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Celebrating Mawlid have been and will always be controversial topic to talk about but have we ever listen to the reasons why some people do not celebrate the Mawlid?
Celebrating Mawlid from another perspective, an 'ilmiah thread. #ThreadHS
Celebrating Mawlid from another perspective, an 'ilmiah thread. #ThreadHS
"Mawlid" simply refers to the birth of someone, however the term has been used to refer to an occasion whereby people gather to celebrate the Prophet's birthday on the 12 of Rabi'ul Awwal. And its done as a means to get closer to Allah, to attain taqwa and to elevate one's faith.
In this thread InsyaaAllah, we'll share the reasons as to why people oppose the celebration of the Prophet's Mawlid.
1. There is nothing from the Qur'an and Sunnah which promotes the celebration of the Mawlid. Never did the Prophet do this nor command anyone to do so. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ commanded to not exaggerate about him like how the Christians had exaggerated about Jesus.
What has been reported is that the Prophet would make his day of birth a day of fasting which is different to celebrating it.
“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
“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
And this hadith only implies fasting on Monday, the day he was born and shouldn't be understood as celebrating it.
2. This celebration was never done by the Salaf us-Salih (The Pious Predecessors), meaning the Sahabah, the Tabi'in and Atbaa' At-Tabiin. And they are the golden generation which the Prophet ﷺ refer to as the best generations of the Muslim Ummah.
They are ones with the most love for the Prophet ﷺ, the closest ones to him and the ones that have the best understanding of Islam.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
"The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation),
The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
"The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation),
and then those who will come after them (i.e. the next generation), and then after them, there will come people whose witness will precede their oaths, and whose oaths will precede their witness."
— Sahih al-Bukhari 6429
— Sahih al-Bukhari 6429
Hence we follow them in what they practice of love and religious commitment and stop where they stopped. And never did any of them celebrated the Prophet's Mawlid.
And from the prominent figures of Salaf us-Salih are the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakar, Umar, Uthman and
And from the prominent figures of Salaf us-Salih are the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakar, Umar, Uthman and
Ali, the Four A'immah (pl. of Imam) of the Fiqh Madhahib (pl. of madhhab): Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam Asy-Syafie and Imam Ahmad. And it was never reported that they celebrated the Mawlid, and if celebrating it is of any importance then
surely they would have preceded us in celebrating it. But they didn't.
There's a saying from the Salaf which says,
لو كان خيرا لسبقونا إليه
"If it was good then surely we (the Salaf) would have preceded in (practicing) it."
There's a saying from the Salaf which says,
لو كان خيرا لسبقونا إليه
"If it was good then surely we (the Salaf) would have preceded in (practicing) it."
3. The celebration of the Mawlid was only first celebrated later and the ones who first started this was the Shi'ites from the Fatimid Dynasty.
Not only did they introduced the celebration of the Prophet's Mawlid, but also the celebration of Saiyidina Ali's Mawlid,
Not only did they introduced the celebration of the Prophet's Mawlid, but also the celebration of Saiyidina Ali's Mawlid,
Saiyidatina Faatimah's, Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn's and also the celebration of their Caliph's birthday of that time.
— Al-Ibdaa‘ fi Madaar al-Ibtidaa‘, (p. 251)
And of the reason they did so was to gain the public's interest and opinion by distributing food etc
— Al-Ibdaa‘ fi Madaar al-Ibtidaa‘, (p. 251)
And of the reason they did so was to gain the public's interest and opinion by distributing food etc
4. Some may argue "Why is Mawlid a bid'ah when it is merely a celebration and not worship?"
The Mawlid isnt just "merely" a celebration, it is regarded as a yearly religious festival that is done as a means of drawing closer to Allah.
The Mawlid isnt just "merely" a celebration, it is regarded as a yearly religious festival that is done as a means of drawing closer to Allah.
And whatever that is done for one to draw closer to Allah is an ibadah (worship). And worship requires evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah, if not people would innovate and create any worship they want with the excuse of sincerity.
Remember that for a worship to be accepted it also needs to be supported by the Qur'an and Sunnah on top of being sincere.
a. Those who celebrate this occasion and participate in it do that out of love for the Prophet ﷺ and loving Allah and His Messenger are among the greatest acts of worship and signs of faith. So whatever is done for that purpose is undoubtedly done by way of worship and seeking
to draw closer to Allah.
b. If a celebration is held every year, that makes it an eid or festival, and festivals are religious symbols. Hence you find the People of the Book regarding their festivals as holy and celebrating them.
b. If a celebration is held every year, that makes it an eid or festival, and festivals are religious symbols. Hence you find the People of the Book regarding their festivals as holy and celebrating them.
c. If merely celebrating a festival was a matter of custom, and had nothing to do with worship or imitating the disbelievers, then the Prophet ﷺ would have left the people of Ansar to their play and entertainment, because there is nothing wrong with playing, or
permissible entertainment and fun.
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to Madinah, they had two days on which they would play. He said: “What are these two days?” They said: We used to play on these days during the Jaahiliyyah.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to Madinah, they had two days on which they would play. He said: “What are these two days?” They said: We used to play on these days during the Jaahiliyyah.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Verily Allah has replaced them for you with something better than them: the day of (Eid) al-Adha and the day of (Eid) al-Fitr.”
— Authenticated by Sh. al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood | Sunan Abi Dawood (1134)
— Authenticated by Sh. al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood | Sunan Abi Dawood (1134)
5. The celebration of the Mawlid today isn't just a festival. It has been fixed with specific gatherings of mass dhikr, singing poems with musical instruments and baseless rituals.
Specifying certain acts on a specific day or time requires specific evidences from the Qur'an or Sunnah, not general ones. This includes specifying certain virtues and etc as well.
One can't just say: recite the Dhikr "Ya Hannan" 44 times and claim doing so will expel poverty from one's house. This needs authentication from the holy texts.
One can't use "The Prophet practices Dhikr" as evidence.
One can't use "The Prophet practices Dhikr" as evidence.
6. Islam is perfect and there'll be no additions and alterations to it.
"Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed My favour upon you, and chosen Islam as your way."
(Qur'an 5:3)
"Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed My favour upon you, and chosen Islam as your way."
(Qur'an 5:3)
We hope this thread has benefited everyone.
The reason of this thread was to enlighten people as to why some people don't celebrate the Mawlid. Hence we should try to empathize our brothers and sisters by knowing the exact reasons why. Not by resolving to labels and the likes.
The reason of this thread was to enlighten people as to why some people don't celebrate the Mawlid. Hence we should try to empathize our brothers and sisters by knowing the exact reasons why. Not by resolving to labels and the likes.
