A Dead Cat and a Happy Christmas!

Hey everyone,

As I was driving down the road, coming back from Kanz Obhur-- which by the way is an amazing place to have fresh fish on the Red Sea, on the coast of Jeddah-- I was thinking about the two extremely cute kittens that were sitting next to our table, waiting for us to give them some of our fish. Well, lo and behold, as I was driving 80kpm, my sister and I both shrieked in horror as we saw a white cat darting across the road. A huge bump was felt within a millisecond, as we both realized I had driven over the cat! Our screams got my dad at the back to shout "what happened?" to which my sister replied, "Mansur just drove over the cat and killed it!"

I felt so bad for killing the cat, but I was helpless. Driving at 80kpm, I was below the 100kpm speed limit, and the cat had just decided to cross the road right when I came up to her. If I had braked hard, we would have definitely made a worse mess of ourselves. I felt really bad too because I am always so meticulous when driving, taking extreme care of the way I drive. Then I get a situation where I helplessly drive over a cat. This is not my first time though...I have driven over a cat once before too!

So anyway, today was Christmas. All the television channels are broadcasting their Merry Christmas to their viewers. One particular difference I am noticing on the Pakistani channels is the coverage they are giving to the Pakistani Christians celebrating Christmas in Pakistan. We have soap/ drama based on Christian characters. I remember reading an article in Saudi gazette, talking about how while Saudi Arabia doesn't sell Christmas trees or other specific decorations for Christmas, there are shops selling other items which could be substituted for the trees and other decor. Dubai is in full bloom for Christmas, as malls are heavily decorated with Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Reindeers and in one mall, a band singing Christmas songs. The Dubai Duty Free at the airport had a huge Christmas complete with presents wrapped placed under the tree. These pictures here will reveal to you the full extent of Christmas decorations in Dubai malls.

Living in a Muslim dominated society, how far is too far? How tolerant should we be of allowing people of other faith celebrate their special occasions? I would not mind wishing someone "happy Christmas" because wishing someone else on their special day is a way to keep relations with them well. After all, other non-Muslims wish me happy Eid. If one has given me an Eid gift, then I would reciprocate their gesture on their their holiday. But I would not go as far as participating in church services or singing songs with them. I also personally don't have a problem with a country like UAE celebrating Christmas, but I wonder why the same spirit and festivities are not there when it's Eid? Why aren't the malls decorated as heavily as they are during Christmas? Are the shopping malls so cash-hungry they will go to this lengths to attract customers?

In today's time, Christmas is becoming more and more secular worldwide, as it has been turned into a very commercial venture. Shopping and eating has rid the true meaning of Christmas. Ask some Christians out there, and they don't even know what Christmas is. They truly are surprised when I tell them "Christ"mas is birth of Jesus Christ. Dah! It's the same case in Dubai and elsewhere in the Middle East: Christmas is a secular holiday celebrated with shopping, eating, drinking and partying.

However, there are still some people who celebrate Christmas with it's true meaning. I know churches in Dubai have full fledge services as I remember getting caught up in traffic one time and realized the traffic jam was of huge wave of people going to church. So, to those who do celebrate Christmas for what it should be celebrated with, I wish you a Happy Christmas!

Mansur