COMMENT
emel Magazine, Issue 51, December 2008
Dilwar Hussain
Peace on earth and good will to all men
"people, travelling to be with their loved ones, taking time out, thinking about others, exchanging gifts, is profoundly spiritual. It’s the one time in the year when we truly institutionalise thinking about others."
Don’t we live in interesting times? Regime change has come to the US and I hope I am not exaggerating when I keep feeling that the election of Obama seems to be one of those ‘once in a generation’ moments. The sort of occasion you might want to talk to your grandchildren about and explain that, “I was there when it happened”. Barack Hussein Obama has a lot of expectations to live up to, as everyone has commented. Number one on the list - rescuing the great Hussain name from the shadows of a certain deceased Iraqi dictator, and if he has time beyond this, then the economy, climate change, global conflicts and terrorism also deserve some attention. But on a more serious note, the change we have just seen, and the change that can be, reflects something amazing about open, democratic societies. That the will of the people eventually wins out over the whims of ruling elites, however entrenched the latter may seem.
It took nearly a decade but the people who said ‘no’ to a war in Iraq, and ‘no’ to the excesses of the ‘war on terror’, such as Guantanamo, have prevailed. This is the enduring and redeeming feature of what Churchill described as the worst form of government, until you look at everything else. And it is with similar sentiments that I look to another great institution of our life in the West – Christmas.
Yes it’s that time of year again. To many, and not without some cause, Christmas has now come to signal the worst of consumerism, rushing to buy presents, spending money that you don’t have (especially this year), and so on. One fears for Eid in this regard. But while being English means that cynicism is bred into us, I am still the eternal optimist. Perhaps naively, I prefer to see the positive; so this is definitely not the musings of a grumpy old man on this time of year.
In fact, I’m something of a closet Christmas lover, and have been so for many years. I wonder how many more of us Muslims need to come out of this closet? I grew up in a family that occasionally had Christmas trees and presents, even though our family was clearly Muslim. To make matters more complicated, and to add to the joys of the day it’s also my birthday – flanked by Jinnah and Jesus (and Newton if you use the Julian Calendar) I stand in good company.
OK, I know that 25th December isn’t actually the date of birth of Jesus, and that its probably taken from a pagan, pre-Christian festival, nor is the tree, holly, the exchanging of gifts, even Santa (honest!) rooted in Christianity. But take all these things away and something powerful still remains – the simple and touching story of the triumph of humility over strength, of love and sacrifice over greed and selfishness. Christmas is not the most religious time of year for devout Christians, for whom Easter arguably has greater significance, but the coming together of people, travelling to be with their loved ones, taking time out, thinking about others, exchanging gifts, is profoundly spiritual. It’s the one time in the year when we truly institutionalise thinking about others.
In recent years some have argued for Christmas to be replaced by ‘Winterval’ – this has certainly not come from other religious minorities, rather perhaps misplaced political correctness or maybe a secular imperative. In fact, Christmas was banned for some time in the 17th Century by Puritans in England and in America, but for altogether different reasons. I think most non-Christians admire and respect the display of care and religious sentiment during this time, and of course love the sales.
Some of my Christian friends worry about the way Christmas is celebrated and, more generally, about the decline of religious observance in society – and I can understand that anxiety. For a non-Christian, I think the message of Christmas, beyond its specifically Christian relevance, is also a cultural feature of the British landscape, like Remembrance Sunday, Bonfire Night, the Proms, and of course, the X Factor. And on that cultural level we can, and should, embrace the spirit of Christmas. Unwrapping another pair of socks, watching the Snowman, eating too much and sleeping through the Queen’s speech – but there’s more to it than that. It is that eternal message – of humility, love and sacrifice – that from a lowly beginning you can rise to great heights, so eloquently embodied by Obama; that we desperately need to join hands and struggle to realise that tiding of ‘peace on earth, and good will to all…’
