Preacher warns saying 'Merry Christmas' is worse than murder

A preacher has hit out at festive traditions in the West, arguing that saying “Merry Christmas” is worse than congratulating someone for committing murder.

Hard-line Islamic preacher Wissam Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, is a supporter of Islamic State and preaches at the Al-Madina Dawah Centre in Sydney.

He gave a lecture last week which was posted on YouTube, which was titled “Christmas for a Muslim?”.

“Congratulating them [on non-Muslim festivals] is more severe and hated by Allah than congratulating someone for drinking [alcohol], for committing murder, or committing adultery, and so on,” he said in the video.

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“Many of those who have no respect for this [religion] fall into this error. They do not realise the ugliness of their actions.”

He went on to say: “A person who congratulates for sin, is [committing] a bid’a [forbidden innovation] or an act of kufr [disbelief], and would be liable to the anger of Allah.”

Footage from the lecture was posted by by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Memri describes Haddad as “a central figure in the radical Salafi and jihadi community in Australia and among English-speaking jihadi followers on social media”.

In 2014, Haddad requested that former Prime Minister Tony Abbott cancelled his passport in order for him to travel to Syria and join ISIS.