Sosyal Medya

Society and Culture

Yuletide and the Innovative Alternatives of its Outsiders

Khalidu Adewale Afolabi

It is that time of the year when streets, cities, bus-stops, landmarks, monuments and very recently, social media channels fall into bubbles of festivities. Starting with the Christmas, regardless of its surrounding controversies as regards the original birthdate of Jesus Christ and its historical antecedence in Roman polytheistic attachments, to the new solar year celebration notwithstanding its precedence in idol-worshipping Rome, communities and societies tune to delectations by embellishing their homes and engaging in fun-filled activities. But despite the enticement of this festive period and the liberalist approach that it’s a season of joy for everyone, many people and communities, Muslims and non-Muslims do not partake in the celebrations and have also devised multifarious means against idleness during the festive period. Such innovation is the annual Islamic vacation course of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria and December retreats of non-celebrating Christians.

The Islamic Vacation Course (IVC)

One of the devised innovations for the yuletide period is the conventional scheduling of annual Islamic Vacation Courses (IVCs) to the period. This commenced in the 1960s as part of the efforts of Nigerian Muslim students to free themselves from the combined shackles of Christianization and colonization. Hitherto in 1954, few Muslim elites had come together to form the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) having seen how Muslim students who wanted to acquire modern education were frustrated into abandoning their faiths before they could pursue their academic dreams. The society came up with strategic innovations to combat the continuous hijacking of Muslims from their faiths and one of these was the design of bi-annual Islamic Vacation Courses, with the first during the long school vacation and the other during the yuletide season.

These vacation courses are often designed as bootcamps where Muslim children, youths and sometimes adults, are trained in multivariate fundamentals of the Islamic faith covering sīrah (history), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), ’ādāb (etiquettes), mu‘amalat (material activities) amongst others. The December bootcamps, aiming to keep Muslim children and youths from yuletide distractions, usually start just before Christmas and ends shortly after new solar year celebrations, covering the core part of the yuletide period.

According to Mrs Jelilat Olaniyan, who was a regular at the vacation courses during her schooling, IVCs are highly-anticipated bootcamps for many Muslim children and youths. Reminiscing over her childhood memories of the camp, she narrated how the bootcamps were a period to learn, catch fun and develop spiritually. She said the application process was very simple and application fees were subsidized with sponsorships from Muslim philanthropists and institutions. She also added that good facilities were provided and attendees were always segmented by gender for residence and by age group for activities. This experience is similar with Mukhtar who is still a regular at the bootcamps. Adding to Mrs Jelilat’s information, he said participants are often taught the memorization of Quranic āyat, aḥādith, adhkār and cogent moral values that would continue to impact their daily lives. Speaking of what he feels as the most exciting part, he said there are competitions and exciting prizes that are won by participants during some of the activities and this encourages him to look forward to the annual bootcamp because he is a naturally competitive person.

Seminars and Conferences

In the West, particularly in North America, Muslims frequently organize various events at mosques. Prominent Islamic organizations such as the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) also host numerous activities during the holiday season.

Meanwhile, in Türkiye, where the period is not traditionally a holiday but the transition into the new year holds is characterized with various non-Islamic activities, organizations like Anadolu Gençlik Derneği (Anatolian Youth Association) have developed a program to commemorate the Conquest of Makkah. While the historical event took place on January 11, 630, Mehmet Yaroğlu, a senior member of the association, explains that the decision to celebrate the Conquest on December 31 was made to shield the young people from the temptations and vices that often proliferate on this night, especially those infiltrating homes through the media. The program typically features a variety of events, including conferences, seminars, poetry recitals, drama performances, and presentations on the history of Makkah.

An IVC Semblance from Christian Yuletide Outsiders

As hinted earlier, Muslims are not the only ones that do not share from the euphoria of yuletide. There are Christians and Christian congregations that do same. Such include the Deeper Life Bible Church, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, God’s Kingdom Society and Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakes). The reasons for these Christian communities are multifarious. One is how some believe priority should be given to commemorating the death of Jesus rather than his birth. Two is the absence of Jesus birthdate in the bible and how the circumstances of his birth did not project his birth to be in December. Three is the idolatrous antecedence of some symbols of the festivals. Believing that there is a serious need to preserve the puritanical Christian heritage, some have resisted the urge for Yuletide blues, most especially Christmas, and sought innovations that they believe are non-controversial in Christian theology. This is perhaps why the Deeper Life Bible Church organizes her annual Global December Retreat so as to keep her members out of Christmas distractions.

Final Thoughts

Many Shariah principles align with innovations like the IVCs so as to keep Muslims out of yuletide distractions. Such include ’amru bil ma‘rūf (encouraging righteousness), nahy ‘anil munkar (resisting reprehensible things), masālihil mursalah (consideration for public interest), shadd dara’ (prioritization of harm removal) amongst others. As a matter of fact, one may conclude that such innovations are practical enactments of Allah’s commandments in Suratul Maidah, ayah 2;

وَتَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى ٱلۡبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقۡوَىٰۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى ٱلۡإِثۡمِ وَٱلۡعُدۡوَٰنِۚ

«…And assist yourselves in righteousness and piety, but not in sin and aggression.

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