Now, we know that this is not about hate crime work and anti-Muslim hatred, though this work also brings out the most beautiful and tender stories of compassion and care between people and which need to be highlighted when so much news is negative.
This was a Facebook post that we received from someone and it highlights and debunks the myth that Muslims are modern day Scrooge’s, wishing no-one a Merry Christmas. The text says it all and we wanted to highlight it in full.
“I just want to share this with folks: Muslims generally get a great deal of bad press especially when it comes to Christmas, many people believe that because of Muslims, we are now encouraged to say “Happy holidays” in place of the traditional “Happy Christmas/Merry Christmas.”
This evening and rushing to do my last minute shopping on this Christmas Eve, as I entered the supermarket, I noticed a Muslim lady rushing with her shopping trolley to her car, I smiled and said “Hurry out of the cold” To which she replied with a huge smile “Merry Christmas” and I thought…I love that this lady just said that to me, it kind of made me think how integrated we in the UK generally are.
Then later, I entered my local corner shop to pick up some last minute table snacks, I noticed he had “Christmas hats” and wanted to purchase one which said “Santa`s little helper” but I was all spent up and this little shop doesn’t have a card machine. I paid for the items and as I was leaving, this local shop keeper gave me the hat and wished me a “Happy Christmas” now it isn’t as though I use his shop often because he doesn’t take debit card payments but because of his small act of kindness, he now has a regular customer.
It is with little exchanges such as these, we come a long way in correcting the skewed vision of how Muslims are portrayed as wanting to change everything and steal our Christmas from us, it just isn’t true.”