Congratulating on the occasion of the Mawlid or Independence Day
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
What is your Eminence’s opinion regarding a person who sends a message to his friend or his boss congratulating him on the anniversary of his birth, or the anniversary of his country’s independence, and this is without a celebration?
Answer:
This has no basis; this has no basis. This is from the practices of the mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah). This is a new thing that has occurred among the people. However, if the one in authority sees a benefit in it and prevents fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), the scholars have stated that it is permissible for the one in authority to congratulate the disbelievers if he sees an Islamic benefit in doing so, and if he thereby repels evil or establishes good, from the perspective of repelling harms and bringing about benefits.
What is your Eminence’s opinion regarding a person who sends a message to his friend or his boss congratulating him on the anniversary of his birth, or the anniversary of his country’s independence, and this is without a celebration?
Answer:
This has no basis; this has no basis. This is from the practices of the mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah). This is a new thing that has occurred among the people. However, if the one in authority sees a benefit in it and prevents fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), the scholars have stated that it is permissible for the one in authority to congratulate the disbelievers if he sees an Islamic benefit in doing so, and if he thereby repels evil or establishes good, from the perspective of repelling harms and bringing about benefits.
Source
ندوات الجامع الكبير مع الأسئلة - 41 — archive.org (6:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.