Milaadu nnabi)

Questions; what about the Prophet's birthday the Maulid
day that we celebrate it what does islam says abt it??

Rules on Prophet
(pbuh)'s Birthday (Milaadu nnabi)

There is nothing in the Qur’aan to say that we should celebrate the Mawlid or
birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The
Prophet himself (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do this or
command anyone to do it, either during his lifetime or after his death. Indeed,
he told them not to exaggerate about him as the Christians had exaggerated
about Jesus (upon whom be peace). He said: “Do not exaggerate about me as the
Christians exaggerated about the son of Maryam. I am only a slave, so say, ‘The
slave of Allaah and His Messenger.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari). What has been
reported is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made
the day of his birth a day of worship, which is different to celebration. He
was asked about fasting on Mondays, and he said: “That is the day on which I
was born and the day on which I was entrusted with the Mission or when I was
first given Revelation.” (Reported by Muslim, al-Nisaa’i and Abu Dawood).

Moreover, we know that the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) were the
people who loved the Prophet most. Was it reported that Abu Bakr, who was the
closest of people to him and the one who loved him the most, celebrated the
birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? Was it
reported that ‘Umar, who ruled for twelve years, or ‘Uthmaan, did this? Was it
reported that ‘Ali, his relative and foster son, did this? Was it reported that
any of the Sahaabah did this? No, by Allaah! Is it because they were not aware
of its importance, or did they not truly love the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him)? No one would say such a thing except one who has gone
astray and is leading others astray.

Did any of the imaams – Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al-Shaafi’i, Ahmad, al-Hasan
al-Basri, Ibn Seereen – do this or command others to do it or say that it was
good? By Allaah, no! It was not even mentioned during the first and best three
centuries. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said in a
saheeh hadeeth: “The best of mankind are my generation (or my century), then
those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then there will come
a people who will not care if their testimony comes before their oath or vice
versa (i.e., they will not take such matter seriously).” (Reported by
al-Bukhaari, Muslim and al-Tirmidhi). The celebration of the Prophet’s birthday
appeared many centuries later, when many of the features of true religion had
vanished and bid’ah had become widespread

Thus this celebration became a sign of one’s love for the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)? But can it be possible that the Sahaabah, the
imaams and the people of the best three centuries were unaware of it, and it
was only those who came later who were aware of its importance?! What the
Qur’aan tells us is that love of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) is demonstrated by following the guidance he brought. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you (really) love Allaah, then follow me, Allah will
love you and forgive you your sins. And Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Say: ‘Obey Allaah and the Messenger.’ But if they turn away, then Allaah does
not like the disbelievers.” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:31-32]

The first aayah explains that love is just a claim, but the proof of sincerity
is following what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
brought. The second aayah reaffirms the importance and necessity of obeying
Allaah and His Messenger. Hence Allaah ended the aayah with a very stern
warning in which those who refuse to obey are described as kaafirs, and Allah
does not love the disbelievers. We ask Allaah to keep us safe from that. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us of the danger of
not obeying him, and the danger of adding to what he brought. The celebration
of Mawlid or his birthday is indeed an addition to what he brought – as all the
scholars agree. He said: “The best of speech is the Book of Allaah, and the best
of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The most evil of things are those
which are newly-invented (in religion), and every innovation is a going
astray.” (Reported by Muslim and al-Nisaa’i).

We ask Allaah to protect us from bid’ah and to bless us by helping us to
follow. Allaah knows best. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.

·

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1 – It is not part of the Sunnah of the Messenger (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa
sallam) or of the khaleefahs who succeeded him. Since this is the case, then it
is a forbidden innovation, because the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)
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 Faatimids 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 Allaah which was not done by
the Messenger (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) 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 Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):

“This day, I have perfected your religion for you.” [al-Maa'idah 5:3] because
he is adding something extra and claiming that it is a part of the religion,
but the Messenger (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) did not bring this.

2 – Celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) is
an imitation of the Christians, because they celebrate the birth of the Messiah
(peace be upon him). Imitating them is extremely haraam. The hadeeth tells us
that it is forbidden to imitate the kuffaar, and we are commanded to differ
from them. The Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) 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
haraam, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)
is also a means that leads to exaggeration and excess in venerating him, which
even goes as far as calling upon him (making du’aa’ to him) and seeking his
help, instead of calling upon Allaah, as happens now among many of those who
observe the bid’ah of the Mawlid, when they call upon the Messenger instead of
Allaah, and ask him for support, and sing qaseedahs (odes) of shirk praising
him, like Qaseedat al-Burdah etc. The Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)
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 Allaah and His Messenger.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 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 Allaah. Allaah 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 Allaah aught but the truth. The Messiah ‘Eesa (Jesus), son
of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allaah and His Word, (“Be!”
– and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rooh) created by
Him.” [an-Nisaa' 4:171]

Our Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) 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-Nasaa’i, 5/268; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani
in Saheeh Sunan al-Nasaa’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
imaam’s birth, such as the births of al-Badawi, Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Dasooqi and
al-Shaadhili. 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 Allaah, believing
that they can bring benefit and cause harm, until they deviate from the
religion of Allaah and go back to the religion of the people of the Jaahiliyyah
of whom Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they worship besides Allaah things that harm them not, nor profit them,
and they say: ‘These are our intercessors with Allaah.‘” [Yoonus 10:18]

“And those who take Awliyaa’ (protectors, helpers, lords, gods) besides Him
(say): ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allaah.‘” [al-Zumar
39:3]

We ask Allaah to help us adhere to His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger
(salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) until the Day when we will meet Him. May Allaah
grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family and
companions.

Source: Huqooq al-Nabi (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) bayna al-Ijlaal
wa’l-Ikhlaal, p. 139.

Shaykh Dr. Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan, Member of the Committee of Senior
Scholars, Saudi Arabia.