The Professor of Comparative Jurisprudence at al-Azhar University Ahmed Karima on Tuesday slammed any Islamic preacher that forbids wishing Christians happy holidays.
He condemned such behavior as ‘‘recalcitrant, ignorant and deviant” during a phone-in with the Salat al-Tahrir TV show.
Karima personally congratulated Christians on their holidays, wishing that the the new year brings “Goodness, peace and love to the whole world.”
“The opinion of the Salafists and Abdallah Roshdy regarding the prohibition of congratulating Christians is a deviation that Egyptians did not know until the 1970s,” Karima added.
“How can a recalcitrant and ignorant person come and deny the celebration of the birth of Christ, peace be upon him,?” he asked.
He lamented that unfortunately some people dare to issue fatwas without proper knowledge.
“We have holidays related to religious occasions such as Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, and other occasions such as Hijrah (Migration) and the Prophet’s birthday, and we have community events such as Sham al-Naseem for Egyptians and Mother’s Day,” he said.
“The Prophet (Mohamed) said that every nation has a holiday. It suffices that the holy Quran has venerated on the day of the birth of Christ, peace be upon him.”
Controversial Islamic preacher Abdallah Roshdy had been banned from delivering sermons in any mosques across Egypt back in August, according to a decision by Religious Endowments Minister Mohamed Gomaa.
