Kite Flying and Imitation of Disbelievers: A Scholarly Review

In the Indian subcontinent, kite flying is generally presented as a seasonal or cultural activity, although there is a deep religious and ideological context behind it. In particular, its association with Basant and Makar Sankranti is not accidental but is linked to Hindu religious thought, mythological concepts, and ritualistic symbols. That is why researchers have understood this issue not merely from the angle of a game but in the context of religious rituals...

In Hindu historical and religious sources, Basant and kite flying are associated with the sun, the spring season, and supernatural powers. Some Hindu historians have mentioned in their writings that kite flying was promoted as a religious symbol on the occasion of Basant and it was based on a person who, God forbid, insulted the honor of Aisha and Fatima al-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with them). Some Hindu historians have recorded this incident as a historical event in their books, after which this day was given the form of a celebration. Although this tradition is not well-known among Muslims, the fact that it is mentioned in Hindu sources is enough to show that considering this festival as merely non-religious entertainment is against scholarly honesty.

Furthermore, in Hindu religious books and traditions, the kite has been considered a symbolic means. According to these sources, making eyes, faces, or specific shapes on a kite is considered a means of warding off calamities, disasters, and misfortunes descending from the sky. This concept is actually a manifestation of non-monotheistic thought, where cosmic effects, calamities, and good and evil are directly associated with objects and symbols. Islam puts this way of thinking in the category of explicit polytheism and superstitious beliefs because associating benefit and harm, protection and calamity with anything other than Allah Almighty is contrary to the belief in Tawhid (Oneness of God)...

From here it becomes clear that Basant and the kite flying associated with it are not merely seasonal joy but a religious celebration whose roots are embedded in Hindu religious concepts, mythological beliefs, and non-Islamic philosophy of the universe. Therefore, according to the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, participation in such acts that have become the symbols of a non-religion falls into the category of reverence and support for those symbols, even if the person participating does not believe in that belief...

The Islamic approach is very clear at this point. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) not only avoided the religious festivals of the disbelievers but also gave the Ummah a separate identity from it, and that is why the jurists of Islam have explicitly written that participation in any such act that a nation has adopted as its religious day or religious symbol comes within the scope of imitation and imitation is a sign of intellectual harmony...

Along with this, the practical harms of kite flying cannot be ignored in the Islamic view. Loss of human lives due to chemical strings and sharp threads, incidents of children and passers-by being severely injured, death of birds, damage to electricity wires and property are no longer mere possibilities but have become a daily observation. The established rule of Islamic jurisprudence is that "La Darar wa la Dirar" i.e. neither should one suffer loss himself nor cause loss to others. Therefore, even a permissible act becomes forbidden if it is predominantly the cause of harm. Here, kite flying becomes fraught with double reprehensibility. On the one hand, religious imitation and association with non-Islamic symbols, and on the other hand, loss of life and financial corruption.

The real danger in this whole matter is not the kite or Basant, but the intellectual attitude that tries to prove non-Islamic religious symbols harmless by giving them the name of culture. This attitude later blurs the line between belief and custom, although Islam is neither ambiguous nor flexible in its identity. It clearly declares that the spheres of worship, festivals, and religious joy are defined and crossing these spheres is harmful to the safety of faith...

Therefore, the requirement of scholarly honesty, religious zeal, and intellectual responsibility is that Basant and the kite flying associated with it should not be accepted merely as a seasonal game, but a clear stance should be adopted by keeping in view its background, religious basis, and practical harms, because religion is protected not by silent compromises but by principled clarification, and the nation that abandons guarding its principles gradually loses its identity as well...