Question:
Assalam alaikum maulana sheikh Hisham,
We recite Mawlid in the month of Rabbi ul Awwal. But some people asks for proof, and say it is Bidah and say that our beloved Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wassalam) and the Sahabas did not engage in these acts. Please can I have some proof from Quran and Hadees regarding the recitation of Mawlid, so that we are able to convey these to the people. please help!
Answer:
Alaykum Salam,
Mawlid is the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace, his life, his Sirah, his attributes, his beauty and character etc. It is obedience to Allah Who commands us to love him more than ourselves and make Salawat on him without limit, not with lip-service but with emotion, happiness, generosity and gratitude, as Mawlana Shaykh Hisham said at the opening of a vibrant Mawlid speech in Madura, Indonesia on December 26, 2011:
“He is the liegelord of all Prophets and Messengers, all human beings, and all angels, the one upon whom Allah subhan wa taala Himself has sent blessings since pre-eternity and without end. The tongue is incapable of speech; the pen is incapable of writing; the mind is incapable of reflection; the heart bleeds and weeps in longing to see the Beloved. God Himself is the One Who has honored him, brought him respect, exalted him, made him powerful, and made him reach the Station of Two Bows’ Lengths or Nearer Yet (53:9).”
Not only the Sahaba did celebrate all this but the whole Qur’an celebrates it, the whole Sunna celebrates it, the angels celebrate it, the `Ulama al-Haqq of the Ummah celebrate it.
“Truly I was [already], in the sight of Allah, the Seal of Prophets when Adam was still kneaded in his clay. I shall inform you of the meaning (ta’wil) [or: “beginning” (awwal)] of this status: It is the supplication of my father Ibrahim [Q 2:129] and the glad tidings of my brother `Isa to his people [Q 61:6]; and the vision my mother saw the night I was delivered, she saw a light that lit the castles of al-Sham so that she could see them.” (Narrated from al-`Irbad b. Sariya; `Utba b. `Abdin al-Sulami; Abu Umama al-Bahili; Shaddad b. Aws; and through Khalid b. Ma`dan, from an unnamed group of Companions.)
“The day you [the Prophet] were born the sun rose
over the earth and the horizon was illumined with your light.
So we – in that radiance and that light
and paths of guidance – can pierce through”
(al-`Abbas b. `Abd al-Muttalib).
“And fairer than you my eye never saw;
and more beautiful than you no woman bore.
You were born exempt of any imperfection
As if you had been born exactly as you wished!” (Hassan b. Thabit)
“O Amina’s firstborn of blessed memory,
She gave birth to you, noble and chaste, in Sa`d of the stars,
As a light that lit up the entire universe!
Whoever is guided to that blessed light is truly guided. …
“And we have given birth to him [i.e. on his mother’s side],
and among us is his grave,
and the surfeit of his bounty to us is undeniable. …
And we have given birth to the greatest of the Quraysh:
we gave birth to the Prophet of goodness from Aal Hashim.” (Hassan b. Thabit)
“Born of hale nurse unsoiled,
Were you to look at his facial traits
– they beam like a white lightning-cloud!” (`A’isha)
“By Allah, no woman has conceived nor given birth
To one like the Messenger, the Prophet and guide of his Community!
Nor has Allah created among his creatures
One more faithful to his neighbor or to his promise
Than he who in our midst was the source of our light,
All-blessed, just and righteous.” (Hassan b. Thabit)
So each Salawat, each tashahhud, each fast on Monday, each recitation of the Fatiha with its mention of “Those whom You have favored” (i.e. the Prophet at their vanguard), each verse of the endless poetry of the Companions in his praise is a celebration of Mawlid. Our own one-day celebrations are only a humble drop in the ocean. Open your eyes and answer them yourselves, dear brothers and sisters, because you are surrounded with proofs so do not let plastic arguments distract you.
It is not our responsibility if some Muslims do not wish to “celebrate his Mawlid” or whatever we may call it. It is fard `ayn on each Muslim to love the Prophet, period. If they have other ways to achieve that love in themselves let them follow them.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
