The Ruling on Celebrating the Prophet's Birthday
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on celebrating the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday, especially since the coming days will mark the date of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birth?
Answer:
The origin of this is that the Fatimids were the first to introduce it, or rather Abu Sa'id al-Malik al-Muzaffar al-Kawkaburi of the Ilyin dynasty, who was not a scholar. You know, for example, if a sultan deviates or wants something, no one can stop him, because people look at what the ruler does. If Allah rectifies the sultan, the community is rectified; if he corrupts, the community is corrupted. He also considers this a Satanic matter, so it spread among the ignorant. The Imams have continued to point out that this birthday celebration is a religious innovation (bid'ah). They have pointed it out; Imam al-Shatibi pointed it out in *Al-I'tisam*, indicating that it is a bid'ah and that it is not permissible. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah pointed it out in his *Fatawa*, and other Imams pointed it out as well. Some of them wrote books and small treatises on it, and some mentioned it in the context of their writings within their books. The result is that this bid'ah is reprehensible, and scholars continue to denounce it. However, the ignorant and those led astray cling to it. The more it is denounced, the more firmly they cling to it. This is the Sunnah of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in His creation: falsehood has followers in every time and place. But, praise be to Allah, the truth still has those who support it, those who spread it, and those who call to it. Evil has those who denounce it and warn against it. The proof is established, praise be to Allah. Whoever wants to worship, the proof is established; and whoever wants misguidance, he has what he chose for himself. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on celebrating the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday, especially since the coming days will mark the date of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birth?
Answer:
The origin of this is that the Fatimids were the first to introduce it, or rather Abu Sa'id al-Malik al-Muzaffar al-Kawkaburi of the Ilyin dynasty, who was not a scholar. You know, for example, if a sultan deviates or wants something, no one can stop him, because people look at what the ruler does. If Allah rectifies the sultan, the community is rectified; if he corrupts, the community is corrupted. He also considers this a Satanic matter, so it spread among the ignorant. The Imams have continued to point out that this birthday celebration is a religious innovation (bid'ah). They have pointed it out; Imam al-Shatibi pointed it out in *Al-I'tisam*, indicating that it is a bid'ah and that it is not permissible. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah pointed it out in his *Fatawa*, and other Imams pointed it out as well. Some of them wrote books and small treatises on it, and some mentioned it in the context of their writings within their books. The result is that this bid'ah is reprehensible, and scholars continue to denounce it. However, the ignorant and those led astray cling to it. The more it is denounced, the more firmly they cling to it. This is the Sunnah of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in His creation: falsehood has followers in every time and place. But, praise be to Allah, the truth still has those who support it, those who spread it, and those who call to it. Evil has those who denounce it and warn against it. The proof is established, praise be to Allah. Whoever wants to worship, the proof is established; and whoever wants misguidance, he has what he chose for himself. Yes.
Source
الفوزان -أشرطة- أسئلة وأجوبة من دروس التوحيد - أسئلة وأجوبة - الفوزان - ٨ — archive.org (11:12)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.