Is Celebrating the Noble Prophet's Mawlid Permissible?

والصَّلَاةُ والسَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ أَشْرَفِ اْلمُرْسَلِيْنَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ الطَّيّبِيْنَ الطَّاهِرِيْن

The Mawlid celebration embodies the expression of joy for the birth of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and gratitude to Allah for the immense blessing of his emergence into this world. This is the essence and purpose of the Mawlid.

Indeed, the upright Islamic law urges, encourages, and commands us to show gratitude to Allah whenever He bestows upon us a blessing or averts a calamity. Do we not perform the ^Aqiqah at the birth of a child to manifest joy and thankfulness to Allah? Its purpose, too, is to express joy and gratitude to Allah.

The scholars have declared that the birth of the Prophet ﷺ is the greatest of all blessings for us. In response, and in deep thankfulness to Allah for this supreme favour, Muslims gather each year on the day of his birth in the month of Rabi^ al-‘Awwal. They recite the Qur'an, narrate the luminous events from the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and reflect upon the signs that graced the night of his noble birth. Furthermore, they recite stirring poems of asceticism and provide food for others, celebrating the birth of this most honoured Prophet, all in gratitude to Allah for this supreme blessing.

This practice, if devoid of any reprehensible elements and untainted by actions contrary to Islamic law, merits the designation of a commendable Sunnah, or a recommended innovation, or a praiseworthy innovation.

Consequently, people have been divided into two extremes and a middle ground regarding the celebration of the Mawlid. The first group has introduced practices into the Mawlid that are not part of it, exhibiting excessiveness and deviation, and they have strayed. The second group has been negligent, entirely prohibiting it, condemning it, and declaring it a means to disbelief and idolatry (shirk)—may Allah protect us from this. Both of these groups are upon error and misguidance.

The middle ground is the path of ‘Ahlu s-Sunnah, the people of truth and moderation. They assert that this is a blessed practice as long as it remains free from anything that contradicts the Shari^ah. It is a Sunnah, although we do not consider it a religious obligation or duty. Rather, it is a commendable act, encompassed within the statement of our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

«مَن سَنَّ فِي الإِسلَامِ سُنَّةً حَسَنَةً فَلَهُ أَجرُهَا وَأَجرُ مَن عَمِلَ بِهَا بَعدَهُ مِن غَيرِ أَن يَنقُصَ مِن أُجُورِهِم شَىءٌ»

'Whoever initiates a good practice in Islam will have its reward and the reward of those who act upon it after him, without diminishing their rewards in any way.' This is an authentic hadith narrated by Muslim.

The hadith scholar ‘Abu Nu^aym reported in his book Hilyatu l-‘Awliya' that Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy stated: “There are two types of innovations: praiseworthy innovations and blameworthy innovations. That which aligns with the Sunnah is praiseworthy, while that which contradicts the Sunnah is blameworthy.” In this narration, it is noted that Ash-Shafi^iyy derived this classification from the words of our master, ^Umar Al-Faruq, when he gathered the people for the Tarawih prayer behind a single imam, declaring, “What a blessed innovation this is.” Through his profound intelligence, Ash-Shafi^iyy discerned from Umar's statement that innovations can be categorized into two types, a view upheld by ‘Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama^ah.

This principle is not new; the Salaf and their virtuous followers have consistently adhered to it. If we consider the figures within the Muslim ummah who have addressed the Mawlid and endorsed the celebration of the Prophet's birth as both acceptable and commendable, we find numerous scholars from the Shafi^iyy, Malikiyy, and Hanafiyy schools, as well as some within the Hanbaliyy school, acknowledging that this innovation is indeed divided into two types.

Thus, the ‘ummah joyously commemorates the birth of the Prophet ﷺ each year, a celebration echoed by prominent Islamic authorities worldwide—whether in the East, West, North, or South— who honour the arrival of the greatest Prophet.

How can we not celebrate his birth when our Prophet ﷺ is is the master of all who preceded and all who will follow, upon whom be the blessings of our Lord. He is the one about whom Allah said:

﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾

"And indeed, you are of a great moral character?

This poet eloquently lauded him:

I see all praise of the Prophet falls quite short,
Though one may extoll and seek to exhort.
Since Allah praised him in the Book He revealed,
What value can the praise from mere mortals yield?

In his treatise Husnu l-Maqsid fi ^Amali l-Mawlid, Hafidh As-Suyutiyy affirms that the practice of celebrating the Mawlid is accepted by Allah, deeming it worthy of being called a commendable Sunnah or a recommended innovation. Esteemed hadith masters have addressed this matter, including the distinguished Hafidh ^Abdu r-Rahim Zaynu d-Din al-^Iraqiyy, the leader of hadith scholars, under whose tutelage dozens of hadith masters graduated—most notably Hafidh Ibnu Hajar, the renowned commentator on Sahihu l-Bukhariyy. Hafidh al-^Iraqiyy authored a treatise on the Mawlid, and Hafidh Ibnu Hajar himself, the author of Fathu l-Bari, the acclaimed commentary on Sahihu l-Bukhariyy, addressed the ruling on the Mawlid, stating: 'I have found a basis in the noble hadith for the permissibility of celebrating the Mawlid.' Thus, there is no legitimate reason to oppose it.

Is there anything in Islam, in the Shari^ah, in the Qur'an, or in the hadith that states: "Everything the Messenger did not do is forbidden for you to do?" Does such a principle exist in the religion? No, it does not. In his time, there was no mihrab [i.e., the prayer niche where the Imam stands] in the mosques, no minarets, and even the Qur'an itself was not originally dotted. Therefore, we remind people of what Imam Al-Bukhariyy and other hadith scholars narrated: After the death of the Prophet ﷺ, ^Umar came to ‘Abu Bakr and informed him, "I fear that the reciters of the Qur'an may pass away. What do you think of gathering the Qur'an into a book?" The Qur'an was in their hearts and written on some parchments. ‘Abu Bakr responded, "How can I do something that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not do?" What did ^Umar reply? "By Allah, it is good." ^Umar did not say, "You reminded me; indeed, the Prophet did not do it, meaning it is forbidden for us to do it!" Rather, he said to him, "By Allah, it is good." ^Umar repeated this until ‘Abu Bakr’s heart felt at ease. Then they went to Zayd ibnu Thabit, [who was among the Companions who were reciters and memorizers of the Qur'an] and they informed him of it, and thus the Qur'an was compiled into a book, and it has remained so until this day.

Thus, no principle in Islam dictates: "What the Prophet ﷺ did not do is forbidden for you to do." He ﷺ did not initiate the celebration of Mawlid, nor did he establish mihrabs in mosques, and the Qur'an during his time was not marked with diacritical dots. However, neither the Prophet ﷺ nor his Companions prohibited the practice of Mawlid. Therefore, the truth, upheld by the people of truth from the east to the west, is that celebrating the Mawlid, provided it remains free from actions contrary to the Shari^ah, is a blessed and accepted act by Allah. Through this practice, we hope to attain blessings, reward, and merit from Allah, the Lord of the worlds.