M. Bitar Ruba Mansour:

           No one denies the origin of Valentine’s Day,  after the priest Valentine, that is, its Roman-Christian origin, But no one also denies the origin of the computer, the car, the airplane, the train, and most of what the general public uses, So why do Muslims abstain from Valentine’s Day? Why don’t they practice that fabricated asceticism regarding Western products, i.e., imitating the West in terms of consumption? The West is Western and, coincidentally, Christian. The manufacture of airplanes and cars is not due to these people being Christians, but rather because they are rational, secular, critical, materialistic, relativistic, and scientific, In contrast, those who reject Valentine’s Day in this region are exclusively Muslim believers.

  They kill, fight, and wage war for ages, and they cannot tolerate Valentine’s Day for a single day, Even animals have surpassed them in the field of progress, Would a hen allow them to approach her chicks? Or a dog to approach her puppies? As for these people, their role model is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, who would close his eyes if he saw a Christian, Another role model, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, saw that a person’s Islam is not valid, even if he affirms the oneness of God and abandons polytheism, except through enmity and hatred towards polytheists. We do not wish to mention more about Qaradawi, Ibn Taymiyyah, and others who are lower than them in religious rank, as the phenomenon of Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Abd al-Wahhab is unfortunately widespread, and its opposite or antithesis is less widespread,Its opposite is an exception among the sheikhs.

Even if the meanings and practices of Valentine’s Day are limited to young men and women, what is wrong with designating a day to celebrate love and its celebration, knowing that Valentine’s Day encompasses all cases of love, and not just the romantic love of young men and women, including the love of a mother for her children, the love of a neighbor for his neighbor, and the love of man for man in general.

Even the celebration of love and its holiday was banned under penalty of punishment in some of their dens called countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, We do not know much about the current Saudi situation, It is possible that Crown Prince bin Salman has overturned the barbaric punishments designated for those who celebrate Valentine’s Day, If he has not done so until now, he will do so sooner or later in the near future, In the dens of darkness, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice stood guard and used violence against anyone celebrating Valentine’s Day, The situation in Iran is similar, In addition, there are messages published on social media warning against falling into the trap of the germs of the religious Valentine’s Day.    

  They attribute everything these rabble do to the will of the Creator and what He said in His Holy Book. By God! Is there anyone more hideous and vile than this Creator, who explodes with rage along with his flock if some people promote the phenomenon of love among humans?  How can one justify calling for the worship of a repulsive symbol like the Creator, when this Creator descends to a rank lower than that of predatory animals?

In his book “The Art of Loving,” the German philosopher Erich Fromm saw love as an answer to the problem of human existence, which represents an animal lineage, but with reason and consciousness, being born without his will and dying without his will as well, and being without will in his death and birth, turning his limited existence on earth and between life and death into an oppressive prison, as it is difficult to overcome loneliness in the depths of this prison without expansion, proximity and horizontal affection with other human beings. In this sense, Sartre said, “What is love but an escape from loneliness,” that is, loneliness in the prison of life.

  Love is the only answer to the problem of human existence; it is the answer to human isolation; it is the ideal way to transform society into a kind of one interdependent and supportive “personal” being.

They perform prayers several times daily, and daily they preach hatred several times. Hatred is a holiday! For some, every day is a holiday because of hatred, Daily they vent their venom on each other, especially on other infidels who deserve to be killed by slaughter, burning, or crucifixion. Then they ask their deity to destroy those they describe as infidels, O God, seize them with the might of the Almighty! O God, afflict the infidels with diseases, illnesses, and destruction, O God, grant the believers health, goodness in their lands, and blessings upon them, and remove harm and hardship from them! There is no need to list more of the contents of the barbaric prayers that divide people from each other and are dedicated to human hatred of human beings.

   Those who ask the Creator to inflict all that evil upon others are incapable of love and cannot celebrate Valentine’s Day, They specialize in hatred and in dedicating a day to hatred, The lover and the one celebrating Valentine’s Day are not concerned with whether others love or celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, Rather, the lover is concerned with the hostility practiced against him by some, which may reach the point of his social, physical, and psychological elimination, He is concerned with the laws that criminalize and punish him, These people do not only hate others, but they hate themselves first and foremost! Perhaps in their self-hatred, they are justified!