According to media reports from the Middle East, Saudi Arabia fully embraces the pagan festival of Halloween, with pumpkins and lights adorning malls and homes.
An employee of a store in Riyadh said the holiday brought happiness to his colleagues and customers. According to the National newspaper, Fahad Alzowaid enjoys seeing the joy captured in people’s faces. He said everyone was buying makeup, costumes, and props to commemorate the day.
Halloween-themed costumes and decorations are available in malls around the kingdom, while bakeries and supermarkets highlight pumpkin season and offer items related to the holiday.
In addition to the Halloween events you can attend as a family this year, there is a Halloween event at Riyadh Season’s Winter Wonderland, including a haunted house, a scary maze, and games. Trick-or-treating in Riyadh can also be done at the Tuwaiq Palace.
Before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, no secular or religious festival was openly celebrated in Saudi Arabia except for Halloween.
UAE and other Gulf countries celebrate Halloween already.
“I am not sure why Muslims in the Gulf are required to practice historical, pagan rituals just to be able to ‘enjoy’ their lives,” said our Muslim lecturer Shaikh Tauqir Ishaq. Maybe this shows they do not understand Islam or are not practicing it. We can emphasize our rich and diverse cultures and Islamic traditions and enjoy ourselves within our communities as an alternative to dressing up as vampires and devils. Our beautiful faith should be followed instead of our own. Specifically in pagan rituals, the Prophet (PBUH) warned us not to imitate a people.
Each year, on October 31, we celebrate Halloween. People wouldn’t wear costumes and light bonfires to ward off ghosts during the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which originated thousands of years ago.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as All Saints Day. Halloween has become a day for trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, attending parties, dressing up, and enjoying treats.
