valentines day

Saint Valentine and today's Muslims

marraige

Valentine's day. A day on which a couple show their outward affection for each other through gifts and other acts of devtion. It may involve flowers and even chocolate. Isn't this the height of western decadence mixed with fairytale Hollywood romance?

Surely this is something that all Muslims should stay away from Or should they?

If you look at the underlying message of Saint Valentine, who was Christian, the message is not one of romance, decadence or fairytales. It is a simple tale of marriage.

Saint Valentine conducted marriage ceremonies for individuals who wanted to get married but for whatever reason wanted to get married, religion allowed but but for whatever reason they couldn't (including reasons of societal taboo).

The Muslim origins of Valentine’s Day

There once was a village in Muslimistan, where a young boy called Wali Nuteen lived. He was a kind, fun-loving adventurous boy, who was Sunni, practicing, tall, with a fair complexion, steady job and a healthy respect for Shia people, without appearing dogmatic. In fact, just the kind of description any Muslim lady scouring adverts on Muslim matrimonial sites would be happy with.

One day, Wali was walking along the main street of his village when he spied a beautiful lady. In an instant, he fell in love. The girl was called Begum; she was from a rival tribe. She was 23 years his senior, and already married. But he still, Walis love for Begum knew no bounds.

Ban on Valentine's Day cards at school

A primary school in Weston-super-Mare has been criticised for banning Valentine cards to save pupils the "emotional trauma" of being rejected.

Children at Ashcombe Primary School were stopped from exchanging cards because the head teacher said they were not emotionally mature enough to cope.

Peter Turner told parents of the 430 pupils that cards would be confiscated.

One pupil's mother said: "I think it's outrageous. They're just children. Why spoil their fun?"

The woman, whose son attends the school, said: "It's comical really. I couldn't believe it when I saw the newsletter.

"My son is six and he's had a little girlfriend since nursery. They say they're going to get married, but we don't read anything into it."