Is it permissible to celebrate the Prophet's birthday by reciting the Qur'an and eulogies of the Prophet?

This message is from the listener Abdullah Muhammad Bakr from the College of Engineering at the University of Riyadh. He says in this message: I would like to thank you for this program, which has become, praise be to Allah, a light that illuminates the path for everyone. I hope you will increase its duration. I also ask that this question be directed to His Eminence Shaykh: Abdullah ibn Baz. He says: I recently heard from you that the noble Prophet's birthday is among the wrongs and religious innovations. I would like to say and ask here: In the noble Prophet's birthday, people gather for brotherhood and piety, and they recite some of the Noble Qur'an and the noble Prophetic Sunnah, and they recite some of the poetry that was composed in the past, either praising Islam or the great Messenger. This is all that happens, and there is nothing in it that contradicts the Islamic Shari'ah. I ask for clarification on this. I have all respect and honor for you, and may Allah protect you, guide your steps, and make you a treasure for Islam and Muslims?
Answer: There is no doubt that celebrating the Prophet's birthday, upon him be the best of prayers and peace, may involve some of what the questioner mentioned regarding the people of knowledge and insight. However, it should be known that we are commanded servants, not legislators. It is obligatory for us to obey the command of Allah and to implement the Shari'ah of Allah. It is not permissible for us to innovate in our religion what Allah has not authorized. We must know this well. Allah the Exalted says: [Surat al-Shura: 21].
And the Chosen One, upon him be prayers and peace, said in the authentic hadith narrated by the two Shaykhs from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): , meaning: it is rejected upon the one who innovated it. In another wording in Muslim: .
And there are many hadiths in this meaning indicating the prohibition of religious innovations, and that religious innovations are the newly invented matters in the religion. The Prophet used to say in his sermon, upon him be prayers and peace: .
And you, O listeners from the people of knowledge, know that the Messenger, upon him be prayers and peace, lived for twenty-three years after the prophethood and did not celebrate his birthday, upon him be peace and blessings. He did not say to the people: Celebrate the birthday by studying the biography or otherwise. Especially after the migration, for that was the time of the perfection of legislation. So he passed away, (peace and blessings be upon him), and did not say anything of that.
As for the hadith: , this does not indicate celebrating birthdays as some people think. Rather, it indicates the virtue of Monday and that it is a noble day; because it was in it that revelation was sent to the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), and because he was born in it, upon him be prayers and peace, and because it is the day on which deeds are presented to Allah . So if a person fasts it for the virtues it contains, this is good. As for adding something other than that, this is not what Allah has legislated. The Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), only said: to clarify the virtue of fasting it. And when he was asked in another hadith about fasting Monday and Thursday—he turned away from the birth—he said regarding Thursday and Monday: , and he was silent about what relates to the birthday. So it is known by this that its being the day of the birthday is part of the reasons for the recommendation of fasting it, along with the fact that deeds are presented to Allah in it, and that revelation was sent to him in it. So this does not indicate celebrating birthdays, but it indicates the virtue of fasting Monday, and that it is fasted for these matters: because the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), was born in it, and because revelation was sent to him in it, and because deeds are presented to Allah the Mighty and Majestic in it.
And if celebrating birthdays, or his birthday, upon him be prayers and peace, had been a prescribed or desirable matter, the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), would not have been silent about it, and he is the one who conveys from Allah, and he is the most sincere of people. It is not permissible to think that he is silent about a matter that benefits the Ummah and benefits him, upon him be prayers and peace, and pleases Allah the Mighty and Majestic. He is the most sincere of people. He is not a deceiver of the Ummah, nor a traitor, nor a concealer. He conveyed the clear message, upon him be prayers and peace, and fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah. And every thing that is prescribed in its time, does not become prescribed after its time. So legislation is from the side of the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), in what Allah the Exalted revealed to him. His Companions convey from him and carry what he conveyed to them. So he did not convey to the people that celebrating his birthday is required, neither by action nor by speech. And his Companions did not do that, nor did they guide to it, neither by their actions nor by their words. And they are the most beloved of people to the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him). They are the most beloved of people to the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him). They are the most knowledgeable of people regarding the Sunnah, and they are the most knowledgeable of people in jurisprudence, and they are the most eager of people for every good. So they did not do it. Then those who followed them were likewise, then the followers of the followers, until the blessed generations passed. So how is it permissible for us to innovate something that these virtuous ones did not do?
What the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), did not do, and did not guide to, and his Companions, (may Allah be pleased with them), did not do, nor their followers with excellence, the blessed generations. Rather, some of the Shi'ah, some of the Rafidah, innovated it. The first to innovate it were the Shi'ah of Banu 'Ubayd al-Qadah, the Shi'ah of the Fatimids, about whom the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, (may Allah have mercy on him), said: Their outward appearance is Rafidah and their inward reality is pure disbelief. They are the Fatimids who ruled the Maghreb, Egypt, and the Levant at the head of the second century and after, until the fifth century and the beginning of the sixth.
So the point is: that these are the ones who innovated the festivals and the celebration of birthdays, as a group of historians mentioned: they innovated that in the fourth century. Then those who came after them innovated these things, innovating them for the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), and for al-Hasan, and al-Husayn, and Fatimah, and their ruler. So the point is that they are the first to innovate these birthdays. So how does a believer imitate them in a religious innovation that the Rafidah innovated? This is from the great affliction.
Then another matter, and it is: that in these celebrations, in some times in some lands, many evils may occur. There may occur in them shirk with Allah, and exaggeration regarding the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), and calling upon him other than Allah, and seeking aid from him, and praising him with what is not fitting except for Allah, as in the Burdah. For the author of the Burdah said in it:
O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in But you, when the general calamity befalls
If you are not in my enemy's camp taking my hand by favor, then say: O slip of the foot
For from your generosity is the world and its neighbor, and from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Preserved Tablet and the Pen
So what is more remaining for Allah the Mighty and Majestic than this? This is the great exaggeration. And many people bring this poem in their celebrations and their gatherings. And it is a dangerous poem in this great shirk.
The point is: that many of the celebrations in some lands involve major shirk, due to the exaggeration regarding the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), and the exaggeration in praising him. And he said, upon him be prayers and peace: . And in some times, other wrongs also occur in them, such as drinking intoxicants, and from the obscene acts and zina, and from the free mixing of men and women. This occurs in some times. And one who we do not suspect has informed us of this, even if some of the celebrations are free from this.
And the conclusion is: that it is an absolute religious innovation, even if it is in the best state. If it were only the mere recitation of the biography and the sending of prayers upon the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), it is still a religious innovation in this way: to celebrate it on the days of his birthday in Rabi' al-Awwal in a special way every year, or on a day that is repeated and customary under the name of celebrating the Prophet's birthday, (peace and blessings be upon him). This becomes a religious innovation, because: this thing is not in our religion. And our festivals are two: the Festival of Sacrifice, and the Festival of Breaking the Fast. And the days of sacrifice and the Day of 'Arafah, these are the festivals of the Muslims. So it is not permissible for us to innovate something that Allah the Mighty and Majestic has not legislated.
And if the people want to study his biography, let them study it by other than this way. They study it in the mosques and in the schools. The biography of the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), is required. It is obligatory to study it and to gain knowledge from it. It is studied in the schools, in the institutes, in the colleges, in the homes, in every place, but by other than this way, by other than the way of celebrating the birthday. This is one thing and this is another thing. So it is obligatory for the people of knowledge to be alert to this matter, and for the student of knowledge to be alert to this matter, and for the lover of good to be alert to this matter. This Sunnah is good and safety, and the religious innovation is all evil and affliction. May Allah grant everyone health and guidance. And there is no power and no strength except by Allah. Yes.