Can a Muslim attend Midnight Mass?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can attend Mass as long as you just attend and not actually participate in any ritual.

However - and I say this with all my kindness - what kind of Muslim are you that you are not comfortable attending Mass but comfortable dating (haram) a Christian man (double super mega haram)? Your boundaries are shaped very weirdly. I think any imam fielding your question will first tell you that you can't be dating, least of all a Christian guy, and deal with any mass questions last.

So muslim women are not allowed to date?

Not in the Western sense of dating, and neither are men. And women are ESPECIALLY not allowed to date non-Muslim men since they aren't allowed to marry them. This is why it's baffling to me that OP feels religious enough to be discommoded by Christian religious services but not religious enough to find an idea of marrying a non-Muslim unacceptable. The prohibition against marrying non-Muslim men is one of the last to go even in the most secular, liberal, Muslim-origin families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can attend Mass as long as you just attend and not actually participate in any ritual.

However - and I say this with all my kindness - what kind of Muslim are you that you are not comfortable attending Mass but comfortable dating (haram) a Christian man (double super mega haram)? Your boundaries are shaped very weirdly. I think any imam fielding your question will first tell you that you can't be dating, least of all a Christian guy, and deal with any mass questions last.

So muslim women are not allowed to date?

Not in the Western sense of dating, and neither are men. And women are ESPECIALLY not allowed to date non-Muslim men since they aren't allowed to marry them. This is why it's baffling to me that OP feels religious enough to be discommoded by Christian religious services but not religious enough to find an idea of marrying a non-Muslim unacceptable. The prohibition against marrying non-Muslim men is one of the last to go even in the most secular, liberal, Muslim-origin families

I agree with this. In the US you will find many very secular but nominally Muslim Iranians or perhaps Lebanese who are okay with women marrying non-Muslims, but otherwise it is very rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslim here. Why aren't you comfortable with it? What's the concern?

As in I'm muslim and don't believe Jesus is son of God. Will it be against my faith to attend a church service where he will be referred to as such?

Only baptized and confirmed Catholics can participate in the part where people can get up and get in line to eat the bread and drink a sip of wine. But that's a short part of the whole service. I'm not catholic and I've been to mass many times. It's fine.

Plus, I think it's universal that both muslims and catholics believe Jesus was the son of Mary and the holy spirit. People say "son of god" because the holy spirit comes from god, and because oftentimes people call god "the Father" to everybody in the world, sort of like saying "allah." But nobody believes god was somehow the biological father of jesus like with sperm or anything like that.

In fact, you will probably hear the "Our Father" prayer at some point. It was written before Jesus and Christianity "Our Father, who art in heaven . . . " Basically says may god's will be done on earth, and please help us not to be tempted to do evil.

You do not have to be confirmed to take Communion. In most Western countries, Catholic kids have first communion at 6 or 7 and confirmation at 14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your title seems to be asking is it ok for religous purposes tk attend a mass of another faith.
I'm not sure why you and your boyfriend have had religous discussions like you later share that you do, but don't know the basics of his religion or yours that this is fine.
I agree with the others that this lack of basic communication about religion needs to be corrected before you consider marriage. I understand that you say he is not practicing now but his family is, and children/marriage can change things.
I'm not sure that your current way of not talking about much to try to be respectful (or however you phrased it) is working if you need to come to an anonymous forum to ask his question.
Good luck to you both!

Ask your imam.

My priest was unsure if I could attend a service at a Sikh temple. A friend was moving back to India and asked me to attend. I asked my priest. My priest asked the Bishop. The bishop said yes and outlined what I could/could not do: could remove my shoes; could cover my hair; could not eat the food sacrificed to the gurus. I went and had a great cultural experience. My friend moved to India without our relationship ending on a sour note.

I just googled it and it probably is haaram to attend the Midnight Mass simply because there will be images (https://islamqa.info/en/111832). Even if the parish doesn't have stained glass windows, there will be a crucifix, Stations of the Cross, and some religious statuary. A non-Catholic, non-Orthodox, i.e. Protestant church without any images would be fine, it seems. If you are observant, explain to your bf why you cannot go. Of course, if you are really observant, you probably would not have a bf at all, let alone a Catholic one.

This sound so idiotic and anti-intellectual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Muslim countries with Christian minorities, heads of state or their representatives routinely attend church services on holidays like Christmas and Easter to show solidarity and respect for these minorities. I guess OP's family is not from one of those countries. :/

This is obnoxious.

Why?

Not that poster, but it's assuming that a Muslim must be from somewhere else.

Not any of the PPs on this post, but most Muslims from families several generations in the US are more relaxed about running elbows with Christianity than OP sounds. She herself may be US born, but she is probably second generation at most.

If she is, she should know most Muslims would be very uncomfortable with a Muslim girl dating/marrying anyone other than a Muslim. That is a much bigger deal than attending a Christian service.

Why is religion so quarrelsome ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Muslim countries with Christian minorities, heads of state or their representatives routinely attend church services on holidays like Christmas and Easter to show solidarity and respect for these minorities. I guess OP's family is not from one of those countries. :/

This is obnoxious.

Why?

Not that poster, but it's assuming that a Muslim must be from somewhere else.

Not any of the PPs on this post, but most Muslims from families several generations in the US are more relaxed about running elbows with Christianity than OP sounds. She herself may be US born, but she is probably second generation at most.

If she is, she should know most Muslims would be very uncomfortable with a Muslim girl dating/marrying anyone other than a Muslim. That is a much bigger deal than attending a Christian service.

Why is religion so quarrelsome ?

Why is anything humans do quarrelsome?

We fight about politics, sex, child-rearing, nutrition, art, the environment, sports, fashion...

In other words, humans quarrel about what we care about. If religion wasn't important, no one --believer or non-believer-- would bother arguing about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslim here. Why aren't you comfortable with it? What's the concern?

As in I'm muslim and don't believe Jesus is son of God. Will it be against my faith to attend a church service where he will be referred to as such?

Only baptized and confirmed Catholics can participate in the part where people can get up and get in line to eat the bread and drink a sip of wine. But that's a short part of the whole service. I'm not catholic and I've been to mass many times. It's fine.

Plus, I think it's universal that both muslims and catholics believe Jesus was the son of Mary and the holy spirit. People say "son of god" because the holy spirit comes from god, and because oftentimes people call god "the Father" to everybody in the world, sort of like saying "allah." But nobody believes god was somehow the biological father of jesus like with sperm or anything like that.

In fact, you will probably hear the "Our Father" prayer at some point. It was written before Jesus and Christianity "Our Father, who art in heaven . . . " Basically says may god's will be done on earth, and please help us not to be tempted to do evil.

You do not have to be confirmed to take Communion. In most Western countries, Catholic kids have first communion at 6 or 7 and confirmation at 14.

Oh, all my friends were confirmed. I didn't know adults who weren't confirmed could participate in communion. But regardless, OP cannot. And neither can i.

[Anonymous]

Please no hijab. It would freak people out this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please no hijab. It would freak people out this year.

THe virgin mary wore a veil

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslim here. Why aren't you comfortable with it? What's the concern?

As in I'm muslim and don't believe Jesus is son of God. Will it be against my faith to attend a church service where he will be referred to as such?

Only baptized and confirmed Catholics can participate in the part where people can get up and get in line to eat the bread and drink a sip of wine. But that's a short part of the whole service. I'm not catholic and I've been to mass many times. It's fine.

Plus, I think it's universal that both muslims and catholics believe Jesus was the son of Mary and the holy spirit. People say "son of god" because the holy spirit comes from god, and because oftentimes people call god "the Father" to everybody in the world, sort of like saying "allah." But nobody believes god was somehow the biological father of jesus like with sperm or anything like that.

In fact, you will probably hear the "Our Father" prayer at some point. It was written before Jesus and Christianity "Our Father, who art in heaven . . . " Basically says may god's will be done on earth, and please help us not to be tempted to do evil.

You do not have to be confirmed to take Communion. In most Western countries, Catholic kids have first communion at 6 or 7 and confirmation at 14.

Oh, all my friends were confirmed. I didn't know adults who weren't confirmed could participate in communion. But regardless, OP cannot. And neither can i.

Confirmation is totally separate from first communion. It would be unusual for an adult practicing Catholic to not be confirmed, but it isn't a requirement to recieve communion regardless of age. When adults convert to Catholicism they will often (but not always) receive all three sacraments of initiation (baptism, first communion, and confirmation) at the same time.
But to the point of this thread - right, OP shouldn't receive communion. Basically, unless you know you CAN receive communion, just don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please no hijab. It would freak people out this year.

Oh for the love.
Ignore this, OP. If you regularly wear a hijab, don't undermine your own religion just to not freak out some idiots. (Although, as many others have said, you seem to have a confusing range of conservatism)

As for clothing in general, if you go, wear whatever you would wear to any relatively formal religious service. It's not at all unusual around here to see people in jeans at a regular Sunday mass, but the midnight mass at Christmas is one of the most dressed up of the year. Slacks and a nice sweater, skirt, dress, that sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

It's hysterically funny to me that someone Muslim worries about attending a Christian mass, but is fine with dating a Christian guy. OP, your knowledge of your own religion is SO out of whack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your title seems to be asking is it ok for religous purposes tk attend a mass of another faith.
I'm not sure why you and your boyfriend have had religous discussions like you later share that you do, but don't know the basics of his religion or yours that this is fine.
I agree with the others that this lack of basic communication about religion needs to be corrected before you consider marriage. I understand that you say he is not practicing now but his family is, and children/marriage can change things.
I'm not sure that your current way of not talking about much to try to be respectful (or however you phrased it) is working if you need to come to an anonymous forum to ask his question.
Good luck to you both!

Ask your imam.

My priest was unsure if I could attend a service at a Sikh temple. A friend was moving back to India and asked me to attend. I asked my priest. My priest asked the Bishop. The bishop said yes and outlined what I could/could not do: could remove my shoes; could cover my hair; could not eat the food sacrificed to the gurus. I went and had a great cultural experience. My friend moved to India without our relationship ending on a sour note.

What food sacrificed to gurus? Sikhs don't believe in sacrifice. Prasad is doled out in equal portions to everyone, regardless of religion, caste, etc. It's blessed but it isn't a sacrifice.

Langar (meal) is served to any visitor to the gurdwara. Also not part of any sacrifice.

Your priest and bishops should educate themselves on other religions.