Celebrating the birth of our beloved Prophet ﷺ has been a custom of Muslim communities ever since the time of the Companions. To celebrate and commemorate his birth is to show thanks and gratitude to God for sending him ﷺ as a mercy to us. It is to acknowledge his great rank over all creation and serves as a constant reminder that he is our pathway back to our Lord. Typically, the mawlid inspires a great outpouring of love in the form of poetry, songs, books, and all sorts of art. The mawlid is perhaps one of the greatest muses of creativity within Islam.
Why, then, is it that some use this occasion to levy attacks against its celebration? If the mawlid typically inspires love, beauty, and gratitude, why is that some use this occasion to spew condemnation, arrogance, and hate? Well, this is an important question and one I hope to address in an upcoming book, inshaAllah. For now, suffice it to say that the deviant few are shackled by a direct literalism that confines their knowledge and understanding. Our tradition, including our understanding of our tradition, is built on the textual authenticity of the Qur’an (what we believe is the eternal, uncreated word of God), as well as the corpus of Hadith literature (the Prophet’s sayings, actions, and affirmation). These serve as the primary sources of Islam and there is no dispute in them. Whatever they command is for us to act upon swiftly and whatever they forbid is for us to avoid. However, these two sources must be properly understood. And this is why we also have consensus (ijmā’) and analogy (qiyās) as part of our interpretive tradition (what we refer to as uṣūl al-fiqh). Those who reject this methodology ultimately reduce their understanding of Islam to certain eras and certain scholars, failing to see how these eras and scholars fit within the context of our discursive tradition. To reject the methodology of interpretation of Islam is to err greatly and fall into heterodoxy.
With the power of social media, it no longer matters, unfortunately, if one is learned or not; a scholar or not; trained or not. One only needs to bark, and people will listen. However, as Imam al-Shāfi‘ī said:
My purpose here to provide a simple list of some, but nearly all,for of the text-proofs regarding the permissibility and purpose of celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. For those who are in love with him, this is not an essay for you since it is by love and through love that you show your devotion to him ﷺ. However, for those with doubt, but still yearn to love, perhaps this may be of help.
Sunni Scholars and their Opinions on Celebrating the Mawlid
Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (d. 852/1449):
Ibn Hajar’s main proof-text is found in the story when the Messenger of God ﷺ found the Jews of Madina fasting on the day of ‘Ashūra’. Upon inquiring as to why they fasted, he was told that the Jews fasted in gratitude for the safe passing of the Jews and Moses from Pharaoh. The Messenger of God ﷺ responded: “we have more of a right to Moses” and fasted. Ibn Hajar argues that this text establishes that it is permissible for one to fast as a source of gratitude for an event, and he extends this to celebrate and show thanks for the birth of the Prophet ﷺ who should inspire even more gratitude from Muslims.
Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505):
Al-Suyuti cites the text narrated in the collection of Bayhaqi that the Prophet ﷺ did a sacrifice for newborns (‘aqiqa) for himself even though it was well documented that his grandfather did this for him while he was an infant and the sacrifice for newborns need not be repeated. This shows that the Prophet ﷺ celebrated and commemorated his own birth.
Individual Primary Texts
1. The Prophet ﷺ was asked about fasting on Mondays and he replied that he was born on a Monday, and he fasted every Monday for that reason. (Narrated by Muslim).
2. The most famous text, perhaps, is the hadith narrated by Bukhārī (Book of Marriage) that Abu Lahab, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, was seen in a dream by al-Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Mutalab. Abu Lahab was asked about his state, and he said, “I am in the fire of hell except that every Monday I am given a small portion of water as a result of freeing my slave girl Thuwayba out of happiness on hearing of the birth of the Prophet ﷺ.”
Some might point out that despite this hadith being in the collection of Bukhārī it is in fact a ḥadīth-mursal, meaning in its chain a companion is missing. The aḥādīth-mursala, however, are accepted by the Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali schools of law, and they are accepted with certain conditions in the Shāfi‘ī school. However, the discussion of the authority (ḥujja) of the ḥadīth-mursal only applies if the text is being used to establish a ruling (ḥukm). In this case, the text is being used to establish the great rank and station of the Prophet ﷺ since the love of him, even by a disbeliever, benefits. This is the conclusion that Ibn Hajjar draws after a lengthy discussion of this hadith in his commentary on Bukhari.
Based on this text al-Hafiḍ Shams al-Din ibn Muhammad Nasir al-Dimishqi said:
This brief glimpse into our tradition should make it clear that the ways the scholars have looked at celebrating the birth of the Prophet ﷺ is something that is firmly rooted in textual proof and therefore well established.
Innovation and the Mawlid
Despite these texts and scholarly opinions, there are those who have claimed that celebrating the birth of the Prophet ﷺ is a reprehensible innovation (bid‘a). This, more than anything, is the cause of negative opinions, especially in the pat few decades, towards the mawlid.
Innovation for Muslims is a serious matter since the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, “Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the hell fire (Muslim).” However, scholars understand this text as referring to innovation that is based on something forbidden since there is the equally important hadith, “he who innovates something in this matter of ours that is not of it will have it rejected (Bukhari & Muslim).” Therefore, the basic understanding of an innovation is that it is a natural occurrence of something new that was not before. To know its classification in Islamic law (i.e., necessary (wajib), prohibited (haram), recommended (mandub), permissible (mubah), or reprehensible (makruh)) one must see if it is first based on an Islamic principle of not.
When it comes to the mawlid, the previous proof texts demonstrate that there is a principle behind it and therefore celebrating the mawlid is from the Sharī‘a. not against it.
The Purpose of the Mawlid
Lastly, it is important to take a step back and realize why one should celebrate the birth of the Prophet ﷺ. Without his birth, there would be no mercy and no guidance in this world. We would not have a living example of peace and love to follow; we would have no example of a refined human being who lived his entire life to make the word of God known. The Prophet ﷺ represents for us the connection between humanity and Reality. By following his way we are promised to reach our goal, God, and then ultimately paradise. By sending prayers and salutations on our beloved ﷺ we are protected from calamity and connect ourselves to that which is timeless and ultimately real.
However, there is also another purpose in celebrating his birth ﷺ even though it is less spiritual. There is a social function that we as a minority community in North America can benefit from by gathering for this great occasion. It allows us to break our daily routine and come together and remember his life and struggle in order to reflect together and benefit. By making the Prophet ﷺ a rallying call, we can overcome many of the differences we have and build a stronger community that is need of much repair and more strength. Let this occasion serve this purpose and let us, as the poet reminds us, make our life full of joy and love for the one who struggled to bring us this message.