As the world is gearing up for Christmas, there is country where citizens could land in prison if caught celebrating the day publicly. Brunei has banned public celebrations of Christmas, including sending festive greetings and the wearing of Santa Claus hats.
The oil-rich country introduced its ban on Christmas last year over fears that celebrating it “excessively and openly” could lead its Muslim population astray.
Christians and others can celebrate Christmas, but must do so in private and have to first alert the authorities.
Local Islamic religious leaders have promoted the ban, warning that adopting the trappings of Christmas is tantamount to imitation of another faith, prohibited in some interpretations of Islam.
The country, an enclave on the southeast Asian island of Borneo surrounded by Malaysia, is estimated to have a population of just under 430,000, and about 78 percent of it is Muslim.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who has ruled the former British colony for nearly 50 years, introduced the ban on Christmas in 2014, the same year Brunei adopted a stricter penal code, based on Islamic sharia and including punishments such as stoning and amputation.
Brunei’s sharia-based penal code, first implemented in 2013, suggests that any Muslim who follows non-Islamic practices could face a fine as high as about $15,000 and up to five years in prison as punishment.
A few twitterati residents rejected the ban, by posting Christmas pictures on social media using the #MyTreedom hashtag.
Brunei's ban on Christmas, what a way to fuel the already toxic fire of hatred against the Muslim community. Sultan of Brunei👎 #MyTreedom
— Marie Therese (@mariemariehb) December 22, 2015
#MyTreedom Campaign Raises Awareness of Persecution and Right to Celebrate Christmas: A new campaign to celebr… https://t.co/1r4FOPgfQ1
— Iglesia Virtual (@Iglesia_Tweet) December 10, 2015
#Brunei where is the tolerance about Xmas? If Islam is a religion of peace, where is the tolerance ? #MyTreedom #tolerance #ChristmasWeek
— Jiang Jacky (@Jiki1Jacky) December 22, 2015
#MyTreedom: Facebook campaign uses Christmas trees to highlight global persecution https://t.co/wG5lvGASC1 pic.twitter.com/RC1sZLdKBx
— Christian Today (@ChristianToday) December 10, 2015
#Brunei #MyTreedom God bless #Christians in Brunei!!! pic.twitter.com/iwFUBc22UL
— Laura R. Charron (@ConchoQueen) December 22, 2015
Brunei, a former British protectorate, is run as an absolutist Muslim monarchy by the Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah.