The ruling in Islam regarding the holding of Mawlid celebrations, such as the Mawlid of the Prophet and others.
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The Shaykh : I say: I see that holding Mawlid celebrations to honor the person born is a religious innovation, an innovation that did not come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it relates to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) or to others among the scholars or the worshippers.
And a very easy proof indicates that holding a celebration for the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is an innovation: we ask, you who hold this celebration, are you more loving of the Messenger of Allah than the Companions of the Messenger of Allah? If they say yes, we say you are lying. If they say no, we say, why did not they, who are more loving of the Messenger of Allah than you, hold it? We ask first: if they say the Companions are more loving, we say, did you hold this out of love for the Messenger or not? If they say out of love for the Messenger, we say, why did not the one who is more loving of the Messenger than you hold it? Are they unaware of this, or are they negligent, or are they ignorant? None of this was the case. If they say we hold it in remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), we say: Glory to Allah! Are you correcting Islam? If they say yes, the matter is serious and great, meaning that the saying of the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3] is not correct, because they corrected Islam. If they say we did not correct Islam, we say: then in the remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) by what Islam prescribed is sufficient, is it not?
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is mentioned in every act of worship, either by the language of action or by the language of speech. In every act of worship, you mention the Messenger; you mention the Messenger by the language of action or by the language of speech.
First: by the language of action: every one who worships Allah worships Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with sincerity to Him and following of His Messenger. So: I feel when I perform the worship that I am what? A follower of the Messenger. Is this a remembrance or not a remembrance? The answer: it is a remembrance.
Second: or by the language of speech: we look at the ablution: when a person finishes his ablution, what does he say? I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
In the prayer: we say, it is obligatory upon us, it is obligatory upon us, to say: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. Where is this obligation? In the tashahhud, it is obligatory upon us to say that.
In the call to prayer: it is obligatory upon us to say: what? I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, it is obligatory upon us.
So: what Allah and His Messenger prescribed, in which there is a remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is better than what these people innovated. And by this we know that the celebration of the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, especially since this celebration is not free from evils. It is said to us that there is gathering and free mixing of men and women in it, this is one thing, and it is a trial.
It is also said that they bring poems containing exaggeration and overstatement, and the best of their poems is the most exaggerated. For example, the Burdah poem by al-Busiri is the best of what they sing, and in it is explicit disbelief that is apparent. Al-Busiri says in this poem:
"O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in *** but You when the general calamity befalls"
What do you say about this verse? What do you say about it:
"I have no one to take refuge in *** but You when the general calamity befalls"
Meaning: if a general calamity occurs, like an earthquake and lightning and the like, I have no one to take refuge in except You. And what do you say about this? It is shirk (associating partners with Allah).
Who is taken refuge to when general calamities occur? The Lord (Mighty and Majestic). A specific calamity, perhaps I take refuge in a person and say to him: come, so-and-so, save me from drowning, take out this one whose car overturned, take him out from under the car... but in general calamities, only Allah is hoped for.
Then he also said, among what he said in this poem:
"For from Your generosity is the world and its harm"
What is the harm of the world? The Hereafter for partiality, there is a generosity other than the world and the Hereafter.
"For from Your generosity is the world and its harm *** and from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen"
Also from His knowledge: the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen, and there are other knowledges also above what is in the Tablet and the Pen that the Messenger knows.
What do you say about this? It is a denial, a denial of the dominion of Allah. If the world and the Hereafter are from the generosity of the Messenger, what remains for Allah? Nothing remains. So this is what happens in the Mawlid celebrations.
Therefore, it is obligatory for the students of knowledge to warn the people of their lands about these celebrations, and that in them there is only physical and financial exhaustion and misguidance. Every innovation is misguidance.
As for the celebration of a person's birth, this is not a religious celebration, this is an ordinary celebration. And yet we see that it should not be done, because it may be taken as a means to the worshipful celebration, meaning: the celebration of what? The birth of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He will say: if I celebrate the birth of my son, and he is who he is in relation to the Messenger, then my celebration of the birth of the Messenger is even more so.
For this reason, we see that abstaining from celebrating Mawlid celebrations is absolutely necessary, whether that is for worship or for other than worship.
And a very easy proof indicates that holding a celebration for the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is an innovation: we ask, you who hold this celebration, are you more loving of the Messenger of Allah than the Companions of the Messenger of Allah? If they say yes, we say you are lying. If they say no, we say, why did not they, who are more loving of the Messenger of Allah than you, hold it? We ask first: if they say the Companions are more loving, we say, did you hold this out of love for the Messenger or not? If they say out of love for the Messenger, we say, why did not the one who is more loving of the Messenger than you hold it? Are they unaware of this, or are they negligent, or are they ignorant? None of this was the case. If they say we hold it in remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), we say: Glory to Allah! Are you correcting Islam? If they say yes, the matter is serious and great, meaning that the saying of the Exalted:
This day I have perfected for you your religion
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْThe Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is mentioned in every act of worship, either by the language of action or by the language of speech. In every act of worship, you mention the Messenger; you mention the Messenger by the language of action or by the language of speech.
First: by the language of action: every one who worships Allah worships Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with sincerity to Him and following of His Messenger. So: I feel when I perform the worship that I am what? A follower of the Messenger. Is this a remembrance or not a remembrance? The answer: it is a remembrance.
Second: or by the language of speech: we look at the ablution: when a person finishes his ablution, what does he say? I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
In the prayer: we say, it is obligatory upon us, it is obligatory upon us, to say: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. Where is this obligation? In the tashahhud, it is obligatory upon us to say that.
In the call to prayer: it is obligatory upon us to say: what? I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, it is obligatory upon us.
So: what Allah and His Messenger prescribed, in which there is a remembrance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is better than what these people innovated. And by this we know that the celebration of the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, especially since this celebration is not free from evils. It is said to us that there is gathering and free mixing of men and women in it, this is one thing, and it is a trial.
It is also said that they bring poems containing exaggeration and overstatement, and the best of their poems is the most exaggerated. For example, the Burdah poem by al-Busiri is the best of what they sing, and in it is explicit disbelief that is apparent. Al-Busiri says in this poem:
"O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in *** but You when the general calamity befalls"
What do you say about this verse? What do you say about it:
"I have no one to take refuge in *** but You when the general calamity befalls"
Meaning: if a general calamity occurs, like an earthquake and lightning and the like, I have no one to take refuge in except You. And what do you say about this? It is shirk (associating partners with Allah).
Who is taken refuge to when general calamities occur? The Lord (Mighty and Majestic). A specific calamity, perhaps I take refuge in a person and say to him: come, so-and-so, save me from drowning, take out this one whose car overturned, take him out from under the car... but in general calamities, only Allah is hoped for.
Then he also said, among what he said in this poem:
"For from Your generosity is the world and its harm"
What is the harm of the world? The Hereafter
from
مِن"For from Your generosity is the world and its harm *** and from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen"
Also from His knowledge: the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen, and there are other knowledges also above what is in the Tablet and the Pen that the Messenger knows.
What do you say about this? It is a denial, a denial of the dominion of Allah. If the world and the Hereafter are from the generosity of the Messenger, what remains for Allah? Nothing remains. So this is what happens in the Mawlid celebrations.
Therefore, it is obligatory for the students of knowledge to warn the people of their lands about these celebrations, and that in them there is only physical and financial exhaustion and misguidance. Every innovation is misguidance.
As for the celebration of a person's birth, this is not a religious celebration, this is an ordinary celebration. And yet we see that it should not be done, because it may be taken as a means to the worshipful celebration, meaning: the celebration of what? The birth of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He will say: if I celebrate the birth of my son, and he is who he is in relation to the Messenger, then my celebration of the birth of the Messenger is even more so.
For this reason, we see that abstaining from celebrating Mawlid celebrations is absolutely necessary, whether that is for worship or for other than worship.