----- This Writing is Dedicated for Muslim's Brotherhood -----
Is Valentine’s Day Just Love?
“If you follow the most people belief in this world, surely they will make you lost from Islam. They just follow their guess, and they are the liar only”. (Q.S. Al-An’ am: 116)
THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE’ S DAY
Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this Holiday? The history of Valentine’s Day- and its patron saint- is shrouded in mystery. But do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saint named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men – his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine realizing the injustice of the decree defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting him self. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with young girl- who may have been his jailor’s daughter- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine’ an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the valentine legend is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a lymphatic, heroic, and most importantly, romantic figure. It’s no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine Death or burial- which probably occurred around 270 A.D.- other claim that the Christian Church may have decide to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the middle of February in an effort to ‘Christianize’ celebration of the pagan Lupercia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interior. Lupercia, which began at the ides of February, February15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priest, would gather at the sacred cave for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.
The boys then sliced the goat’s hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goat hide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strip would make them more fertile in the coming year.
One of the false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a big urn. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year. Pope Gelasius declare February 14 St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D; the Roman ‘lottery’ system for romantic pairing was dimmed un-Christian and outlawed. The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the moral of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contain poems, from which the one who wanted to send greeting to his sweetheart could, choose. They also contained suggestion for writing love letter.
Later during the middle ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February – Valentine’s Day- should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the tower of London following his capture at the battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is a part of manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that the King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
In the Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards were begun to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready- made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feeling was discourage. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greeting. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentine in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Easter A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.
According to the great Card Associations, an estimate one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2, 6 billion cards are sent for Christmas).
Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchases by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, The United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Valentine greeting were popular as far back as the middle ages (written valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British museum. The first commercial Valentine’s Day greeting cards in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland, known as the mother of Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap”.
VIEW OF ISLAM
As a Moslem, let’s ask some question to our self, whether we will follow something that it is clearly un-Islamic? Allah Almighty says:
“And don’t follow something if you don’t have known about it. Because heard, sight, and heart, all of them will be asked the responsibility”. (Q.S. Al-Isra: 36)
In Islam, the word “known” mean that we have capability to sense with all part of sense that becomes the might of heart. Not only see, hear, but also more than it.
Hence, Islam forbids belief that contains other faith. Rasulullah says:
“Whoever imitate or follow one of religion community, so they are include in theirs”
“Whoever finds belief besides Islam, so the belief will reject, and on the Day of Judgment he is include the loss people”. (Q.S. Ali Imran: 85).
THE IMPORTANT THING TO TAKE SOME ATTENTION
1. Basic Principle
Valentine’s Day is one of celebration that has a background from Supercalis Romans, and after they become a Christian, the celebration change becomes the religious feast for St. Valentine.
2. Fundamental Source
It’s very clearly; Valentine’s Day doesn’t have sources in Islam. The forms of expressing love that is religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable.
3. The Purpose
The aim of create and express love one another all over the world is nice. But it is in whole year not only a second, a minute, or in a day, in Valentine’s Day.
We have known that the forms of expressing love that is religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously acceptable are those that include the love for prophets and Messengers. It stands reason that the love for Allah and his Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of love.
Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another, and spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the west regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, celebrating the special day, as known as the Valentine’s Day, is an innovation or Bid’ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.
4. Operational
It is common, that the Valentine’s Day is celebrated in wasteful party. Pay attention:
“Actually, the spenders are Satan brotherhood and Satan very disavow to their god (Allah)”. (Q.S. Al-Isra: 27).
So, it is clearly, that we must reject the import culture that against with our culture. Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovation and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day.
May be Allah know the best
