Waleed Basyouni – Can I Attend My Companys Christmas or Holiday Party- Ask The
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of social skills in working in a work environment and emphasize the need for minimal violations to avoid jeopardizing employees. They also discuss the significance of the New Year as a cultural celebration and suggest avoiding gifts and exchanging them for Christmas celebrations. The speakers stress the importance of giving gifts during the New Year, including labeling them as a New Year and giving a New Year's New Year gift, and emphasize that giving gifts is considered a gift and cannot be sold or exchanged.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum Shaykh.
Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Now that we have the holiday season and
you know, I actually received this question multiple
times from many people both brothers and sisters,
they're asking about what do we do when
we are in a work environment that they
have Christmas parties and you know, sometimes it
feels like it's an obligatory on them or
there's some type of pressure that you really
have to, if you want to make your
way through this work, you have to really
participate in these social gatherings and especially, you
know, Christmas parties and things like that.
Okay, bismillah alhamdulillah, as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi
wa barakatuh.
There is no doubt Shaykh that the social
coherence inside any company is an element of
success.
That's why companies care so much about your
social skills, how much you connect with the
team, you work with people, you fit in
the group.
So this is something companies considerate, even not
for a raise, but also for the person
to renew their contract and stuff like that.
If if there is firing or layoff, we'll
be the person who can fit in the
team, will be the first one to leave.
So definitely it has a weight when it
comes to advantage and disadvantage and how important
for me.
But also it doesn't mean that every single
event, social events, I have to participate in
it and to participate in it in a
way that break all my rules.
Like for example, if there is drinking, if
there is happy hours and people consume alcohol,
it doesn't mean I will serve alcohol or
I will participate in such, you know, gathering
or there is a dancing and I dance
with them and you know, do dancing in
a way that I mean will involve haram
things like music, mixing, stuff like that, touching
of opposite gender and exposing your aura or
anything of that nature, which is haram in
Islam.
So with this being said, I will say
that the person has to wait to this
and to see how to minimize the the
violations that he might need to do and
to wait how much I can participate, how
many times I can participate.
It's not just a black and white and
also, maybe my type of job does not
require for me to attend such gathering.
So that's as a general guidelines in all
social parties and gathering.
But when it comes to Christmas and New
Year in particular, the New Year is much
easier because in my opinion both, but in
any case, a lot of people look at
the New Year as a cultural celebrations, not
a religious one, you know, just a mark
of a new year.
And participating in it has no any religious
significance.
Okay, so as long as the general guidelines
in Islam are followed, it's okay.
But what about Christian or Christmas holiday, which
is associated with a religious, which is the
Christian belief.
In companies in general, I would tell you
my experience, I don't know about you, but
my experience 99% of the time has
nothing, no religious significance in it, in the
workplace itself.
Except the name.
Except the name.
Any, they don't gather to praise Jesus and
to pray to Jesus or stuff like, unless
it's a religious entity or there is a
religious element to it.
But it's a holiday season.
It's a break.
It's just days off by by the culture
here and by law.
So they take it as opportunity to celebrate.
For us as Muslim, we don't celebrate Christmas.
Okay, so my question will be if at
work they're doing a Christmas party, you know,
if you can avoid it, I would recommend
that the person do not attend.
But if you, if you are there and
you know what Christmas party is, they have
some doughnuts and some coffee and, you know,
and getting together.
Eating doughnuts is okay, you know.
Even the great Imam said, enter in the
souk when there is, in the old days,
in the Ahmadiyya, in the Malik time, they
said, what if somebody will go to the
market where they have a holiday celebrating and
they have a market and stuff like that.
Can I go?
He said, yes.
Because you're not going for the, to celebrate
it, but to eat and to take advantage
of the, maybe discounted things just like that.
We do that in shop.
But at work, if it is just a
matter of there is some doughnuts or some
stuff like that, we're taking half a day
off.
Okay, we basically going to do this.
But at some work, sometimes they do gift,
exchanging gifts.
In this case, I would not participate in
exchange gift, but I will make my gift
has to do with the end of the
year, like the new year.
And I know that because I have given
this advice to people, you know.
Usually, they don't do the Christmas gift and
exchanging gift in the Christmas day because everybody's
out.
So do it a week before or after.
So what you can do, you can just
say, you know what, my gift, and you
can name it, label it's a New Year
gift.
This is for the New Year, and you
can write that.
And this is my religion.
I don't participate in Christmas.
I don't celebrate it.
I don't exchange gift in it, but I'm
happy to give gifts in.
In Christmas, sometimes they give you a bonus.
They give you a gift.
Can I take it?
Yes, you can take it.
As long as this gift that's been given
is halal.
Like one brother said, my gift was liquor.
I can't take it out.
But can I take it and sell it?
No, you're not allowed to sell it.
Okay, but you reject it.
And the best thing to do with it
is just to dump it in there.
Can I carry it and go and dump
it in the drain?
You can.
But what if I have a non-Muslim?
Can I give it to a non-Muslim
person?
You cannot carry it to him.
Let's say in the party, and it says,
this is your gift.
It's a random gift, you know, and like,
you know, that's your, said, I can't take
alcohol.
Somebody else said, I'll take it.
Let them take it, you know, not obligated
to go destroy it.
If they give you a bonus, you're allowed
to take it.
Somebody give you a gift, it's allowed to
take it.
As long as it's halal.
If somebody give you a cross or something
like that, this is not allowed for you
to have, or has a religious meaning or
significance.
What if it's a lottery ticket?
A lottery ticket.
If somebody give you a lottery ticket, that's
fine.
Because you're not buying it, you're not participating.
If somebody gave me a lottery ticket, I
didn't buy it at all.
Yeah, and you got the lottery ticket.
Just make sure you donate to us.
Because it happens.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
They give you these, uh, tickets, as a,
hey, I'm gonna give you the gift, and
it's like, I mean, I rejected it.
I had a situation where I rejected it.
I don't see a religious reason for rejecting
it, personally.
Because you did not buy it.
Because I don't buy it.
Yeah.
So it's somebody put my name in it.
That's basically, it's, uh, something I did not
miss.
The gambling is, when you invest money in
gambling, I didn't invest any money.
That's a good, that's a good point that
we probably need to discuss further.
So this will be the guidelines when it
comes to things like, like this.
And by the way, some of these gatherings
also, especially for some sisters or brothers, sometimes
it became much safer if you bring your
spouse with you.
You know, so you kind of, um, you
know, help one another to be, to remind,
to hold on to your principles, and to
hold on to your, um, Dean.
What I would say in the end of
this, make sure that you hold into your
Dean, religion, and you know, the etiquettes of
our religion.
Be proud.
Explain it to them in a way.
You do need to, you do need to,
to feel I'm weird, or odd, or anything
like that.
Everybody has certain religious guidance that they follow
at one point.
And, and they have no problem sharing it.
Yeah.
I just don't do that.
I'm happy.
I'm like, not because I did not, I
don't drink, or I don't exchange, it means
I don't give gifts.
You know what?
I'll bring a gift cousin twice a year.
You give me once on Christmas, I give
him two or eight.
You know, that's my gift, you know, and,
and so, um, so, uh, also you do
need to make it a battle.
Like some people make these things like the
end of the world, like it is as
if like the biggest things in the world.
Just take it easy and lightly.
Say, hey, I, I, sorry, I don't do
that.
There's a lot of people don't celebrate Christmas.
Yeah, not only Muslim.
There's a lot of people just, you know,
that's not my thing.
But otherwise, I'm a happy person.
I'm a social person.
You do need this one event in the
year to prove you.
Also, you do need to make it a
battle over, by the way, Jesus was not
born in winter.
And by the way, Jesus, and you go
to a debate.
I mean, don't make it into a debate.
Yeah, debate mood.
You do need that too.
You know, for most people, this is just
a social happy time that they spend with
family and they spend some money that they
don't have.
Anyway, so that's, that's my take a lot.
I don't know what you think about it,
but that's...