Although I consider myself lucky enough not to feel the need to celebrate Christmas, at that time of year it is really hard to avoid, and I feel sorry for practicing Christians to find their special time so overwhelmed by everything it so obviously shouldn't be. But when Christmas was in Ramadhan the mad orgy of consumption all around somehow made the peaceful withdrawal and self-restraint of the fasting feel all the sweeter in comparison. 

How many shopping days to Christmas? I’m not sure. For obvious reasons, most of you will know better than me. And let’s face it, for most people, shopping is what Christmas is about. A survey published yesterday showed 9 percent associating Jesus Christ with Christmas, as opposed to the 53 percent vote for Santa Claus. Is there anything holy about the holidays any more, with the baby in the manger so absorbed into the ad-man’s hard sell?

Of course, the muslim tradition of the Jesus story has no manger, with the virgin Mary giving birth alone beneath a date-palm far from town. But whatever the imagery, it was the event which mattered, not the symbols and cultural celebrations that surround it. Especially when they’ve turned into the Bacchanalian orgy of shopping and consumption that’s the stress-zone and suicide-peak that Christmas has become. The original underlying motives can still be picked out from beneath the seasonally accrued debt, however - forgiveness of old feuds, a remembrance of familial love and affection, generosity, and caring and compassion.

But Christians chose a date for their celebrations to coincide with the winter solstice and the new-life of a new year, hence our Christmas snow and sleighbells, whereas the muslim calendar follows lunar months, which move through the yearly cycle. And this year Ramadhan, our fasting month has just moved into the Christmas season. I don’t know how many days of shopping you’ve got left, but I do know that it’s less than two weeks to the start of Ramadhan.

With the days so short at this time of year, it shouldn’t be too hard to fast till sunset, but when you’re saying grace before your Christmas lunch, give a thought to your muslim neighbours who still have a few hours to go before they eat. Then, when Ramadhan’s over, at the end of January, you can again take lunch together and talk shopping.

Qur’an says: “Nearest in love to the Believers you will find those who say ‘We are Christians’, because amongst them are those devoted to learning, and those who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.”