An Old Debate on New Year Eve’s Celebrations
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN
Like every festival in Pakistan, New Year’s Eve is also full of controversies. There is controversy regarding its religious standing; a dispute about its cultural significance, a debate about its proper limits, its expenses, its timing, its location. Even the consumption of electricity, water and food during such an event is questionable. Being played in the hands of clerics, ambivalent Pakistanis often ask themselves: is it permissible in Islam to celebrate the dawn of the Christian New Year with joy or not? And, by doing that, are we trying to leave behind Muslim traditions and ignore the Islamic calendar all together, which starts from the month of Moharram?
For many, the question is: how many poor can be fed from the money spent on these celebrations? How many young girls can get married if that money is not wasted? How many schools can be built for the free education of the poor? How many lives can be saved, if we focused on health? Why can we not celebrate it in the mosques by offering prayers? Should we give more in charity as a token of our joy to the needy on New Year’s Eve? How does it help the Islamic community at large? How does it alleviate the sufferings of the Muslims of Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine? How would they respond to our indifference? How would we explain our position to God? And so on!
There is, honestly, no limit to the extent of controversy that can be created by celebrating a simple evening of joy and happiness.
All over the world, the last day of the year is celebrated as a moment of hope, a time for commitment to improve things around you and an occasion for a personal resolution to look after yourself and your family. Generally speaking, there is an aura of joy everywhere in the last week of December; markets are open till late, schools are closed and there are back-to-back national holidays. On the contrary, there is, quite frankly, a lot of anger, frustration, confusion and violence in our part of the world. We do not make any promises to focus on our health, education or finances in the coming year. We do not vow to become amenable and caring children to our parents. We do not plan to be a conscientious husband, a spouse who believes in equality of rights irrespective of gender. We do not intend to be an affectionate wife, a kind parent and a loving sibling. We do not aim to be an honest shopkeeper, a dedicated and hard working employee or a benevolent employer who is willing to share his fortunes with his workers.
None of these resolutions spark our interest, nor do they catch our attention just because, in our minds, the legitimacy of the issue has not been resolved. Or should I say that we have been deliberately kept that way to protect the hegemony of a certain group of people and to protect our ‘master’s’ interests?
Simply put, as with any other issue, on this one too, our nation is divided into two major groups: the extra-conservatives and the hyper-liberals. In their own accord, each one of them has taken an extreme position. The conservatives who oppose these celebrations defend their position based on the shariat law, the same code of life that once united the nation and is now being used just like the Baghdad of 13th century in almost every dispute to divide it. The liberals who approve of these activities believe that New Year’s celebration is not a religious event at all. For them, if people want to get together and collectively plan to enjoy an evening, then this issue should be resolved as a matter of personal choice instead of a state or a religious doctrine.
I wish each one could keep his modus operandi as simple as their ideologies. The truth is that some enthusiasts — if they were not contained — would recklessly start celebratory gunfire in public as soon as all the hands of the clock unite at midnight, endangering the lives of the people around them. Notwithstanding that the consumption of alcohol in public places in the West is strictly prohibited, few of them will start drinking alcohol openly on New Year's Eve. They will smash the empty glass bottles on the roads and drive under the influence of drugs, a crime that has up to three years of jail time in the US. Being intoxicated, they will also pick fights with others and ultimately risk their own lives along with everybody else's.
At the other extreme, small militias from local mosques and madrassas (seminaries) start policing the streets illegally on New Year’s Eve way before midnight. They may break into private homes to look for parties, attack hotels and raid every restaurant if there is any suspicion of a get-together. Threatening everyone, including people with families and thrashing everybody who resists their vigilantism, becomes a matter of pride for these elements. Their behavior has only worsened over the years since they are convinced that they are entitled to take the law into their own hands in order to ensure the sanctity of the shariat.
These crimes cannot be condoned, nor can the miscreants who endanger others be exonerated from their misdeeds whether it is done in the name of religion or the celebration.
New Year’s Eve is an important event that should be celebrated to relate with the rest of the world, there is no doubt about that. However, proper decorum, which is consistent with our cultural norms, should be maintained and decent behavior that does not permit illegal raids on private properties should be upheld at every cost. It is not impossible, nonetheless.
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