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Ruling On
Celebrating The Birthday Of The Prophet
By Shaykh
Al-Fawzan:
Apr 08,
2007
Jihad
Unspun News Desk
This week, misguided Muslims
around the world, from Egypt to America, will conduct celebrations to honor the
birthday of the Prophet (pbuh) and some so-called Muslim businesses will make
profits from the occasion. In case you are unaware, this celebration is
forbidden and here is the ruling.
Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our
Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions.
The commands mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah to follow the laws of Allah and
His Messenger, and the prohibitions on introducing innovations into the religion
are quite clear. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad to mankind): ‘If you (really) love Allah, then follow me
(i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur’an and the Sunnah), Allah will
love you and forgive you your sins’” Al ‘Imran 3:31
“Follow what has been sent down unto you from your Lord (the Qur’an and
Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah), and follow not any Awliya’ (protectors and helpers
who order you to associate partners in worship with Allah), besides Him (Allah).
Little do you remember!” al-A’raf 7:3
“And verily, this is My straight path, so follow it, and follow not
(other) paths, for they will separate you away from His path” al-A’nam 6:153
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The most
truthful of speech is the Book of Allah and the best of guidance is the guidance
of Muhammad, and the most evil of things are those which are newly-invented.”
And he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates
anything in this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), that is not part of it will have
it rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, no. 2697; Muslim, no. 1718). According to
a version narrated by Muslim, “Whoever doe anything that is not in accordance
with this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), will have it rejected.”
Among the reprehensible innovations that people have invented is the celebration
of the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the
month of Rabee’ al-Awwal. They celebrate this occasion in various ways:
• Some of them simply make it an occasion to gather and read the story of the
Mawlid, then they present speeches and qaseedahs (odes) for this occasion.
• Some of them make food and sweets etc., and offer them to the people present.
• Some of them hold these celebrations in the mosques, and some of them hold
them in their houses.
• Some people do not limit themselves to the actions mentioned above; they
include in these gatherings haram and reprehensible things, such as free mixing
of men and women, dancing and singing, or committing actions of shirk such as
seeking the help of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
calling upon him, seeking his support against their enemies and so on.
Whatever form it takes and whatever the intentions of those who do this are,
there is no doubt whatsoever that it is an invented, haram innovation which was
introduced by the Shi’a Fatimids after the three best centuries, in order to
corrupt the religion of the Muslims. The first person to do this after them was
the king al-Muzaffar Abu Sa’eed Kawkaboori, the king of Irbil, at the end of the
sixth century or the beginning of the seventh century AH, as was mentioned by
the historians such as Ibn Khalkan and others. Abu Shamah said: the first person
to do that in Mosul was Shaykh ‘Umar ibn Muhammad al-Mala, one of the well-known
righteous people. Then the ruler of Irbil and others followed his example.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Katheer said in al-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayah (13/137), in his biography
of Abu Sa’eed Kazkaboori: “He used to observe the Mawlid in Rabee’ al-Awwal and
hold a huge celebration on that occasion… some of those who were present at the
feast of al-Muzaffar on some occasions of the Mawlid said that he used to offer
in the feast five thousand grilled heads of sheep, ten thousand chickens and one
hundred thousand large dishes, and thirty trays of sweets… he would let the
Sufis sing from Zuhr until Fajr, and he himself would dance with them.”
Ibn Khalkan said in Wafiyat al-A’yan (3/274): “When it is the first of Safar
they decorate those domes with various kinds of fancy adornments, and in every
dome there sits a group of singers and a group of puppeteers and players of
musical instruments, and they do not leave any one of those domes without
setting up a group (of performers) there.
The people give up work during this period, and they do no work except going
around and watching the entertainment. When there are two days to go until the
Mawlid, they bring out a large number of camels, cows and sheep, more than can
be described, and they accompany them with all the drums, songs and musical
instruments that they have, until they bring them to the square… On the night of
the Mawlid there are performances of nasheed after Maghrib in the citadel.”
This is the origin of this celebration on the occasion of the Prophet’s
birthday. More recently idle entertainment, extravagance, and wasting of money
and time have become associated with an innovation for which Allah has not sent
down any authority.
What Muslims should do is to revive the Sunnah and put an end to bid’ah
(innovation); they should not do any action until they know the ruling of Allah
concerning it.
Ruling On Celebrating The Prophet’s Birthday
Celebrating the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) is forbidden and is to be rejected for a number of reasons:
1. It is not part of the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) or of the khaleefahs who succeeded him. Since this is the case,
then it is a forbidden innovation, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) said: “I urge you to follow my Sunnah and the way of the
rightly-guided khaleefahs after me; adhere to it and cling to it firmly. Beware
of newly-invented things, for every newly-invented thing is an innovation
(bid’ah) and every innovation is a going-astray.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 4/126;
al-Tirmidhi no. 2676).
Celebrating the Mawlid is an innovation introduced by the Shi’a Fatimids after
the three best centuries in order to corrupt the religion of the Muslims. If a
person does anything in order to draw closer to Allah which was not done by the
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or enjoined by him, and was
not done by the khaleefahs who succeeded him, this action implies that he is
accusing the Messenger of not explaining the religion to the people, and that he
disbelieves in the words of Allah because he is adding something extra and
claiming that it is a part of the religion, but the Messenger (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) did not bring this.
“This day, I have perfected your religion for you” al-Ma'idah 5:3
2. Celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) is an imitation of the Christians, because they celebrate the birth of the
Messiah (peace be upon him). Imitating them is extremely haram. The hadeeth
tells us that it is forbidden to imitate the kuffar, and we are commanded to
differ from them. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Whoever imitates a people is one of them” (narrated by Ahmad, 2/50; Abu Dawood,
4/314). And he said, “Be different from the mushrikeen” (narrated by Muslim,
1/222, no. 259) – especially with regard to things that are the symbols or
rituals of their religion.
3. Besides being bid’ah and an imitation of the Christians, both of which are
haram, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) is also a means that leads to exaggeration and excess in venerating
him, which even goes as far as calling upon him (making du’a’ to him) and
seeking his help, instead of calling upon Allah, as happens now among many of
those who observe the bid’ah of the Mawlid, when they call upon the Messenger
instead of Allah, and ask him for support, and sing qaseedahs (odes) of shirk
praising him, like Qaseedat al-Burdah etc. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) forbade going to extremes in praising him, as he said: “Do
not extol as the Christians extolled the son of Maryam. For I am just His slave,
so say, the slave of Allah and His Messenger” (narrated by al-Bukhari, 4/142,
no. 3445; al-Fath, 6/551), i.e., do not exaggerate in praising me as the
Christians exaggerated in praising the Messiah and venerated him until they
worshipped him instead of Allah. Allah forbade them to do that when he said
(interpretation of the meaning):
“O people of the Scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your
religion, nor say of Allah aught but the truth. The Messiah ‘Eesa (Jesus), son
of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah and His Word, (“Be!” —
and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rooh) created by
Him” al-Nisa’ 4:171
Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade us to exaggerate
concerning him lest the same thing happen to us as happened to them, so he said:
“Beware of exaggeration, for those who came before you were destroyed because of
exaggeration” (narrated by al-Nasa’i, 5/268; classed as saheeh by al-Albani in
Saheeh Sunan al-Nasa’i, no. 2863).
4. Observing the innovation of the Prophet’s birthday opens the door to other
kinds of bid’ah and being distracted by them from the Sunnah. Hence you find
that the innovators are very active when it comes to bid’ah and very lazy when
it comes to the Sunnah; they hate it and regard those who follow it as enemies,
until their entire religion is innovated anniversaries and Mawlids. They have
split into various groups, each of which commemorates the anniversary of its
imam’s birth, such as the births of al-Badawi, Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Dasooqi and
al-Shadhili. No sooner do they end the celebration of one birthday but they
start the celebration of another. This results in exaggeration concerning these
dead people and others, and in calling upon them instead of Allah, believing
that they can bring benefit and cause harm, until they deviate from the religion
of Allah and go back to the religion of the people of the Jahiliyyah of whom
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they worship besides Allah things that harm them not, nor profit
them, and they say: ‘These are our intercessors with Allah’” Yunus 10:18
“ And those who take Awliya’ (protectors, helpers, lords, gods) besides
Him (say): ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah’” al-Zumar
39:3
Discussion Of The Specific Arguments Of Those Who Celebrate The Mawlid
Those who think that this bid’ah should be continued produce specious arguments
which are flimsier than a spider’s web. These specious arguments may be dealt
with as follows:
1. Their claim that this is veneration of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him):
The response to that is that the way to venerate him is to obey him, do as he
commanded and avoid that which he forbade, and to love him; he is not to be
venerated through innovations, myths and sins. Celebrating his birthday is of
this blameworthy type because it is a sin. The people who venerated the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) the most were the Sahabah (may Allah
be pleased with them), as ‘Urwah ibn Mas’ood said to Quraysh: “O people, by
Allah I have visited kings. I went to Caesar, Chosroes and the Negus, but by
Allah I never saw a king whose companions venerated him as much as the
companions of Muhammad venerated Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him). By Allah, whenever he spat it never fell on the ground, it fell into into
the hand of one his companions, then they wiped their faces and skins with it.
If he instructed them to do something, they would hasten to do as he commanded.
When he did wudoo’, they would almost fight over his water. When he spoke they
would lower their voices in his presence; and they did not stare at him out of
respect for him.” (al-Bukhari, 3/178, no. 2731, 2732; al-Fath, 5/388). Yet
despite this level of veneration, they never took the day of his birth as an
‘Eid (festival). If that had been prescribed in Islam they would not have
neglected to do that.
2. Using as evidence the fact that many people in many countries do this.
The response to that is that evidence consists of that which is proven from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and what is proven from the
Prophet is that innovations are forbidden in general, and this is an innovation.
What people do, if it goes against the evidence (daleel), does not prove
anything, even if many of them do it.
“And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far
away from Allah’s path” al-An’am 6:116
Nevertheless, in every age, praise be to Allah, there have always been those who
denounce this bid’ah and state clearly that it is false. Those who persist in
following it after the truth had been explained to them have no proof.
Among those who denounced the celebration of this occasion was Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah, in Iqtida’ al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem; Imam al-Shatibi in al-‘I’tisam;
Ibn al-Haj in al-Madkhil; Shaykh Taj al-Deen ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar al-Lakhami who wrote
an entire book denouncing it; Shaykh Muhammad Basheer al-Sahsawani al-Hindi in
his book Siyanah al-Insan; al-Sayyid Muhammad Rasheed Rida wrote a separate
essay on this topic; Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraheem Al al-Shaykh wrote a separate
essay on it; Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baz; and others who are still writing and
denouncing this bid’ah every year in the pages of newspapers and magazines, at
the time when this bid’ah is being done.
3. They say that by celebrating the Mawlid they are keeping the memory of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) alive.
The answer to that is that the memory of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) is constantly kept alive by the Muslim, such as when his name
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is mentioned in the adhan and iqamah
and in khutbahs, and every time the Muslim recites the Shahadatayn after doing
wudoo’ and in the prayers, and every time he sends blessings upon the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in his prayers and when he is
mentioned, and every time the Muslim does a wajib (obligatory) or mustahabb
(recommended) action that was prescribed by the Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him). In all of these ways (the Muslim) remembers him and the
reward equivalent to the reward of the one who does that action goes back to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Thus the Muslim constantly
keeps the memory of the Messenger alive and has a connection with him night and
day throughout his life through that which Allah has prescribed, not only on the
day of the Mawlid and things which are bid’ah and go against the Sunnah, for
that puts one at a distance from the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) and the Messenger will disown him because of that.
The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has no need of this
innovated celebration, because Allah has already bestowed veneration and respect
upon him, as He says:“and raised high your fame” al-Sharh 94:4
For Allah is not mentioned in the adhan, iqamah or khutbah, but the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is mentioned after Him; this is
sufficient veneration, love and renewal of his memory, ad sufficient
encouragement to follow him.
Allah did not refer to the birth of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) in the Qur’an, rather He referred to his Mission, and says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Indeed, Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent
among them a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves”. Al ‘Imran 3:124
“He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad) from
among themselves”. al-Jumu’ah 64:2
4. They may say that the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday was introduced by
a knowledgeable and just king who intended thereby to draw closer to Allah. Our
response to that is that bid’ah is not acceptable, no matter who does it. A good
intention does not justify a bad deed and even if a person died as a
knowledgeable and righteous person, this does not mean that he was infallible.
5. They say that celebrating the mawlid comes under the heading of bid’ah
hasanah (“good innovation”) because it is based on giving thanks to Allah for
the Prophet!
Our response to that is that there is nothing good in innovation. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates anything in
this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), that is not part of it will have it
rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, no. 2697; al-Fath, 5/355). And he said,
“Every innovation is a going astray” (narrated by Ahmad, 4/126; al-Tirmidhi, no.
2676). The ruling on innovations is that they are all misguidance, but this
specious argument suggests that not every bid’ah is a going astray, rather there
are good innovations.
Al-Hafiz ibn Rajab said in Sharh al-Arba’een: “The words of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him), ‘every innovation is a going astray’ is a
concise but comprehensive comment which includes everything; it is one of the
most important principles of religion. It is like his words ‘Whoever innovates
anything in this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), that is not part of it will have
it rejected.’ (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3/167, no. 2697; al-Fath, 5/355). Whoever
innovates anything and attributes it to Islam when it has no basis in the
religion, this is a going astray and is nothing to do with Islam, whether that
has to do with matters of belief (‘aqeedah) or outward and inward words and
deeds.” (Jami’ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hakam, p. 233)
These people have no proof that there is any such thing as a “good innovation”
apart from the words of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) concerning
Taraweeh prayers, “What a good innovation this is.” (Saheeh al-Bukhari, 2/252,
no. 2010 mu’allaqan; al-Fath 4/294).
They also said that things were innovated which were not denounced by the salaf,
such as compiling the Qur’an into one volume and writing and compiling the
hadeeth. The response to that is that these matters had a basis in Islam, so
they were not newly-invented.
‘Umar said: “What a good bid’ah” meaning innovation in the linguistic sense, not
in the shar’i sense. Whatever has a basis in Islam, if it is described as an
innovation, is an innovation in the linguistic sense, not in the shar’i sense,
because innovation in the shar’i sense means that which has no basis in Islam.
Compiling the Qur’an into one book has a basis in Islam, because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had commanded that the Qur’an be
written down, but it was scattered, so the Sahabah compiled it in one volume so
as so protect and preserve it.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) led his companions in
praying Taraweeh for a while, then he stopped doing that, lest that become
obligatory on them. The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) continued to
pray it separately during the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) and after his death, until ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be
pleased with them) gathered them behind one imam as they used to pray behind the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This was not an innovation
introduced into the religion.
Writing down the hadeeth also has a basis in Islam. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered that some ahadeeth should be written
down for some of his companions when they asked him for that. In general terms
writing it down during his lifetime was not allowed, for fear that the Qur’an
might be mixed with things that were not part of it. When the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) died, this fear was no longer a factor, because
the Qur’an had been completed and arranged in order before he died. The Muslims
compiled the Sunnah after that in order to preserve it and keep it from being
lost. May Allah reward them with good on behalf of Islam and the Muslims,
because they preserved the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from being lost or being tampered
with.
We may also say to them: why was this act of thanksgiving, as they call it, not
done by the best generations, the Sahabah, Tabi’een and followers of the
Tabi’een, who loved the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) most
and who were most keen to do good and give thanks? Are those who introduced the
innovation of the Mawlid more rightly-guided than them? Do they give more thanks
to Allah? Definitely not!
6. They may say that celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) is indicative of their love for him; this is one
way of showing that, and showing love of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) is prescribed in Islam!
The answer to that is that undoubtedly loving the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) is obligatory for every Muslim; he should love him more
than he loves himself, his child, his father and all the people – may my father
and mother be sacrificed for him – but that does not mean that we should
introduce innovations for doing so that have not been prescribed for us. Loving
him dictates that we should obey him and follow him, for that is one of the
greatest manifestations of love, as it is said:
“If your love is sincere then obey him; for the lover obeys the one whom he
loves.”
Loving the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) implies keeping
his Sunnah alive, adhering firmly to it, and avoiding words and deeds that go
against it. Undoubtedly everything that goes against his Sunnah is a
reprehensible innovation (bid’ah) and a manifest act of disobedience. That
includes celebrating his birthday and other kinds of bid’ah. A good intention
does not mean that it is permissible to introduce innovations into the religion.
Islam is based on two things, purity of intention and following the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Yes, but whoever submits his face (himself) to Allah (i.e. follows
Allah’s religion of Islamic Monotheism) and he is a Muhsin (a doer of good) then
his reward is with his Lord (Allah), on such shall be no fear, nor shall they
grieve” al-Baqarah 2:112
Submitting one’s face to Allah means being sincere towards Allah, and doing good
means following the Messenger and implementing the Sunnah.
7. Another of their specious arguments is when they say that by celebrating the
Mawlid and reading the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) on this occasion, they are encouraging people to follow his example!
We say to them that reading the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) and following his example are required of the Muslim all the
time, all year long and throughout his life. Singling out a specific day for
that with no evidence for doing so is an innovation, and every innovation is a
going astray.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 4/164; al-Tirmidhi, 2676). Bid’ah does not
bear any fruit but evil and it leads to a person distancing himself from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
In conclusion, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him), whatever form it takes, is a reprehensible innovation. The
Muslims should put a stop to this and other kinds of bid’ah, and occupy
themselves with reviving and adhering to the Sunnah. They should not be deceived
by those who promote and defend this bid’ah, for these types of people are more
interested in keeping innovations alive than in reviving the Sunnah; they may
not even care about the Sunnah at all. Whoever is like this, it is not
permissible to imitate him or follow his example, even if the majority of people
are like this. Rather we should follow the example of those who follow the path
of the Sunnah, among the righteous salaf and their followers, even if they are
few. Truth is not measured by the men who speak it, rather men are measured by
the truth.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you
lives (for a long time) will see many differences. I urge you to follow my
Sunnah and the way of the rightly-guided khaleefahs who come after me. Hold on
to it firmly. Beware of newly-invented matters, for every innovation is a going
astray.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 4/126; al-Tirmidhi no. 2676). So the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained to us in this hadeeth what we
should do when there are differences of opinion, just as he explained that
everything that goes against his Sunnah, be it words or deeds, is a bid’ah, and
every bid’ah is a going astray.
If we see that there is no basis for celebrating the birthday of the Prophet,
whether in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) or in the way of the rightly-guided khaleefahs, then it is one of the
newly-invented matters, one of the bid’ahs which lead people astray. This
principle is what is implied by this hadeeth and is what is indicated by the
ayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad), and
those of you (Muslims) who are in authority. (And) if you differ in anything
amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allah
and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination”
al-Nisa’ 4:59
Referring to Allah means referring to His Book, and referring to the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) means referring to his Sunnah after
he has passed away. The Qur’an and Sunnah are the reference point in cases of
dispute. Where in the Qur’an or Sunnah does it indicate that it is prescribed in
Islam to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday? Whoever does that or thinks that it
is good must repent to Allah from this and from other kinds of bid’ah. This is
the attitude of the Muslim who is seeking the truth. But whoever is too stubborn
and arrogant after proof has been established, then his reckoning will be with
his Lord.
We ask Allah to help us adhere to His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger until
the Day when we will meet Him. May Allah grant blessings and peace to our
Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Shaykh Dr. Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan
Member of the Committee of Senior Scholars, Saudi Arabia
Source:
http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=107717&list=/index.php
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