Can Muslims Celebrate Thanksgiving? The Scholarly Views

Key Points

• Scholars differ on Thanksgiving, and there is no single agreed ruling — the answer depends on which scholarly position a person follows and how the day is observed.
• Scholars who say it is not permissible point to the two Eids as the Muslims’ festivals and to the hadith “Whoever imitates a people is one of them” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4031).
• Scholars who permit joining a family gathering argue Thanksgiving is a secular, cultural occasion centred on gratitude (shukr), not a religious ceremony — provided nothing haram takes place.
• Both sides agree on the boundaries: no alcohol, no haram food, no participation in a religious ritual of another faith, and Thanksgiving is never an Islamic festival.
• This post explains the positions with attribution. It does not issue a ruling — readers should consult a qualified scholar they trust.

Can Muslims Celebrate Thanksgiving?

There is no single agreed answer, because scholars differ on what Thanksgiving is. Some scholars regard it as a non-Muslim festival that Muslims should not celebrate, while others regard it as a secular, cultural occasion — a family meal centred on gratitude — that a Muslim may join with conditions. Which view applies to a person depends on the scholarly position they follow and on how the day is actually observed: a family gathering with halal food and thanks to Allah is a very different matter from treating the day as a religious festival. This guide sets out both positions, with their reasoning and sources, so readers can understand the difference and ask a scholar they trust.

What Is Thanksgiving, and When Is It in 2026?

Thanksgiving in the United States falls on the fourth Thursday of November — Thursday 26 November 2026. In Canada it fell on Monday 12 October 2026, so the Canadian date has already passed for this year. In both countries the day is a public holiday in most regions, built around a large family meal, traditionally turkey with side dishes, and time together. It has no required religious ceremony, and people of many faiths and of no faith take part in it. That absence of a religious ceremony is exactly what the scholarly disagreement turns on: is Thanksgiving a religious festival, or a cultural and national occasion?

What Do Scholars Who Say It Is Not Permissible Argue?

The scholars who prohibit celebrating Thanksgiving argue from the distinctiveness of Islamic festivals. When the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ arrived in Madinah and found people celebrating two days, he said Allah had given them something better instead: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (Sunan Abi Dawud 1134). On this view, Muslims already have their festivals, and adopting another community’s festival blurs that distinction.

They also cite the hadith narrated by Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4031). The argument is that preparing a special Thanksgiving meal, decorating for it, or marking the day as a festival is imitating a non-Muslim celebration, even if the intention is only family time.

IslamWeb’s fatwa on the question applies this reasoning directly: it states it is forbidden for a Muslim to prepare a turkey dinner specifically for Thanksgiving, because that is imitation of non-Muslims — while adding that the family may still gather on the day because it is a holiday, as an ordinary family gathering, without making the day a festival and without the special food, settings or decorations (IslamWeb, Fatwa 105110). Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem takes a similar prohibitive position, listing Thanksgiving among the holidays — with Christmas, New Year and Easter — that Muslims should not celebrate or congratulate others on, on the grounds that the Prophet ﷺ never took part in such celebrations.

What Do Scholars Who Permit Joining a Family Gathering Argue?

Other scholars, particularly those writing on the jurisprudence of Muslim minorities (Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat), draw a distinction between religious festivals and national or cultural occasions. IslamOnline’s fiqh section explains that most jurists agree observing non-religious national holidays is not forbidden, because they carry no theological meaning contradicting Tawhid — and that Thanksgiving, unlike Christmas, is viewed by many contemporary scholars as a cultural or secular occasion centred on gratitude, a value at the heart of the Islamic teaching of shukr. On this view a Muslim may take part in the communal, grateful aspects of the day, provided the gathering is free of prohibited elements such as alcohol or religious rituals of another faith.

AboutIslam’s counselling answer puts it in the same terms for a new Muslim asking about family: Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday but a cultural one, practised by people of all faiths in North America, and it is about keeping family ties strong, sharing food with loved ones, and thanking God for His blessings. It quotes Imam Luqman, an American-born imam, as saying it would be “grossly irresponsible” to declare every observance of the day prohibited, while noting that some scholars who live in the United States still hold that Muslims should not celebrate it — a difference of opinion to be respected, not ignored.

Sheikh Abdullah Hakim Quick makes a similar distinction: Muslims do not follow the rituals of Thanksgiving as a ceremony, but there is no harm in gathering with family and eating together, as long as it is not part of a religious or cultural ritual. The Qur’an’s own teaching supports the spirit of the day’s theme: “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favour]” (Qur’an 14:7). And Allah says of those who do not fight Muslims because of religion: “Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them” (Qur’an 60:8).

What Do Both Sides Agree On?

For all their disagreement, the two positions share clear boundaries, and these are the practical lines for any Muslim on the day:

No haram food or drink. Alcohol is forbidden in every view, and only halal food may be eaten — so a Muslim at a Thanksgiving table eats halal food, and leaves anything doubtful.

No religious ritual of another faith. No one should take part in a prayer, blessing or ceremony that belongs to another religion. Gratitude to Allah, in one’s own words or with the duas of the Qur’an and Sunnah, is a different matter.

Thanksgiving is not an Islamic festival. Even scholars who permit a family gathering do not call the day an Eid or a religious celebration. It is, at most, a family occasion on a public holiday.

Gratitude belongs to every day. Shukr is not a once-a-year event. The Qur’an ties gratitude to increase (14:7), and a Muslim thanks Allah daily — for provision, family, health and faith — not only when the calendar says to.

How Should a Muslim Decide?

Because scholars differ, the honest answer is to follow a position you understand and can stand behind, and to ask a qualified scholar you trust rather than deciding from a headline. Three situations come up most often:

With non-Muslim family. Many Muslims in the USA, Canada and the UK have parents, siblings or in-laws who celebrate the day. Scholars on both sides agree that maintaining family ties matters; where they differ is on whether joining the meal counts as celebrating a festival. If you join, keep it a family gathering — halal food, no alcohol, no religious ritual — and make your intention thanks to Allah and kindness to family.

At work or school. A workplace lunch or a school activity on the day is not the same as celebrating a festival at home. The same boundaries apply: eat halal, avoid alcohol and religious elements, and there is no need to make a display of the day.

For children. Whatever a family decides, children should understand the difference clearly: our festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and you can read about how Muslims mark them in our post on greetings and best wishes for Eid al-Fitr. Thanksgiving, for families who mark it at all, is a family meal on a public holiday — not a third Eid.

Sources: The Holy Qur’an; Sunan Abi Dawud; IslamOnline; AboutIslam; IslamWeb; Halal Guidelines.