Mawlid: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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}}</ref> while [[Wahhabism|Wahhabi]] and [[Ahmadiyya]]<ref name="alislam.org">https://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/printer-friendly-summary-2009-03-13.html True Commemoration of the blessed life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh)</ref> scholars oppose the celebration.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pBc9349sw4QC&pg=PA415&dq=wahabi+mawlid&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ylgRU8qGHuHP2AWeq4CIBA&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=wahabi%20mawlid&f=false]</ref>

===Support===

Examples of historic Sunni scholars who permitted the Mawlid include the [[Shafi'i]] scholar [[Al-Suyuti]] (d 911 A.H.) who stated that:<blockquote>''My answer is that the legal status of the observance of the Mawlid-as long as it just consists of a meeting together by the people, a recitation of apposite parts of the [[Quran|Qur'an]], the recounting of transmitted accounts of the beginning of (the biography of) the Prophet-may God bless him and grant him peace-and the wonders that took place during his birth, all of which is then followed by a banquet that is served to them and from which they eat-is a good innovation (bid'a hasana), for which one is rewarded because of the esteem shown for the position of the Prophet-may God bless him and grant him peace-that is implicit in it, and because of the expression of joy and happiness on his-may God bless him and grant him peace-noble birth.''<ref>{{harvp|Kaptein|1993|p=49}}</ref></blockquote>

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In the Muslim world, the majority of Sunni Islamic scholars are in favor of the Mawlid.<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=169}}: "In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the celebration of the Prophet's (s) birthday and the recitation of mawlid texts were ubiquitous practices endorsed by the majority of mainstream Sunni scholars... by the modern period the celebration of the Mawlid was overwhelmingly accepted and practiced at all levels of religious education and authority. Prominent elite scholars continued to contribute to the development of the tradition."</ref> Examples include the former Grand Mufi of [[Al-Azhar University]] [[Ali Gomaa]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5USQgAACAAJ|title=Responding from the Tradition: One Hundred Contemporary Fatwas by the Grand Mufti of Egypt|last=Gomaa|first=Sheikh Ali|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Fons Vitae|isbn=9781891785443|language=en}}</ref> [[Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki]]<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=253}}</ref> of Saudi Arabia, [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]],<ref>[http://www.livingislam.org/n/mwld-qrd_e.html Shaykh Qardawi Approves of Celebrating Mawlid]. Yusuf Al-Qardawi.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sunnah.org/ibadaat/shaykh_qardawi_approves_of_celeb.htm|title=Shaykh Qardawi Approves of Celebrating Mawlid|website=www.sunnah.org|access-date=2016-03-26}}</ref> the primary scholar of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] movement, [[Habib Ali al-Jifri]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w33aBwAAQBAJ|title=Yemen History and Culture: A Book by AnVi OpenSource Knowledge Trust|last=P.Ram|date=2015-04-06|publisher=GBO|page=217|language=en}}</ref><ref>http://www.alhabibali.com/audioVideo_details/ln/en/avid/780</ref> [[Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIzknQEACAAJ|title=Mawlid Al-nabi: Celebration and Permissibility|last=Tahir-ul-Qadri|first=Dr Muhammad|date=2014-05-01|publisher=Minhaj-UL-Quran Publications|isbn=9781908229144|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Milad-un-Nabi-gets-colourful-elaborate/articleshow/50305110.cms|title=Milad-un-Nabi gets colourful, elaborate - Times of India|website=The Times of India|access-date=2016-03-26}}</ref>[[Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy]]<ref name=":0" /> of Syria, Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji, president of the Heritage and History Committee of the [[United Arab Emirates]]<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=203}}</ref> and [[Zaid Shakir]], all of whom subscribe to [[Sunni Islam]], have given their approval for the observance of Mawlid.

===Opposition===

The Mawlid was not accepted by all scholars.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHcZlo12SGoC|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|last=Bowering|first=Gerhard|last2=Crone|first2=Patricia|last3=Kadi|first3=Wadad|last4=Stewart|first4=Devin J.|last5=Zaman|first5=Muhammad Qasim|last6=Mirza|first6=Mahan|date=2012-11-28|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=140083855X|page=335|language=en}}</ref> Taj al-Din al-Fakihani (d. 1331), an Egyptian [[Maliki]], considered Mawlid to be a blameworthy innovation that was either [[makruh]] or [[haram]].<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=70}}</ref> This view was shared by fellow Egyptian Maliki [[Ibn al-Haj al-Abdari]], who added that the celebration was never practiced by the [[Salaf]].<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=71}}</ref> However Ibn al-Haj affirms the auspicious qualities of the month of the Mawlid in the most effusive terms<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=201}}</ref> and considers Muhammad's date of birth as a particularly blessed time of the year.<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=65}}</ref> The Maliki scholar [[Al-Shatibi]] considered Mawlid an illegitimate innovation.<ref>{{harvp|Katz|2007|p=73}}</ref> The [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] jurist Abu 'Abd Allah al-Haffar (d. 1408) opposed Mawlid, noting that had the [[Sahaba]] celebrated it then its exact date would not be a matter of uncertainty.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Marion Holmes Katz|title=The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam|date=2007|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781135983949|pages=159-60}}</ref> Hammud ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tuwayjiri (d. 1992), a Saudi scholar, also argued that there were many worthy occasions in Muhammad's life which he never commemorated, such as the revelation of the first verses of the Qur'an, the Night Journey and the hijra.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Marion Holmes Katz|title=The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam|date=2007|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781135983949|pages=203-4}}</ref>

The complexity of the issue is best seen in the opinion of the scholar Ibn Taymiyya who wrote that it was a reprehensible (makrūh) innovative practice, although not forbidden (ḥarām), but since "some observe the Prophet's birthday out of a desire to show their love of the Prophet and thus deserve a great reward for their good intentions".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYyfAwAAQBAJ|title=Islamic Law in Theory: Studies on Jurisprudence in Honor of Bernard Weiss|date=2014-05-09|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004265196|language=en|quote=Not only does Ibn Taymiyyah recognize the pious elements within devotional innovations, but he asserts that sincere practitioners of these innovations merit a reward. As I argue elsewhere, Ibn Taymiyyah's paradoxical position stems from a practical awareness of the way that Muslims of his day engaged in devotional practices. Ibn Taymiyya states that: "There is no doubt that the one who performs these [innovated festivals], either because of his own interpretation and independent reasoning or his being a blind imitator (muqallid) of another, receives a reward for his good purpose and for the aspects of his acts that confirm with the lawful and he is forgiven for those aspects that fall under the scope of the innovated if his independent reasoning or blind obedience is pardonable."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=editors, Yossef Rapoport, Shahab|title=Ibn Taymiyya and his times|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Karachi|isbn=9780195478341|page=320}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Marion Holmes Katz|title=The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam|date=2007|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781135983949|page=117|quote=The rationale of expressing love for the Prophet was so compelling that it occasionally forced even opponents of the ''mawlid'' celebration to qualify their disapproval. Ibn Taymiya remarks that people may celebrate the ''mawlid'' either in order to emulate the Christians' celebration of Jesus's birthday, or "out of love (''mahabba'') and reverence (''ta'zim'') for the Prophet." Although the first motive is manifestly invalid, Ibn Taymiya acknowledges the latter intention as legitimate; one who acts on this motivation may be rewarded for his love and his effort, although not for the sinful religious innovation in itself.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kHb-640Gfa4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Java,+Indonesia+and+Islam&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0me6RhPjLAhUI5xoKHauRDT8Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=Ibn%2520Taymiyya&f=false|title=Java, Indonesia and Islam|last=Woodward|first=Mark|date=2010-10-28|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789400700567|page=170|language=en|quote=The Mawlid is among the most commonly mentioned examples of praiseworthy innovation. This view is shared even by some of the most strident opponents of most other modalities of popular Islam. Ibn Taymiyyah, the Kurdish reformer who most Indonesian and other Islamists take as their spiritual ancestor and mentor, was subdued in his critique of the Mawlid. His position was that those who performed it with pious intent and out of love for the Prophet Muhammad (s) would be rewarded for their actions, and forgiven any sin from bid'ah that they might incur.}}</ref> He also criticized Mawlid as a practice that imitated the Christian celebration of the [[Christmas|birthday of Jesus]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Marion Holmes Katz|title=The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam|date=2007|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781135983949|page=117}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Thomas|editor1-first=David|editor2-last=Mallett|editor2-first=Alexander|title=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 4 (1200-1350)|date=2012|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004228542|page=868}}</ref>

In his ''Kitab Iqtida al-sirat al-mustaqim fi mukhalafat ashab al-jahim'' (Following the Straight Path Against the Proprietors of Hell), [[Ibn Taymiyya]] famously argued against celebrating Mawlid:<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Krawietz|editor1-first=Birgit|editor2-last=Tamer|editor2-first=Georges|title=Islamic Theology, Philosophy and Law: Debating Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya|date=2013|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110285406|page=211|edition=reprint}}</ref>

<blockquote>"...It is rather the Christians and Jews who turn the eventful days in the lives of prophets into festivals, in particular the former who commemorate events in the life of Jesus. A ''[[sharia|shar'i]]'' festival means only one thing: whatever God has laid down must be followed and that which is not of the original faith must not be innovated.<br>Under this heading come also the practices of some Muslims undertaken in imitation of the Christian observances of Christmas or out of love and reverence for the Prophet of Islam. God may reward them for this love and effort (''ijtihad''), not for innovations such as celebrating the Prophet's birthday (''Maulid'') as a festival, while people are not even sure of the actual date of his birth. The ''Salaf'' would have none of that, though it may have been expected and though there could have been no objection. If such a practice had been good, entirely or preponderantly, it would have been natural to expect the ''Salaf'' to have instituted such a celebration, what with their greater love and reverence for the Prophet and their zeal for the good. Indeed the most complete expression of one's love and reverence of him lies in following and obeying him, in carrying out his command, upholding his ''Sunna'' both in inner as well as external life, and in advancing the cause of Islam with heart, hand and tongue. Such was indeed the way of the earliest Muslims, whether [[Muhajirun]] or [[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]], and of those who followed them in piety.<br>Notwithstanding their good intent and rewardable effort, most of those people who are eager for these novelties are found rather lukewarm in complying with the Prophet's expressed command...."<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Memon|editor1-first=Muhammad Umar|editor1-link=Muhammad Umar Memon|title=Ibn Taimiya's Struggle Against Popular Religion: With an Annotated Translation of His Kitab iqtida as-sirat al-mustaqim mukhalafat ashab al-jahim|date=1976|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783111662381|pages=12-13, 242-3|edition=reprint}}</ref></blockquote>

The Ahmadiyya fall into the group who oppose Mawlid; however, they hold gatherings called ''jalsa seerat-un-Nabi'' commemorating the life and legacy of Muhammad oriented towards both Muslim and non-Muslim audiences. These gatherings are not held on any specific date, rather they may be held throughout the year.<ref>audiences.https://www.alislam.org/v/k-Seerat-un-Nabi.html?page=1 Seerat-un-Nabi</ref>