Continuation of the previous discussion on explaining the innovation of celebrating the Prophet's birthday.
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The Shaykh : (peace and blessings be upon him). We say: Praise be to Allah. Mentioning the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is present in every act of worship we perform—pay attention, my son—mentioning the Messenger in every act of worship we perform. How is that? Because all acts of worship must involve sincerity and following the Prophet. So if you stand to pray and you feel that you are following the Messenger, that is a mention of the Messenger; otherwise, it is not a mention. I ask you, my brother? Stand up.
The student: A mention.
The Shaykh : A complete mention. So, all the acts of worship we perform are a remembrance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). What is the aspect of this, my brother, our brother? You, and you, even though you are of advanced age, are a student of knowledge now, right? Answer? Every act of worship we perform is a mention of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Well done, may Allah bless you. Because we follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). We feel now that when we pray, we are emulating the Messenger, and so it is with all acts of worship. So, do we need to hold a remembrance of him only on one night? We are not in need of that. And what occurs in these festivals of evil—just for your sake, or rather, I do not desire it—great evils occur that lead to the prohibition of these festivals, because they involve saying reprehensible things and doing reprehensible actions. In our country, praise be to Allah, this has not been announced, but in the Islamic countries, unfortunately, this is a great matter. It was even said to me, and I do not know if it is true or not, that some government offices get drunk. I do not know if this is true or not? Who knows? Is it present? Well, this is wrong. Meaning, if they get drunk, it implies we have associated it with the festivals of al-Fitr and al-Adha. So I repeat this, hoping that our brothers who are not in our country will convey this to their brothers there. And as you know, knowledge comes bit by bit, and implementation comes bit by bit. If it becomes widespread among the general public that this has no basis and that it is a religious innovation, then every person who performs an act of worship only wants to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The important point is that I return to the fact that worship does not conform to the Shari'ah unless it agrees with the Shari'ah in six matters. Well, the cause is one of them.
The student: A mention.
The Shaykh : A complete mention. So, all the acts of worship we perform are a remembrance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). What is the aspect of this, my brother, our brother? You, and you, even though you are of advanced age, are a student of knowledge now, right? Answer? Every act of worship we perform is a mention of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Well done, may Allah bless you. Because we follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). We feel now that when we pray, we are emulating the Messenger, and so it is with all acts of worship. So, do we need to hold a remembrance of him only on one night? We are not in need of that. And what occurs in these festivals of evil—just for your sake, or rather, I do not desire it—great evils occur that lead to the prohibition of these festivals, because they involve saying reprehensible things and doing reprehensible actions. In our country, praise be to Allah, this has not been announced, but in the Islamic countries, unfortunately, this is a great matter. It was even said to me, and I do not know if it is true or not, that some government offices get drunk. I do not know if this is true or not? Who knows? Is it present? Well, this is wrong. Meaning, if they get drunk, it implies we have associated it with the festivals of al-Fitr and al-Adha. So I repeat this, hoping that our brothers who are not in our country will convey this to their brothers there. And as you know, knowledge comes bit by bit, and implementation comes bit by bit. If it becomes widespread among the general public that this has no basis and that it is a religious innovation, then every person who performs an act of worship only wants to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The important point is that I return to the fact that worship does not conform to the Shari'ah unless it agrees with the Shari'ah in six matters. Well, the cause is one of them.