Celebrating the Prophet's Birthday

Question:
The questioner: My family has the habit, from time to time and on every occasion, of holding a celebration at home for the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This includes inviting a believer who has a book titled "Ashraf al-Anam" (The Noblest of Mankind). The book contains the birth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his biography before and after his prophethood, and poems praising him (peace and blessings be upon him). We also slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, inviting our neighbors and relatives to it. Our aim in all this is for the guests to listen to the Prophet's biography, the noble characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his virtues, and his miracles, so that their faith in the One, the Unique, may increase. We also hope for reward and recompense from feeding these people, among whom are the poor, orphans, and others. Is this practice correct or not?

Answer:
The question: My family has the habit, from time to time and on every occasion, of holding a celebration at home for the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This includes inviting a believer who has a book titled "Ashraf al-Anam" (The Noblest of Mankind). The book contains the birth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his biography before and after his prophethood, and poems praising him (peace and blessings be upon him). We also slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, inviting our neighbors and relatives to it. Our aim in all this is for the guests to listen to the Prophet's biography, the noble characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his virtues, and his miracles, so that their faith in the One, the Unique, may increase. We also hope for reward and recompense from feeding these people, among whom are the poor, orphans, and others. Is this practice correct or not? Knowing that this person who reads the mawlid receives a monetary fee from us, is that permissible or not? The answer: First: Holding the Prophet's birthday celebration (mawlid) is a religious innovation (bid'ah) for which there is no report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor from the Rightly Guided Caliphs and their noble Companions, nor from the blessed centuries that they held this mawlid, although they were the people who loved the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the most and were the most eager of the community to do good. However, they did not perform any acts of worship except what Allah and His Messenger had prescribed, acting in accordance with the saying of the Exalted: "And whatever the Messenger has given you—take; and whatever he has forbidden you—refrain" [Al-Hashr: 7]. Since they did not hold this mawlid, it is known that it is an innovation. The holding of the mawlid and the celebration of it only occurred after the passage of the blessed centuries and after the sixth century of the Hijrah. It is an imitation of the Christians, because the Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him), so the ignorant among the Muslims imitated them. It is said that the first to introduce this were the Fatimids, who intended thereby to corrupt the religion of the Muslims and replace it with innovations and superstitions. The conclusion is that holding the Prophet's birthday celebration is among the forbidden innovations for which there is no evidence from the Book of Allah or from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "The worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is misguidance" [Narrated by al-Nasa'i in his Sunan from the hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both)]. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith: "Whoever does a deed for which there is no command from us, it will be rejected" [Narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih]. In another narration: "Whoever introduces into our matter something that is not part of it, it will be rejected" [Narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih from the hadith of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her)]. This is introducing into the religion what is not part of it, so it is an innovation and misguidance. As for reading the Prophet's biography to benefit from it, this is possible on any day of the year. There is no harm in us reading the biography of the Messenger, teaching it in our schools, studying it, and memorizing it, due to the saying of the Exalted: "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah, you have an excellent example" [Al-Ahzab: 21]. However, this is not specifically on the day of the mawlid; rather, we read it on any day of the year as it becomes convenient for us, without restricting it to a specific day. Likewise, feeding the poor and orphans: feeding is originally prescribed, but restricting it to this day is an innovation. We feed the poor and give charity to the needy on any day and on any opportunity that arises. As for the one who reads the mawlid and takes a fee, his taking of the fee is forbidden (haram) because the work he performed is forbidden, so taking a fee for it is forbidden. In addition to that, these poems and these praises are not free from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and forbidden matters, such as the saying of the author of the Burdah: "O noblest 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 ** Then, O [one whose] foot slips, [know that] from Your generosity is the world and its harm ** And from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen." And similar to this shirky poem is what is read in the mawlids.