The subject of celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ birthday, or Mawlid has in recent times been misconceived. The Mawlid is important in this respect in that every Muslim harbors in his or her heart profound love and respect for the Messenger ﷺ. It is this love that naturally demands expression, which incidentally takes the form of poetry, song and narration of the Seerah. Even if everything in our modern environment challenges our Iman (faith), it is essential that we attach ourselves to the Messenger ﷺ for that is where spiritual nourishment is found. The concept of celebrating the arrival of the Messenger ﷺ should never call for contention, but sadly it is so.
As for its permissibility in Shari’ah, the basic principle of jurisprudence, concerning mu’amalat (dealings), applies in that everything is halal (permissible) unless it is declared to be haram (forbidden) by the Qur’an or Sunnah. Thus the burden of proof is on the person arguing that something is haram. So the question explored is, ‘Where in the light of the Quran and the Hadith is celebrating Mawlid declared to be unlawful or haram?’
LEGALITY OF MAWLID ACCORDING TO THE HOLY QUR’AN
Allah states:(Meaning) ‘Say: Because of the (fadl) Blessings of Allah and His (rahma) Mercy you should celebrate (with happiness and pleasure). That is better than what (wealth) they amass.’(Q.10:58).
In this particular verse, Allah commands that we rejoice and celebrate His blessing and mercy. But what exactly should we be rejoicing in and what do Allah’s fadl and rahma refer to?
According to other verses in the Qur’an and the explanations given by scholars through their tafsir works of this ayah, the fadl and rahma are a direct reference to the Prophet ﷺ. In numerous verses of the Qur’an Allah declares that the Prophetﷺ is Allah’s mercy and a blessing. Allah states: ‘Indeed Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when he sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad)’ (Q.3:164).In this verse, Allah uses the words fadl and rahma in the same sequence as in the verse of Surah Yunus thus denoting Allah’s fadl and rahma is the Prophet ﷺ.
The Qur’an also singles out the birthday as an important event and worthy of mention. As one example, Allah commands us to send salaam on the day Prophet Yahya (ﷺ) was born i.e. his birthday. ‘And send salaam on him the day he was born, and the day he dies and the day he will be raised up to life (again).’(Q.19:15) The celebration of birthdays is an innovation and is prohibited so why would Allah single out the birthday of Prophet Yahya (ﷺ)? If Allah is ordering mankind to convey greetings to Prophet Yahya (as) then how can one say it is prohibited to do the same for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on his birthday, who is the last and greatest of all Prophets?
LEGALITY OF MAWLID ACCORDING TO THE HADITH
In a Hadith narrated by Abu Qatada Ansari, Allah’s Messenger ﷺ was asked about fasting on Monday, whereupon he said: ‘It is (the day) when I was born and revelation was sent down to me.’ (Muslim, Book 6, No. 2606). It is clear from this Hadith that the Prophet ﷺ fasted on the day of his birth out of gratitude. Fasting is a form of worship, so one can fast hold gatherings or provide food to the poor, all being acts of worship.
The Prophet ﷺ himself celebrated his birth. In a Hadith narrated by Hadrat Anas, in the Sunan of Imam Bayhaqi, (v.9 p.300 no. 43), states that the Prophet ﷺ sacrificed some animals and performed an aqiqa for himself after the announcement of his Prophethood.
Imam Suyuti states that this was not an aqiqa done in the traditional sense since his grandfather had already performed it.
It is not possible to repeat an act of Shari’ah once it is already done. Imam Suyuti states that the reason for the sacrifice of the animals was an act of thankfulness and a celebration done by the Prophet ﷺ for his birth. Imam Suyuti concludes that it is mustahabb (advisable) for us to celebrate the mawlid in ijtima (collectively) since the Prophet ﷺ sacrificed animals and distributed the food and thus we too should have a gathering and distribute food and rejoice in a good man-ner (‘Husn Maqsid fî `Amal-il mawlid by Imâm Jalâl ad-Dîn Suyûtî, pp. 64-6).
Some critics may argue that since the Prophetﷺ’s original aqiqa was done in the period of jahiliyyah he wanted to repeat it to ensure its proper performance. However, this is not a valid argument because why were other acts not repeated by the Prophet ﷺ? For example, why did he not repeat his nikah to Hadrat Khadija (rad) which was originally done prior to the announcement of Prophethood?
LEGALITY OF MAWLID ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL SCHOLARS
Imam Al Suyuti, from Alhawi lil fatawi, wrote a chapter entitled ‘The Good Intention in Commemorating the Mawlid’ in which he said, ‘To commemorate the Mawlid, which is basically gathering people together, reciting parts of the Qu’ran, narrating stories about the Prophet’s birth and the signs that accompanied it, then serving food, and afterwards, departing, is one of the good innovations; and the one who practices it gets rewarded, because it involves venerating the status of the Prophet and expressing joy for his honourable birth.’
Ibn Kathir, showing his appreciation of celebrating the Mawlid, mentions in Al Bidayah wan Nihayah the Islamic ruler Malik al-Muzzafar. He writes, ‘During Rabi ul Awwal he used to celebrate Mawlid with great celebration, Moreover, he was benevolent, brave, wise, a scholar, and a just person. Shaykh Abul Khattab wrote a book on Mawlid and Nabi for him and named it At-Tanwir fi Mawlid al Bashir al Nazeer, for which he gave him 1000 dinars. His rule stayed till the Rule of Salahiya and he captured Aka and he remained a man worthy of respect. Al-Sabt mentions that a person attending the gathering of Mawlid held by Muzzafar said: He used to fill the table with 5,000 well-cooked goats, 10,000 chickens, 100-thousand bowls (of milk) and 30,000 trays of sweets.’ This clearly indicates that the practice of Mawlid was commemorated by those who were authorities in Islam.
Renowned scholar Ibn al-Jawzi(510-579 AH) was an author of many works on Hadith, Fiqh and Tafsir. He compiled two books on the permissibility of Mawlid al-Nabiﷺ. 11. Bayan al-Mawlid al-Nabawi and 2. Mawlid al-Urus. He mentions in his books that people from two sacred sanctuaries, as well as Egypt, Yemen, the Levant and other Arab lands continue to celebrate the birth of the Prophetﷺ and express happiness when the new moon of Rabi al-Awwal appears.
