Is Wishing Merry Christmas Permissible in Islam

So I personally, this is I’m not imposing that on you, but as a student of the Quran I have a hard time telling people like you I have friends that are Christian, I have dear friends that are Christian, I will I can’t get myself to say Merry Christmas to them. I can’t do it, and the reason I can’t do it is something in my heart tells me that I cannot be merry about this thing. I can’t I can’t get myself to be happy for anyone else for doing for being part of something knowingly or Unknowing, now you could say no no they don’t know that, they don’t know that, but I asked Allah Azzawajal to be saved to be guided in the fatiha, I asked Allah Azzawajal to not be from

غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ
[1:7]

Who are people who know the wrong thing and do it anyway, and I also ask Allah to not be from who people وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ who don’t know any better and are lost, they’re lost, وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ are people who don’t know.

You know and I I ask Allah’s Refuge from both why would I be happy for somebody else’s why would I do that. what I do say and then people come to me and say but you have to live in America. We have to live here. what do you want us to hate everybody.
Yeah I started by saying, What the Quran teaches us to have the best relations with our Christian neighbors, but you know what, I’ve been living in the same America y’all have been.

I didn’t go to some like Islamic, I went to public school, I went to college, I worked in Corporate America, and all that time I never said Merry Christmas to anybody, and I’ve never offended anybody, I’ve actually said I hope you enjoy your holidays, I hope you have a good time with your family, I pray that you have a blessed time with your family, I can make Dua for them, I can make Dua for their guidance, and actually on some occasions some of those people that I prayed for and that I wished well in this season they said how come you don’t say Merry Christmas.

Then I come out and say because I can’t, I just can’t say it, because you know I don’t believe that about Jesus and in fact I believe it’s a horrible lie against Jesus, but if you ever want to talk about that we can really you believe that yeah yep I do yep I love Jesus too much. it’s making me not say it out of love for him, you just created a conversation opportunity for them to know what you actually believe, because a lot of non-muslims you know what they believe you believe in some kind of a moon creature, you believe in the lunar calendar, they you believe in some desert myth, you worship a stone in the desert, they have all kinds of ideas about what you believe, and you just give you’re giving them an opportunity to ask a question while not compromising any of your adab.

while not doing any of that, and then comes the idea that we you know and and this is again, I want to remind myself and you of all of this the danger of this, you see the most powerful thing that we have in Islam is our beliefs. that’s the most powerful thing.

I grew up in Zimbabwe. We interacted from a young age with the Hindus, the Christians, the Jews, those who are from the African traditional faith, and so on and we got along we mixed in the schools from a young age, and as I grew up I went to a high school that was purely Christian Catholic. that was the best option we actually had they allowed me whatever I had we and obviously we cated for them, they cated for us, there was a lot of respect and that’s how we developed, okay.

However when it came to Christmas, there are Christians, who don’t believe in Christmas, they don’t participate in it, is there anything wrong if they don’t believe believe in Christmas. Christians there’s nothing wrong. they didn’t participate in it. there’s nothing wrong, but the minute they put a block on someone else who believes otherwise, then there’s a problem. that’s what we’re saying.

So the question you have to ask yourself, did you stop people from celebrating what they want, no, did you ban, them no did you disallow them, did you spread hatred against them, no all you said is
لـكـم ديـنـكـم و لـي ديـن
you have your faith and I have mine, from among the Muslim there are those who believe that it’s okay to participate in Christmas, and from among the Christians there are those who believe that it’s not okay to participate in Christmas look at the irony, but the idea is if you believe that by all means go ahead you’re answerable to Allah not to me. If this one believes otherwise go ahead but please don’t impose it on me if I don’t want it’s one of those things come on.