The Flower Festival and Whether It Counts as a Festival

Question:
I say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, there is a celebration and festival to be held in Riyadh called the Flower Festival. It will last for ten days, five hours a day. Does this count as a festival or not? And what is the guidance regarding it?

Answer:
It requires knowing what the Flower Festival is. Do they mean planting trees? Because they have a day of the year when they plant, and I do not know. It is all traditions, and there is no doubt that they are traditions that are not befitting. However, if it is the exchange of flowers on this day, then this is the festival of the Christians; they are the ones who exchange flowers. If the intention is that they exchange flowers on this day, then this is the festival of the Christians and imitating them. But if the intention is planting trees and planting flowers, then we do not say that it is like the exchange of flowers, but making it a habit and setting it in the year involves imitating the disbelievers, and it may lead to it becoming a festival in the year. The Muslims are in no need of these trifles and these imported procedures. The Muslims are in no need of these matters, and Allah has elevated them with Islam and honored them with Islam, so they should rise above these trifles and these traditions.