Birthdays in Islam

Every year my parents insist on throwing a birthday party for me, it’s great fun and I get to meet and eat with my friends. But just recently I found that it was against the teachings of Islam. Is this true? Can I celebrate my 16th birthday or not? Should we give Birthday cards?

Celebrating birthdays with parties is against the contrary to the teachings of Islam as it is a customary practice of the Non-Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is reported to have said:

“ The one who imitates a group of people will be with them on the day of judgement.”

If your parents insist on throwing a party we should not obey them. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) say’s in a Hadeeth:

“There is no obedience to a creation of Allah whereby there is no disobedience to the creator”.

Similarly it is not permissible to give birthday cards, as this is a waste of money. Allah say’s in the Qur’an:

“Those who use their wealth in an extravagant manner are brothers of The Devil.”

Instead of wasting money in things like birthday parties and birthday cards we should utilise our time and money for noble causes. For Instance you could buy Islamic books and cassettes to give us a gift to a friend.

(AL-ATFAAL, ISSUE NUMBER 13, PAGE 15)