Al-Azhar Fatwa on Mawlid
Q. Is celebrating the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), also known as Mawlid, allowed in the Shariah? What do the Ulema of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah say regarding such a practice?
A. Celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is valid according to the scholars of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah. To celebrate the birth of the Prophet is to celebrate the realization of the Covenant of Abraham, the beginning of the manifest transfer of the Divine Favor of Prophetic Guidance (Hedayah) to the Arabs and the Quraysh (descendents of Ishmael ie. Banu Hashim) and also to celebrate the birth of Islam.
All of these enlightening things and more, manifested themselves to the world only upon the noble birth of Allah’s Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him and his family perpetually and abundantly.
Therefore, it is only logical that all Muslims and Believers must at the minimum be happy on this day, regardless of whether they openly celebrate or otherwise.
Based upon what has reached us, the only groups who were upset on that auspicious day (refused to celebrate and rejoice on it) were the Shayateen (Devils), because they were barred from the Heavens from then onwards, and the Bani Israel, because they lost Divine Favor (of Manifest Guidance and Leadership) to the Bani Hashim from that holy day onwards.
That being said, from the writings of the Ulema of Ahlus Sunnah, we learn that to openly celebrate Mawlid is valid and even praiseworthy, unlike the false Wahabi and neo-Wahabi claims.
One of the best concise fatwa’s in favor of Mawlid from qualified Ahlus Sunnah scholarship, in English, is that of the former Head of the Al Azhar Fatwa Committee, Shaykh Atiyyah Saqr. It is reproduced below for your review.
And Allah Knows Best!
Ahmed Amiruddin
Al Azhar Fatwa on Mawlid
Al Azhar is Sunni Islam’s foremost seat of learning and the worlds oldest university. What follows is the fatwa of Shaykh Attiyyah Saqr, former head of Al Azhar Fatwa Committee regarding Mawlid An Nabi (peace and blessings be upon him):
Shaykh Attiyyah Saqr wrote,
“According
to historians, the Fatimides were the first to celebrate the
Prophet's birthday. Qalqashandi, in his book Subh Al-A`sha,
says that the Fatimides used to make a huge celebration in Egypt
and distribute large amounts of sweets for the occasion.
Actually, the Fatimides used to celebrate the birthdays of other
members of the Prophet's family and they also celebrated
Christ's birthday.
However, all of these celebrations were stopped in 488 upon an
order from Caliph Al-Musta`li billah appointed as prime minister
Al-Afdal Shahindah, son of Commander-in-chief Badr Al-Jamali, a
powerful man who conformed to the Sunnah as stated by Ibn Al-Atheer
in his book Al-Kamel, volume 8, page 302.
People stopped celebrating such occasions till Al-Ma'mun Al-Bata'ihi
came to power and issued an official decree in 517 enjoining the
distribution of alms in 12th Rabee` Al-Awwal. Sanaa' Al-Malik
was in charge of distributing them.
When the Ayoubides came to power, they stopped all Fatimide
practices, but families used to celebrate the Prophet's birthday
in their houses. Then it returned to be officially celebrated at
the beginning of the seventh century in the city of Irbil upon a
decree from its prince, Muzafar Al-Deen Abi Sa`d Kawakbri Ibn
Zein Ed-Deen `Ali- Ibn Tabakatikin, who was a Sunni.
Muzafar gave great care and attention to such celebrations and
ordered marquis to be erected starting from the beginning of
Safar. Such tents, which were wonderfully decorated and extended
from Al-Qal`a gate till the Khandaq gate. Muzafar used to go
everyday after `Asr prayer to watch the festivities in these
tents.
The celebration was sometimes held on the 8th of Rabee` Al-Awwal
(and sometimes on the 12th) which used to be an official holiday
so that the people could enjoy the festival. Two days before the
actual celebration, Muzafar used to order the sheep, cows and
camels to be slaughtered in the main avenue amidst cheerful
festivities, then the meat would be cooked and distributed among
the people.
Ibn Al-Hajj Abu `Abdullah Al-`Abdari says that such festivals
were widespread in Egypt during his rein and condemned the
innovations that used to take place during such festivals. (Al-Madkhal,
volume 2, p 11, 12)
Many books were written on the Prophet's birthday in the seventh
century such as the stories of Ibn Dahya, who died in Egypt in
633 AH, Muhy Ed-Deen Ibn Al-`Arabi, who died in Damascus in 683
AH, Ibn Taghrabik, who died in Egypt in 670 AH; and Ahmad Al-`Azli
and his son Muhammad, who died in Sabata in 670 AH.
Due to the spread of innovation during such celebrations,
scholars have denounced them and stated that they were
groundless. Among those scholars is the Maliki jurist Taaj Ad-Deen
`Umar Ibn Al-Lakhmi Al-Sakandari known as Al-Fakahani, who died
in 731 AH; he wrote his thesis Al-Mawrid fil Kalam `Ala-Mawlid
on this issue and As-Suyuti quotes it in his book Husn Al-Maqsid.
Sheikh Muhammad Fadl `Ashur says that in the ninth century,
scholars were divided over the issue. Some said it was
permissible, others said it was not and it was recommended by
As-Suyuti, Ibn Hajar Al-`Asqalani and Ibn Hajar Al-Haythmi, yet
they condemned the innovations that took place during such
festivities. Their opinion was derived from the verse: (And
remind them of the days of Allah
) (Ibrahim 14: 5).
Explaining the previous verse, An-Nasa`i and `Abdullah Ibn Ahmad
report in Zaway’d Al-Musnad and Al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab
Al-Iman reports on the authority of Ibn Ka`b that he said
that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said: 'The
days of Allah' are Allah's Blessings and Signs, and the
Prophet's birth is a great bliss." (Al-Alusi's Ruh Al-Ma`ani)
Muslim reports on the authority of Qatadah Al-Ansari that the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), was asked about
fasting on Monday and he replied: "It is the day on which I was
born and on which I received the Divine Revelation". It is also
reported on the authority of Ibn `Abbas and Ibn Jabir that the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was born in the "year
of the elephant" on the 12th of Rabee` Al-Awwal. He also
received the Divine Revelation, ascended to the Heavens,
migrated to Madinah and died on the 12th of Rabee` Al-Awwal.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), says that the day
he was born was a special day. Since it is well known from the
Shari`ah that Muslims should seize the opportunity in blessed
days and do good deeds, Muslims should celebrate the Prophet's
birthday so as to thank Allah for guiding them to Islam through
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Therefore, celebrating the
Prophet's birthday is permissible provided that it
does not include committing any of the prohibited things. As for
throwing banquets, this comes under the verse saying: (O ye who
believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you,
and render thanks to Allah if it is (indeed) He whom ye
worship.‏)
(Al-Baqarah 2: 172)
My opinion is that celebrating such a religious occasion is
recommended especially nowadays for youth have become
forgetful of these religious occasions and their significance
because they have indulged in other celebrations.
Celebrating such a great event should be done through reading
more about the Prophet's Sunnah and life, building mosques,
religious institutes and doing other forms of charity work that
remind people of the Prophet's life and his struggle.
Therefore, it is permissible to celebrate the Prophet's
birthday as an _expression of our love to him and our
endeavor to follow him as an example provided that these
celebrations do not involve any of the prohibited things. Some
prohibited things are improper intermingling between men and
women, behaving improperly at mosques and partaking in
innovations such as worshiping at tombs and other things that
violate the teachings of Islam. If such previously mentioned
violations surpass the religious benefit realized from these
celebrations, then they should be stopped in order to prevent
harm and wrongdoing as indicated in the Shari`ah.”
