles my mind what some people do for the holiday although those ones that really do it up do make some beautiful scenery!
Even though I am an atheist from a Muslim country, I always liked Christmas. It's simply celebrating light in the dark winter with many equivalents in other cultures. Because my husband is German (atheist) I've mastered every tradition in the last quarter of the century, from baking biscuits to choosing the right tree. We don't visit a church though. I have nothing against it, but my husband has no interest. I do not like New Year. I can't understand how or why the year starts in the middle of winter. It's so unnatural.
I agree. The year should start at the beginning of spring. It would make so much more sense.
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My husband is Muslim and loves celebrating Christmas. He helps me put up the tree and likes to participate in the Christmas shopping. He has really embraced our cultural and religious differences. I need to have him select a special ornament though. The poster’s roommates makes a good point
Great post! The commenters need to chill. The Says Merry Christmas Aggressively Christian "It's about Jesus! you are doing it wrong!" The self important atheist "Christmas traditions are from page traditions" Jaded guy who complains about capitalism on his iPhone "Christmas is a capitalist holiday".
the main reason why i love christmas is getting gifts for other people because it makes me feel special and happy that i made their day a little bit better. i also love seeing family but that wasn't really an option this year..
I go all out for Christmas. It's nothing to do with my faith. It's simply the one time of year I can bake every day and nobody asks what's wrong with me!
I don't understand why people had to turn this into a religious and political battle. It's a cool thing and I found his documentation comical and heartwarming. Great article and interesting observations. I've always celebrated Christmas so all of it seemed normal and its nice to see another opinion!
Now, someone should try commenting on how costly "EID" can be and watch starting a world war.
I've never heard of waiting for the topper until Christmas Day. While I don't do the religious part myself, I know plenty people who think it is not optional. Why is it the most vocal people are the ones trying to tell someone else they are doing something wrong? It's not even just with holidays. Unless they are harming someone, there is no wrong way to live life.
Today is the winter solstice!!! Also, I wish the first gov check had come closer to Christmas, or this second one for $600 had come before Christmas. I know I shouldn't complain about free money.
No, but you're right, too many people will be unable to celebrate this year at all. It's heartbreaking really we couldn't get help where other governments stepped up to help their citizens (don't forget, we the people! We are the government and must continue to vote to make a difference) Happy Solstice my friend!
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I don't celebrate, don't decorate, and don't have a menu, and may not eat that day. Why? I never had money to buy gifts, now nobody to buy them for. I can't stand long enough to cook, and so sometimes don't eat. I have a tree and decorations, but can't put them up for pain in standing too long and can't walk very far. My family did not do much for Christmas growing up, I think I failed learning how to Christmas? Nobody in my family invited anyone over to celebrate and still don't. I have nowhere to go on Christmas, and so it is just another day. I want the food, I want the friends. I want the decorations, I have a nativity to die for, I wish I could see it. It's packed away up in the garage. My hubby is ex JW, so no counting on him to share in anything fun, he was taught by the JW to suck all the joy out of holidays. So there is that. Christmas is not what it is cracked up to be for me. I don't know how to Christmas.
Has he learned about the epic competitions over who has the best Christmas cookies and how to be just braggy enough in the Christmas card?
Don't forget Christmas was placed in December to appropriate Yule, so it isn't all about Jesus at all
i think christmas is a reminder how jesus felt being tortured and put on a cross but for us its 2 months and its your family doing it to us and unlike jesus we get to to do it over again evey year
I don't know much about religious importance of Christmas but this year I am going to celebrate Christmas with mine n other kids.
As a longtime Christmas celebrator, I approve this message. Good luck with your Eid Secret Santa, and Eid Mubarak!
Even though my family isn't religious, we still go all-out with Christmas! One of our traditions is that every year, each person in the household gets to pick out one ornament from the store to hang on the tree! It's not very big, but it still feels special. My favorite ornament is still the acoustic guitar I got when I was like 5-6.
The commenter about paganism is right. Christians just stole major pagan celebrations for propaganda reasons
We do the gift exchange/stealing thing, with a ballpark money limit. The only rule seems to be no gag gifts, or blantantly awful choices, and usually no homemade gifts or foods. However, last year, I chose the most ordinary looking bag, as I believe they contain the best gift, and I was right. . . 7 lbs. of tri-tip, ready for marinating & bbqing. (insulated bag) I made the seagull noise, "MINE!", And nobody had the heart to steal it from me!
Oh the steal the gift exchange is so much fun, last did it with hubby's family 6 yrs ago, they still haven't invited us back
MMShill"Oh, please DO tell about angel-topper people. They crimes must be exposed and punished!
While my wife is getting ready to start cooking and is already the wrapping about wrapped up, I think back to the night of Dec. 27th through to the morning of the 28th when my heart stopped and restarted on it's own 5 to 6 times. The first time was at home, the others were at the local hospital while hooked up to an EKG. One of those times, I was down for 45 seconds according to the EKG. I came home on Jan. 1st 2019 with a pacemaker. Had no problems since. BTW, we are a Christian family and know we are BLESSED.
Since we are on the topic of Christmas, I would like to see a debate: which one do you do? 1. The presents get put under the tree late Christmas eve night, then everyone else sees them in the morning 2. The presents get put under the tree as they are recieved from relatives, Amazon, etc. 3. I do it the German way: I, the mother, lock the door to the Christmas tree room, and no one else can see the tree but me. I put up all the ornaments and presents myself. And when the time comes, I ring a little bell and open up the room, and everyone can see the beautiful tree (this is what happens in the nutcracker btw)
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide.... all claiming to have their own version of what Christmas is or is not. Christmas time for ME... for me... in it's non-religious form is a time for family, embarrassing Santa photos and tummies full of heart clogging home cooked food. It holds no religious meaning for me and it is more of a tradition than a commitment. Enjoy Christmas anyway you like, because everyone else will be doing it whatever way they like as well.
Until this year Christmas was the best day of the year to go to movies. No matter how big a blockbuster it is there's always plenty of seating. And it's a big day for Chinese restaurants, the traditional gathering place for Jewish families on that day.
Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity. It's the winter solstice; you bring trees and green leaves into the house in the hope that they will return in the spring.
I think everyone should celebrate christmas. It's not about christianity (apart from the name). It's about family - whether blood or other. It's that opportunity to have one time a year to just slow down and put aside our differences and to take a moment to remind the people (and animals/pets) in our lives that we care and that we're still here for each other.
Chistmas is about Christianity since it relates to the birth of Christ. If Christians did not celebrate Christmas (meaning Messiah and celebration of the Eucharist), we may be acknowledging the summer and winter solstice instead, so non-Christians are effectively celebrating a festive season and time to be with loved ones, not Christmas.
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I'm glad you are learning to enjoy American Christmas. Wait until you experience it elsewhere and have to learn a whole new set of rules. Like everything geography changes most beliefs and customs.
He lives in Canada... Not that our Christmases are too different from yours I guess. More snow and maple goodies up here I imagine. Still, we Canadians who celebrate it don't celebrate "American" Christmas, thank you very much. Just Christmas.
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1. This is really cute. 2. 90% of commentors seem like assholes, nobody cares about your opinion, sit down.
I remember being inspired by Christmas gift giving when I was 9, so I tried it out by getting my sister's gifts on Eid, lol. I can't see myself doing that every year, it's such a high maintenance tradition. I also find secret santas stressfull, buying gifts for relatives and friend's is hard enough, and now I'm suposed to get something for that boy whose name I just found out. I love Christmas lights though, so pretty!
I can relate to this! I grew up in a secular Muslim household, first generation Americans so we really had no clue about Christmas. My parents would get me gifts just so I wouldn’t feel left out from my friends but nobody knew much about the traditions. When I grew up I went Christmas crazy. To me it’s obvious that Christmas doesn’t and never did have shït to do with religion. It’s a holiday for presents, Santa, snow and lights. Those are the true meaning of Christmas. I’m obsessed with giving and receiving gifts, so it works out that I just love Christmas. It’s kind of the only thing I liked about winter for years. Middle eastern people - don’t miss out on Christmas! Santa looks A LOT like Hajji Firuz.
Xmas is based on previous pagan traditions like Saturnalia or Yule. So don’t let any Christian fundamentalist tell you that you can’t celebrate it. There is nothing inherently Christian about the festivity. Enjoy it!
Load More Replies... This was really cute and quite sweet. Forget all the snarky Twitter comments saying that you have to be a Christian to celebrate, and enjoy your first Christmas holiday! (Also, I adore the everything bagel ornament.) I enjoy how there are so many unique traditions and ways to celebrate the holiday around the world.
Today (december 21st) I'm celebrating that tomorrow will be a LITTLE bit longer than today (I hate darkness, and it's particularly dark today), I hang some lights and burn some candles to feel some warmth and light in a(n extra) dark winter. I don't have a Christmas tree, but I like the idea of having an evergreen with lights in my living room in the middle of winter (I have enough cacti though, some of them with ornaments right now ;-) ). I really really don't care about baby Jesus. I guess I was a pagan in a previous life.
I decorate my house plants. Christmas lights on my large tree's.
Load More Replies... It's hilarious and I love it. Hope twitter will exist until his grandchildren will receive the everything bagel :D We have a nice family in our house who are Muslim. They brought us sweets for the fast-breaking ( Eid al-Fitr) and now decided to also celebrate a family fest when we do our Christmas. They liked the idea of everbody being together (thanks to Corona their first family fest will be much smaller than expected), having lights, putting snowmen on the windows. Yesterday I spotted an inflatable snowman on their balcony :D
I love this. I have Jewish friends who do parts of Christmas. Imo, when there is a reason to celebrate, just do it. Who cares if it is not YOUR reason? It's someone else's, and that's good enough.
Thanks for this, so funny! I would describe myself as a committed, educated Christian and I am sorry that most of us have very little sense of humor. Bet you get some eye-roll comments about “Jesus’ birthday” etc. Hope not too many! But perhaps you are used to it, which is pretty sad. yubarikuk allah ( hope that is the right wording for your particular tradition).
Enjoyed this and though is was funny. I'm now looking forward to " my Muslim friends teach me about Ramadan. "
I’ve always been fascinated with holidays that I don’t celebrate. I actually started celebrating dia de los muertos because I couldn’t bear missing out on it any longer.
I was always fascinated by Dia de los Muertos growing up. I find such an odd sense of beauty in a holiday that celebrates the triumph of life over death, and openly celebrates death as new beginning.
Load More Replies... "Family Reliquary" I had never thought of it that way, but I have two wooden crates my grandfather built to hold the Christmas decorations while he was in the army (one for the artificial tree, one for everything else). He wound up being stationed various places in the US, Canada and Europe, yet the crates and their contents survived. The idea of them being a 'reliquary' fits quite well, they literally hold the sum-total of the Christmas spirit.
This is a true classic! I am christian myself and it even boggles my mind what some people do for the holiday although those ones that really do it up do make some beautiful scenery!
Even though I am an atheist from a Muslim country, I always liked Christmas. It's simply celebrating light in the dark winter with many equivalents in other cultures. Because my husband is German (atheist) I've mastered every tradition in the last quarter of the century, from baking biscuits to choosing the right tree. We don't visit a church though. I have nothing against it, but my husband has no interest. I do not like New Year. I can't understand how or why the year starts in the middle of winter. It's so unnatural.
I agree. The year should start at the beginning of spring. It would make so much more sense.
Load More Replies... My husband is Muslim and loves celebrating Christmas. He helps me put up the tree and likes to participate in the Christmas shopping. He has really embraced our cultural and religious differences. I need to have him select a special ornament though. The poster’s roommates makes a good point
Great post! The commenters need to chill. The Says Merry Christmas Aggressively Christian "It's about Jesus! you are doing it wrong!" The self important atheist "Christmas traditions are from page traditions" Jaded guy who complains about capitalism on his iPhone "Christmas is a capitalist holiday".
the main reason why i love christmas is getting gifts for other people because it makes me feel special and happy that i made their day a little bit better. i also love seeing family but that wasn't really an option this year..
I go all out for Christmas. It's nothing to do with my faith. It's simply the one time of year I can bake every day and nobody asks what's wrong with me!
I don't understand why people had to turn this into a religious and political battle. It's a cool thing and I found his documentation comical and heartwarming. Great article and interesting observations. I've always celebrated Christmas so all of it seemed normal and its nice to see another opinion!
Now, someone should try commenting on how costly "EID" can be and watch starting a world war.
I've never heard of waiting for the topper until Christmas Day. While I don't do the religious part myself, I know plenty people who think it is not optional. Why is it the most vocal people are the ones trying to tell someone else they are doing something wrong? It's not even just with holidays. Unless they are harming someone, there is no wrong way to live life.
Today is the winter solstice!!! Also, I wish the first gov check had come closer to Christmas, or this second one for $600 had come before Christmas. I know I shouldn't complain about free money.
No, but you're right, too many people will be unable to celebrate this year at all. It's heartbreaking really we couldn't get help where other governments stepped up to help their citizens (don't forget, we the people! We are the government and must continue to vote to make a difference) Happy Solstice my friend!
Load More Replies... I don't celebrate, don't decorate, and don't have a menu, and may not eat that day. Why? I never had money to buy gifts, now nobody to buy them for. I can't stand long enough to cook, and so sometimes don't eat. I have a tree and decorations, but can't put them up for pain in standing too long and can't walk very far. My family did not do much for Christmas growing up, I think I failed learning how to Christmas? Nobody in my family invited anyone over to celebrate and still don't. I have nowhere to go on Christmas, and so it is just another day. I want the food, I want the friends. I want the decorations, I have a nativity to die for, I wish I could see it. It's packed away up in the garage. My hubby is ex JW, so no counting on him to share in anything fun, he was taught by the JW to suck all the joy out of holidays. So there is that. Christmas is not what it is cracked up to be for me. I don't know how to Christmas.
Has he learned about the epic competitions over who has the best Christmas cookies and how to be just braggy enough in the Christmas card?
Don't forget Christmas was placed in December to appropriate Yule, so it isn't all about Jesus at all
i think christmas is a reminder how jesus felt being tortured and put on a cross but for us its 2 months and its your family doing it to us and unlike jesus we get to to do it over again evey year
I don't know much about religious importance of Christmas but this year I am going to celebrate Christmas with mine n other kids.
As a longtime Christmas celebrator, I approve this message. Good luck with your Eid Secret Santa, and Eid Mubarak!
Even though my family isn't religious, we still go all-out with Christmas! One of our traditions is that every year, each person in the household gets to pick out one ornament from the store to hang on the tree! It's not very big, but it still feels special. My favorite ornament is still the acoustic guitar I got when I was like 5-6.
The commenter about paganism is right. Christians just stole major pagan celebrations for propaganda reasons
We do the gift exchange/stealing thing, with a ballpark money limit. The only rule seems to be no gag gifts, or blantantly awful choices, and usually no homemade gifts or foods. However, last year, I chose the most ordinary looking bag, as I believe they contain the best gift, and I was right. . . 7 lbs. of tri-tip, ready for marinating & bbqing. (insulated bag) I made the seagull noise, "MINE!", And nobody had the heart to steal it from me!
Oh the steal the gift exchange is so much fun, last did it with hubby's family 6 yrs ago, they still haven't invited us back
MMShill"Oh, please DO tell about angel-topper people. They crimes must be exposed and punished!
While my wife is getting ready to start cooking and is already the wrapping about wrapped up, I think back to the night of Dec. 27th through to the morning of the 28th when my heart stopped and restarted on it's own 5 to 6 times. The first time was at home, the others were at the local hospital while hooked up to an EKG. One of those times, I was down for 45 seconds according to the EKG. I came home on Jan. 1st 2019 with a pacemaker. Had no problems since. BTW, we are a Christian family and know we are BLESSED.
Since we are on the topic of Christmas, I would like to see a debate: which one do you do? 1. The presents get put under the tree late Christmas eve night, then everyone else sees them in the morning 2. The presents get put under the tree as they are recieved from relatives, Amazon, etc. 3. I do it the German way: I, the mother, lock the door to the Christmas tree room, and no one else can see the tree but me. I put up all the ornaments and presents myself. And when the time comes, I ring a little bell and open up the room, and everyone can see the beautiful tree (this is what happens in the nutcracker btw)
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide.... all claiming to have their own version of what Christmas is or is not. Christmas time for ME... for me... in it's non-religious form is a time for family, embarrassing Santa photos and tummies full of heart clogging home cooked food. It holds no religious meaning for me and it is more of a tradition than a commitment. Enjoy Christmas anyway you like, because everyone else will be doing it whatever way they like as well.
Until this year Christmas was the best day of the year to go to movies. No matter how big a blockbuster it is there's always plenty of seating. And it's a big day for Chinese restaurants, the traditional gathering place for Jewish families on that day.
Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity. It's the winter solstice; you bring trees and green leaves into the house in the hope that they will return in the spring.
I think everyone should celebrate christmas. It's not about christianity (apart from the name). It's about family - whether blood or other. It's that opportunity to have one time a year to just slow down and put aside our differences and to take a moment to remind the people (and animals/pets) in our lives that we care and that we're still here for each other.
Chistmas is about Christianity since it relates to the birth of Christ. If Christians did not celebrate Christmas (meaning Messiah and celebration of the Eucharist), we may be acknowledging the summer and winter solstice instead, so non-Christians are effectively celebrating a festive season and time to be with loved ones, not Christmas.
Load More Replies... I'm glad you are learning to enjoy American Christmas. Wait until you experience it elsewhere and have to learn a whole new set of rules. Like everything geography changes most beliefs and customs.
He lives in Canada... Not that our Christmases are too different from yours I guess. More snow and maple goodies up here I imagine. Still, we Canadians who celebrate it don't celebrate "American" Christmas, thank you very much. Just Christmas.
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