TORONTO Growing up Muslim, Mohammad Hussain has long avoided the bustle of Christmas shopping, tree-decorating and countless Christmas-related gatherings during the month of December. But, like millions of others across the country, he won’t be headed home for the holidays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he’s hunkering down with his “amazing roommates” in Ottawa and learning what it means to have a “proper Christmas,” he told CTVNews.ca by phone on Monday. And his tweets, which detail all the pomp and rituals with “anthropological precision,” have been widely shared, with Hussain’s initial tweet receiving 343,000 likes by Monday night.
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For those knee-deep in festive traditions and rituals, the quirks of Christmas may not be instantly apparent. However, Mohammad Hussain, a political adviser based in Ottawa, Canada, is currently living through the run-up to his first proper Christmas , and has documented his hilarious findings on a Twitter thread.
Hussain explained on Twitter: Growing up, my Muslim family never celebrated Christmas. This year I am not going home, because pandemic, so my roommates are teaching me how to have my first proper Christmas. I am approaching this with anthropological precision.
Growing up, my Muslim family never celebrated Christmas. This year I am not going home, because pandemic, so my roommates are teaching me how to have my first proper Christmas.
Mohammad Hussain/Supplied
Mohammad Hussain refuses to wear ugly Christmas sweaters and has no Christmas-y photos of himself, yet. We must all set boundaries for our own mental health, he said.
Mohammad Hussain is taking full advantage of his first Christmas, tweeting detailed field notes on the overwhelming and too-real phenomenon of gift buying, tree decorating and feast planning.
Growing up Muslim, Hussain never celebrated the intense holiday season. However, this year he’s not travelling home, thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and instead staying put with his Ottawa roommates.
He said they’re teaching him how to have a “proper Christmas” a learning curve that seems to have resonated with a lot of people. The thread has more than 237,000 likes as of Sunday afternoon.