What is the ruling on praising the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in commemorating his birth, and did the Companions praise him during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
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The questioner : What is the ruling on praising the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in commemorating his birth? And did the Companions praise him during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? And do we receive reward for praising him, or do we commit a sin by leaving it? We ask you for guidance. May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : 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:
Praising the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and describing him with his noble attributes and excellent morals is a required and prescribed matter. And frequenting the sending of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is among the best of righteous deeds that bring one closer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And whoever sends blessings upon him once, Allah sends blessings upon him ten times. However, making this into a specific night or a specific day without evidence from the Shari'ah is considered a religious innovation (bid'ah), because praising the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is an act of worship, provided it does not reach the level of exaggeration. And worship must have permission from the Shari'ah. And we have not known that the Shari'ah specified a certain day or night to praise the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in, except Friday, for he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:.
And celebrating the night of his birth (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is not valid, neither from the historical aspect nor from the legal aspect:
As for the historical aspect, it is not established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was born on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal or on its night. Rather, some modern astronomers have verified that he was born on the ninth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal.
And as for the legal aspect, if there were reward and merit in celebrating his birth, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would have been the first to do so, because he would not miss an opportunity containing reward and merit without performing it, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, or he would have guided his Ummah to it by his words. And even if it was not in his time, it was not in the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, meaning the celebration of his birth, nor in the time of those after them. The first time it occurred was in the fourth century of the Hijrah, when some of the rulers of Irbil introduced it, and the people followed him in that. But, as far as we know, no one who belongs to the Salaf al-Salih followed him in it.
And at that point we say: Either this celebration is a means of drawing near to Allah, or it is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that only increases the servant in misguidance. If we say the former, that it is a means of drawing near to Allah, where is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) from it? And where are the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and where are the Companions?
So either it is said: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was ignorant of it and did not know of it in the Shari'ah of Allah, or it is said: He knew it but concealed it. And both matters are a great danger, whether we say: He was ignorant of it and did not know, or we say: He knew it but concealed it.
And how can it be from the Shari'ah of Allah when Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]? Where is the perfection if it is prescribed and was not mentioned during the life of the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him)?
And if we say: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew it but concealed it from the people, how great is that grave error, because it would mean that the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) died without conveying anything of the truth that Allah revealed to him.
Therefore, if a person reflects on this religious innovation (bid'ah) and other innovations, he will find that the matter of innovation is great, and its danger is severe, and that if it were not for the good intention of some of its innovators, their status would be very dangerous. Therefore, we advise our Muslim brothers in the east and west of the earth to leave this religious innovation (bid'ah), and to be content with what Allah the Exalted has prescribed of honoring His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
And what its innovators claim, that it is a revival of the remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). We say: It is a revival of which the Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) warned, where he said:.
Then we also say: In the Islamic Shari'ah, there is abundance regarding this revival. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is mentioned in the Adhan, and he is mentioned in the prayer. So in the Adhan: "I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and in the prayer in the Tashahhud: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad." Rather, we say: Whoever is alive, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has a remembrance in every act of worship he performs, because one of the conditions of worship is: Sincerity to Allah, and following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). So every worshipper must be sincere to Allah, and must feel when performing the act of worship that he is following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And this is a remembrance.
And in these great acts of worship, there is abundance regarding this remembrance that its innovators introduced. Then, in this celebration, there occur great wrongs that affect the creed. So in some of the celebrations of this Mawlid, poems are recited that contain exaggeration regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the exaggeration that elevates him to the level of Lordship or greater. And in these celebrations, poems are recited, such as the Burdah by al-Busiri, in which he says:
O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in... except You when the general calamity befalls
If you are not taking my hand on the Day of Promise ... Forgive, or else say: O slip of the foot
For from your generosity is the world and its companion ... And from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen.
These verses in: "the Burdah" may be in this order or have some transposition, but the discussion is about the content, not the form. So the one who says to the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), addressing him: "From your generosity is the world and its companion": The companion of the world is the Hereafter. "And from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen": He has associated him, meaning he has associated the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with the station of Lordship, and nothing remains for Allah.
If from the generosity of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is the world and its companion, what remains for Allah?
Then we say: This is one of the greatest lies, that from his generosity is the world and its companion. Why?
Because the Messenger is a creation, who came into being at the end of the world. How can the world be from his generosity?
Then we hear that in this celebration, there is free mixing (ikhtilat) between men and women, and between adults and adolescents and young men. And in this, there is great evil. Then, in this celebration, there appear the rituals of festivals, such as joy and happiness, and offering sweets and the like, which makes it an innovation in the religion of Allah. Because the legal festivals are 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-Adha, and the weekly festival of Friday. Then, in this celebration, a lot of money is spent without benefit, but rather with harm. And all of this obliges the person who is sincere to himself to stay away from it.
So this is advice from a sincere brother to his brothers. We ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to make for it attentive ears and conscious hearts.
The questioner : O Allah, amen. May Allah bless you for this blessed, good guidance, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : 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:
Praising the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and describing him with his noble attributes and excellent morals is a required and prescribed matter. And frequenting the sending of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is among the best of righteous deeds that bring one closer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And whoever sends blessings upon him once, Allah sends blessings upon him ten times. However, making this into a specific night or a specific day without evidence from the Shari'ah is considered a religious innovation (bid'ah), because praising the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is an act of worship, provided it does not reach the level of exaggeration. And worship must have permission from the Shari'ah. And we have not known that the Shari'ah specified a certain day or night to praise the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in, except Friday, for he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Increase your sending of blessings upon me in it, for your sending of blessings is presented to me.
أكثروا فيه من الصلاة علي فإن صلاتكم معروضةAnd celebrating the night of his birth (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is not valid, neither from the historical aspect nor from the legal aspect:
As for the historical aspect, it is not established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was born on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal or on its night. Rather, some modern astronomers have verified that he was born on the ninth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal.
And as for the legal aspect, if there were reward and merit in celebrating his birth, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would have been the first to do so, because he would not miss an opportunity containing reward and merit without performing it, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, or he would have guided his Ummah to it by his words. And even if it was not in his time, it was not in the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, meaning the celebration of his birth, nor in the time of those after them. The first time it occurred was in the fourth century of the Hijrah, when some of the rulers of Irbil introduced it, and the people followed him in that. But, as far as we know, no one who belongs to the Salaf al-Salih followed him in it.
And at that point we say: Either this celebration is a means of drawing near to Allah, or it is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that only increases the servant in misguidance. If we say the former, that it is a means of drawing near to Allah, where is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) from it? And where are the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and where are the Companions?
So either it is said: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was ignorant of it and did not know of it in the Shari'ah of Allah, or it is said: He knew it but concealed it. And both matters are a great danger, whether we say: He was ignorant of it and did not know, or we say: He knew it but concealed it.
And how can it be from the Shari'ah of Allah when Allah the Exalted said:
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلامَ دِينًاAnd if we say: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew it but concealed it from the people, how great is that grave error, because it would mean that the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) died without conveying anything of the truth that Allah revealed to him.
Therefore, if a person reflects on this religious innovation (bid'ah) and other innovations, he will find that the matter of innovation is great, and its danger is severe, and that if it were not for the good intention of some of its innovators, their status would be very dangerous. Therefore, we advise our Muslim brothers in the east and west of the earth to leave this religious innovation (bid'ah), and to be content with what Allah the Exalted has prescribed of honoring His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
And what its innovators claim, that it is a revival of the remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). We say: It is a revival of which the Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) warned, where he said:
Beware of newly invented matters
إياكم ومحدثات الأمورThen we also say: In the Islamic Shari'ah, there is abundance regarding this revival. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is mentioned in the Adhan, and he is mentioned in the prayer. So in the Adhan: "I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and in the prayer in the Tashahhud: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad." Rather, we say: Whoever is alive, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has a remembrance in every act of worship he performs, because one of the conditions of worship is: Sincerity to Allah, and following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). So every worshipper must be sincere to Allah, and must feel when performing the act of worship that he is following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And this is a remembrance.
And in these great acts of worship, there is abundance regarding this remembrance that its innovators introduced. Then, in this celebration, there occur great wrongs that affect the creed. So in some of the celebrations of this Mawlid, poems are recited that contain exaggeration regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the exaggeration that elevates him to the level of Lordship or greater. And in these celebrations, poems are recited, such as the Burdah by al-Busiri, in which he says:
O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in... except You when the general calamity befalls
If you are not taking my hand on the Day of Promise ... Forgive, or else say: O slip of the foot
For from your generosity is the world and its companion ... And from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen.
These verses in: "the Burdah" may be in this order or have some transposition, but the discussion is about the content, not the form. So the one who says to the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), addressing him: "From your generosity is the world and its companion": The companion of the world is the Hereafter. "And from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen": He has associated him, meaning he has associated the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with the station of Lordship, and nothing remains for Allah.
If from the generosity of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is the world and its companion, what remains for Allah?
Then we say: This is one of the greatest lies, that from his generosity is the world and its companion. Why?
Because the Messenger is a creation, who came into being at the end of the world. How can the world be from his generosity?
Then we hear that in this celebration, there is free mixing (ikhtilat) between men and women, and between adults and adolescents and young men. And in this, there is great evil. Then, in this celebration, there appear the rituals of festivals, such as joy and happiness, and offering sweets and the like, which makes it an innovation in the religion of Allah. Because the legal festivals are 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-Adha, and the weekly festival of Friday. Then, in this celebration, a lot of money is spent without benefit, but rather with harm. And all of this obliges the person who is sincere to himself to stay away from it.
So this is advice from a sincere brother to his brothers. We ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to make for it attentive ears and conscious hearts.
The questioner : O Allah, amen. May Allah bless you for this blessed, good guidance, O honorable Shaykh.