Eid Mubarak!

A few months ago, the Muslim world celebrated Eid ul-Fitr on one of several days (amid a fair amount of confusion internationally as to the precise day it was supposed to be), the Muslim Festival of fast-breaking signaling the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan (or Ramazan, in some parts of the world). It is a beautiful festival, with strangers exchanging Muslim-style, triple hugs in the street, and wonderful food. So often one is confronted with sensationalized web images of terrorists subscribing to Islamist ideology, but I thought you might want to see what a typical Muslim looks like; a father and son, on the morning of their most beloved festival, heading for prayers. Afterwards, they would doubtless head home to one of the great feasts of the year, with presents and new clothes for everyone in the family, especially the children. In many ways, it reminds one of Christmas celebrations among the more spiritually inclined in the West.There is another very interesting similarity between Eid ul-Fitr (and Ramadhan) and Christmas that are worth exploring at a deeper level, however. What are Ramadhan and Eid ul-Fitr supposed to be celebrating?

Sunni Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the uncreated Word of God, with no beginning and no end, not made, yet always in existence.

According to Abu Hanifah, the great Sunni Imam, the Qur'an is eternal, in its original essence. He says, "The Qur'an is the Word of God, and is His inspired Word and Revelation. It is a necessary attribute (sifah) of God. It is not God, but still it is inseparable from God. It is written in a volume, it is read in a language, it is remembered in the heart, and its letters and its vowel points, and its writing are all created, for these are the works of man, but God's word is uncreated (ghairu 'l-rnakhluq). Its words, its writing, its letters, and its verses, are for the necessities of man, for its meaning is arrived at by their use, but the Word of God is fixed in the essence (zat) of God, and he who says that the word of God is created is an infidel." (See Kitibu 'l- Wasiyah, p. 77.)(quoted in Thomas Patrick Hughes, Dictionary of Islam (London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1895), p. 484)

Ramadhan and Eid ul-Fitr are meant to be a celebration of the revelation of the Qur'an, of the coming of the very Word of God to humankind. This is also what Christmas, true Christmas, is meant to celebrate as well: The Coming of the very uncreated Word of God not merely to, but among humankind:

In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.

The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. God sent John the Baptist (that is, Yahya) to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. But although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan – this rebirth comes from God. So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.

John (Yahya) pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'Someone is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.'" We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us – one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart; he has told us about him. (John 1:1-18, New Living Translation)

This passage describes what is what is at the heart of what Christmas celebrates. It is about the Incarnation of the Word of God. For the uninitiated, the term Son of God can sound terribly jarring, as though the living God, the creator of the Universe, took a consort and had physical children. This passage makes it clear that that is not, indeed could never be the case. When John, writing under the Holy Spirit's inspiration, refers to Jesus, Isa, as "Son of God" (e.g., in the final verse of this passage), he is using it in synonymously with Logos or eternal Word through whom God created the Universe, as a parallel of sorts with the first verse of this passage.

May our hearts be filled with gratitude as we celebrate this Christmas, this Eid to the living and eternal Word of God Who "became human and lived here on earth among us."