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IslamQA: It is permissible to celebrate Mawlid of the Prophet ﷺ

Neither rasool Allah pbuh, nor the companions, nooooor the predecessors congratulated for Mawlid ! Bidaaaaah bro, bidaah

What you are saying is based on the idea (mostly propounded by Wahhabis) that any type of worship or Islamic celebration that was not performed by the early Muslims is automatically an evil and forbidden thing. People who disagree with the Wahhabis and believe that celebrating the Mawlid is acceptable include: Yusuf al-Qaradawi (al-Azhar scholar), Imam al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Suyuti, Muhammad al-Hadhrami (Shafi`i jurist), Sadr al-Din al-Jazari (Shafi`i jurist).

I don’t celebrate the Prophet’s birthday myself ﷺ, but since some people enjoy it and get something out of it, I have no problem with them doing it. They have a desire to feel close to the Prophet and the mawlid celebrations fulfill that desire for them, and as the above list of scholars should show, there is no consensus on forbidding such celebrations. You are free to not celebrate it yourself, but you have no right to ruin it for others. If someone says mawlid mubarak, it is politeness to reply to them in the same kind.

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A. Gr.
A. Gr.
1 year ago

May Allah bless you and reward you for your good intention brother.

Alas I’m afraid it is the religion of Allah we are talking about, so not it is not up to everyone’s discretion as to what to do and what not when it comes to acts of worships. This Mawlid is celebrated as an act of worship, ie, to draw closer to Allah – however, acts of worship are only valid if they have a basis in the Qur’an and the Sunnah with the understanding of the three favoured generations.

See here what Shaykh-ul Islam Ibn Taymiah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And similarly what some people innovate by analogy with the Christians who celebrate the birth of ‘Eesa (Jesus), or out of love for the Prophet (saw) and to exalt him, and may Allaah reward them for this love and effort, not on the fact that it is an innovation
[Taken from “Majmoo’ Al-Fataawa”, Vol.23 p.163, and “Iqtidaa’ As-Siraat Al-Mustaqeem”, p.294-295, Section entitled, “The innovated festivals of time and place.”]

But here along with a better translation of the (same) text:
و كذلك ما يحدثه بعض الناس إما مضاهاة لنصارى في ميلاد عيسى عليه السلام و إما محبة للنبي صلى الله عليه و سلم و تعظيما له و الله قد يشيبهم على هذه المحبة و الاجتهاد لا على البدع
And like that, what some people have innovated, be it out of analogy to the Christians in the birth of ‘Eesa or be it out of love for the Prophet (saw) and honor for him and Allaah, they may be rewarded for this love and ijtihaad, not for the innovation.

So neither should those be denied who say it is a reprihensible innovation, nor those scholars (whom you quoted) who say it is permissible depending on the condition. And Allah knows the above opinion of Shaykh-ul Islam is shared by myriads of other grand scholars of Islam.

Last edited 1 year ago by A. Gr.