Christmas dinner with non-muslim parents

:salam2:
Today, my Mom is cooking a special "Christmas" dinner.
To me, dinner is dinner, just like any meal, and I live with them, so I have dinner with them pretty much every day,(avoiding the haram foods) Christmas or not.
So, I think I don't have to opt out of this as celebrating Christmas; for me iit is just another meal, for them it is a Christmas meal. Am I right about this?

That was the minor problem. Here is the bigger..
My mom is cooking a haram thing and placing it at the center of the table as the main dish. I'm not going to eat it, of course, but why did she insist on having a
big, disgusting ham smack in the center of the table, instead of a nice lamb? I want to somehow, at least for future meals, drop subtle suggestions into their minds
to convince them that swine is not food and does not belong on the table, but I don't want to do this directly, just want to slowly drop hints, indirectly.
Before I came to be a believer, about three years ago now, I would eat just about anything my Mom cooked and put on the table, not thinking twice about it. IstaghfirAllah.
And I used to eat ham before coming to Islam, istaghfirAllah...I never told my parents that I have reverted, but I have always avoided the haram things on the table, and followed
to the best of my ability, my deen. But, I'm really getting sick and tired of seeing a big ham or pork on the table, and having to act like a little kid and put it all in my napkin when my parents arent looking,
avoiding explaining directly that I don't eat these things and the reasons why.
 

Pylo

New Member
Sister you know you will never be able to hide it forever. At some point you will eventually need to tell that you reverted. I am aware of it's hardness. And that the hardness may vary according to your parents' reaction. You are the one to know them the best and you should also be wary of their reaction.
Nonetheless, you are aware that if you keep delaying to announce you've reverted, you will always face awkward situations like this.

What do you think their reaction would be ?

Look, my parents are secular, and my situation is not very much different from you, in a sense.

But as long as you keep your faith for yourself and hide it, it will make problems only for yourself and create situations that will dishearten you. There will be some situations in which your parents will never ever understand the motives for your behaviour, such as not eating ham. For them it's absolutely normal to eat that thing. Since it's definetly normal for them and they have no idea about your new identity, it will be very awkward for them to see you putting the ham in your napkin, because they are not aware of the reason.
Been there, done that! I know where this may lead your relationship with parents.

Your best bet is to be clear.
Trust me, once you begin telling about it the rest follows up.
I do not think, and i hope, and i pray that you will not be opposed by them.

Sometimes, we exaggerate situations, or the things that we must do. So we end up being afraid from what needs to be done. And we simply don't do it. Thinking it's an escape from our problem, yet, it only makes the problem bigger.
I'd say go for it!
 
:salam2: Thanks, sister. I know you are right. And, I am probably exaggerating the situation, and the fear of their reaction. I am being coward about telling them, I realize this. Thanks for the advice. Jazak Allah khair.
 

islamerica

1 Ummah under God
assalaamu alaykum sister,

Have you hard of Joel Osteen? he has a very good lecture on eating swine and how Jesus didn't eat it and bible forbids it. It's on youtube, try sharing that with them
 
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