The connection between Saint
Valentine and this festival:
Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient "martyrs" of the
Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or that there was
only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader
Claudius, c. 296 CE. In 350 CE, a church was built in Rome on the site of the
place where he died, to perpetuate his memory.
When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of
Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of "spiritual
love" to another concept known as the "martyrs of love", represented by Saint
Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred,
according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers, and Saint
Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.
One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of
girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper
and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married
would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put
himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that
they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they
would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following
year.
The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to
have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was
abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there
appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which
contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his
sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love
letters.
As regards the Islamic stance on this festival, Dr. Su`ad Ibrahim Salih,
professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University, states the
following:
Indeed, Islam is the religion of altruism, true love, and cooperation on that
which is good and righteous. We implore ALLAH Almighty to gather us together
under the umbrella of His All-encompassing Mercy, and to unite us together as
one man. ALLAH Almighty says: (The believers are naught else than brothers.
Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to ALLAH that
haply ye may obtain mercy.) (Al-Hujurat 49: 10)
Focusing more on the question in point, I can say that there are forms of
expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that are
not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously
acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It
stands to reason that the love for ALLAH, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of
love.
Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another,
and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the
West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, commemorating
that special day known as the Valentine’s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that
has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as
Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the
whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.
Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and
superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt
that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those
practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and
altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.