Is it permissible to attend the Teacher's Day celebration held in schools? And is it permissible for a female teacher to accept a gift from the school?

The questioner : Is it permissible to attend the Teacher's Day celebration held in schools? And is it permissible for the female teacher to accept the gift that the school gives her?

The Shaykh : The answer is that this problem stems from our imitation of the systems of the disbelievers. It cannot be eradicated except by changing the educational curricula. Otherwise, you will hear answers of "not permissible, not permissible, not permissible," but with the "not permissible" comes the reality that we are forced to fall into it because of the corruption of the curriculum!
Perhaps you all know that in Islam, it is not permissible to have festivals other than three: two annual festivals, 'Id al-Fitr and 'Id al-Adha, and a weekly festival, which is the day of Jumu'ah. There are no festivals other than these. We used to complain—and we still complain—about one festival that came upon the Muslims a long time ago, centuries ago, namely the celebration of the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid). We used to say that this is, first, a bid'ah (religious innovation) with no basis in the Sunnah, and second, it also stems from the imitation of the early Muslims of the Christians. One of them—meaning one of the innovators—would say: "My brother, the Christians celebrate the birth of their Prophet; so why should we not celebrate the birth of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?" The Muslims were in a strange state of negligence regarding their religion. The meaning of this statement is that the Christians are a model for us, as if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had not warned us against following and imitating them... In the hadith in al-Bukhari, for example, narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, it is said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So he (peace be upon him) is warning us against imitating these disbelievers, because they deviated from the path of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), first by distorting the Book, the Torah and the Gospel, and second, because of their disbelief in Islam and in our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whom Allah abrogated all other religions with him and His Book.
There is no harm in this occasion to remind you of something that some people may not know. It is mentioned in "Sahih Muslim" in the hadith of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about fasting on Monday?" His answer was in the style of wise speech. He did not say to him, "This is recommended, this is a noble matter," or the like. Rather, he said to him something more eloquent: he said: . What is the meaning of this answer? It is as if he is saying: "You should fast on Monday in gratitude to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for what He has bestowed upon you of my birth in it and my sending in it. You should thank Allah for that by fasting this day, because it is a day of virtue, in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was born and in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent." Among the traditions of the nations before us, the People of the Book, is to thank Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for a blessing that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has bestowed upon them. It is mentioned in "the two Sahihs" in the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah as an emigrant, he found the Jews fasting on the day of 'Ashura. He asked them about the reason, and they said: "This is the day in which Allah saved Musa and his people from Pharaoh and his army." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So he fasted it and ordered its fasting.
So if, first, the Jews fasted the day of 'Ashura in gratitude to Allah, and their Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) approved them for that, and then the approval came from our Prophet, the Seal of the Prophets, and he said to them: , so he fasted it and ordered its fasting, then it is incumbent upon us, in remembrance of this blessing, after which there is no blessing except Islam, to fast every Monday.
We know that many Muslims—and praise be to Allah—still continue to fast at least two days in the week, Monday and Thursday. This is what the practical and verbal hadiths have come with. But many of these fasters fast on Monday because fasting is prescribed in it. However, very few of those who fast on Monday keep in mind that they are encouraged to do so as gratitude to their Lord for creating and giving birth to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on this day, and sending him on this day. This meaning is very little kept in mind by these fasters on the day of their fasting. So what can we say about those who do not fast it? They are the furthest from keeping in mind this legal ruling, which is explained by this cause that necessitates thanking Allah by fasting. So what has befallen the Muslims? They have exchanged that which is lower for that which is better. You will find that most of those who celebrate what they call the Prophet's birthday do not fast on Monday... Most of these celebrants do not fast on Monday. When they are asked why they celebrate, they say: "We celebrate to honor the Messenger (peace be upon him) and to commemorate the Messenger (peace be upon him)." But the Messenger has prescribed for you, by the command of Allah, what is better for you than this celebration, which is, first, an innovation with no basis in Islam, and second, it is imitating the disbelievers, as they themselves admit. The Christians celebrate the birth of 'Isa, so we are more deserving of celebrating the birth of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
And third—and lastly—you celebrate this unlegislated celebration once a year, and your Messenger prescribed for you to celebrate his birth every week. So which of the two celebrations is greater, if you only knew?!
So it is not permissible for us to celebrate a festival, and how many of these festivals there are! Teacher's Day, Mother's Day, Tree Day, so all the days have become festivals. If only they were truly festivals, because the nature of festivals is that people live in them in joy, happiness, and delight. But people today live in hardship of life and existence. Despite that, the festivals they celebrate have multiplied, and in reality, the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) applies to them: . So if the matter is as we have mentioned, that there are no festivals in Islam except those three festivals, then celebrating Teacher's Day, like all celebrations of other festivals, is not legislated in the religion of Islam.

The questioner : The gift, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : The gift is dependent on the original matter. The original matter is defective; so what is built upon a defective foundation is defective.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.