DH and I are both practising Muslims, and are amazed at the religious differences I have with my own mother and my inlaws, despite all being Muslim. One fantastic example is Christmas - My mother is quite "extreme" and thinks Christmas is a sin to celebrate. My inlaws, on the other hand celebrate it with a lot of vigour and passion.

Personally - DH and I have decided that we do not want our future children to celebrate Christmas, as we have our own religious celebratory holidays, however, we want our children to be charitable and give to those less fortunate at Christmas, as we want them to know that there are people out there who wont be as fortunate as them. I think this is a great way to make them respect the good will that Christmas brings, as well as understanding that all people deserve to be happy and healthy no matter what faith they are.

Unfortunately my inlaws think I'm a "fundamentalist" for choosing not to celebrate "just another holiday" and on the other end my mother accuses me of not being a good Muslim because I can stoop as low as respecting an "inferior" religious holiday.

Argh.