بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Importance of the Mawlid
The Mawlid is the day on which our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (S) was born. It is celebrated on the 12th of Rabīʻ al-Awwal. It’s history of being observed and even celebrated go back over 1,000 years. It was first observed in the 8th century. Two centuries later it was possible to see public celebrations.
Among the scholars that approved this were:
Ibn Taymiyyah
Ibn Kathir
Al Suyuti
Ibn Rajab
Shah Abdul Aziz
As well as many others, not to mention contemporary scholars who accept the Mawlid which include:
Hamza Yusuf - Founder and Professor at Zaytuna College
Dr. Omar Faruk Abdallah - At the end of this article is a lecture by Dr. Abdallah
Gibril Haddad - Author and translator, listed among the “500 most influential Muslims in the world”
Zaid Shakir - Co-founder and Professor at Zaytuna College
Yusuf al-Qardawi - From the Ikhwan, Muslim Brotherhood.
As well as others.
These scholars also suggest fasting on Mondays in recognition of the Prophet (S)’s birthday. Since it is a clear Sunnah that the Prophet (S) used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, his reason for fasting on Monday's was because he was born on a Monday. What proof do you need beyond this that the Prophet's birthday is worth celebrating or commemorating when the Prophet (S) himself recognized it?
The ONLY scholars that consider celebrating the Mawlid to be a bid’ah come from the Wahabi ideology, which is the same as the Salafi ideology.
They, Wahabis, do believe that the birth of our Prophet (S) is one of the most important events in human history, but since the 2nd and 3rd generations of Muslims did not celebrate it, they do not celebrate it. The logic is there, but it’s ironic that no one up until the 18th century considered it a bid’ah. Why did the 4th generation decide to celebrate the Mawlid?
Ibn Kathir, who was the student of Ibn Taymiyyah, also approved the Mawlid. He wrote:
Among the scholars that approved this were:
Ibn Taymiyyah
Ibn Kathir
Al Suyuti
Ibn Rajab
Shah Abdul Aziz
As well as many others, not to mention contemporary scholars who accept the Mawlid which include:
Hamza Yusuf - Founder and Professor at Zaytuna College
Dr. Omar Faruk Abdallah - At the end of this article is a lecture by Dr. Abdallah
Gibril Haddad - Author and translator, listed among the “500 most influential Muslims in the world”
Zaid Shakir - Co-founder and Professor at Zaytuna College
Yusuf al-Qardawi - From the Ikhwan, Muslim Brotherhood.
As well as others.
These scholars also suggest fasting on Mondays in recognition of the Prophet (S)’s birthday. Since it is a clear Sunnah that the Prophet (S) used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, his reason for fasting on Monday's was because he was born on a Monday. What proof do you need beyond this that the Prophet's birthday is worth celebrating or commemorating when the Prophet (S) himself recognized it?
The ONLY scholars that consider celebrating the Mawlid to be a bid’ah come from the Wahabi ideology, which is the same as the Salafi ideology.
They, Wahabis, do believe that the birth of our Prophet (S) is one of the most important events in human history, but since the 2nd and 3rd generations of Muslims did not celebrate it, they do not celebrate it. The logic is there, but it’s ironic that no one up until the 18th century considered it a bid’ah. Why did the 4th generation decide to celebrate the Mawlid?
Ibn Kathir, who was the student of Ibn Taymiyyah, also approved the Mawlid. He wrote:
“There was once a King, Abu Sa’id Malik Muzaffar – a man of good deeds. In his kingdom, wherever he saw a lack of water, he would build a well. He also established many Islamic study centres. Every year, he would spend half a million dinars on hosting a gathering of his people to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." [Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir, vol. 13, 'Story of King Abu Sa'id']
So, clearly, if Ibn Taymiyyah approved the celebration of the Mawlid, and his student Ibn Kathir said the above about the Mawlid, who are the Wahabbis to reject it?
Also it is important to understand that the Wahabbi Ideology stems a lot from Ibn Taymiyyah's religious understanding. He was a Hanbali scholar, and perhaps one of the most srict. Although, let’s be clear, Ibn Taymiyyah was not inciting a movement, nor was he trying to splinter Islam, he had his views and they were valid. The Wahabbis kind of took those views, misunderstood them, and kept running. I hope they hit a wall soon.
It would be of the utmost benefit to come to understand why the Mawlid was celebrated to begin with. Would it not? Let’s try to come to that understanding together.
Going back to the earliest source known from historical reference that first mentions the celebration of the Mawlid, we look at the writings of Jamal al-Din Ibn al-Ma’mun, who lived until 587 A.H. / 1192 C.E. He wrote about the Mawlid celebrations of the year 517 A.H. This is what he wrote:
Also it is important to understand that the Wahabbi Ideology stems a lot from Ibn Taymiyyah's religious understanding. He was a Hanbali scholar, and perhaps one of the most srict. Although, let’s be clear, Ibn Taymiyyah was not inciting a movement, nor was he trying to splinter Islam, he had his views and they were valid. The Wahabbis kind of took those views, misunderstood them, and kept running. I hope they hit a wall soon.
It would be of the utmost benefit to come to understand why the Mawlid was celebrated to begin with. Would it not? Let’s try to come to that understanding together.
Going back to the earliest source known from historical reference that first mentions the celebration of the Mawlid, we look at the writings of Jamal al-Din Ibn al-Ma’mun, who lived until 587 A.H. / 1192 C.E. He wrote about the Mawlid celebrations of the year 517 A.H. This is what he wrote:
“Next, the month of Rabī’ al-Awwal arrived, and we shall begin [the events of this month] by mentioning the thing for which it has become famous, namely, the birthday of the Master of the first and last, Muhammad, on the thirteen [sic.] day. And by way of charity, the Caliph presented 6000 dirhams from the fund of najāwa [an Ismailite tithe], and from the dar al-fitra he presented 40 dishes of pastry, and from the chambers of the trustees and caretakers of the mausoleums that lie between the Hill and Qarafa, where the Ahl al-Bayt lie, he gave sugar, almonds, honey, and sesame oil [as a gift] to each mausoleum. And [his Vizier] took charge of distributing 400 pounds (ratl) of sweets, and 1000 pounds of bread.”
Read this carefully, you can decipher from the context that this is not the first celebration of the Mawlid that Muslims participated in. It is in fact a well established tradition. We can safely assume it takes at least two to three generations for a practice to become well established, this can date backwards up to one hundred years. There by, bringing us to a date somewhere around 400 A.H. For the skeptics, I will play it safe and add 50 years to that estimate and say it’s nearer to 450 A.H.
Now keep in mind what I mentioned earlier, the Wahabis and Salafis reject this because the 2nd and 3rd generations following the Sahabah did not celebrate this. We have an account of 450 years after the Hijrah that reports Muslims celebrating the Mawlid. If we assume the same rule as we did in determining how the time it took for a tradition to become well established, we can estimate that the Mawlid wasn’t celebrated for only 60 years after the Sahabah, but to be safe and appease the skeptics, I will add 40 years to that estimate bringing us to 100 years after the Sahabah.
[Please keep in mind that these are very rough estimates and that having exact dates does not hurt or benefit my argument.]
So, as far as we know, the Ummah began celebrating the Prophet (S)’s birthday only a hundred years after his passing. That means we have been celebrating his holy birth for well over 1300 years.
What’s more, we can look at how the different Caliphates administered the observance of certain holidays. Growing up in Chicago and being taught Islam very heavily from the Wahabi outlook, I only recognized two holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. To hear mention of celebrating outside these two holidays made no sense whatsoever to me. But, let’s let history do our work for us.
The Fatimid Dynasty is recorded to have celebrated and observed the following holidays:
Subtracting the observed Christian holidays, that’s 23 more holidays than I ever knew about!
I guess we can also subtract celebrating the current Caliph's birthday since the Caliphate has been abolished for the last 90 years. That still leaves us with 22 extra holidays. How many of you knew about these extra holidays?
Growing up I heard about a lot of these, but did not know they were reasons for celebration, so I never did anything special for these days. At the very least I could have maintained a night vigil as commemoration, prayed extra rakats, read Qur’an, did some dhikr, something that would hopefully make God happy with me, seeing me honor what the people He loves honored.
It is necessary to make note that the Fatimid Dynasty was in a rivalry with the Abbassids. In order to garner Muslim support, they did their best to keep their citizens happy, hence they established almost 30 observed holidays. They also were very lavish in how they celebrated. This proved successful for them.
Now, one can make the legitimate argument that the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt had Shi’ite tendencies and that’s why the Ahl al Bayt was honored and that’s why the Mawlid of the Prophet (S) started. It can also be clearly seen that once the Fatimid dynasty ended, many of these holidays ended with them, except for the Mawlid of the Prophet (S). Isn’t that interesting? Traditional Sunnis continued the practice.
One would think that if the Fatimids celebrated the Mawlid, along with all the other holidays, simply to garner political support, that once they collapsed that these celebrations would no longer take place. Yet, that was not the case. The vast majority of Muslims, especially Sunni Muslims, still celebrate the Mawlid. That is typical outside of the United States. You will see celebrations taking place in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, and especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as China, and really any where Muslims live, except for Saudi Arabia, well perhaps not in public anyway.
It should also humble us to realize that the Fatimids made Christian holidays public holidays as well, showing the utmost respect and reverence for the creed that came before Islam. It’s a good lesson for us to take as well.
Sunni Sources
To give a bit more perspective on this, let’s take a look at the earliest Sunni sources that record celebrations of the Mawlid.
For this we will have to look at the writing of ʻImad al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī (d. 597 AH/1200 CE). In his book, entitled, al-Barq al-Shāmī, he mentions how a certain Umar al-Mulla was responsible for a Zawiya in Mosul (in Iraq) and wrote about him:
Now keep in mind what I mentioned earlier, the Wahabis and Salafis reject this because the 2nd and 3rd generations following the Sahabah did not celebrate this. We have an account of 450 years after the Hijrah that reports Muslims celebrating the Mawlid. If we assume the same rule as we did in determining how the time it took for a tradition to become well established, we can estimate that the Mawlid wasn’t celebrated for only 60 years after the Sahabah, but to be safe and appease the skeptics, I will add 40 years to that estimate bringing us to 100 years after the Sahabah.
[Please keep in mind that these are very rough estimates and that having exact dates does not hurt or benefit my argument.]
So, as far as we know, the Ummah began celebrating the Prophet (S)’s birthday only a hundred years after his passing. That means we have been celebrating his holy birth for well over 1300 years.
What’s more, we can look at how the different Caliphates administered the observance of certain holidays. Growing up in Chicago and being taught Islam very heavily from the Wahabi outlook, I only recognized two holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. To hear mention of celebrating outside these two holidays made no sense whatsoever to me. But, let’s let history do our work for us.
The Fatimid Dynasty is recorded to have celebrated and observed the following holidays:
- New Year’s Eve
- Beginning of the year celebrations
- The Day of ‘Āshūrā’
- The Birthday of the Prophet (S) [Mawlid]
- The birthday of ‘Alī (R)
- The birthday of al-Ḥasan (R)
- The birthday of al-Husayn (R)
- The birthday of Fāṭima al-Zahrā’ (R)
- The birthday of the current Caliph
- The first day of Rajab
- The fifteenth day of Rajab
- The first day of Sha’bān
- The fifteenth day of Sha’bān
- The festival of Ramaḍān
- The first day of Ramaḍān
- The middle of Ramaḍān
- The end of Ramaḍān
- The Night of the Khatm
- The Day of Eid al-Fitr
- The Day of Eid of Sacrifice
- The Day of Eid al-Ghadīr
- The ‘Cloth of Winter’
- The ‘Cloth of Summer’
- The Day of the ‘Conquest of the Peninsula’
- The Day of Nawrūz [Persian festival]
- The Day of Veneration [Christian]
- Christmas [Christian]
- Lent [Christian]
Subtracting the observed Christian holidays, that’s 23 more holidays than I ever knew about!
I guess we can also subtract celebrating the current Caliph's birthday since the Caliphate has been abolished for the last 90 years. That still leaves us with 22 extra holidays. How many of you knew about these extra holidays?
Growing up I heard about a lot of these, but did not know they were reasons for celebration, so I never did anything special for these days. At the very least I could have maintained a night vigil as commemoration, prayed extra rakats, read Qur’an, did some dhikr, something that would hopefully make God happy with me, seeing me honor what the people He loves honored.
It is necessary to make note that the Fatimid Dynasty was in a rivalry with the Abbassids. In order to garner Muslim support, they did their best to keep their citizens happy, hence they established almost 30 observed holidays. They also were very lavish in how they celebrated. This proved successful for them.
Now, one can make the legitimate argument that the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt had Shi’ite tendencies and that’s why the Ahl al Bayt was honored and that’s why the Mawlid of the Prophet (S) started. It can also be clearly seen that once the Fatimid dynasty ended, many of these holidays ended with them, except for the Mawlid of the Prophet (S). Isn’t that interesting? Traditional Sunnis continued the practice.
One would think that if the Fatimids celebrated the Mawlid, along with all the other holidays, simply to garner political support, that once they collapsed that these celebrations would no longer take place. Yet, that was not the case. The vast majority of Muslims, especially Sunni Muslims, still celebrate the Mawlid. That is typical outside of the United States. You will see celebrations taking place in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, and especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as China, and really any where Muslims live, except for Saudi Arabia, well perhaps not in public anyway.
It should also humble us to realize that the Fatimids made Christian holidays public holidays as well, showing the utmost respect and reverence for the creed that came before Islam. It’s a good lesson for us to take as well.
Sunni Sources
To give a bit more perspective on this, let’s take a look at the earliest Sunni sources that record celebrations of the Mawlid.
For this we will have to look at the writing of ʻImad al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī (d. 597 AH/1200 CE). In his book, entitled, al-Barq al-Shāmī, he mentions how a certain Umar al-Mulla was responsible for a Zawiya in Mosul (in Iraq) and wrote about him:
“…every year, during the days of the mawlid of the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, he would invite the governor of Mosul, along with the poets, who would come and sing their poems, and be rewarded [by the governor] for this.” (Also see Ibn Kathir, al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah, vol. 12, p. 782)
Which makes clear that this was happening for sometime as well amongst the Sunnis. This is also evidence of a public Mawlid, private Mawlids were probably taking place as early as two or three hundred years prior to this.
Another example comes from the historian Ibn Khallikān (d. 681/1282) who wrote:
Another example comes from the historian Ibn Khallikān (d. 681/1282) who wrote:
“Two days before the mawlid, Muẓẓafar al-Dīn would take out camels, cows and sheep – a large number, beyond counting – and he would send these animals, accompanied with drums and song and other instruments, until they would reach the large open ground [outside the city]. Then, these animals would be slaughtered, and pots would be set up, and all types of different foods would be cooked, until finally it would be the Night of the Mawlid itself [meaning the night before the mawlid]. On that night, he would allow samāʻas [special poems] to be sung in his fort, and then he would descend down [to the people], the procession being led by countless candles. Amongst these candles were two, or four – I forget now – that were so large that each one had to be carried on a mule, and behind it was a man in charge of keeping the candle erect [on the mule], until it reached the Sufi monastery. Then, on the very morning of the mawlid, he commanded that the Royal Robe be taken out from the Palace to the khānqah (Sufi monastery), by the hands of the Sufis. Each Sufi would wear an expensive sash around his hand, and they would all walk in a procession, one behind the other – so many in number that I could not verify their quantity. Then, Muẓẓafar al-Dīn himself would descend to the khānqah, and all of the noblemen and leaders and gentry would gather together. A chair would be placed for the preachers, and Muẓẓafar al-Dīn himself would be in a special tower made of wood [that he had built for the occasion]. It had many windows, some of which faced the people and others faced the open ground, which was a large ground of immense size. The infantry would also gather there, in procession. So Muẓẓafar al-Dīn would listen throughout the day, sometimes looking at the people and sermons, and sometimes at the infantry, and this would continue until the infantry finished their processions. Then, a general tablecloth would be laid out for the poor, and all who wished could eat from it, bread and other types of foods beyond count! And there was another tablecloth laid out as well, for the people of the monastery, those close to the throne, and while the sermons would be delivered, he would call [each speaker] one by one, and the noblemen and leaders and guests who had come for this season: scholars, and preachers, and reciters, and poets, and he would give each of them garments, and they would then return to their seats. Once this was finished, they would all gather at the tablecloth to partake of the food. This would continue until the ʻAsr prayer, or even after that, and he would spend the night there, and the samaʻās would continue to the next day. And this would be done every year, and what I have described is in fact a condensed summary of the reality, for to mention it in detail would be too cumbersome and take a long time. Finally, when these ceremonies would be completed, he would gift an amount to every visitor who had come from afar, as provision for his journey home. And I have already mentioned how, when Ibn Diḥya passed by Irbil, he wrote up a work regarding the mawlid, because of what he had seen Muẓẓafar al-Dīn do, and because of this he was gifted a thousand gold coins, along with the generous hospitality he was shown for the duration of his stay.”
Muẓẓafar al-Dīn Kokburi (d. 630/1232) was the ruler of the province of Ibril, which was less than a day’s ride away from Mosul.
So not only did traditional Sunnis celebrate the Mawlid, they did it lavishly, expressing great love and joy on this occasion. The Mawlid is an Eid. Folks refer to it as the Eid Milad un Nabi, Eid Mawlid al Nabi, or even Mevlut. That last one is Bosnian if you were having trouble guessing.
Rationalization of the Mawlid
What is the Mawlid: The Celebration of the most important person in history’s birth, our Noble and Beloved Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad (S). It was for him that the universe was created, that you exist now, and are able to read this.
Why is it celebrated: To display our love, honor, and respect to God’s beloved.
The case against it: The 2nd and 3rd generations did not celebrate it. No other real arguments.
The case for it: It’s been celebrated for over 1000 years. It was approved by the different Islamic ruling dynasties and caliphates.
My opinion: It does not bring any harm to celebrate someone we love, especially the Prophet (S). It actually enhances our faith and love for the Prophet (S). It helps us get to know him and understand him better, thereby fortifying our faith and acceptance of his message. Showing love outwardly softens the heart inwardly.
If this is truly a bid’ah, we need to check ourselves because our entire lives and every single action we perform can one way or another be labeled as a bid’ah. I mean, we drive cars don’t we? The Prophet (S) and the Sahabah never did. Why do we? It’s a bid’ah isn’t it?
What I am trying to say is, let’s not make religion hard for ourselves. God did not make religion difficult, the purpose of religion is to save as many people as possible, this is only feasible if the religion prescribed to mankind is something every human being in existence is capable of understanding and accepting.
You will find many arguments against the Mawlid, all of them are modern arguments. If it pleases you not to celebrate the Mawlid, then don’t, if it pleases you to celebrate the Mawlid, then do so. God is The Most Merciful, your sincerity in worshiping Him is what's most important.
As for myself, I will be celebrating the Mawlid. Insha'Allah.
May God Bless our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (S), his family, his Sahabah, and all those that love him and follow him. Ameen.
Eid Mubarak to you all!
So not only did traditional Sunnis celebrate the Mawlid, they did it lavishly, expressing great love and joy on this occasion. The Mawlid is an Eid. Folks refer to it as the Eid Milad un Nabi, Eid Mawlid al Nabi, or even Mevlut. That last one is Bosnian if you were having trouble guessing.
Rationalization of the Mawlid
What is the Mawlid: The Celebration of the most important person in history’s birth, our Noble and Beloved Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad (S). It was for him that the universe was created, that you exist now, and are able to read this.
Why is it celebrated: To display our love, honor, and respect to God’s beloved.
The case against it: The 2nd and 3rd generations did not celebrate it. No other real arguments.
The case for it: It’s been celebrated for over 1000 years. It was approved by the different Islamic ruling dynasties and caliphates.
My opinion: It does not bring any harm to celebrate someone we love, especially the Prophet (S). It actually enhances our faith and love for the Prophet (S). It helps us get to know him and understand him better, thereby fortifying our faith and acceptance of his message. Showing love outwardly softens the heart inwardly.
If this is truly a bid’ah, we need to check ourselves because our entire lives and every single action we perform can one way or another be labeled as a bid’ah. I mean, we drive cars don’t we? The Prophet (S) and the Sahabah never did. Why do we? It’s a bid’ah isn’t it?
What I am trying to say is, let’s not make religion hard for ourselves. God did not make religion difficult, the purpose of religion is to save as many people as possible, this is only feasible if the religion prescribed to mankind is something every human being in existence is capable of understanding and accepting.
You will find many arguments against the Mawlid, all of them are modern arguments. If it pleases you not to celebrate the Mawlid, then don’t, if it pleases you to celebrate the Mawlid, then do so. God is The Most Merciful, your sincerity in worshiping Him is what's most important.
As for myself, I will be celebrating the Mawlid. Insha'Allah.
May God Bless our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (S), his family, his Sahabah, and all those that love him and follow him. Ameen.
Eid Mubarak to you all!
