"The Heresy of Mother's Day"
Allah made two days as holidays for the Muslims: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. He made them acts of devotion through which the pure, believing souls are gladdened. However, some people, since some time ago, have invented a heresy for Muslims, which is a holiday which was not ordained nor commanded by Allah. They supposed with their limited minds that they would gladden people thereby and would make up for what was lacking in the religion of Allah--Allah forbid!--which is called Mother's Day.
Eminent scholars have made clear--may Allah reward them well--the ruling of Islamic jurisprudence on the celebration from the point of view of the shari'ah. We will present their scholarly opinion here, and will touch on the history of the issue, then look at it from the educational point of view, which no doubt will complement and support the point of view of the shari'ah. We will cover this on a few points:
Historically: The one who came up with the idea was an American woman called Anna Jarvis, who was raised in a convent for Christians, and studied in Sunday school in St. Andrew's Church in Grafton, West Virginia. She never married, but called for an annual celebration of mothers, in which to give gifts and throw parties. This despite the fact that the Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade us from following after the customs of people of other faiths. In al-Bukhari and Muslim, this saying of Abu-Sa'id al-Khudri is related: "The Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah said: "You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you--inch by inch, cubit by cubit--to the point that if they follow the lizard into its hole, you would follow them in." We said: "O Messenger of Allah, (you mean) the Jews and Christians?" He replied: "Who else?"" Despite that, this celebration has spread throughout the Muslims by way of two Egyptian daily news organizations which have adopted this celebration. They have been aided by various media organizations in all their forms, to the point where Mother's Day has become holy and untouchable. They have also been supported by some preachers who--ignorant of the ruling (of the shari'ah)--devote the Friday sermon to this purpose, and talk about the grace and kindness of mothers.
Thus it was for the eminent scholars to declare the ruling of the shari'ah on this celebration. The following comes from fatwas from the Permanent Council (on Scholarly Research and Studies): "It is not permissible to celebrate what is known as "Mother's Day," nor any other such heretical holiday, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Whoever performs an action which is not from our affair, it will be rejected." The celebration of Mother's Day is not an action which comes from the Prophet (peace be upon him), nor from his companions (may Allah be pleased with them), nor from the Salaf (forefathers) of the Ummah, but it is heresy, and amounts to resembling the infidels. Shaykh Muhammad Ibn 'Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked (about this), and he responded, "The legitimate holidays known to the people of Islam, are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and the weekly Eid (Friday). There are no holidays in Islam besides these three. All other holidays which have been introduced are to be rejected as innovations and falsehoods under the shari'ah of Almighty Allah, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Every action which is introduced which is not from our affair will be rejected." [...]Salwa al-Maghribi, almoslim.net, March 16, 2011, http://almoslim.net/node/143097.
