Merry Christmas and Hamka’s fatwa

Merry Christmas and Hamka’s fatwa




From Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib


In 2018, then-PAS Youth chief Khalil Abdul Hadi caused controversy when he prohibited Muslims from offering the traditional “Merry Christmas” greeting, equating the festivity with idolatry. Khalil’s view is not an isolated one.

In recent decades, the question of permitting Muslims to wish “Merry Christmas” has become a point of contention among Muslims and non-Muslims.

Salafist preachers, such as the Zimbabwean-born Ismail Menk, American Muslim convert Yusuf Estes and Zakir Naik from India, are known to advocate against offering such Christmas greetings.

Two days ago, Naik’s prohibition against wishing “Merry Christmas” was reposted on his official Facebook page and is making its rounds on social media.

For such preachers, offering the greeting is tantamount to agreeing with Christian beliefs on Jesus Christ.

Their views, however, are not uncontested. The Egyptian premier fatwa institution, Dar Al-Ifta, issued a ruling on the permissibility of greeting non-Muslims on Christmas, including visiting Christians and giving gifts.

Notable individuals in Malaysia, such as former Federal Territories mufti Zulkifli Al-Bakri and Indonesian Quranic scholar Quraish Shihab hold a similar view.

Another prominent ulama, KH Said Aqil Siradj, went as far as issuing an official Christmas greeting to Christians during his chairmanship of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim organisation.

These examples contradict the opinion of largely Salafist notables, such as Wahhabi preacher Soleh al-Uthaimin and former Saudi Arabian mufti Abdul Aziz Baz.

The emergence of the Salafist prohibition on wishing “Merry Christmas” had generated some confusion among Malay Muslims.

As observed, this controversy is relatively recent. It emerged with the corresponding rise of what an academic, Roel Meijer, termed as “global Salafism”.

Those who advocated for the prohibition, however, were quick to deny its link to the global spread of Salafist ideas.

They would point to a similar view purportedly held by a Nusantara ulama, Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah or Hamka. Hamka is a widely respected Indonesian ulama and whose influence spans both Malaysia and Singapore.

Hamka’s view had been grossly misrepresented.

Hamka and the 1981 MUI fatwa

The popular reference to Hamka’s view emerged after a widely circulated 2012 article titled “Sekali Lagi, Hukum Mengucap ‘Selamat Natal’”.

Published in a hardliner Indonesian magazine, Hidayatullah, reference was made to a 1981 fatwa purportedly issued by the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) — then headed by Hamka — declaring it haram to wish “Merry Christmas”.

The article further claimed that Hamka had resigned from MUI in protest of the Suharto government’s insistence that he withdraw the fatwa.

The fatwa, dated March 7, 1981, however, was grossly misrepresented. It made no mention of the Christmas greeting.

In fact, the fatwa acknowledged that Muslims were encouraged to cooperate and mix with non-Muslims on worldly matters.

What was prohibited is Muslim participation in the religious rituals of Christmas.

The concern of the fatwa, therefore, was on joint religious rituals. MUI’s original fatwa, thus, is hardly controversial at all.

Prior to the fatwa, Hamka had written an article published in 1974 saying that it was acceptable for Muslims to say “Merry Christmas” to Christian neighbours as an expression of religious tolerance, but not to participate in the celebration itself.

He likened this to Christians wishing Muslims “Happy Idul Fitri” but never to participate in the Idul Fitri prayer itself.

Hamka’s objection to joint ritual is reasonable: Muslims disagree fundamentally on Christian doctrines about Jesus, such as his divine sonship and the atonement.

But Hamka himself has no problem with the greeting and, as his son Irfan Hamka testified, Hamka did make such greetings to his neighbours.

But why did Hamka resign from MUI shortly after the fatwa?

This fatwa must be seen within the wider context of Christian-Muslim relations in that period.

The fatwa was originally requested by religious affairs minister Alamsyah Ratu Perwiranegara for internal discussions in a lead-up to a public policy regarding joint religious observances.

Suharto, at that time, was pushing for religious harmony in the midst of inter-religious tensions that had seen occasional violence in various parts of Indonesia.

Copies of the fatwa, however, were leaked and circulated widely in public, leading to Alamsyah’s decision to resign because he felt pushed into a corner by the fatwa and therefore could not work on a viable policy that could appease all sides.

In response, Hamka said, “It is illogical for the minister to resign. I am the one responsible for the circulation of the fatwa, therefore, I will resign.”

On May 5, 1981, however, the national daily Pelita published the fatwa.

But, on the next day, the same newspaper published a decree (dated April 30, 1981) withdrawing the fatwa from circulation and clarifying that a Muslim was only prohibited from participating in ritual practices during Christmas.

The letter was signed by Hamka and MUI general secretary Burhani Tjokrohandoko, in consultation with the religious affairs minister.

Two days after, on May 7, 1981, Hamka reiterated the validity of the fatwa while emphasising that the decree was on the circulation of the fatwa, which the government had every right to do.

The controversy, however, had taken its toll on Hamka, particularly in his relationship with the government.

Therefore, it led to his decision to resign from the chairmanship of MUI on May 19, 1981.

Straightening the legacy of Hamka

Examining the surrounding issues and the fatwa itself, it is clear that the hardliners were misconstruing and misappropriating the 1981 incident to legitimise their particular viewpoint.

Nowhere did the fatwa prohibit the Christmas greeting, nor was Hamka’s resignation in protest against the Indonesian government.

The fatwa itself ought to be located within the context of Christian-Muslim relations in the early years of Suharto’s New Order regime.

The period leading up to 1981 was rife with tensions between the state and Christian/Muslim groups.

Many Muslims felt insecure as they had lost bargaining power with the state under Suharto’s authoritarian measures against Muslim political bases. At the same time, Christian proselytisation and foreign aid through Christian organisations and churches were causing anxiety and unhappiness.

With increasing pressures for Muslims to participate in social activities with their Christian counterparts, MUI’s fatwa must therefore be seen as their attempt to shore up the Muslim faith.

Ultimately, as James Rush, author of Hamka’s intellectual biography, “Hamka’s Great Story” wrote: “Hamka was a fervent believer in religious harmony, and he frequently wrote and spoke about Islam’s history of tolerance.”

As a great ulama of the Nusantara world, Hamka’s vision of religious harmony is about different religions peacefully co-existing as Indonesians, but worshipping in their own ways among fellow believers only.

For him: “Mutual respect was the key. Trying to convert members of other religions violated this respect.”

This has been the essence of interfaith advocacy which has often been accused by hardliners as “diluting Islam”.

Such an accusation reflects the hardliners’ desire for power and control on the narratives of Islam; it is not about how Muslims can display the ethics and values required of a modern, pluralistic society.

Guarding against historical amnesia

Many societies today are facing a rise in inter-religious tensions centred around religious identity politics.

Hardliner groups are fervent in their exclusivist views that divide society into an “us versus them”, particularly along religious lines.

In confronting the permeation of hardliner views in Malay society, we need to be equipped with deep knowledge.

Many had emphasised knowledge of theology to be able to sift from right and wrong Islam. This is not sufficient.

Theology without an understanding of the historical and sociological contexts will lose its ability to correct the abuses of theology that serve ideological battles of the present.

As the incident of the 1981 MUI fatwa by Hamka shows, it is not about theological arguments but how the fatwa has been misconstrued to serve the ideological position of Salafism.

Ultimately, the debate surrounding the prohibition of “Merry Christmas” is not a religious one but a contestation between two social attitudes that continue to shape Christian-Muslim relations from past to present. The first is one of conflict and division; the second is that of affinity and cooperation.

In the spirit of the latter, I take this opportunity to wish my Christian friends a “Merry Christmas”.



Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib is an interfaith activist and a founding Board member of the Centre for Interfaith Understanding (CIFU), Singapore.