The Muslim Ummah celebrates the birth day of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
Ignoring marginal attempts at controversy, the Muslim Ummah has preponderantly gone on celebrating the
joyous occasion of the birth day of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), every year on 12 Rabiul Awal-- through
the centuries-- as a blessing to mankind
Imam Syed Soharwardy
For some time, the Islamophobes have been trying to create a negative image of Islam. They badmouth about our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and the holy Quran. They have been trying their best to misguide people. They fabricate lies and attack on our beloved Muhammad (Peace be upon him).
Therefore, it is critical for Muslims to unite and give a united response to the hate-mongers. However, unfortunately, the reality is that the current Muslims are deeply divided even on those practices and beliefs that no one in the entire Muslim world has ever disputed for more than 13 centuries. Instead of focusing on the real issues of the Muslim Ummah we are wasting time and resources in countering each other on the issues which had never been issues. Every year in the month of Rabi Al Awwal, one of the most useless and misguiding campaign is carried out against the celebration of Eid-e-Milad un Nabi (Peace be upon him) also called Mawlid the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). As Rabi-Al-Awwal approaches, the annual campaign of Fatawa and speeches against celebrating the Birth of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) starts. What a waste!
The people who oppose celebrating the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) argue that it should not be celebrated because the Prophet himself and his companions after him did not celebrate his birthday. According to these opponents, celebrating the Prophets birthday is an innovation in Islam, and the Prophet (Peace upon him) has forbidden creating innovations in Islam. An innovation in Islam is called bida. In their opinion, the Prophets birthday was not celebrated by the Prophet and neither by his companions; therefore, it is an innovation (bida) and must be avoided. For them its a sin.
There is not a single verse in the Quran or a Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) forbidding the celebration of Prophets birthday. However, those who oppose the birthday celebration of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) quote many verses from the holy Quran and Hadith giving an impression to the less knowledgeable Muslims that it is forbidden. They twist the meanings and insert their own biased opinions in Quran and Hadith. A few weeks ago, a brother gave me a fatwa handout against celebrating the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). He said, there are several references from Quran and Hadith in the handout against Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi. When you read those fatawa and handouts, you will never find a single verse from Quran or a single Hadith in which Allah or His Messenger (Peace be upon him) forbade to celebrate the birth of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It is always a twisted interpretation of those verses from Quran and Hadith which are not even related to the topic.
This is the deception, which ordinary Muslims do not understand. They just see the number of references made from Quran and Hadith not knowing that these references have nothing to do with Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (Birthday of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The opponents of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi purposely misquote and misinterpret Quranic verses and
the Hadith of Prophet (Peace be upon him) in order to
misguide Muslims.
Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi means birthday of Prophet (peace be upon him). The Muslim celebration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is quite different from the Christian celebration of Christmas, the birthday of Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him). What do Muslims do on the day of Eid-e-Milad un Nabi (Peace be upon him)? They organize gatherings in which Muslims discuss the birth, the life and the message of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). They feed the poor and the guests. They read the Quran and learn Quran
from scholars.
They praise Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and sing naat/nasheed (poems/rhymes). They reach out to non-Muslims and inform them about Islam. The day is celebrated with purely religious and spiritual aspects of an Islamic life. At this occasion Muslims remind themselves to love and follow Allahs last Messenger (Peace be upon him) in daily life. Eid-e-Milad un Nabi (Peace be upon him) is just like any other religious get-together of Muslims for the remembrance of Allah and His beloved Messenger (Peace be upon him). If a gathering that discusses the birth, the life (seerah) and the message of Prophet of Islam is a bida (distortion in Islam) because the Prophet himself and his companions (Peace be upon them) did not organize or ask people to organize such gatherings then we should not be doing any thing in the name of Islam that was not done by the Prophet (peace be him) or his companions (May Allah be pleased with them).
Why Muslims organize and practice the following? The following practices and celebrations were never organized by Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), neither by his noble companions and nor by any scholar in the history of Islam except until recently. However, Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) has been in practice for the last thirteen centuries and has never been disputed by any scholar of Islam until the Zionists and the Crusaders occupied Muslim countries and made them colonies in 1800s/1900s. Eid-e-Milad un Nabi has been made controversial during the last century. It had never been a controversial issue.
(Abridged)
Islamic Supreme Council of Canada
