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Assalamu alaikum,

The traditional scholars generally agree that it is in itself 
permitted to celebrate the Prophet's birthday (Allah bless him and 
give him peace), as long as the celebrations are free of the 
unlawful or reprehensible, such as free intermingling of the sexes, 
excessive wasteful spending, and the like, and it is not held to be 
something necessary to do such that those who chose not to 
participate are considered to be in error. Those traditional 
scholars who criticize it do not criticize the event itself, but 
these related excesses. As they themselves admit, if these matters 
are not found, the event itself is permitted.

The article below, by a recognized traditional scholar, Shaykh Isa 
Mani`, explains the permissibility of the Mawlid.

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim 

Should we celebrate Mawlid 
(The Prophet's (s) birthday)?

Yes we should celebrate it every year 
And every month and every week
And every hour and every moment.

Dr. `Isa al-Mani` al-Humayri, Department of Awqaaf, Dubai

Office of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Dubai 
Administration of Ifta' and Research



[Arabic text follows]
We find nowadays publications filled with lies and deception which 
mislead many Muslims into thinking negatively about the honorable 
Mawlid of the Prophet. These publications claim that to celebrate 
the Mawlid is an act of innovation that goes against Islam. This is 
far from the truth, and it is therefore necessary for those who can 
speak clearly to help clarify and reverse the doubts surrounding 
this most blessed day. It is with this humble intention that I 
present the following proofs in support of celebrating our beloved 
Prophet's birthday.

The Prophet said, "He who innovates something in this matter of ours 
that is not of it will have it rejected." He also said, "Beware of 
innovations, for every innovation (kul bida`) is misguidance."

Those opposed to Mawlid cite this saying and hold that the word 
every (kul) is a term of generalization, including all types of 
innovations, with no exception, and that therefore, celebrating 
Mawlid is misguidance. By daring to say that, they accuse the 
scholars of Islam of innovation. At the top of the list of those 
they have accused, then, is our Master `Umar (Allah be pleased with 
him). Those in opposition to Mawlid quickly reply to this, "But we 
did not mean the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad."

It follows, then, that the meaning of every (kul) cannot be taken in 
its general sense. Therefore, although the Prophet may not have said 
to celebrate his blessed birthday, it is nonetheless not innovation 
to do so. For, as the following examples show, there were many 
actions and practices instituted by his close followers after his 
time that are not deemed innovation.

Compiling the Qu'ran. 
(From a Prophetic saying related by Zaid Ibn Thabit.(Allah be 
pleased with him)) "The Prophet died and the Qu'ran had not been 
compiled anywhere. `Umar (Allah be pleased with him) suggested to 
Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) to compile the Qu'ran in one 
book. When a large number of Companions were killed in the battle of 
Yamama, Abu Bakr wondered, "How could we do something that the 
Prophet did not do?' `Umar said, "By Allah, it is good.' `Umar 
persisted in asking Abu Bakr until Allah expanded his chest for it 
(Allah made him agree and accept these suggestions) and he sent for 
Zaid Ibn Thabit and assigned him to compile the Qu'ran." Zaid 
said, "By Allah if they had asked me to move a mountain, it would 
not have been more difficult than to compile the Qur'an." He also 
said, "How could you do something that the Prophet did not do?" Abu 
Bakr said, "It is good, and `Umar kept coming back to me until Allah 
expanded my chest for the matter." The saying is narrated in Sahih 
Al Bukhari.

The Maqam of Ibrahim (as) in relation to the Ka'ba. 
(Al Bayhaqi narrated with a strong chain of narrators from 
Aisha.) "The Maqam during the time of the Prophet and Abu Bakr was 
attached to the House, then `Umar moved it back." Al Hafiz Ibn Hajar 
said in Al Fath, "The Companions did not oppose `Umar, neither did 
those who came after them, thus it became unanimous agreement." He 
was the first to build the enclosure (maqsura) on it, which still 
exists today.

Adding the first call to prayer on Friday. 
(From Sahih Al Bukhari, from Al Sa'ib bin Yazid.) "During the time 
of the Prophet (s), Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) and `Umar 
(Allah be pleased with him), the call to Friday prayer used to occur 
when the Imam sat on the pulpit. When it was Othman's (Allah be 
pleased with him) time, he added the third call (considered third in 
relation to the first adhan and the iqama. But it is named first 
because it proceeds the call to the Friday prayer.)"

Salutations on the Prophet composed and taught by our Master `Ali 
(Allah be pleased with him). 
The salutations have been mentioned by Sa'id bin Mansoor and Ibn 
Jareer in Tahzeeb al Aathar, and by Ibn Abi Assim and Ya'qoob bin 
Shaiba in Akhbar `Ali and by Al Tabarani and others from Salamah Al 
Kindi.

The addition to the tashahhud by Ibn Mas'ud. 
After "wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu," and the Mercy of Allah and 
Blessings, he used to say, "assalamu `alayna min Rabbina," peace 
upon us from our Lord. Narrated by Al Tabarani in Al Kabir, and the 
narrators are those of the sound transmitters, as it has been 
mentioned in Majma' Al Zawa'id.

The addition to the tashahhud by Abdullah Ibn `Umar. 
He added the basmalah at the beginning of the tashahhud. He also 
added to the talbia, "labbaika wa sa'daika wal khayru bi yadayka wal 
raghba'u ilayika wal `amalu" This is mentioned in Bukhari, Muslim, 
et al. 

These are some of the developments instituted by the Prophet's 
Companions, the scholars, and the honorable members of his nation, 
which did not exist during the time of the Prophet, and which they 
deemed good. Are they, then, misguided and guilty of bad innovation?

As for the claim that there is no such thing in religion as good 
innovation, here are some sayings of the brilliant scholars of Islam 
belying this claim. 

Imam Nawawi said in Sahih Muslim (6-21) 
"The Prophet's saying every innovation is a general-particular and 
it is a reference to most innovations. The linguists 
say, "Innovation is any act done without a previous pattern, and it 
is of five different kinds.'" Imam Nawawi also said in Tahzeeb al 
Asma' wal Sifaat, "Innovation in religious law is to originate 
anything which did not exist during the time of the Prophet, and it 
is divided into good and bad." He also said, "Al-muhdathat (pl. for 
muhdatha) is to originate something that has no roots in religious 
law. In the tradition of religious law it is called innovation, and 
if it has an origin within the religious law, then it is not 
innovation. Innovation in religious law is disagreeable, unlike in 
the language where everything that has been originated without a 
previous pattern is called innovation regardless of whether it is 
good or bad."

Shaykh Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, the commentator on Al Bukhari, said, 
"Anything that did not exist during the Prophet's time is called 
innovation, but some are good while others are not."

Abu Na'eem,narrated from Ibrahim Al Junaid, said, "I heard Ash-
Shafi'i saying, 
"Innovation is of two types; praiseworthy innovation and blameworthy 
innovation, and anything that disagrees with the Sunnah is 
blameworthy.'"

Imam Albayhaqinarrated in Manaqib Ash-Shafi'i that Ash-Shafi'i said, 
"Innovations are of two types: that which contradicts the Qu'ran, 
the Sunnah, or unanimous agreement of the Muslims is a innovation of 
deception, while a good innovation does not contradict any of these 
things."

Al `Izz bin Abdussalam said, at the end of his book, Al Qawa'id, 
"Innovation is divided into obligatory, forbidden, recommended, 
disagreeable and permissible, and the way to know which is which is 
to match it against the religious law."

Clearly we see from the opinions of these righteous scholars, that 
to define innovations in worship as wholly negative without 
exception is ignorant. For these pious knowers, among them Imam 
Nawawi and Ash-Shafi'i, declared that innovations could be divided 
into good and bad, based on their compliance or deviance with 
religious law. 

Moreover, the following Prophetic saying is known even to common 
Muslims, let alone scholars: "He who inaugurates a good practice 
(sunnatun hasana) in Islam earns the reward of it, and of all who 
perform it after him, without diminishing their own rewards in the 
least." Therefore it is permissible for a Muslim to originate a good 
practice, even if the Prophet didn't do it, for the sake of doing 
good and cultivating the reward. The meaning of inaugurate a good 
practice (sanna sunnatun hasana) is to establish a practice through 
personal reasoning (ijtihad) and derivation (istinbat) from the 
rules of religious law or its general texts. The actions of the 
Prophet's Companions and the generation following them which we have 
stated above is the strongest evidence. 

The ones prejudiced against celebrating the Prophet's birthday have 
paved the way for their falsehood by deceiving the less-learned 
among the Muslims. The prejudiced ones claim that Ibn Kathir writes 
in his Al Bidaya wal Nihaya (11-172) that the Fatimide-Obaidite 
state, which descends from the Jew, Obaidillah Bin Maimoon Al 
Kaddah, ruler of Egypt from 357-567 A.H., innovated the celebration 
of a number of days, among them, the celebration of the Prophet's 
birthday. This treacherous lie is a grave insult to the scholarship 
of Ibn Kathir and the scholarship of all Islam. For in truth, Ibn 
Kathir writes about the Prophet's birthday in Al bidaya wal nihaya 
[13-136] "The victorious king Abu Sa'id Kawkaburi, was one of the 
generous, distinguished masters, and the glorious kings; he left 
good impressions and used to observe the honorable Mawlid by having 
a great celebration. Moreover, he was chivalrous, brave, wise, a 
scholar, and just." Ibn Kathir continues, "And he used to spend 
three hundred thousand Dinars on the Mawlid." In support, Imam Al 
Dhahabi writes of Abu Sa'id Kawkaburi, in Siyar A'laam al nubala' 
[22-336] "He was humble, righteous, and loved religious learned men 
and scholars of Prophetic saying."

Following are some sayings of the rightly guided Imams regarding the 
Mawlid.

Imam Al Suyuti,from Alhawi lil fatawi, wrote a special chapter 
entitled "The Good Intention in Commemorating the Mawlid," at the 
beginning of which he said, 
"There is a question being asked about commemorating the Mawlid of 
the Prophet in the month of Rabi' Al Awal: what is the religious 
legal ruling in this regard, is it good or bad? Does the one who 
celebrates get rewarded or not?" The answer according to me is as 
follows: To commemorate the Mawlid, which is basically gathering 
people together, reciting parts of the Qu'ran, narrating stories 
about the Prophet's birth and the signs that accompanied it, then 
serving food, and afterwards, departing, is one of the good 
innovations; and the one who practices it gets rewarded, because it 
involves venerating the status of the Prophet and expressing joy for 
his honorable birth.

Ibn Taymiyyasaid in his book Iqtida' Al Sirat Al Mustaqeem (pg. 266) 
"Likewise, what some people have innovated, in competition with the 
Christians in celebrating the birth of Jesus, or out of love and 
veneration of the Prophet⦣128;?¦±uot; and he continues "⦣128;?
´¨at the predecessors didn't do, even though there is a reason for 
it, and there is nothing against it." This is a saying of someone 
who set fanaticism aside and sought to please Allah and his Prophet. 
As far as we are concerned, we commemorate the Mawlid for no other 
reason but what Ibn Taymiya said, "Out of love and veneration of the 
Prophet." May Allah reward us according to this love and effort, and 
may Allah bless the one who said, "Let alone what the Christians 
claim about their Prophet, and you may praise Muhammad in any way 
you want and attribute to his essence all honors and to his status 
all greatness, for his merit has no limits that any expression by 
any speaker might reach." 

In the same source previously mentioned, Al Suyuti said, 
"Someone asked Ibn Hajar about commemorating the Mawlid. Ibn Hajar 
answered, "Basically, commemorating the Mawlid is an innovation that 
has not been transmitted by the righteous Muslims of the first three 
centuries. However, it involves good things and their opposites, 
therefore, whoever looks for the good and avoids the opposites then 
it is a good innovation.' It occurred to me (Al Suyuti) to trace it 
to its established origin, which has been confirmed in the two 
authentic books: Al Sahihain. When the Prophet arrived in Medina he 
found that the Jews fast the day of Aashura; when he inquired about 
it they said, "This is the day when Allah drowned the Pharaoh and 
saved Moses, therefore we fast it to show our gratitude to Allah.' 
From this we can conclude that thanks are being given to Allah on a 
specific day for sending bounty or preventing indignity or harm." Al 
Suyuti then commented, "What bounty is greater than the bounty of 
the coming of this Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy, on that day?" 

"This is regarding the basis of Mawlid. As for the activities, there 
should be only the things that express thankfulness to Allah, such 
as what has been previously mentioned: reciting Qu'ran, eating food, 
giving charity, reciting poetry praising the Prophet or on piety 
which moves hearts and drives them to do good and work for the 
Hereafter." 


These are the derivations that those opposed to Mawlid call false 
conclusions and invalid analogies. 

Imam Mohammed bin Abu Bakr Abdullah Al Qaisi Al Dimashqi. 
Jami' Al Athar fi Mawlid, Al Nabiy Al Mukhtar, Al lafz al ra'iq fi 
Mawlid khayr al khala'iq, and Mawlid al sadi fi Mawlid Al Hadi, 

Imam Al `Iraqi. 
Al Mawlid al heni fi al Mawlid al sani. 

Mulla `Ali Al Qari. 
Al Mawlid Al rawi fil Mawlid al Nabawi.

Imam Ibn Dahiya. 
Al Tanweer fi Mawlid Al basheer Al Nadheer.

Imam Shamsu Din bin Nasir Al Dimashqi. 
Mawlid al Sadi fi Mawlid Al Hadi. He is the one who said about the 
Prophet's estranged uncle, Abu Lahab, "This unbeliever who has been 
dispraised, "perish his hands" [111: 1], will stay in Hell forever. 
Yet, every Monday his torment is being reduced because of his joy at 
the birth of the Prophet." How much mercy can a servant expect who 
spends all his life joyous about the Prophet and dies believing in 
the Oneness of Allah?

Imam Shamsu Din Ibn Al Jazri. 
Al Nashr fil Qira'at Al `Ashr, `Urf Al Ta'reef bil Mawlid al shareef.

Imam Ibn Al Jawzi 
Imam Ibn Al Jawzi said about the honorable Mawlid, "It is security 
throughout the year, and glad tidings that all wishes and desires 
will be fulfilled."

Imam Abu Shama 
Imam Abu Shama (Imam Nawawi's shaykh) in his book Al ba'ith ala 
Inkar Al bida` wal hawadith (pg.23) said, "One of the best 
innovations in our time is what is being done every year on the 
Prophet's birthday, such as giving charity, doing good deeds, 
displaying ornaments, and expressing joy, for that expresses the 
feelings of love and veneration for him in the hearts of those who 
are celebrating, and also, shows thankfulness to Allah for His 
bounty by sending His Messenger, the one who has been sent as a 
Mercy to the worlds."

Imam Al Shihab Al Qastalani
Imam Al Shihab Al Qastalani (Al Bukhari's commentator) in his book 
Al mawahib Al Ladunniya (1-148) said, "May Allah have mercy on the 
one who turns the nights of the month of the Prophet's birth into 
festivities in order to decrease the suffering of those whose hearts 
are filled with disease and sickness." 

There are others who wrote and spoke about Mawlid, such as Imam Al 
Sakhawi, Imam Wajihu Din bin `Ali bin al Dayba' al Shaybani al 
Zubaidi, and many more, which we will not mention due to the limited 
space available. From these many evidences, it should be clear by 
now that celebrating the Mawlid is highly commendable and allowed. 
Surely we cannot simply shrug off as heretics the scholars and 
dignitaries of this nation who approved the commemoration of the 
Mawlid and wrote countless books on the subject. Are all these 
scholars, to whom the whole world is indebted for the beneficial 
books they have written on Prophetic sayings, jurisprudence, 
commentaries, and other sorts of knowledge, among the indecent who 
commit sins and evil? Are they, as those opposed to Mawlid claim, 
imitating the Christians in celebrating the birth of Jesus? Are they 
claiming that the Prophet did not convey to the nation what they 
should do? We leave answers to these questions up to you.

And yet we must continue to examine the errors which those opposed 
to Mawlid utter. They say "If celebrating the Mawlid is from the 
religion, then the Prophet would have made it clear to the nation, 
or would have done it in his lifetime, or it would have been done by 
the Companions." No one can say that the Prophet did not do it out 
of his humbleness, for this is speaking evil of him, so they cannot 
use this argument. 

Furthermore, that the Prophet and his Companions did not do a 
certain thing does not mean they made that thing prohibited. The 
proof is in the Prophet's saying, "Whoever establishes, in Islam, a 
good practice..." cited earlier. This is the strongest evidence that 
gives encouragement to innovate whatever practices have foundations 
in religious law, even if the Prophet and his Companions did not do 
them. Al Shafi'i said, "Anything that has a foundation in religious 
law is not an innovation even if the Companions did not do it, 
because their refraining from doing it might have been for a certain 
excuse they had at the time, or they left it for something better, 
or perhaps not all of them knew about it." Therefore, whoever 
prohibits anything based on the concept that the Prophet did not do 
it, his claim has no proof and must be rejected.

Thus we say to the rejecters of Mawlid: based on the rule you have 
attempted to found, that is, that whoever does anything that the 
Prophet or his Companions did not do is committing innovation, it 
would follow that the Prophet did not complete the religion for his 
nation, and that the Prophet did not convey to the nation what they 
should do. No one says this or believes this except a heretic 
defecting from the religion of Allah. To the doubters of Mawlid we 
declare, "Based on what you say, we convict you." For you have 
innovated in the basics of worship a large number of things that the 
Prophet did not do⦣128;⦣128;??nor did his Companions, the 
Generation after the Companions, or the Generation after them. For 
instance:

· Congregating people behind one Imam to pray Salat al Tahajjud 
after Salat Al Tarawih, in the two Holy Mosques and other mosques. 

· Reciting the Prayer of Completion of the Qu'ran in Salat al 
Tarawih and also in Salat al Tahajjud. 

· Designating the 27th night of Ramadan to complete reading the 
entire Qu'ran in the two Holy Mosques. 

· A caller saying, after Salat al Tarawih, in the Qiyam prayer, "May 
Allah reward you."

· Founding organizations which did not exist in the time of the 
Prophet, such as Islamic universities, societies for committing the 
Qu'ran to memory, and offices for missionary work, and committees 
for enjoining good and forbidding evil. We are not objecting to 
these things, since they are forms of good innovation. We merely 
list these innovations to point out that those who oppose Mawlid 
clearly contradict their own rule stating that anything that neither 
the Prophet nor his Companions did is innovation. And since they 
claim that all innovation is bad, they themselves are guilty.

Yet another claim they make is to say that those who commemorate the 
Mawlid are mostly indecent and immoral. This is a vulgar statement 
and it only reflects the character of the one saying it. Are all the 
distinguished scholars that we have mentioned, from the point of 
view of those opposed to Mawlid, indecent and immoral? We won't be 
surprised if this is what they believe. This is a most serious 
slander. We say, as the poet said, "When Allah wants to spread a 
virtue that has been hidden, He would let a tongue of an envious 
person know about it."

Those opposed to Mawlid, may Allah guide them, have confused some 
expressions, and claim that some religious scholars associate 
partners with Allah. Take for example the plea of Imam Al Busiery to 
Prophet Muhammad, "Oh, most generous of creation, I have no one to 
resort to, save You, when the prevailing event takes place." They 
must examine carefully the saying of Imam Al Busiery: inda hulul il 
amim, when the prevailing event takes place. What is al Amim? It 
means that which prevails over the whole universe, and all of 
creation, in referring to the Day of Judgment. Imam Al Busiery is 
asking intercession from the Prophet on the Day of Judgment because 
on that Day we will have no one to resort to, or appeal to. Imam Al 
Busiery seeks his intercession to Allah through the Prophet, for 
when all other Messengers and Prophets will be saying, "Myself, 
myself," the Prophet will be saying, "I am the one for it, I am for 
it [the Intercession]" It becomes even more clear now that the 
doubts of those opposed to Mawlid are unfounded, just as their 
charges of associating partners with Allah are unfounded. This is 
due to their blindness, both physical and spiritual. 

Another similar example can be found in the well-known saying 
transmitted by the distinguished Imam Al Kamal bin Al Hammam Al 
Hanafi, author of Fath il Qadeer fi manasik al Farisi, and Sharh al 
Mukhtar min al sada al ahnaf. When Imam Abu Hanifa visited Medina, 
he stood in front of the honorable grave of the Prophet and 
said, "O, most honorable of the Two Weighty Ones (humankind and 
jinn)! O, treasure of mankind, shower your generosity upon me and 
please me with your pleasure. I am aspiring for your generosity, and 
there is no one for Abu Hanifa in the world but you." Again, we must 
not misinterpret this entreaty, but realize its true meaning.

Yet another misconception those opposed to Mawlid hold can be seen 
in their statements such as these: "What occurs during Mawlid is 
mixing between men and women, singing and playing musical 
instruments, and drinking alcohol." I myself know this to be a lie, 
for I have attended many Mawlids and have not seen any mixing, and 
never heard any musical instruments. And as for drunkenness, yes, I 
have seen it, but not that of worldly people. We found people 
intoxicated with the love of the Prophet, a state surpassing even 
the agony of death, which we know overcame our master Bilal at the 
time of his death. In the midst of this sweet stupor he was 
saying, "Tomorrow I shall meet the loved ones, Muhammad and his 
Companions."

To continue, those opposed to Mawlid say, "The day of the Prophet's 
birth is the same day of the week as his death. Therefore, joy on 
this day is no more appropriate than sorrow, and if religion is 
according to one's opinion, then this day should be a day of 
mourning and sorrow." This kind of lame eloquence, is 

Answered by the Imam Jalal al Din al Suyuti, in Al hawi lil fatawi 
(pg.193), "The Prophet's birth is the greatest bounty, and his death 
is the greatest calamity. Religious law urges us to express 
thankfulness for bounties, and be patient and remain calm during 
calamities. Religious law has commanded us to sacrifice an animal on 
the birth of a child [and distribute the meat to the needy], which 
is an expression of gratitude and happiness with the newborn, while 
it did not command us to sacrifice at the time of death. Also, it 
prohibited wailing and showing grief. Therefore, the rules of Divine 
Law indicate that it is recommended to show joy during the month of 
the Prophet's birth, and not to show sorrow for his death." 

Furthermore, Ibn Rajab, in his book Al lata'if, dispraising the 
rejecters of Mawlid based on the above argument, said, "Some 
designated the day of Aashura as a funeral ceremony for the murder 
of Al Hussein. But neither Allah nor His Prophet commanded that the 
days of the prophets' great trials or deaths should be declared days 
of mourning, let alone those with lesser rank."

We conclude this article with a saying of the Prophet, which has 
been narrated by Abu Ya'la, from Hudhaifa and about which Ibn Kathir 
said, "It's chain of transmission is good." Abu Ya'la said, "The 
Prophet has said, "One of the things that concerns me about my 
nation is a man who studied the Qu'ran, and when its grace started 
to show on him and he had the appearance of a Muslim, he detached 
himself from it, and threw it behind his back, and went after his 
neighbor with a sword and accused him of associating partners with 
Allah.' I then asked, "Oh, Prophet of Allah, which one is more 
guilty of associating partners with Allah, the accused or the 
accuser?' The Prophet said, "It is the accuser.'" 

Completed, with all Praises to Allah and salutations and peace be 
upon our master Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and his 
Companions.

Copyright The Muslim Magazine, 1998

source: http://sunnah.org/ibadaat/mawlid_dubai.htm 











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