Answer
Asalamu Alaikum,
Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question. Dr. Yasir Qadhi addresses this question in the video below:
Transcript:
Dr. Yasir Qadhi:
“We have been way too strict with our religion and a lot of times and we have made life so impossible and so unrealistic by preaching that anniversaries are biddah and haraam (forbidden).
This is honestly very, very strict and foolish, and I have to be very blunt here.
There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s a cultural thing. Anybody who says this is haraam… well then we’re speaking in English, wearing pants and shirts, living in Canada… everything becomes haraam, right?
Imitating the kuffar is haraam when you imitate something that is uniquely kufr.
So wearing the cross is imitating the kuffar. Wearing the clothing of a pastor—which is the white collar—this is haraam, all right? Celebrating Christmas is imitating the kuffar. This is haraam.
As for speaking their language, as for wearing pants and a shirt, as for their general customs and culture…
Guys I’m going to have a halal hamburger for lunch. That’s what the brothers have promised me… but am I imitating the kuffar when I like a hamburger? Not ham hamburger! A beef hamburger, right? So it’s a hundred percent certified halal.
Am I imitating the kuffar if I like a hamburger for lunch? You tell me.
We have gone so strict in this regard that all these certain things have become biddah and haraam.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating a personal anniversary!
How can the Sharia say that a husband taking his wife out on a romantic dinner on their 15th anniversary [or] their fifth anniversary… candlelight dinner, beautiful restaurant, nice halaal zabiha food or seafood…
And then, you know, telling her, “I’ll do it all over again, honey!”—even if he doesn’t mean it, it doesn’t matter but he’s allowed to lie in this regard, okay—how can this be haraam when you’re bringing so much love to your family?
This is what a wife wants. She wants this love, she wants this attention; she wants to be told that the passion is still there.
And the husband… these are the days that he can show this… guys, it’s only one day of the year, man! Just do it, do you know what I’m saying?
So for us to come and say, “Oh it just haraam to celebrate wedding anniversaries”, Subhanallah (praise God!)!
On what basis are you making this haraam? Which ayah (chapter from Quran)? Which hadith?
Let me ask you: is it haraam to bring flowers home to your wife on any day of the year? No? Now, did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) every bring flowers for his wives? Why? It wasn’t their culture!
Are you gonna say it’s haraam because the Prophet didn’t do it? Because the sahaba didn’t do it? They didn’t have roses in Madina! It wasn’t their culture to bring these types of things.
In our culture […] go buy some beautiful bouquet of flowers and surprise your wife and see how happy your wife becomes. She’s gonna be so excited, SubhanAllah!
Isn’t this what the Sharia wants? That husbands and wives have a good relationship? When the family is solid, society is solid.
Sisters, you gotta reciprocate, by the way. It’s a two-way street!
I hope this helps answer your question.
You can also check out more from Dr. Yasir Qadhi at the link here
Please keep in touch.
Walaikum Asalam.
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