Celebrating Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ the Prophet’s Birthday: Importance and Impact

From the last 1400 years Muslims all over the World have been celebrating Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) with great Joy and Respect in one form or the other.

Commemorating Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ is according to Islam.

Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is the Symbol of Islam and it is not possible to mention Islam without mentioning the name and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). Allah Ta’ala did a great favor to mankind by sending His Habib Alaihi salam towards the humanity as He declared in Quran:

TRANSLATION: “Allah did confer a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a Apostle from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in scripture and wisdom, While before that, they had been in manifest error.” (Al-Quran: Surah Ale-Imran, verse-164)

No where in Quran or in Hadiths it is mentioned that commemorating Milad-un-Nabi (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) on any day specially on twelve Rabi ul-Awwal is against Islam? On contrary, in Quran Allah Ta’ala Himself narrated the detail of Adam Alai Salam creation and the detail story of the birth of Hadhrat Essa (Jesus) Alai Salam. Almost all the messengers of Allah Ta’ala has been foretelling their ummah the coming of the last Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)

Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is a vital link between Allah Ta’ala and Mankind and Love of the Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is an essential part of one’s Iman. Thus Allah Ta’ala commands Muslims to follow (Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) in Quran and Tell His messenger to announce the condition to love Allah as TRANSLATION:

“Say: O, people! if you do love Allah, follow me , Allah will love you and forgive your sins” (Surah Ale-Imran, Verse 31).

The direction is double sided. On the one side, One must follow the Holy Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) if one loves Allah Almighty , while on the other, one must follow the Holy Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) if one wants to be loved by Allah Almighty. In other words, as far as love of Allah Almighty is concerned, the follow-up of Holy Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is a pre-requisite. This is what Allah Almighty declares. Now listen to what the Holy Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) declares:

“That is, none of you is Momin (believer) unless I am dearer to him than his parents, his children and all other persons.” (Saheehul Bukhari).

All other persons would naturally include all relatives, friends, authorities etc. It is this divine love that every Muslim Momin feels in their hearts and pay the highest respect to our beloved Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) after Allah Ta’ala and when the month of Rabi-Awwal comes these Ashiq-e-Rasul start celebrating the birth of their master (Aaqa) Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) with great joy in the form of Mehfil-e-Milad.

Unfortunately, among us there are those who mislead innocent Muslim brothers and sisters by calling Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ shirk, Bid’at etc, etc and prevent straightforward Muslims from commemorating the birthday of the holy prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) and thus denied them from receiving great blessing of Allah Ta’ala. Also it has seen that those who object on celebrating birthday of our prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) when it comes to their own children they forget all shirk and bid’at fatwa and celebrate their children’s birthday or Aqeeqa willingly and don’t mind to attend friends or relatives birthdays.

OBJECTIVE of Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

The purpose of this literature is to show our Muslim brothers and sisters that commencing Mehfil-e-Milad is not against the Sharia but it is in accordance to the spirit of Islam. If some one does not like Mehfil-e-Milad it does not mean that celebrating Mehfil-e-Milad itself is wrong. In other words if someone does not practice Islam it does not mean Islam itself is bad.

A typical Mehfil-e-Milad Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ consist of the following events. The sequence of events may vary but almost all Milad-un-Nabi (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) gathering consist of all or majority of the following events.

• · Recitation of Quran-ul-Hakeem
• · Hamd-e-Allah Ta’ala
• · Naat-e-Rasul (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)
• · Speeches on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)
• · Salat (Darood)-o-Salam
• · Dua
• · Distribution of sweets or Dinner

Now I will Analyze each event and see if it is in accordance to Islam or not. The objective is to prove, if an individual event is in accordance to the Shariah then the whole event collectively is also permissible?

RECITATION OF QURAN-UL-HAKEEM at Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

Nobody has any objection in reading or recitation of the Holy Quran.

HAMD-E-ALLAH TA’ALA at Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

Hamd is a way to praise the Almighty Allah Subhana Ta’ala. Every particle in the universe says Tasbih of Allah Ta’ala. Zikr-e-Allah is peace of heart for the momin. Nobody has any objection on it.

NAAT-E-RASUL (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)

Naat-e-Rasul (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is a way to praise our beloved prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) in the form of poetry or rhymes. Praising Rasulullah (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is not shirk or bid’at.

Let see how Quran-ul-Hakeem praises the Sahib-e-Quran (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim), therefore we find the following verses in the honor and praise of Muhammad Mustafa (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) in the Holy Quran:

· “And We have exalted for you your remembrance”
(Surah Al-Inshirah, V-4)

· “Undoubtedly, Allah and His Angels send blessings on the prophet the communicator of unseen news, O you who believe! send upon him blessings and salute him fully well in abundance”
(Surah Al-Ahzab, V-56)

· “I have sent you as a blessing for the whole Universe”
(Quran Surah #21:107)

· “The Prophet is nearer to his lovers (momin) than their own souls”
(Quran Surah #33:6)

· “He who obeys the Messenger, indeed he obeys Allah”
(surah: Nisa, verse: 80)

· “Undoubtedly, you have the best in the following of the Messenger,”
(Surah Al-Ahzab, V-21)

· “Many a time I (Almighty) have seen, you turn your face towards sky. I will make you turn towards a qiblah (direction) that will please you”
(Quran Surah #2:144)

· “He stood on the uppermost horizon; then drawing near; and was at a distance of but two bows’ length or even closer”
(Quran Surah #53:7-9)

· “Allah did confer a great favour on the believers when He sent among them an Apostle from among themselves.”
(Quran Surah #33:56)

· “Raise not your voice above the voice of the Prophet. Lest your labors should come to nothing without your knowledge”
(Quran Surah #49:2)

· “Whatever the Apostle gives you accept it; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from. And fear Allah, for Allah is strict in punishment”

My dear Muslims these are the few verses from the Quran where Allah Ta’ala honors and praises His most beautiful creation Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). The Quran is full of such Praises and honors for Rasulallah (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). There are several hadiths where Rasulallah (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) himself ordered Hasan bin Thabit (radi Allah anhu) to read poetry in his praise. I wonder what munkir-e-Milad would be thinking of Allah Ta’ala and Rasulallah now?, but we the lover of Rasulallah (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) believe that praising anybody within the boundary of Shariah is in fact indirectly praising Allah Ta’ala who is the creator of all universe.

The example is like that if somebody praises a building for its beautiful construction that means indirectly he is also praising the people who were behind this construction i.e. the architect, the designer, the builder etc. If praising somebody is sin or bid’at or shirk then (God forgive) every one of us is committing this sin by praising one’s father, mother, son, daughter, teacher, leader or anybody in any aspect. Finally if Munkir-e-Milad proves where in Quran Allah has drawn a line for praising His prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim), we will stop there but instead Quran said about Rasulallah (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)

“And We have exalted for you your remembrance” (Surah Al-Inshirah, V-4)

When Allah Ta’ala raises the remembrance of prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) then who on Earth has power to lower it.

SPEECHES ON THE LIFE OF PROPHET (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is the symbol of Islam. No one can talk about Islam without mentioning his name Mubarak (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). He is a vital link between Allah Ta’ala and mankind. No matter how many times we say LA-ILAHA ILLA-ALLAH we will not be a Muslim until and unless we say MUHAMMADUR RASUL ALLAH, even our Namaz (which is solely for Allah Ta’ala) will not be completed until we say “ASSALAMO ALAIKA AYYUHAN NABI” in tashahud (while reciting Attahiyaat) , when Allah Ta’ala did not separate His Habib’s (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) name from His name then who are we to by pass him (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). If Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) had not come in this world then we would have no Islam, no Namaz, no Zakat, no Ramadan, no Ka’aba and no Hajj. That is why Allah Ta’ala declared in Quran that

“Allah did confer a great favour on the believers when He sent among them an Apostle from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in scripture and wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error” (Surah: Ale-Imran, verse:164).

and ordered believers to rejoice on His bounty as in this verse

” And the bounty of your Lord, recite and proclaim” (surah: Ad-Doha, verse:11).

Al-Hamdulillah, for us believers, Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is the greatest bounty (Nemat) (gift) of all and Allah orders believers to rejoice on His bounty therefore we celebrate Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) gatherings and spread the words of Islam by shading light on various aspect of the life of our beloved prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). Indeed for us believers, Eid-Milad-un-Nabi (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) is a real Eid (joy) because without Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) there would have been no Eid-ul-fitr or Eid-ul-Adha either!

SALAT DAROOD -O-SALAM Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

In the Quran Allah Ta’ala commands believers to send Salat and Salam to His Habib Muhammad Mustafa (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) as stated in this verse

“Undoubtedly, Allah and His Angels send blessings on the prophet the communicator of unseen news, O’ you who believe! send upon him blessings and salute him fully well in abundance” (Surah Al-Ahzab, V-56).

In a hadith Mubarak

“Abû Mas’ud al-Ansari who was shown the call (for prayer in a dream)–narrated it on the authority of Mas’ud al-Ansari who said: We were sitting in the company of Sa’d ibn Ubadah when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to us. Bashir ibn Sa’d said: Allah has commanded us to bless you, Messenger of Allah! But how should we bless you? He (the narrator) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) kept quiet (and we were so much perturbed over his silence) that we wished we had not asked him. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then said: (For blessing me) say: “O Allah, bless Muhammad and the members of his household as Thou didst bless the members of Ibrahim’s household. Grant favours to Muhammad and the members of his household as thou didst grant favours to the members of the household of Ibrahim in the world. Thou art indeed Praiseworthy and Glorious”; and salutation which you know.” (Sahih Muslim).

In another hadith Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said,

“Invoke many blessings on me on Friday for it is witnessed. The angels are present on it, and no one will invoke a blessing on me without his blessing being submitted to me till he stops.” I asked whether that applied also after his death, and he replied, “Allah has prohibited the Earth from consuming the bodies of the prophets; so Allah’s prophet is alive (in their graves) and given provision. “(Al-Tirmizi)

Well, the above verse of Quran and hadiths leaves no choice for Munkir-e-Milad but to send Salat wa Salam on our master Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim). But because of animosity toward lovers of Rasulallah (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim), the Munkir-e-Milad object on sending Salat wa salam to our beloved prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) in standing position and loudly. In reply, we say that no where in Quran or Hadiths, Allah or His Messenger (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) mentioned in what position we have to send Salat wa Salam and how loud?. It is entirely up to believers in what position and volume he or she invokes salat-o-salam, whether while sitting or laying on bed/floor or standing still or walking, it does not matter. Since we respect our beloved prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) the most after Allah Ta’ala, it is the demand of this respect that we stand up and send Salat-o-Salam to the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim)

DUA at Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

There are categories of Munkir-e-Milad, some believe in Dua, some not and some have become so advanced in their beliefs that they say since Allah Ta’ala knows every things there is no need for Dua. (Astaghfirullah). On the contrary, in Quran Allah ta’ala commands the believers to make Dua as stated in the following verses.

“When my servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer (dua) of every suppliant when he calleth on Me” (surah: Baqara, verse:186).

In another verse Allah Ta’ala said

“Call on your Lord with humility and in private” (surah Al-Ahraaf, verse 55).

Even our beloved Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim), who is free of all kinds of sins and faults, used to make dua all the time. Are we more superior than our master Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) that we feel no need of any dua? Let us see what Allah Ta’ala said about those arrogant and ignorant people who feel they do not need to invoke any dua, thus Allah said in surah Momin (Ghafir)

“And your Lord says: Call on Me; I will answer your (prayer): But those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell – in humiliation!”. (surah: Momin, verse 60).

In another place Allah said

“When the suffering reached them from Us, why then did they not learn humility? On the contrary their hearts became hardened, and Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them.” (surah: Al-Inaam, verse 43).

DISTRIBUTION OF SWEETS OR DINNER after Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

I don’t know what kind of objection Munkir-e-Milad have on distribution of sweets or eating dinner. Don’t they eat in Weddings or Walimas or Aqeeqas or Fund raising dinners or Birthdays or Aameen or in any other parties? The Mehfil-e-Milad can also be commemorated without any sweet distribution or having dinner. This is not a must part of the Mehfil, if one cannot afford or does not want to serve food, he or she can celebrate Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ without serving food to their guests. The distribution of sweets or dinner is carried out as a token of love. The dinner is served just for the convenience of guests so that they don’t have to cook at 11 or 12 midnight when they get back home.

CONCLUSION Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ

My dear Muslim brothers and sisters, the above explanation from Quran and Hadeeth for each component of the Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ clearly proves that holding such kind of gathering is not against Islam but actually it is accordance to the very spirit of Islam where Muslim brothers and sisters get to gather and listen words of Allah Ta’ala and His Habib (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim).

In the same token other gatherings like Lailatul Qadr, Shab-e-Barat , Shab-e-Meraj , Shab-e-Qadar , Geewarwhee-Shareef etc where speeches on Allah and His messenger (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Salim) are given, are gathering of khair (virtues) and should be attended by all Muslims. If some one does not celebrate these gathering then he would not receive the barakah (blessings) of these Mehfil but he should not stop others from attending these Mehfil of Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ and he should not preach against these Mehfil Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ and should not label these gathering as shirk, kufr or bid’at because all these gatherings are gatherings of Khair where Zikr of Allah, Zikr of Rasulallah and Seerat of Aulia-e-Allah are delivered.

This is the job of Satan and his companions to stop people from attending these kinds of blessed gatherings and called these Celebrating Mawlid un Nabi ﷺ Mehfil bid’ats.