Shab-e-Yalda Mubarak Merry Christmas Festival Holiday Happy Happy

Several days ago, I noticed a post on an Iranian Facebook page called Must See Iran about something called Shab-e-Yalda. Instead of using my own feeble words to describe it, I'll quote from the site found at this link here.

Learning this, I felt that the Iranian celebration of Yalda was similar to the celebration of Christmas. Both have ancient beginnings related to the winter solstice, then there is some religious significance, with eventually the religious aspect being somewhat lost and/or adapted to secular terms.

As a devout Muslim, I've always been weary of celebrating Christmas from a religious point of view (since I don't think Jesus (peace be upon him) is a god). But of course, there are those who simply celebrate his birth, whatever he means to them. Muslims love Jesus (p) so of course we are joyous at his birth.

Still, even more so, the secular Santa lie really doesn't appeal to me at all. But as a HUMAN BEING, I've always been drawn to the twinkling lights set against the lovely snow and the pretty gifts and happy families. I figured if Shab-e-Yalda can be celebrated in Iran, maybe it's okay to enjoy some of the shiny perks of the Holiday season.

And so, especially since we're missing our family in America, plus all the other fun cultural aspects of America, we decided to decorate for the holiday season of Yalda and Christmas. We didn't buy all the traditional Yalda items such as watermelon or dried fruit; my husband found some almonds, pistachios, and these things called fruit rolls (which were not, as I had thought, like fruit roll-ups). And of course we didn't get a tree or ornaments, nor buy presents. Instead we made paper trees, lit candles, and wrapped up items that we already owned, hoping the recipient wouldn't notice the missing items, until we opened them up on the 25th. Haha, it was both funny and fun.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Iranian TV Channel Tamasha aired both HOME ALONE movies as well as SCROOGE, so we watched and enjoyed them.

At  BAMA restaurant, there were signs on the table saying Shab-e-Yalda Mubarak (Have a blessed Night of Yalda).

And here's a video about Shabe Yalda:

And also a video about Christmas in Iran:

Reading poetry by Persian poet Hafiz is a common tradition on Yalda, so I'll leave you with this: