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Is it permissible to go out for a stroll on Sham el-Nessim day, to meet friends, without believing it to be a holiday or consuming its special foods?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The reality of Sham El-Nessim has been previously explained as a pagan holiday. Among the manifestations of celebrating it is going out to parks, and this is not free from imitating them. The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and his methodology, oppose the path of those who have incurred Allah's wrath and those who are astray. The religion of Islam is built upon avoiding resemblance to disbelievers and distinguishing truth from falsehood. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded his nation to differ from disbelievers in all their circumstances. On the authority of Ibn Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "I have been sent before the Hour with the sword until Allah alone is worshipped, with no partner to Him. My sustenance has been placed under the shade of my spear, and humiliation and abasement have been placed upon whoever disobeys my command. And whoever imitates a people is one of them." Narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawud. And in another Hadith: "He is not of us who imitates others." Narrated by At-Tirmidhi. It has been frequently reported from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, his saying: "Differ from the polytheists," "Differ from the Zoroastrians," "Differ from the Jews," "Differ from the People of the Book." So, a Muslim should be keen not to imitate them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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