Almawlid

There is no such thing in Islam as the so-called “Prophet’s birthday”. Neither the Sahaabah nor the Taabi‘een nor the imams or leading scholars of Islam who came after them acknowledged any such day, let alone celebrated it. Rather this festival was introduced by some innovators among the ignorant baatinis (followers of esoteric sects), then the common folk in many regions followed this innovation. 

The religion of Islam is not subjected to opinions, but evidence, the general ruling in Usol Al-Fiqh is that (the original verdict regarding what’s considered as an act of worship is prohibition until it’s supported by evidence) based on the famous Hadeeth of Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If anyone introduces in our matter something which does not belong to it, will be rejected". [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The narration in Muslim says: "If anybody introduces a practice which is not authenticated by me, it is to be rejected".

So it’s definitely a matter that requires evidence, and what we have from the Sunnah is against Almawlid like the famous Hadeeth of Omar Narrated: I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only a Slave. So, call me the Slave of Allah and His Apostle." Al-Bukhari, and it’s known that one of the way of the Christians praising Jesus (peace be upon him) is celebrating what they claim to be his birthday, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: With regard to what some people have introduced, either in imitation of the Christian celebration of the birth of ‘Eesa (Jesus – peace be upon him) or out of love for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and to show respect for him – may Allah reward them for this love and effort, but not for this innovation – of taking the birthday of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as a festival, despite the difference of scholarly opinions concerning the date of his birth, this is something that the early generations did not do, despite the fact that the same reason for doing it (i.e., love for the Prophet (blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) was present and there no impediment to doing so. If this was something that was purely good or mostly good, the early generations (may Allah be pleased with them) would have been more likely to do it than others, because they had greater love for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and greater respect for him than us, and they were more eager to do good. Rather the best way to show love and respect for him is by following him and obeying him, heeding his commands, reviving his Sunnah both inwardly and outwardly, propagating the message with which he was sent and striving hard to do that, in one’s heart and by one’s actions and words. This is the way of the earliest generations, the Muhaajireen and Ansaar and those who followed them in truth. End quote. Iqtida’ as-Siraat, p. 294, 295

also, it should be known that Several centuries passed during which the Muslims did not celebrate Mawlid, until it was introduced by the Faatimids. 

Shaykh ‘Ali al-Mahfooz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The first ones to introduce (celebration of the Mawlid) in Cairo were the Faatimid caliphs in the fourth century AH. They introduced the celebration of six birthdays: the Prophet’s birthday, the birthday of Imam ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), the birthday of Faatimah az-Zahra’ (may Allah be pleased with her), the birthdays of al-Hasan and al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them), and the birthday of the current caliph. These celebrations continued to be observed until they were abolished by al-Afdal, the commander of the army. Then they were restored during the caliphate of al-Aamir bi-Ahkaam Allah in 524 AH, after the people had almost forgotten about them. The first one to introduce celebration of the Prophet’s birthday in the city of Irbil was al-Malik al-Muzaffar Abu Sa‘eed in the seventh century. And the people began to go too far in celebration of the Prophet’s birthday and introduced everything they themselves desired and everything prompted by the devils among mankind and the jinn. End quote. Al-Ibdaa‘ fi Madaar al-Ibtidaa‘, p. 251

Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Any act of worship that was not done by the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), do not seek to worship Allah thereby.”  

Concerning such matters, Imam Maalik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “That which was not part of the religion at that time cannot be part of the religion today.” In other words, that which was not part of the religion at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he did not seek to draw close to Allah by means of it, cannot be part of the religion after that. 

So in a nutshell, if this Mawlid wasn’t celebrated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) or his companions after him, there is no evidence to support it, and the Deen is completed already then the believer should keep in mind (It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error).

We should look and see whether anything is proven about the date of the birth of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Then, on the other hand, we should look and see whether anything is proven about the date of his death (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The answer for any rational and fair-minded person is that the date of his birth is not proven, although the date of his death has been proven with certainty. 

If we look at the books of Seerah (Prophet’s biography), we will find that the writers of the Seerah differed concerning the date of the Prophet’s birth, and there are several opinions, as follows: 

1.Monday 2nd Rabee‘ al-Awwal

2.8th Rabee‘ al-Awwal

3.10th Rabee‘ al-Awwal

4.12th Rabee‘ al-Awwal

5.Az-Zubayr ibn Bakkaar said: He was born in Ramadan.

If any issue was connected to the date of his birth (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with him) would have asked him about that or he himself (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would have told them about it, but no such thing happened. 

With regard to his death, there was no difference of opinion concerning the fact that it occurred on 12th Rabee‘ al-Awwal 11 AH. 

Then after that we should look at when these innovators celebrate: they celebrate on the date of his death, not his birth! The baatini (esoteric) ‘Ubaydis – who fabricated their lineage and called themselves the Faatimis (Fatimids) after Faatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) – convinced the people of their bid‘ah and the people foolishly accepted it. Those people were heretics who wanted to express joy on the occasion of the death of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), so they invented this occasion and held celebrations at that time. Their aim was to express their joy, but the simple-minded among the Muslims thought that those who went along with them in those celebrations were only expressing their love for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Thus their evil plot succeeded and they also succeeded in distorting the meaning of love and turned it into the reciting of qaseedahs for the Mawlid and distributing barley and sweets, and holding parties in which there is dancing and mixing between men and women, accompanied by music, wanton display and immoral actions, in addition to these innovated kinds of supplication and words of shirk that are spoken in those gatherings and circles. 

Muslim (1162) narrated from Abu Qatadah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on Mondays and he said: “On (that day) I was born and on it Revelation came down to me.” 

Al-Tirmidhi (747) narrated, in a hadith that he classed as hasan, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Deeds are presented (to Allah) on Monday and Thursday and I like my deeds to be presented when I am fasting.” (Classed as sahih by al-Albani in Sahih al-Tirmidhi.)

From the sahih hadiths quoted above, it is clear that just as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) fasting on Mondays out of gratitude for the blessing of his birth on this day, he also fasted it because of its virtue, because the Revelation came down to him on that day, and on that day deeds are presented to Allah. So he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) liked his deeds to be taken up when he was fasting. The fact that he was born on that day was one of several reasons for fasting that day. 

If a person fasts on Mondays, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did, hoping for forgiveness on that day, out of gratitude for the blessings that Allah bestowed upon His slaves on the day – the greatest of which blessings is the birth of His Prophet and His sending him – and hoping to be among the people who are forgiven on that day, then this is something good and is in accordance with what is proven of the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). But he should not single out one week for that to the exclusion of others, or one month to the exclusion of others. Rather he should do that as much as he can on a permanent basis. 

With regard to singling out one day of the year for fasting it, in celebration of the birth of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), this is an innovation (bid‘ah) that is contrary to the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) fasted on Mondays, and no other day, but from one year to the next, his birthday may come on that day or any other day of the week.

Lastly, what comparison can there be between the birth of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), which is indeed a blessing and a mercy for all of mankind as Allah says: “And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the ‘Alameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)” [al-Anbiya 21:107] and a harbinger of good for all mankind, and the birth or death of any other human being? 

Moreover, what would that attitude of his Companions, and the righteous who came after them, be towards such an action? 

It is not known that any of the salaf or early scholars said that it is prescribed to fast on any particular day of the week or the month or the year, and regard that day as a “festival” because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to fast on the day of his birth every week, which was a Monday. If that was prescribed, the people of knowledge and virtue of the early generations who hastened to do all that is good would have hastened to do it before us. As they did not do that, it is known that this is something that is innovated and it is not permissible to do it.