Celebrating the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday and designating the day of his birth.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is Thursday, the third of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, 1417, which is the weekly meeting held every Thursday. In this meeting, we wish to discuss an issue that has swept through the Muslim world, which has no basis in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, or the practice of the Companions and the Successors. That is the celebration of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday. This celebration has become widespread, and some people consider it a religion and a law. Some may even think it is among the most obligatory duties, and that love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is not complete without it. We will clarify, if Allah wills, in this meeting that celebrating the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) birthday on the twelfth of this month has no basis, neither in history nor in the Shari'ah.
As for history: It is not established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was born on the twelfth day. In fact, some meticulous scholars of astronomy have confirmed that his birth was on the ninth of this month. The old historian scholars differed in about seven or six opinions regarding the determination of the day of his birth. This is from the historical perspective.
As for the legal perspective: It is said that those who hold this celebration are either motivated by love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), or motivated by imitating the Christians in their celebration of the birth of Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him), or it is a custom they have followed.
As for the first possibility, which is that their motivation is love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), we say: Love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is obligatory for every believer. Indeed, it is obligatory for every believer to prioritize the love of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) over the love of any human being, to prioritize his love over the love of oneself, one’s child, one’s father, and all people. Faith is not complete except with this. However, the true measure of love is proper conduct toward the Messenger (peace be upon him), not preceding him, and not legislating in his religion what he did not legislate. If we were to precede him, we would have erred in our conduct, and error in conduct means disregarding the one before whom one stands. If we were to legislate in his religion what he did not legislate, that would be a defect in his conveying the message to the Ummah (peace be upon him). We are now speaking about innovations in their general sense, and among them is the celebration of the birthday. So, if any person introduces an innovation, we say to him: You have fallen into disobedience to the Messenger (peace be upon him) and into what he warned against in his saying (peace be upon him): This is a great harm.
Among the harms of innovations is that it is a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah), as Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: It is not hidden that shirk is not forgiven, as Allah the Exalted said: The apparent meaning of this noble verse is that shirk is not forgiven, even if it is minor.
Among the harms of innovations is that it turns people away from the path of Allah, because a person becomes occupied with it instead of the established worship. No group ever introduced an innovation except that they abandoned from the Sunnah something equal to it or greater.
Among the harms of innovations is that it entails a defect in the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), implying that he did not convey what he was sent with, or that he was ignorant of it. The point is: If we search the Qur'an and the Sunnah, we do not find this innovation. Either the Messenger (peace be upon him) was not aware of it, which is a defect in him (peace be upon him) to be ignorant of a law that brings one closer to Allah, or he was aware of it but did not convey it to the people, which is also a defect in him in that he did not convey what he was sent with.
Among the harms of innovations is that it contradicts the saying of Allah the Exalted: Because the implication of the innovator is that the religion is not what? It is not complete, because we do not find this innovation in the religion of Allah. If it is from the religion of Allah, as this innovator claims, and it is not found in it, then the religion, in his claim, is not complete. This is a great contradiction to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Among the harms of innovations is that the innovator places himself in the position of the Messenger, because no one legislates for creation what brings them closer to Allah the Exalted except one whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has sent, and there is no prophet after Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). So, the one who innovates is as if he is saying, yes, as if by his state he is saying: He is legislating for people what brings them closer to Allah. This means he is a partner to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the message.
Among the harms of innovations is that it is speaking about Allah without knowledge, and this is forbidden by the consensus of the Muslims. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: It has other harms that, if a person reflects on them, he would find them to be much more than this, but we limit ourselves to this and return to the original topic, which is the celebration of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday.
We say: The people who celebrate it are not free from what? Three states: Either it is love for the Messenger (peace be upon him), or imitating the Christians, or because it is a normal matter they have followed. If it is love for the Messenger (peace be upon him), we say: There is no doubt that love for the Messenger is obligatory, and indeed it is obligatory to prioritize his love over the love of oneself and all people. But is it part of his love that we precede him and legislate in his religion what is not from it? No. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says: So, the consequence of sincere love is that a person does not precede the Messenger by introducing into his religion what is not from it.
Then we say secondly: Are you, O one who celebrates the birthday of the Messenger (peace be upon him), are you more loving of the Messenger of Allah than Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, the jurists of the Companions, the general Companions, the imams of the Successors after them, and the Successors of the Successors? If he says: Yes, then he is among the most lying of people. If he says: No, we say: What sufficed them suffices you. Did they hold a celebration for the Messenger (peace be upon him)? Never. This celebration was not held until the fourth century of the Hijrah. So why did the Muslim Ummah not hold it before that? Were they ignorant of it, or were they opposing it with knowledge, or were they lacking in love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?
Then we say thirdly: If it is under the claim that you are reviving the memory of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we say to him: Is it not sufficient for you what you revive the memory of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with in all your worship? Every act of worship is a revival of the memory of the Messenger (peace be upon him), because the condition of every act of worship is: Sincerity and following the Messenger (peace be upon him). So, if you feel, while you are worshipping Allah the Exalted with these two conditions—sincerity to Allah and following the Messenger—then this is a memory of the Messenger (peace be upon him). But unfortunately, many people today worship Allah with acts of worship on the assumption that this is the what? The prevailing matter. Few are aware that they are praying with sincerity to Allah and following the Messenger of Allah, or purifying themselves for that, or the like. Otherwise, every person who feels, during worship, sincerity and following the Messenger, then his worship is what? A revival of the memory of the Messenger (peace be upon him).
Then we say: Allah has legislated for His servants what is a memory of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that is better than what you want, better, more comprehensive, and more inclusive.
The Muslims in every obligatory prayer declare, with the highest possible voice: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, in every adhan (call to prayer). It is not limited to one night of the year, but the whole year, indeed every day. And the Muslims in every prayer say: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. This is sufficient in reviving the memory of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And this, I mean following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and adhering to his Sunnah, is the greatest proof of his love. The more a person follows the Messenger, the more he loves him, and the more he loves him, the more he follows him.
The second [reason] is that they do this to imitate the Christians. We say: If it is established that it was prescribed for the Christians to celebrate the birth of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, the birth of their Prophet, Isa, peace be upon him, if that is established, then our Shari'ah has come with the opposite. Do we take the Shari'ah of the Christians, or the Shari'ah of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him? The answer is:
The second, without a doubt. And if we assume, on the premise that may be impossible, that it is prescribed for the Christians to celebrate the birth of al-Masih, peace be upon him, our Shari'ah has not come with celebrating the birth of our Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. So how do you imitate the Christians in their celebration of the birth of Isa, peace be upon him, and not imitate Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Uthman, Ali, the jurists of the Companions, the majority of them, and the imams of the Muslims after them? This is nothing but ignorance and folly. And if it is in the way of custom, which is the third possibility, that it is a custom people have followed, then we say: Acts of worship do not become customs by people continuing to do them. If we were to accept that, our prayer, fasting, Hajj, and zakah would all be customs, and no one says that. If we opened this door, we would call these great acts of worship traditions and customs, and the like, and strip them of the meaning of worship and its spirit.
Then we say: Is it permissible in customs for a person to mention the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in what he, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade? The answer is:
No. He, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade innovations and said: And he forbade exaggeration regarding him.
And what has reached us is that those who celebrate the Mawlid, and what has reached us is that they mention regarding the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, an exaggeration that reaches the level of shirk (associating partners with Allah). We hear that they repeat what al-Busiri said in his poem, repeating:
"O noblest of creation, to whom shall I take refuge *** Other than You when the general calamity befalls
If you are not taking my hand on the Day of Resurrection, *** then say: "O slip of the foot"
Until he said:
"For from Your generosity is the world and its neighbor, *** And from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen"
If the world and its twin, which is the Hereafter, are from the generosity of the Messenger, what remains for Allah? Yes, nothing remains for Allah. And yet, the world and the Hereafter are not the generosity of the Messenger, but they are from His generosity. And there is other generosity above the world and the Hereafter.
"And from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen" From His knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says to His Messenger: And this phrase means that he says: I am only a servant who follows what is revealed to me. And these people repeat:
"For from Your generosity is the world and its neighbor, *** And from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen"
And it has also reached us that men and women gather in one place, and there is clapping and humming with enticing voices that arouse desire, cause fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), and it has reached us about them, meaning about some of them, and the intent is the category, not each individual, what is considered folly in reason, as it is harm in religion. It has reached us that in the midst of this intoxication, and I do not mean the intoxication of wine, but the intoxication of the mind, in this intoxication they say: "Peace be upon you, peace be upon you." They say: The Messenger has arrived and entered upon them. Even if they were in the farthest east or the farthest west, he rose from his grave in Madinah and came to them and greeted them. This is undoubtedly folly. Does anyone resurrect before the Day of Resurrection? No one from this Ummah (the Muslim community) is resurrected before the Day of Resurrection, except that it may be a karamah (a miracle granted to a righteous person) for one of the causes and then it ceases. But that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, is resurrected and comes to these people? And if we assume that there are tens of thousands in the Muslim Ummah celebrating this in several places, and it is the same night, how does the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, go around to all of them? I say this so that it becomes clear that such celebrations, in addition to being contrary to the Shari'ah, are contrary to reason, misguidance in religion, and folly in minds. I say this not because it exists openly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and praise be to Allah, as it exists in other countries, but so that the student of knowledge knows the ruling of this issue, and so that the argument is established against him, meaning the student of knowledge, that he declares it clearly to his people, meaning he addresses the people, saying: You testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And if there is no god but Allah, to whom does the judgment belong? To Allah. And if Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, then the Shari'ah is the Shari'ah of the Messenger of Allah. So it is not for us to judge by anything except what Allah has judged, and not to follow any human except the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. This is what I wanted to be the topic of our lesson in this meeting.
And I ask Allah the Exalted to grant us and you beneficial knowledge and accepted righteous deeds, and to guide the Muslims to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. Indeed, He is capable of all things. Now, as for the questions, we begin with the right.