Narrated Anas RA, that when ALLAH’S Messenger (SAW) came to Al-Madinah, the people had two days on which they engaged in games. He SAW said, “ALLAH has substituted for you something better than them: the day of sacrifice, and the day of breaking the fast.” Reported by Abu Dawood and An-Nasa’i, with a Sahih isnad.

I’ve been planning to talk about ways to avoid the hype and/or participating in non-Islamic/pagan holidays and festivals for some time now. It was on my mind back in October when we had the dreaded Halloween (the whole night I thought, “Please don’t come to our door” and AlhamduLILLAH no one did), and again during Thanksgiving (the Canadian holiday is in October and American in November – I can’t win).

Of course, these are followed up by the Christian holidays and then there’s Boxing Day and New Year’s and now something that hadn’t even crossed my mind: Groundhog’s Day.I remember learning this nonsense in school when I was younger.

It seems harmless doesn’t it? Just like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day,(wow, a whole day to honor us),these are not the days ascribed to us. I was never big on any of these in the first place, but it saddens me when I see Muslims doing it. People are trying to play weather psychic with a rodent. Who can know the weather but ALLAH? Must we succumb to the so-called predictions of an animal?

It is narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Zaid Ibn Khalid Al-Juhani (ra) that he said: “Allah’s Messenger (may Peace Be Upon Him) prayed the morning prayer with us in Al-Hudaibiyyah after it had rained during the night, and when he had finished, he addressed the people, saying: “Do you know what your Rabb said?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger (may Peace Be Upon Him) know best!” He (may Peace Be Upon Him) said: (Allah swt said:) “Some of My slaves this morning are true Believers in Me and others are disbelievers: As for those who say: “We have received rain from the Bounty of Allah and His Mercy,” they are Believers in Me and disbelievers in the stars, while those who say: “We have received rain from the movements of such-and-such a star,” are disbelievers in Me and believers in the stars.”

We cannot attribute the changing of the seasons to anything or anyone other than ALLAH.

Muslim has narrated, on the authority of one of the wives of the Prophet (may Peace Be Upon Him) (Hafsah – may Allah be pleased with her), that Allah’s Prophet (may Peace Be Upon Him) said:

“Whoever went to a fortune-teller and asked him about some matter (i.e. of the unseen) and believed him, will have his prayer rejected for forty days.”

The Prophet (may Peace Be Upon Him) informs us in this Hadith that if anyone visited a fortune-teller and asked him about a matter of the unseen – about which, in reality, none possesses knowledge except Allah – and believed in what fortune teller said, Allah will not accept his prayers, nor reward them for forty days – and this is a punishment for the major sin which he has committed.