NEW DELHI: Grand Mufti of Tunisia Othman Battikh on Tuesday said that Valentine’s Day was not “haram” and celebrating it was permissible as long as “morals are not violated.”
“Everything that brings people together is good. There is nothing wrong with celebrating Valentine’s Day as long as morals are respected,” Battikh said as reported by Al Arabiya on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.
Speaking in an interview with newspaper Akher Khabar, the Grand Mufti explained how “celebrating love is not a sin”.
Condemning preachers and extremists who think celebrating Valentine’s Day is “an imitation of Christians,” Tunisian Muft said.
“(Preachers) must urge people to love each other as love is part of Islamic values. To love God is to love all people.”
In celebrating it, “it does not mean that one embraces the Christian religion,” he added.
Saudis also celebrated Valentine’s Day as a positive social event, not associating it with religion.
Ahmed Qassem al-Ghamdi, the former Director General of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah, told Al Arabiya that it endrose Valentine’s Day as a social celebration similar to that of Mother’s Day, Teacher’s Day, birthdays, National Day or celebrating marriage anniversaries are occasions that strengthen human bonds.
“It is a humane and a social matter and congratulating people for it is not against Sharia,” he said adding that it was not limited to non-Muslims.
“There are many worldly things that we deal with morally that may be of interest to non-Muslim communities and became more common among Muslim communities because of their popularity,” he said, citing the Prophet as an example. “The Prophet dealt with many worldly things that came from non-Muslims,” Al-Ghamdi as reported by Arab News.