Fatwaa on the Mawlid of the Prophet and Rabi al-Awwal

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن والاه وبعد

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Please click the link : Ruling on Celebrating Prophet's Birthday, with Scholarly Refutation of the arguments brought by those who support it

Also see the Fatwas present in the www.alifta.org website

Fatwas > Rabi` Al-Awwal Fatwas

Interested in knowing details about Prophet Muhammad
Ruling on celebrating the Mawlid in Rabi‘ I as a tribute to the Prophet
The Mawlid was not celebrated by the Sahabah who loved and followed the Prophet the most
The exact date of the Prophet's birth, holding competitions, sacrificing sheep and delivering lessons on that occasion
Attending the celebration of the Mawlid although convinced of its impermissibility
Eating meat slaughtered on the occasion of the Mawlid or other birthdays
Ruling on Tabarruk from the Prophet's grave and saying that the heavens and the earth were created for his sake
Is it true that the Prophet attends Mawlid celebrations?
Is celebrating the Mawlid a good Bid`ah?
Islamic institutions that celebrate the Mawlid
Ruling on celebrating the Mawlid
Ruling on poems that excessively praise the Prophet during Mawlid celebrations
Condemnation of celebrating the Mawlid
Newly-invented practices while celebrating the Mawlid
Circumcision on the day of Mawlid
Poems praising the Prophet excessively
Ruling on schools and factories taking holidays on the Mawlid
Reciting the birth narrative of the Prophet in Rabi` I or on marriage occasions
Gathering to commemorate the Mawlid
Preaching and giving sermons on the day of Mawlid
Islamically unlawful acts in Mawlid celebrations
Muhammad's ID Card
Refuting the arguments of those who approve of the Mawlid
Banquets and festivals held on the occasion of the Mawlid
Ancestral line of Al-Sayyid Al-Badawy and the ruling on celebrating his birth
Good and bad Bid`ah
Visiting the graves of the righteous to invoke them and offer a sacrifice
Beseeching in the name of the venerated dead and praying in a Masjid containing a grave
Da`wah in a place where Bid`ahs used to be practiced
Holding birthday parties for children

If I said anything correct, then it is from Allaah (subhanahu wa taa'ala), and if I erred, then that is from me and shaytan.

والله أعلم وصلى الله وسلم على نبينا محمد
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنتأستغفرك وأتوب إليك

The Ruling
on the
Celebration of the Prophets Birthday: Al-Milad

Question:

Is it lawful for the Muslims to celebrate like Eid, the remembrance of the Prophetic biography on the 12th night of Rabi Al-Awwal in the Masjid, on the occasion of the Prophets birthday without interrupting the work of that day? We have differed over the topic. It was said it is a good innovation, and others said it is a bad innovation.

Answer:

It is not permissible for the Muslims to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) on the 12th night from Rabi Al-Awwal or any other time. Because the celebration of the Milad is an innovation in the religion. The Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) never celebrated his birthday in his lifetime, and he was the one who bought us this religion, and the one who conveyed the laws to us. He never ordered anyone to do that, neither did the Well-Guided Caliphs after him nor his Companions nor those who faithfully followed them during the virtuous generations. So it is known that it is an innovation about which the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) said: whoever innovates into this matter of ours, that which is not from it, shall have it rejected. [1] Its authenticity is agreed upon, and in one of the versions recorded my Muslim, as well as the one by Al-Bukhari mentioned without a complete chain - yet in a manner that indicated his approval: He who does a deed which is not from this matter of ours (religion), it shall be rejected. [2] Milad is not something that the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) ordered, rather it was introduced into the religion by people of the later generations, thus it is rejected. The Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) used to say in the Friday Khutbah: The best of speech is the speech of Allaah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam), and newly invented matters are misguidance. [3] An-Nasai included in his narration And every misguidance is in the Fire. [4] The celebration of Milad should not be replaced with studying in mosques and schools the events associated to his birth from his Seerah (biography) during the ignorance era and in Islam. There is no need to celebrate his birthday, which is not legislated by Allaah, nor by His Prophet, and has no legal proof.


[1] Muslim no. 1718 [2] Muslim no. 1718 [3] Muslim no. 867 and Ibn Majah no. 45 [4] An-Nasai no. 1579

Shaykh `Abdul-`Azeez Bin Baz


Fatawa Islamiyah Vol. 1 Page 71