Short answer
The English name and some folk customs come from outside the Bible. Bede, an English monk who wrote in 725, says the English named a spring month after a goddess, Eostre. He says they held feasts to her in it. A Catholic encyclopedia says Easter eggs may come from pagan spring customs. It calls the Easter rabbit a pagan symbol of fertility. None of these is in the Bible. In 325 a council called by the emperor Constantine told all churches to keep one day. Where a custom began does not decide what is true. What matters is the event Easter marks. Christians keep it for the rising of Jesus after the death they believe he suffered. But the Qur'an says of him (4:157), "they killed him not, nor crucified him". Islam's two festivals were given by Allah (﷾) through the Prophet (ﷺ), not set by emperors.
Full explanation
Where the name comes from
Bede was an English monk and historian. In 725 he wrote that the English once named a month Eosturmonath, after a goddess of theirs called Eostre. He says they held feasts to her in that month. The Catholic Encyclopedia, a Catholic reference book from 1909, repeats his account of the name. Many other languages, such as French, Spanish, Italian and Greek, call the feast by a form of Pascha. Pascha comes from the Hebrew word for Passover, the Jewish spring festival.
Describing the old English months, Bede says that Eosturmonath, now called the paschal month, was once named after a goddess of the English called Eostre, in whose honour they held feasts in that month. He says the season is now called by her name.
A Catholic reference work says the English name, according to Bede, relates to a Teutonic goddess of spring. On Easter eggs it says the custom may have its origin in paganism, since many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter. It calls the Easter rabbit a pagan symbol that has always been an emblem of fertility.
The eggs and the rabbit
The same Catholic Encyclopedia says the custom of Easter eggs may have its origin in paganism. Its reason is that many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gathered around Easter. It calls the Easter rabbit a pagan symbol and an emblem of fertility. Neither eggs nor rabbits appear anywhere in the New Testament Gospels.
A Catholic reference work says the English name, according to Bede, relates to a Teutonic goddess of spring. On Easter eggs it says the custom may have its origin in paganism, since many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter. It calls the Easter rabbit a pagan symbol that has always been an emblem of fertility.
The Passover root
The first Christians linked Jesus to Passover. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, calls Christ "our passover". In the King James Version, Acts 12:4 uses the word "Easter". But the Greek word there is pascha, which means Passover. Modern translations, such as the World English Bible, render it "Passover".
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:”
“And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.”
“When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.”
How an emperor set the date
In the second century the churches of the Roman province of Asia kept the feast on the fourteenth day of the Jewish month of Nisan. Asia then was today's western Turkey. That was the day of the Passover lamb. They said they had this from John and Philip, whom they called apostles. Rome kept it on a Sunday. In 325 the Roman emperor Constantine called a council at Nicaea, and the churches were told to keep one day. In his letter to them he says it was unworthy to follow the practice of the Jews.
Eusebius records that in the late second century the churches of Asia kept the feast of the Saviour's passover on the fourteenth day of the moon, the day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, whatever day of the week it fell on. Their bishop Polycrates wrote to Victor of Rome that they had this custom from the apostles John and Philip. Other churches kept it on a Sunday.
Eusebius gives Constantine's letter to the churches after the Council of Nicaea. The emperor says the council agreed that Easter must be kept everywhere on one and the same day, and that it seemed unworthy to follow the practice of the Jews in keeping it. He tells the churches to have nothing in common with the Jews.
Christians who abolished it
Some Christians have agreed that the feast is not from the Bible. In June 1647 the English Parliament abolished Easter, along with Christmas and the other holy days. Parliament was led by Puritans, who allowed in worship only what scripture commands. The feasts came back only when the monarchy returned in 1660.
Parliament ordered that the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, Easter and Whitsuntide, and the other festivals commonly called holy days, be no longer observed as festivals.
Festivals set by revelation
When the Prophet (ﷺ) came to Medina, its people kept two festival days from the time before Islam. He told them that Allah (﷾) had replaced them with two better days, the two Eids. The Qur'an says the religion was completed in his lifetime. It also warns the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians, not to follow the vain desires of peoples who went astray before them. Islam's case about Easter does not rest on where its customs began. It rests on the event the feast marks, and on 4:157: "they killed him not, nor crucified him".
Anas ibn Malik reports that when the Prophet (ﷺ) came to Medina, its people had two days of games that they had kept since before Islam. He told them that Allah had given them two better days in their place: the day of sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) and the day of breaking the fast (Eid al-Fitr).
“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”
“Say: "O people of the Book! exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is proper), trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by,- who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the even way.”
“That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-”
Perspectives
Christian
Christians say Easter celebrates the rising of Christ, which they hold took place at Passover. The date and the customs grew up later, and Christians hold that they do not change the meaning of the feast.
Paul calls Christ "our passover", tying the feast to the Passover and not to any pagan festival.
Rebuttal
Islam does not deny the Passover link; the page itself says Pascha means Passover. But Paul's words do not give the English name, the eggs, the rabbit or the date, which a council under an emperor fixed in 325. For Christians the Passover lamb is one who was killed. The Qur'an says of Jesus (4:157), "they killed him not, nor crucified him".
What the record shows
The name, the eggs and the rabbit have no root in the Bible. And the date was fixed by a council under an emperor.
Bede says the English name of the month, and so of the feast, came from a goddess called Eostre.
A Catholic encyclopedia says Easter eggs may have a pagan origin. It calls the Easter rabbit a pagan fertility symbol.
In the second century the churches of Asia kept the feast on the day of Passover. They traced the custom to John and Philip, whom they called apostles.
After Nicaea, Constantine told the churches to keep one day and not to follow the practice of the Jews.
The Islamic perspective
Worship and festivals belong to God (﷾) to set through His messenger. The Prophet (ﷺ) replaced the old festivals of Medina with the two Eids, and no council or ruler can add to the religion.
The Prophet (ﷺ) replaced the pre-Islamic festivals of Medina with Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The Qur'an says the religion was perfected and completed in the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ).
The Qur'an warns the People of the Book not to follow the desires of peoples who went astray before them.
The Qur'an says of Jesus that they killed him not, nor crucified him. So Islam's point about Easter is the event the feast marks and what the Qur'an says, not where its customs began.