Reading from the author's words with commentary and collation of manuscripts: "And most of these actions reported from the Christians, and others that have not been reported
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The reader: "And most of these actions reported from the Christians and others that have not been reported, Satan has made attractive to many who claim Islam, and he has given them a place in their hearts and a good opinion, and they have added to some of it and subtracted from it, and they have advanced and delayed; either because some of what they do was done by some of the Christians, or because they changed it on their own, just as they may change some of the matters of the true religion. But whenever these days and similar days, which have no special status in the religion of Allah, are singled out for them, their special status is only in the false religion: the origin of singling them out is from the religion of the disbelievers, and singling them out for this involves imitating them. It is not permissible for an ignorant person to believe that by this they achieve difference from them, as in the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura; because that is in what"
The Shaykh : And his intention, may Allah have mercy on him, is that some people participate with them in what they do in these festivals, but they differ from them in a type of difference, and they think that by this type of difference it is valid that they have not imitated them, as in the fasting of 'Ashura, for we fast it, but we fast a day before it or a day after it, and by that the difference is achieved. So some people think that if we celebrate their festivals, but we differ from them in the type of food or its form or the like, the difference is achieved. He says this is a mistake, and he explained the difference, may Allah have mercy on him: that the fasting, the fasting of 'Ashura, was prescribed, so its origin is prescribed, and it remains on its prescribedness, and it is fasted a day before it, and it is fasted a day before it or a day after it, and the difference is achieved. But this is not prescribed in the first place. Yes, correct.
The reader: "as in the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura; because that is in what whose origin was prescribed for us, and they do it, so we differ from them in its description. But as for what is not in our religion in any way, but is from their religion, the innovated or the abrogated, it is not permissible for us to imitate them, neither in its origin nor in its description, as we have mentioned the rule of that"
The Shaykh : And this indicates the jurisprudence of the Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, and that he is deep in jurisprudence. Otherwise, one might say: if a type of difference is achieved, then there is no imitation. So if he said the difference, then there is no imitation, like the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura. So if he said the difference is that the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura, what is it? It is prescribed, and the difference is achieved by fasting a day before it or a day after it. But these celebrations and these foods and these things that are put on the walls and the like are not prescribed in the first place. Yes.
The reader: "as we have mentioned the rule of that in the past. So innovating what is in these days, whose singling out is connected to them and not to us, is imitating them in the origin of singling out these days for something involving veneration. This is clear according to the saying of the one who dislikes fasting"
The Shaykh : Now, have you seen if they held a celebration for them on the Festival of Fitr, for example, would we say we do not celebrate it?
The student: We do not celebrate it.
The Shaykh : Why? Because its origin is prescribed. Rather, we celebrate it and we say they are the ones who followed us in that. Yes.
The reader: "This is clear according to the saying of the one who dislikes fasting the Day of Nayruz and Mihraj, especially if they venerate the day in which that was innovated. And this becomes clearer by the fact that the matter has come to the point that many people have become, in such a Thursday which is the festival of the disbelievers—the Festival of the Table—the last Thursday of the fasting of the Christians, which they call the Great Thursday—and it is the Humble Thursday—they gather in great gathering places, and they dye"
The Shaykh : In places, in gathering places.
The reader: In places.
The Shaykh : Yes, meaning they gather in multiple places.
The reader: Yes, exactly
The Shaykh : Great gatherings.
The reader: "They gather in great gathering places, and they dye eggs and cook with milk, and they mark their animals with red, and they make foods that are hardly done in the festival of Allah and His Messenger, and they exchange gifts that occur in such seasons as Hajj, and most of them have forgotten the origin of that and its cause, and it has remained a prevalent custom like their custom"
The Shaykh : And it has remained, and it has remained.
The reader: "And it has remained a prevalent custom like their custom with the festivals of Fitr and Sacrifice, and more. And Satan has aided in misleading them by that that the time is the time of spring, and it is the beginning of the solar year, so meat, milk, and eggs and the like have become abundant in it, even though the festival of the Christians is not a limited day of the solar year, but it advances and delays in it, in about thirty-three days, as we have mentioned"
The Shaykh : And his intention, may Allah have mercy on him, is that some people participate with them in what they do in these festivals, but they differ from them in a type of difference, and they think that by this type of difference it is valid that they have not imitated them, as in the fasting of 'Ashura, for we fast it, but we fast a day before it or a day after it, and by that the difference is achieved. So some people think that if we celebrate their festivals, but we differ from them in the type of food or its form or the like, the difference is achieved. He says this is a mistake, and he explained the difference, may Allah have mercy on him: that the fasting, the fasting of 'Ashura, was prescribed, so its origin is prescribed, and it remains on its prescribedness, and it is fasted a day before it, and it is fasted a day before it or a day after it, and the difference is achieved. But this is not prescribed in the first place. Yes, correct.
The reader: "as in the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura; because that is in what whose origin was prescribed for us, and they do it, so we differ from them in its description. But as for what is not in our religion in any way, but is from their religion, the innovated or the abrogated, it is not permissible for us to imitate them, neither in its origin nor in its description, as we have mentioned the rule of that"
The Shaykh : And this indicates the jurisprudence of the Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, and that he is deep in jurisprudence. Otherwise, one might say: if a type of difference is achieved, then there is no imitation. So if he said the difference, then there is no imitation, like the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura. So if he said the difference is that the fasting of the Day of 'Ashura, what is it? It is prescribed, and the difference is achieved by fasting a day before it or a day after it. But these celebrations and these foods and these things that are put on the walls and the like are not prescribed in the first place. Yes.
The reader: "as we have mentioned the rule of that in the past. So innovating what is in these days, whose singling out is connected to them and not to us, is imitating them in the origin of singling out these days for something involving veneration. This is clear according to the saying of the one who dislikes fasting"
The Shaykh : Now, have you seen if they held a celebration for them on the Festival of Fitr, for example, would we say we do not celebrate it?
The student: We do not celebrate it.
The Shaykh : Why? Because its origin is prescribed. Rather, we celebrate it and we say they are the ones who followed us in that. Yes.
The reader: "This is clear according to the saying of the one who dislikes fasting the Day of Nayruz and Mihraj, especially if they venerate the day in which that was innovated. And this becomes clearer by the fact that the matter has come to the point that many people have become, in such a Thursday which is the festival of the disbelievers—the Festival of the Table—the last Thursday of the fasting of the Christians, which they call the Great Thursday—and it is the Humble Thursday—they gather in great gathering places, and they dye"
The Shaykh : In places, in gathering places.
The reader: In places.
The Shaykh : Yes, meaning they gather in multiple places.
The reader: Yes, exactly
The Shaykh : Great gatherings.
The reader: "They gather in great gathering places, and they dye eggs and cook with milk, and they mark their animals with red, and they make foods that are hardly done in the festival of Allah and His Messenger, and they exchange gifts that occur in such seasons as Hajj, and most of them have forgotten the origin of that and its cause, and it has remained a prevalent custom like their custom"
The Shaykh : And it has remained, and it has remained.
The reader: "And it has remained a prevalent custom like their custom with the festivals of Fitr and Sacrifice, and more. And Satan has aided in misleading them by that that the time is the time of spring, and it is the beginning of the solar year, so meat, milk, and eggs and the like have become abundant in it, even though the festival of the Christians is not a limited day of the solar year, but it advances and delays in it, in about thirty-three days, as we have mentioned"