Muslim fundamentalist Nassim Abdi said celebrating Christmas 'worse than sin'

Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah preacher declared they would go to hell 'for eternity'

Sunni hardliner said observing Christmas worse than premarital sex, alcohol

He isn't the only Muslim preacher making declarations against Christmas Day

A hardline Muslim has declared that anyone who celebrates Christmas will burn in hell for committing a crime against Islam that is worse than sin.

Nassim Abdi, a Western Sydney preacher from the Saudi-funded Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association, said commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ was more egregious than having sex outside of marriage or drinking alcohol.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Salafist fundamentalist, who follows a seventh-century version of Sunni Islam, used the Arabic term for polytheism, shirk, to describe the idea of acknowledging Christianity.

Scroll down for video

Western Sydney preacher Nassim Abdi (pictured) said celebrating Christmas was more unforgivable than committing a sin and would see someone go to hell 'for eternity'

He said doing this would see someone go to hell, using another Arabic term to highlight how he regarded this as the most serious of crimes against Islam.

'Shirk is much worse than committing a sin. A person believes in Christmas, he goes to Jahannam for eternity,' he said in February.

Click here to resize this module

The preacher told Muslims at an Auburn mosque that acknowledging Christmas was even worse than drinking alcohol, which is prohibited in Islam, and having premarital sex, known as zina.

'For you to celebrate Christmas is worse than for you to drink alcohol and commit zina,' he said.

Wollongong-based sheik Jamil El Biza (pictured) told his Facebook followers on Christmas Day last year they should avoid wishing Christians a Merry Christmas to please Allah

Mr Abdi isn't the only ASWJ leader speaking ill of the Christian holy day, with Wollongong-based sheik Jamil El Biza telling his Facebook followers on Christmas Day last year they should avoid wishing Christians a Merry Christmas to please Allah.

'I'd rather be resurrected on the day of judgement, with the fact I made a few hundred million unhappy with me because I refuse to say "Merry Christmas", rather than being brought forward before Allah and having to explain to him why I congratulated a Christian who worships Jesus as lord,' he said.

Sheikh Feiz Muhammad, a senior leader of the ASWJ in Australia, has previously told Muslims it was sinful to observe non-Muslim events, such as the Easter Show in Sydney.

'Is it part of the sharia? Are we allowed to entertain ourselves with celebrations that are built on non-Muslim concepts?,' he said.

Sheikh Feiz Muhammad (pictured), a senior leader of the ASWJ in Australia, has previously told Muslims it was sinful to observe non-Muslim events, such as the Easter Show in Sydney

'If you go on the belief, 'I just want to join in and have the fun, you know, just have a night out, and enjoy myself but I don't believe in all this nonsense', that's a major sin.

'It's a what? It's a major sin.'

The video was produced in December 2016, telling Muslims that celebrating Christmas or New Year would be the work of the devil.

Nassim Abdi was condemned by New South Wales government ministers Mark Speakman and Pru Goward in September for declaring wives had a duty to provide sex for their husbands.

ADVERTISEMENT

He has also previously said it was sinful for women to show their ears in public and for Muslims to let their children hear music in the car or be allowed to dance to it.