Praying Behind an Imam Who Celebrates the Mawlid
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Shaykh, may Allah forgive you, sometimes we are in a town where we stay for more than a week, and the imam of the mosque next to our residence celebrates the night of the Mawlid. Do you find it permissible to pray behind him, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
No, this is dangerous. There is a fear that he is among the people of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Shirk occurs in the Mawlid celebrations.
The questioner:
There is no Jumu'ah and no congregation.
The Shaykh:
But look at their actions and ask about them. It may be a bid'ah (religious innovation) that does not contain shirk. Do they pray with the congregation or not?
The questioner:
May you live long.
The Shaykh:
The general rule is that the people of Mawlid celebrations are people of shirk. This is the general case.
The questioner:
It is established that he called for the celebration of the night of the Mawlid in this mosque, and they celebrated it in this mosque.
The Shaykh:
Generally, it involves shirk. They call upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and seek aid from him. So, do not pray behind them. It may be merely a bid'ah (religious innovation) where they send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and remember Allah, and they do not commit shirk.
The questioner:
I attended one of their gatherings. They beat the duff (hand drum) in the mosque and sang. The Shaykh they brought gave a speech about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "If it were not for the fact that you are in the mosque and sitting, I would order you to stand up for the presence of the Prophet."
The Shaykh:
This is a myth. He claims the Prophet is present. This is a myth. It indicates that one should not pray behind him, because of his bid'ah (religious innovation) and his myths.
Shaykh, may Allah forgive you, sometimes we are in a town where we stay for more than a week, and the imam of the mosque next to our residence celebrates the night of the Mawlid. Do you find it permissible to pray behind him, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
No, this is dangerous. There is a fear that he is among the people of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Shirk occurs in the Mawlid celebrations.
The questioner:
There is no Jumu'ah and no congregation.
The Shaykh:
But look at their actions and ask about them. It may be a bid'ah (religious innovation) that does not contain shirk. Do they pray with the congregation or not?
The questioner:
May you live long.
The Shaykh:
The general rule is that the people of Mawlid celebrations are people of shirk. This is the general case.
The questioner:
It is established that he called for the celebration of the night of the Mawlid in this mosque, and they celebrated it in this mosque.
The Shaykh:
Generally, it involves shirk. They call upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and seek aid from him. So, do not pray behind them. It may be merely a bid'ah (religious innovation) where they send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and remember Allah, and they do not commit shirk.
The questioner:
I attended one of their gatherings. They beat the duff (hand drum) in the mosque and sang. The Shaykh they brought gave a speech about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "If it were not for the fact that you are in the mosque and sitting, I would order you to stand up for the presence of the Prophet."
The Shaykh:
This is a myth. He claims the Prophet is present. This is a myth. It indicates that one should not pray behind him, because of his bid'ah (religious innovation) and his myths.
Source
لقاءات لابن باز - لقاء مع إخوة في الله - ابن باز - ٤ — archive.org (51:31)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.