Is wishing your neighbour well a betrayal of faith? A message to Jaamia Madinatul Uloom on festival greetings

I had decided not to write about this. Sometimes a small number of voices receive far more attention than their influence deserves. But the Darul Iftaa of Jaamia Madinatul Uloom in Marabella has now restated its position, and it deserves an answer on its substance.

Its release, posted to the institute's Facebook page over the weekend and later taken down, said it is impermissible for Muslims to greet Hindus with “Happy Diwali” or Christians with “Merry Christmas”, and impermissible for Muslim businesses to sell products carrying those greetings.2 The same text appears on its fatwa website, dated 29 October 2025. The ruling is not about one religion. Its title covers “Diwali & other un-Islamic occasions”, and it describes Divali, Christmas and similar festivals alike as “inherently associated with beliefs and rituals rooted in kufr (disbelief) and shirk (polytheism)”.1

After the backlash, the Darul Iftaa said it had not meant to offend, that the guidance was for Muslims connected to its institutions, and that it respects the right of others to celebrate. It accepted that Muslims may offer general goodwill. But it held its ground on the central point: “A distinction must be made between such general expressions of goodwill and greetings that specifically acknowledge, endorse or celebrate religious occasions associated with beliefs contrary to Islam.”3

So this is not a Hindu question or a Christian question. It is a question about every greeting that crosses a line of faith, and it should be answered that way. Let me put it simply. I am a Christian. If I wish my Hindu neighbour Happy Divali, have I become a Hindu? If a Muslim colleague wishes me Merry Christmas, has she become a Christian? Of course not. Each of us has recognised that the other has a faith and traditions that matter to them. Respect is not conversion. Courtesy is not endorsement.

What the institute actually argues

Its case rests on three things: tawḥīd, the absolute oneness of God; Qur'an 3:19, “the only religion acceptable to Allah is Islam”; and the hadith “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”114 No Muslim would dispute the first two. The question is the final step, from “do not worship other gods” to “do not wish your neighbour a happy festival”. That step is not in the verses the institute quotes. It is an interpretation of them.

That interpretation has a real history and it should be stated fairly. The medieval scholar Ibn al-Qayyim wrote that congratulating others on rites specific to their religion is forbidden.11 Another Trinidad body, Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago, published the same view in 2012, citing classical Hanafi rulings.10 The institute did not invent its position.

What the Qur'an says

But it has not shown that its position is the only Islamic one. The Qur'an tells Muslims that God does not forbid them from “dealing kindly and fairly” with those who have not fought them over religion or driven them from their homes.12 It tells them to return a greeting with a better one, or at least its equal, to speak good words to people, and not to insult what others worship.13 Surah Al-Kafirun's “For you is your religion, and for me is my religion” affirms difference. It does not instruct Muslims to withhold kindness from the neighbour across the street.13

Not one of those passages forbids saying Merry Christmas or Happy Divali. Nor does any other verse the institute cites.

What other Muslim authorities say

Egypt's Dar al-Ifta, among the oldest and most senior fatwa institutions in the Sunni world, was asked in 2013 whether Muslims may congratulate non-Muslims on “Christmas, Diwali, etc.”. Citing those same Qur'anic verses, it answered that there is no objection, and that “exchanging congratulations with non-Muslims does not mean acknowledging their disbelief”.5 It repeated the point in 2024: “There is a big difference between hating disbelief and hating people.”6

Malaysia's National Fatwa Committee concluded in 2007 that festive greetings are permissible so long as they do not glorify another religion, and its Federal Territories Mufti described “Merry Christmas” as “no more than a mere greeting to express happiness”.8 That office has since called the matter one of scholarly reasoning, neither absolutely forbidden nor absolutely permitted.9

Closest to home, MajlisTT published a ruling in 2023 that addresses Trinidad and Tobago directly. Generic seasonal greetings such as Happy Divali and Merry Christmas are acceptable, it said, because they are greetings of the season and not endorsements of theology. Greetings that explicitly affirm another religion's beliefs should be avoided.7 That is the distinction the institute claims to draw, applied to the opposite conclusion.

This is therefore not a dispute between Muslims and everyone else. It is a disagreement within Islam, including among Muslims in this country, many of whom have said so publicly. Their voices should not be drowned out by one institution's reading.

What Christianity says

My own faith is not exempt from this tension. Paul tells the Corinthians to flee idolatry and not to share in pagan worship. In the same chapter, he tells them to eat with unbelieving neighbours who invite them and to seek the good of others.15 Jesus answered the question “Who is my neighbour?” by making a religious outsider, the Samaritan, the hero of the story. Romans asks Christians, as far as it depends on them, to live at peace with everyone.15

Christianity, like Islam, draws a line around worship. Neither tradition draws that line around kindness. There is a difference between taking part in another faith's rites and wishing another human being well.

Why it matters here

Trinidad and Tobago is a country of Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Muslims, Spiritual Baptists, Orisha devotees and others, under a Constitution that guarantees freedom of conscience and religious observance.16 The institute is entitled to teach its interpretation. When it publishes that interpretation, the rest of the country is entitled to question it.

The Inter-Religious Organisation's president, Dr Ellis Burris, does not think the statement will cause division, and said “people will enjoy their Divali anyway”.4 I hope he is right. But this country has paid a price for teaching that set its people apart. By 2017, more than 240 nationals had travelled to the so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq, one of the highest rates per capita anywhere.17 I am not suggesting that Jaamia Madinatul Uloom supports violence. It has given no reason to think so. I am saying that every religious institution has a responsibility to ask whether its public teaching draws all of this country's communities together or pushes them apart.

The questions for the institute

If the institute wants its ruling to persuade the wider Muslim community, it should answer six questions. Which verse explicitly forbids a Muslim from wishing a neighbour of another faith well on their festival, whether it is Christmas, Divali or any other? Where does it draw the line between prohibited imitation and ordinary courtesy, and why does a seasonal greeting fall on the wrong side? Why should its reading prevail over Dar al-Ifta's? How does it reconcile a blanket ban with Qur'an 60:8? What is its answer to MajlisTT? And does it teach children that being glad for a neighbour's festival endangers their faith?

My answer

As a Christian, I do not have to compromise my Christianity to respect a Muslim celebrating Eid or a Hindu celebrating Divali. A Muslim should not have to compromise Islam to wish a Christian neighbour a happy Christmas.

I will keep wishing my Muslim friends Eid Mubarak, my Hindu friends Happy Divali and my Christian friends Merry Christmas. Not because I share every belief behind those celebrations, but because I respect the people who hold them. That is not a weakness of faith. It is the Trinidad and Tobago worth keeping.