[HowardtheDuck]

Assalamu Alaykum,

Subhan'Allah, I was actually going to make a thread on this before I found one already here.

Admittedly, I jumped on the "it's a bid'ah" bandwagon but have relented very recently. I can see how it can be three things: either a good act (where no specific date is given and only halal acts are committed), a bad act (where haraam such as free mixing, dancing to music etc occurs) or a bid'ah (where it is confined to a specific date believed to Nabi (saw) birthday or if it is believed to be a wrong doing if you do not partake etc.)

I hope my understanding is more correct and balanced now, Allahu Alam.

[6M8PJigS]

Would holding Seerah Conferences in a specific month (i.e. Rabiul Awwal) suffice to deem it a Bid'ah?

[squicscor]

oh you mean like these ones

99 pound cake : http://suwasra.blogspot.com/2010/04/...ound-cake.html

This one they couldnt even weigh : http://media.mumineen.org/archive/ph...20_surat-1.jpgI am not sure whose milad is being celebrated in the second one ...

http://i56.tinypic.com/xn5iky.jpg

This one is just 25 GBpounds : http://www.cakes4you.biz/fresh-cream...d-15-358-p.asp

A much somber occasion : http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7273/76713686.gif

Slm, Maulana

Dawoodi Bohra's... in this one:This one they couldnt even weigh : http://media.mumineen.org/archive/ph...20_surat-1.jpg

Didn't even know the Ismaili's observed milaad?

[uwJzsM8t]

And what about having a lovely creamy decorated cake as the prophet's birthday cake, believing this is a blessed cake and eating it brings blessings. I have one such piece of cake in my fridge right now and am going to eat it tonight just like any other cake. How can ashiqe rasul put the nabi (saw) name on a cake and then cut through that name to eat it? Someone suggested taking video of the blessed occasion of cutting the cake for the prophet Muhammad (saw). People were coming with their phones to take picture of cake and then uploading them to facebook.

But this special cake came all the way from Slough - I hear Southall does pretty good business as well with these special blessed cakes. So far there have been no candles to blow out along with a rendition of Happy Birthday - but that day does not seem too far off now.

Milad is getting over the top in Pakistani community.

And your point [by quoting my post (?)] ?

I had given that answer based on Mufti Taqi 'Uthmaani's work not my own whims.

[dhrishiasv]

Slm, Maulana

Dawoodi Bohra's... in this one:This one they couldnt even weigh : http://media.mumineen.org/archive/ph...20_surat-1.jpg

Didn't even know the Ismaili's observed milaad?

in that case i wont be surprized if the milaad was of their old sheikh himself.

[squicscor]

in that case i wont be surprized if the milaad was of their old sheikh himself.

Slm, Maulana

Exactly my thoughts when I saw it!

[LymnInvinny]

Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

It's not my opinion. I've heard from scholars:

- There is Ikhtilaf about Prophet 's birthday. There's no consensus about the date.

- But Prophet 's date of passing away is obvious.

- Sahabah got the greatest shock in their lives when Prophet passed away. They knew about Prophet 's date of birth very well, but they never celebrated it.

- As a muslim everyone should possess the greatest affection and love for Prophet and hence how it's possible to express happiness instead of mourning?

We should ponder about those points.

Wow MASHA'ALLAH!!!!!!! THAT'S WHAT MY DAD EXACTLY SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[andreas]

no he don't get any good deeds for that.the reason is that your deed depends on your intention.if your intention is right then it works.in this kind of bidah people think that at a certain day at a certain time doing something will give them more benefit then other days and time.this thinking is based on false concept so they don't get any thing except the curse of ALLAH.

That is wrong a person will be rewarded for remembering Allah even while he is doing something haram and this was the prophets [may Allah bless him] exact reply to this kind of question.

You have to understand how reward and punishment work with Allah it isn't like you think it is.

[LymnInvinny]

if the companions and sahaba didnt do it, it doesnt mean its haram.

It means it is mubah, or allowed, unless and until you can find something that does not allow it.

Does, celebrating the milad is fine. What is not good, is all the other stuff that comes with it

All the mixing and flirting that sometimes goes on between the men and women is not allowed.

And the belief that certain activities will get you heavenly reward is what is bidah.

Note that there is a difference between the two. All bidah are haraam, not all haraam things are bidah.

Bidah is mainly to do with aqeeedah - a thing becomes BIDAH, when you believe doing it will get you reward.

Sending salaam to the prophet standing up is not bidah. However, believing that standing up gets you more reward IS a bidah.

hope this helps. You've probably been confused my too much intermingling with the salafis.

I don't celebrate the prophet's birthday on ONE day (12th Rabiul Awwal) but what i do is that i FAST EVERY MONDAY - Just like the prophet did himself! so what i do is SUNNAH.
celebrating the prophet's birthday (on 12th Rabiul Awwal) is not harram but it is bid'ah (innovation).

[RichardFG435]

I don't celebrate the prophet's birthday on ONE day (12th Rabiul Awwal) but what i do is that i FAST EVERY MONDAY - Just like the prophet did himself! so what i do is SUNNAH.
celebrating the prophet's birthday (on 12th Rabiul Awwal) is not harram but it is bid'ah (innovation).

Mashallah. You are so humble!
However, the prophet fasted mondays AND thursdays. He also fasted most of shabaan, and the middle 3 days of every month. Sometimes he used to fast 24 and 48 hour fasts. Do you do those two.

Anyway, coming back to the issue of the prophets birthday, if it is BIDAH it is also HARAAM as all bidah are misguidance, which leads tohell.

So either your definition of bidah is too broad, in which case you need to narrow it, or it is wrong, in which case you need to find a new definition.

Something can only be bidah if there is nothing in the shariah that it can be based on. Those who argue in favour of celebrating it point out its benefits - its a wonderful occassion for us all to discuss the Prophet(saw)s life.

[andreas]

Mashallah. You are so humble!
However, the prophet fasted mondays AND thursdays. He also fasted most of shabaan, and the middle 3 days of every month. Sometimes he used to fast 24 and 48 hour fasts. Do you do those two.

Anyway, coming back to the issue of the prophets birthday, if it is BIDAH it is also HARAAM as all bidah are misguidance, which leads tohell.

So either your definition of bidah is too broad, in which case you need to narrow it, or it is wrong, in which case you need to find a new definition.

Something can only be bidah if there is nothing in the shariah that it can be based on. Those who argue in favour of celebrating it point out its benefits - its a wonderful occassion for us all to discuss the Prophet(saw)s life.

Your definition of bidah is the salafi one. The word bidah simply means innovation, there is good innovation and bad innovation, this is according to many of the ulumah including imam shafii who defined it as such and Umar ibn al Khatab who specifically called something a good bidah as i heard shaykh muhammad sindhi say in his lecture on the life of umar [ra].

Imām Ash-Shāfi’ī said,

“Bida’ah is of two kinds: Bida’atun Mahmūda (praiseworthy bida’ah) and Bida’ahtun Madhmūma (blameworthy innovation).”

and

“It was narrated to us by Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Fadl who had it narrated to him from Abul-Abbas Al-Asam who said Rabi’ ibn Sulayman narrated to us from Imam ash-Shafi’i that he said,

“Innovated matters in religion (min Al-Umur) are of two kinds: 1) Whatever is innovated and contravenes the Book, or the Sunnah, or a narration, or Ijma‘ (consensus) – then that is an innovation of misguidance. 2) Whatever is innovated of [any and all good things [min al-khayr] and that does not contradict any of these – then this is a novelty which is not blameworthy. And ‘Umar (radiya Allahu ‘anhu) said concerning the night-prayer in the month of Ramadan: ‘ni’matu bida’at hadhihi‘ what a good innovation this is’ meaning it was innovated without having existed before and, even so, there was nothing in it that contradicted the above.”

[dhrishiasv]

However, the prophet fasted mondays AND thursdays. He also fasted most of shabaan, and the middle 3 days of every month. Sometimes he used to fast 24 and 48 hour fasts. Do you do those two.

The sister fulfills one sunnah. Which is better than doing 1000 or even more mustahabbat and mubahaat. Do not discourage her from that one sunnah, rather make dua for her and encourage her to get the tawfeeq to do the remaining sunans as well. There is no blame on her if she fasts on mondays alone, inshAllah she will increase on it.

[Menierofe]

In relation to Hanafi, if the gathering is free of the acts below, one may attend the gathering:
1) Keeping the Mawlid date to one day only.
2) Gender mixing
3) Thinking Rasulullah is present there
4) Music and dancing
5) Missing Salah.
6) Only talking about the birth of the Prophet instead of other aspects of his life.

Mawlid should be done each day of the year.

this is by far the best refutation of mawlid iver read. goes to show why ibaadat should not be confined to one day only but ALL DAYS.

[Menierofe]

If the act is free from these things, there is no harm in doing this! Why is it we always have people with extreme views and then tell everyone they are right and the other is wrong. None is seeing this even as wajib so what is the problem here? We have fascist like mindset who made the deen into a lifeless ism! It is understanble that scholar differs on their scholastic ground but why is it the average laymen unable to project it as such. If you don't like participitaing then no problem and if you do and not violate the shari principles, thats ok as well!!
Allahualam

ask yourself honestly if there is a modern day example where the 'list' (see my post below yours) is not violated. everyone knows all this is done on mawlid. there is no mawlid without it. plus naats that contain shirk. May Allah protect us.
The Propet said in a sahih hadith that "innovation leads astray". This is a clear example. Nothing good comes out of innovation even if it might look okay. you have the results right in front of you. see for yourself

[Mugflefusysef]

People ask a simple question, They leave more confused ...

[oliverlogo]

Celebrating birthdays is an imitation of kuffaar. Mawlid un Nabi is just an emulation of Christmas.

And as someone else has already pointed out, there is differing over whether or not the Nabi was born on 12th Rabi ul Awwal, but it is confirmed that this is the date of his passing away from this world.

The first person to celebrate "Mawlid un Nabi" was Abu Lahab lanatullaah alaih

therefore, those people who celebrate Mawlid un Nabi are following the sunnah of Abu Lahab

But those who avoid Mawlid un Nabi are following the sunnah of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali

[Menierofe]

Bismillah

I have attended milad where these things do not take place! So please do not project the berlwei trend on others. It is as bad as labeling Deobandi Scholars Wahabyte based on their similar stance.
This is what I find with some with pathological stance on things. Everything is biddah because it is an innovation. Define what is biddah first and then talk. Not simply label anything and everything is biddah becuase some scholar due to their observation of certain practice defined it as such!
Abdul Qadeer, you don't even have to say a word, Your response in such things does not need to be aired. No need to be neuro sergent what EDL thinks of muslim! You are of such!
Allahualam

if you are satisfied with such a milad then on your head be it. you are responsible for yourself.

[Kalobbis]

Yes! I would like to organise these events and would promote it so that this ummah does not become monolitich with fascist like mindset.

If we do this out of the Love of our Beloved Rasoolullah only with the intention to seek pleasure of Allah then we will get its reward.

[Menierofe]

Yes! I would like to organise these events and would promote it so that this ummah does not become monolitich with fascist like mindset.

dont forget' innovations lead astray'...you will find that out. however meanwhile kindly explain to me how you plan to do the following:
1) Keeping the Mawlid date unspecific. do it any day not just his birthday
2) avoid Gender mixing
3) Avoid music and dancing
4) avoid only talking about the birth of the Prophet instead of other aspects of his life.
5) prevent naats contain shirk.

in fact how would you achieve the first point?

[StoyaFanst]

Big difference between celebrating birthday and the birth.

Mawlid is about celebrating the birth of mercy to mankind without whom we would be on a sure path to jahanum. Celebrating the Muslim way by doing acts of benefit and reward and praising Allah tala for the greatest gift, which is being in the ummah of RasulAllah on any day. So celebrating the birth is from the sunnah.

I have not done a copy and paste job in a long time so I hope ya all don't mind ok ok it's not an outright copy and paste job, I'll go one better, i'llcopy and paste some of my favourite (most convincing for me) bits from the article.

Abu Qatada al-Ansari narrates in Sahih Muslim, Kitab as-siyam, that the Prophet was asked about
the fast of Monday, and he answered: "That is the day that I was born and that is the day I received the prophecy." Fasting on his day of birth? If that is not a clear indication of celebrating the mawlid then what is?

Expressing happiness and celebrating the Prophet on his birthday causes even unbelievers, by Allah's favor and mercy, to gain some benefit. This is mentioned in sahih Bukhari. Bukhari said in his hadith that every Monday, Abu Lahab in his grave is released from punishment because he freed his handmaid Thuwayba when she brought him the news of the Prophet's birth.
This hadith is mentioned in Bukhari in the book of Nikah, and Ibn Kathir mentions it in his books Sirat al-Nabi Vol.1, p. 124, Mawlid al-Nabi p. 21, and al-Bidayap. 272-273. The hafiz Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Nasiruddin ad-Dimashqi wrote on this the following verses in his book Mawrid as-sadi fi Mawlid al-Hadi: "If this, a kafir who was condemned to hell eternally with "Perish his hands" [surat 111], is said to enjoy a respite every Monday because he rejoiced in Ahmad: what then do you think of the servant who, all his life, was happy with Ahmad, and died saying, "One"?" Imam Qastallani said in his commentary on Bukhari: "In his book on Jana'iz (Funerals), Bukhari named an entire chapter "Dying on Monday." In it there is the hadith of `A'isha relating her father's (Abu Bakr as-siddiq) question: "On which day did the Prophet die?" She replied: "Monday." He asked: "What day are we today?" She said, "O my father, this is Monday." Then he raised his hands and said: "I beg you, O Allah, to let me die on Monday in order to coincide with the Prophet's day of passing."
Imam Qastallani continues, "Why did Abu Bakr ask for his death to be on Monday? So that his death would coincide with the day of the Prophet's passing, in order to receive the baraka of that day... Does anyone object to Abu Bakr's asking to pass away on that day for the sake of baraka? Now, why are people objecting to celebrating or emphasizing the day of the Prophet 's birth in order to get baraka?" This is Ibn Taymiyya's opinion about Mawlid from the Collected Fatwas, Majma` Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya, Vol. 23, p. 163 and his Iqtida' al-sirat al-mustaqim, p. 294-295, Section entitled: "The innovated festivities of time and place" (ma uhditha min al-a`yad al-zamaniyya wa al-makaniyya):

And similarly what some people innovate by analogy with the Christians who celebrate the birth of Jesus, or out of love for the Prophet and to exalt him, and Allah may reward them for this love and effort, not on the fact that it is an innovation... To celebrate and to honor the birth of the Prophet and to take it as an honored season, as some of the people are doing, is good and in it there is a great reward, because of their good intentions in honoring the Prophet. Imam Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani, in his book al-Durar al-kamina fi `ayn al-Mi'at al-thamina, mentions that Ibn Kathir, a muhaddith from among the followers of Ibn Taymiyya, "in the last days of his life wrote a book entitled Mawlid Rasul Allah which was spread far and wide. That book mentioned the permissibility and recommendability of celebrating the Mawlid."

Ibn Kathir's book was edited and published in 1961. In it he says, p. 19: "The Night of the Prophet's birth is a magnificient, noble, blessed and holy night, a night of bliss for the believers, pure, radiant with lights, and of immeasurable price." Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti said in his Hawi li al-fatawa: "The Sheikh of Islam and hadith master of his age, Ahmad ibn Hajar (`Asqalani) was asked about the practice of commemorating the birth of the Prophet, and gave the following written reply:

As for the origin of the practice of commemorating the Prophet's birth, it is an innovation that has not been conveyed to us from any of the pious early muslims of the first three centuries, despite which it has included both features that are praisweorthy and features that are not. If one takes care to include in such a commemoration only things that are praiseworthy and avoids those that are otherwise, it is a praise worthy innovation, while if ones does not, it is not.

An authentic primary textual basis from which its legal validity is inferable has occured to me, namely the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet came to Medina and found the Jews fasting on the tenth of Muharram (`Ashura '), so he asked them about it and they replied: "It is the day on which Allah drowned Pharaoh and rescued Moses, so we fast in it to thanks to Allah Most high," which indicates the validity of giving thanks to Allah for the blessings He has bestowed on a particular day in providing a benefit, or averting an affliction, repeating one's thanks on the anniversary of that day every year, giving thanks to Allah taking * any various forms of worship such as prostration, fasting, giving charity or reciting the Koran... THEN WHAT BLESSING IS GREATER THAN THE BIRTH OF THE PROPHET, THE PROPHET OF MERCY, ON THIS DAY ? IN LIGHT OF WHICH, ONE SHOULD TAKE CARE TO COMMEMORATE IT ON THE DAY ITSELF IN ORDER TO CONFORM TO THE ABOVE STORY OF MOSES AND THE TENTH OF MUHARRAM, [but] THOSE WHO DO NOT VIEW THE MATTER THUS DO NOT MIND COMMEMORATING IT ON ANY DAY OF THE MONTH, WHILE SOME HAVE EXPANDED ITS TIME TO ANY OF DAY THE YEAR, WHATEVER EXCEPTION MAY BE TAKEN AT SUCH A VIEW." Imam Suyuti continues, p. 64-65, "I have derived the permissibility of Mawlid from another source of the Sunna [besides Ibn Hajar's deduction from the hadith of `Ashura'], namely, the hadith found in Bayhaqi, narrated by Anas, that "The Prophet slaughtered a `aqiqa [sacrifice for newborns] for himself after he received the prophecy," although it has been mentioned that his grandfather `Abd al-Muttalib did that on the seventh day after he was born, and the `aqiqa cannot be repeated. Thus the reason for the Prophet's action is to give thanks to Allah for sending him as a mercy to the worlds, and to give honor to his Umma, in the same way that he used to pray on himself. It is recommended for us, therefore, that we also show thanks for his birth by meeting with our brothers, by feeding people, and other such good works and rejoicing." This hadith confirms the aforementioned hadith of the Prophet's emphasis of Monday as the day of his birthday and that of his prophethood. According tothe Mufti of Mecca Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan, in his book al-Sira al-nabawiyya wa al-athar al-muhammadiyya, page 51: "To celebrate the Mawlid and to remember the Prophet is accepted by all the Ulama of the Muslims." Most of the following quotations are taken from that work.

Imam Subki said, "When we were celebrating the Prophet's birthday, a great uns (familiarity) comes to our heart, and we feel something special."

Imam Shawkani in his book al-Badr at-tali`, said, "It is permissible to celebrate the Prophet's birthday." He mentioned that Mullah `Ali Qari held the same opinion in a book entitled al-Mawrid ar-Rawi fi al-Mawlid al-Nabawi, written specifically to support the celebration of the Prophet's birthday.

Imam Abu Shama, the sheikh of Imam Nawawi, said in his book on innovations entitled: al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al-bida` wa al-hawadith:

The best innovation in our day is the remembrance of the Prophet's birthday. On that day, people give much donations, make much worship, show much love to the Prophet, and give much thanks to Allah Almighty for sending them His messenger to keep them on the Sunna and Shari`a of Islam.

Imam Sakhawi said, "The Mawlid was begun three centuries after the Prophet, and all Muslim nations celebrated it, and all `ulama accepted it, by worshipping Allah alone, by giving donations and by reading the Prophet's Sira."

Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said , "As Jews celebrated the day of `Ashura by fasting to thank Allah, we also have to celebrate the day of Mawlid," and he quoted the aforementioned hadith, "When the Prophet came to Madina..." Ibn Hajar continues, "One gives thanks to Allah for the favor that He gave on a particular day either through a great good, or through the averting of a disaster. That day is celebrated every year thereafter. Thanksgiving entails various forms of worship like prostration, fast, charity, and recitation of Qur'an, and what greater good is there than the advent of that Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy, on the day of Mawlid?"

Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597) wrote a booklet of poems and sira to be read at mawlid celebrations. It is entitled Mawlid al-`arus and begins with the words: al-hamdu lillah al-ladhi abraza min ghurrati `arusi al-hadrati subhan mustanira: "Praise be to Allah Who has manifested from the radiance of the bridegroom of His presence a light-giving daybreak..."
So yeah, this was one of the most convincing articles for me about the permissability of mawlid. http://islamicsupremecouncil.com/milad-un-nabi.htm

Disclaimer; I still hate typical barelwi style mawlids due to all the reprehensible acts (which need no introduction) that take place.

Also good little piece http://www.deoband.org/2011/02/fiqh/...and-on-mawlid/