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Celebrating Birthday & Lightening Candles
Respected Sir/Madam
I just saw on YouTube a clip of Ghamdi sahib saying it is okay to celebrate birthday.
I did some research on internet for the origin of birthday and this is what I found
1.) According to https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/61413/what-is-the-origin-of-lighting-candles-on-birthdays, there are many theories about the origins of birthday candles.
Some believe that the tradition of birthday candles began in Ancient Greece, when people brought cakes adorned with lit candles to the temple of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. The candles were lit to make them glow like the moon, a popular symbol associated with Artemis.
Many ancient cultures also believed that smoke carried their prayers to the heavens. Today’s tradition of making wishes before blowing out your birthday candles may have started with that belief.
Others believe that the tradition of birthday candles started with the Germans. In 1746, Count Ludwig Von Zinzindorf celebrated his birthday with an extravagant festival. And, of course, a cake and candles: “there was a Cake as large as any Oven could be found to bake it, and Holes made in the Cake according to the Years of the Person’s Age, every one having a Candle stuck into it, and one in the Middle.”
The Germans also celebrated with birthday candles during Kinderfest, a birthday celebration for children in the 1700s. A single birthday candle was lit and placed on the cake to symbolize the “light of life.”
Some scholars believe that other meanings have also been attached to the use of candles on cakes. People may have believed that the smoke from the candles carried their wishes and prayers to gods who lived in the skies. Others probably believed the smoke helped to ward off evil spirits.
2.) Another site “TIMESOFINDIA.COM” has this information
Story behind blowing out candles
There are a number of ancient theories that explain the origin of blowing candles on birthdays. The first one is the Greek theory, which says that the tradition of blowing candles on birthdays is connected to the ancient practice of lighting the candles in order to worship the birth of the Goddess Artemis.
According to another theory, the tradition of blowing candles originated in Switzerland in the year 1881. The Swiss middles class followed a number of superstitions back in the days and the number of candles on the cake corresponded to the age of the person. The birthday boy/girl was then asked to blow out each candle one by one.
Another theory comes from the Pagans who said that the birthday candles had a symbolic power. It was believed in earlier times that bad spirits visit people on their birthdays and in order to protect the birthday person, candles were lit and he/she was surrounded by the friends and family and therefore, was shielded from the evil spirits.
So would you still consider celebrating birthday to be okay for people with Islamic faith?
Or you would suggest celebrating birthday without candles?
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1 Reply
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Celebrating Birthday & Lightening Candles
updated 1 year, 4 months ago
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it is not proven how the tradition of lighting candles started. However, even if a practice started with some polytheistic origin, if it is no longer affiliated with its origin and people do not follow it as such, it is now an independent practice, that involves no polytheistic traits. So, there is no problem in following that practice.
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