5. The Argument that the Scholars Praised the Mawlid Celebration

Some of the scholars praised the mawlid celebration when it spread during their time and this has been relied upon by the Innovators to here we start seeing violation of the points which were agreed upon earlier in that the point of reference when there is a difference between Muslims is the Qurʾān, the Sunnah and Ijmāʿ. This is disrepect to the Prophet (). We have differed over a religious matter and you behave as if the answer does not lie with the Prophet () himself. This is a revilement of the Prophet and his message. First, actions of worship are based upon the legislation (sharʾ) and following (ittibāʿ) and not upon opinions and deeming something to be good.

No speech stands up against the speech of the Messenger () who said, "The worst of affairs and the newly-invented matters" and "Beware of the newly-invented affairs for every newly-invented matter is an innnovation and every innovation is misguidance" and "Every innovation is misguidance." So when a person is shown the statements of the Messenger () and the abandonment of this practice by Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, the most righteous of this ummah and then the rest of the Companions, 911H) or al-Sakhāwī (d. 902H) and others from the latecomers after the bidah.com  page 79 8th century hijrah, he has testified against himself that he is a liar in his claim of loving and respecting the command of the Prophet (). or al-Sakhāwī and others is claiming that these later scholars are better guided, more erudite, and more loving of the Messenger than than Abū Bakr and ʿUmar and that they identified such goodness that Abū Bakr and ʿUmar were unable to identify as being good for the Muslims in their religion. Alongside our knowledge that the Messenger () said in his farewell sermon as occurs in the ḥadīth of al-ʿIrbāḍ, "Whoever amongst you lives for long will see many controversies, so you must stick to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of my rightly-guided Caliphs, bite onto it with your molars and beware of the newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation and all innovation is misguidance." Thus, the saying of every scholar from the latecomers who praised the practice of celebrating the mawlid is thrown against the wall and abandoned for the saying of the Messenger. Whoever implies that these latecomers were more guided in this issue than the Companions, the Four Imāms and the Salaf as a whole has revealed that he desires misguidance over guidance and he prefers Magians over the Prophet of Islām () and his Companions and is simply using the erroneous views and opinions of the latecomers to justify his departure from the Sharīʿah of Muḥammad ().108 Second, whilst there are those who might have considered the mawlid celebration to be good, there are others who did not consider it to be good and who spoke against it and declared it an innovation. From them 108 This and similar speech is not in reference to the common-people who are deceived and misguided by evil scholars, but to the evil scholars themselves. The common people are simply blind-followers with good intentions and these evil scholars hinder them from the straight path by erecting these innovations and crooked ways on the sideways of the path and then entice the commonpeople to divert to the left or to the right.

Then they cut them off from the path completely once they have enticed them to enter these crooked paths. bidah.com  page 80 Tāj al-Dīn al-Fākihānī (d. 734H) who authored a short tract on this subject, ʿAbū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad al-Ḥaffār (d. 811H), Ibn al-Ḥāj (d. 737H) in his book al-Madkhal, Imām al-Shāṭibī (d. 790H) and they are correct because those who praise the mawlid celebration are not able to give a definitive criterion through which the alleged bidʿah ḥasanah is distinguished from the bidʿah sayyiʾah and hence, their praise of the mawlid celebration on the one hand, yet condemnation and refutation of innovations in affairs of worship - whose mention has preceded from some of them - is a contradiction and highlights their relative deficiency in making istidlāl (deduction of evidence) in the religion because they are latecomers and are a far stretch from the Companions and Tābiʿīn and the Imāms of the Salaf who surpassed them by far in understanding and in making istidlāl (deducing evidences) from the texts. You will not find such affairs with the great Imāms of the second and third centuries hijrah in whose fiqh (jurisprudence) and istidlāl there is simplicity, clarity and satisfaction. 6. Rejoicing with Allāh's Bounty and Mercy From the far-fetched evidences in their use of the verse: Say: 'In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate'. (10:58) They claim it is proof for rejoicing with the Prophet's birthday. This is a distortion of the verse and making it carry a meaning which it does not carry from near or far.

Acting upon an angle [of interpretation of a text] which is not established from the Righteous Salaf is not accepted from whoever comes after them with the claim that the text [in question] indicates this practice.109 Imām al-Shāṭibī said, "Often you will find the 109 bidah.com  page 81 people of innovation and misguidance seeking evidence through [the texts] of the Book and the Sunnah and making them carry their doctrine and expressing [their evidence] through ambiguous [generalized] passages - presenting this to the common folk - whilst they think they are upon something and there are many examples of this."110 As for the explanation of this verse, then the Companions understood it to mean Islām (faḍl) and the Qurʾān (raḥmah) by which Allāh guided the people. This is related from Abū Saʾīd al-Khudrī () and Qatādah and al-Ḥasan [al-Baṣrī] and Mujāhid. And others related it the other way around, the Qurʾān is the bounty and Islām is the mercy and from them is Ibn ʿAbbās 111 () and Zayd bin Aslam and others. And as for the meaning of "in that let them rejoice" then it refers to the disbelievers with the meaning that let them rejoice with Islām and the Qurʾān that has been revealed to them, it is far better than the wealth that they accumulate. So this verse was addressing the Pagans of Quraysh.

It is established there is nothing in this verse at all and it is another very far-fetched attempt. Further, they must name one Companion, one Successor, one of the Four Imāms or any of the Imāms of the Salaf who understood this verse in this way and who deduced evidence from it for celebrating the 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. And when this is not found, then it is a clear distortion of this verse. Also, the bounty and mercy is in the Prophet being sent as a Prophet and Messenger when he reached the age of forty and this is established in the saying of Allāh, "And we did not send your (arsalnāka) except as a mercy to all of mankind." (21:107). The mercy in this verse is attached to sending (irsāl) and not birth (wilādah).

And in the Sunnah, the Prophet () referred to him being sent (ibʿāth) as a mercy and did not refer to his birth as a mercy. Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet () said, when asked to make duʿā against the pagans, "Indeed I was not sent (ubʿath) as one who curses, but I was sent (buʿithtu) as a mercy."112 Thus, the bounty and mercy is in the irsāl and ibʿāth, which is being made a 110 Refer to al-Muwāfaqāt of al-Shāṭibī (3/71) through the previous reference. 111 Refer to the tafsīrs of al-Ṭabarī, al-Baghawī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr. 112 bidah.com  page 82 Prophet and Messenger and all of this is tied to his message and teaching, which is that of Tawḥīd. This is what the Companions rejoiced with and this is what they used to thank Allāh for. 7. The Companions Sitting Together and Praising Allāh For Guiding Them What also illustrates how innovation blinds the heart and befogs the mind and causes it to see what is not actually there is in another alleged evidence for celebrating the mawlid in the form of the following ḥadīth First, let's look at what made the Companions to sit down in a circle and what actions they performed. They said, "We have sat together to call upon Allāh, to praise Him for guiding us to His religion and for favouring us through you (the Messenger)." So first, they are making duʿā to Allāh, they are praising Him for the guidance they received and the fact that bidah.com  page 83 Allāh honoured them and favoured them by sending them a Prophet who took them out of darkness, misguidance.

Nothing here about 12th Rabīʿ al-Awwal or any birthday. They are speaking about the message brought by Muḥammad, that of Tawḥid, that they were purified, taught the Book and the Sunnah after they had been in misguidance, as if alluding to what Allāh () has stated in His Book in the following verse, Certainly did Allah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error. (3:164). The Messenger brought them the light of Tawḥid and the Sunnah and took them out of darkness, out of the Jāhiliyyah they used to be in, of shirk, worshipping the dead, seeking rescue and aid from others besides Allāh, from burying daughters alive and all of the other evils in Jāhiliyyah. This was a great favour and they were expressing gratitude to Allāh, praising Him for the guidance and choosing them with this favour that Allāh mentioned and recounted to them in this verse.

So it as if they had heard this verse and decided to sit down and be grateful to Allāh. Ibn Kathīr explains this verse with the following: That Allāh sent a messenger to them from amongst themselves, "So that they would be able to speak to him, ask him, sit with him and benefit from him" and then he mentions a series of verses - (30:21), (18:110), (25:20), (12:109), (6:130) - all of which have the import of messengers being sent to people from amongst them as opposed to those who are foreign to them - then he said, "This is greater in conveying the favour [bestowed] in that the messenger is from amongst themselves in that they are able to speak to him and return back to him to understand the speech coming from him, and hence He said, 'reciting to them His verses' meaning the Qurʾān and bidah.com  page 84 'purifying them' meaning commanding them with good and prohibiting them from evil so that their souls can be purified from the dirt and filth of that which they were mixed up in during their state of shirk and jāhiliyyah, 'and teaching them the Book and wisdom' meaning the Qurʾān and the Sunnah, 'although they had been before in manifest error' meaning in deviation and clear error that is apparent to everyone." 113 And al-Ṭabarī also states that the favour is that Allāh sent to them a Messenger in their own tongue so that they could understand his message and he cites from Qatādah, "Allāh sent His Prophet () to a people who did not know so he taught them and to a people who had no adab (morals, manners) so he taught them adab." Once again in this verse and in all of its explanations by the classical mufassirīn - before the bidʿah of mawlid celebration began to spread after the 8th century - is in relation to the sending (irsāl, ibʿāth) of Muḥammad as a Prophet and Messenger with the message of Tawḥīd which occurred at the age of forty and has no connection to the birth (wilādah). Then at the end of the ḥadīth the Prophet () mentioned how Allāh boasts about them to the Angels and this is because of their remembrance of Him, thanking Him and praising Him for the favour he bestowed upon them. So their action was worship of Allāh, remembrance of Allāh and gratefuness of Allāh (). And this is the way of the person of Tawḥid - as opposed to the Ṣūfīs and others - he praises and thanks Allāh for the message of Tawḥid with which He sent His Messenger, to purify the people to instruct them in the Book and the Wisdom (the Sunnah).

They see the sending of the Messenger as a huge favour from Allāh and so how do they treat this favour? They praise and thank Allāh, they worship Him alone and only through what He commanded and legislated. They study the Sunnah of His Prophet and restrict themselves to it. Once that is clear, then second, where is there anything remotely related to the 12th Rabīʿ al-Awwal and 113 Refer to Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Aẓīm of Ibn Kathīr. bidah.com  page 85 celebrating a birthday in this ḥadīth? There is no connection whatsoever, but this is the way the evil scholars make fools of the common-folk, because the common-folk do not understand that there is an istidlāl (method of deducing evidence) that is sound and correct and an istidlāl that is from falsehood, that is from the way of those cursed amongst the People of the Book who twist words from their proper places.

So the Companions praised and thanked Allāh and this is completely different to what these people do, in imitation of the Christians towards ʿĪsā () and in imitation of the Bayt whereby they praise and extol the Prophet () to a level where they attribute divine qualities to him and spend the day and night (of 12th Rabīʿ alAwwal) partying, singing and dancing with perhaps a token reading from the Prophetic seerah. This gathering is to praise and extol and aggrandize the Prophet in a way that he prohibited, "Do not exaggerate with respect to me as the Christians exaggerated with respect to ʿĪsā ibn Maryam. For I am a slave, so say, [about me] 'The slave of Allāh and His Messenger'."114 He () also said, "Beware of exaggeration (ghuluww) in the religion, for those who came before you perished because of their exaggeration in religion."115 And it is not a gathering like the gathering of those Companions who were grateful for Tawḥid and the Sunnah which Allāh favoured them with through the sending of the Prophet (). The Ṣūfīs are not grateful for Tawḥid and the Sunnah because they oppose Tawḥīd and violate this Tawḥīd due to their devotion to the saints, invoking them, seeking rescue from them 114 Reported by al-Bukhārī. 115 bidah.com  page 86 and making their hearts attached to them and they oppose the Sunnah and worship Allāh through innovation (bidʿah) - through that which He did not legislate. They have with them the mysticism that came to them from other nations, from the Christians, the Buddhists and through Philosophy and Gnosticism.

And many of them believe in waḥdat ulwujūd (unity of existence). Some of them believe that the Messenger is one with Allāh in essence and that the truth and reality (ḥaqīqah) is to become one with Allāh and to perish out of existence and that this is Tawḥīd! So why would they rejoice with the actual teaching of the Prophet () in the matter of Tawḥid as those Companions did when this teaching directly clashes with much of what they believe and profess.116 8. The Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī claimed that the mawlid celebration has an angle from the ḥadīth of Prophet () in which it is mentioned that he came to al-Madīnah and found the Jews fasting on the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ.117 He asked them why they were fasting and they explained that it was the day that Allāh caused Firʿawn to drown and saved Mūsā and because of that they fast on that day out of gratitude to Allāh (). So the Prophet () said, "I am more worthy of Mūsā () than you" and he 116 In a video recording, Dr.

Tāhir al-Qadrī claims that the Messenger () became one with Allāh during the Night of Ascent - and this is the reality of what these people are upon, they conceal the doctrine of waḥdat ul-wujūd and that is why they have a certain position towards other religions, because this doctrine is also connected to waḥdat ul-adyām - unity of religions. So its not surprising that we see Dr. Tāhir al-Qadrī cutting the cake with the Christian Padrī and essentially validating other religions as legitimate paths to Allāh. 117 Ibn Ḥajar says, "The foundation for practicing the mawlid is a bidʿah, it is not related from anyone from the Righteous Salaf in the three generations..." Refer to 1st volume of al-Ḥāwī lil-Fatāwā (p. 196) and al-Zarqānī mentions it in alMawāhib al-Ladaniyyah (p. 140). bidah.com  page 87 would fast that day and commanded others to fast on that day. Ibn Ḥajar's claim that this ḥadīth provides an angle for the mawlid is baseless for a number of reasons:118 Before making this claim, Ibn Ḥajar said, "The foundation for practicing the mawlid is a bidʿah, it is not related from anyone from the Righteous Salaf in the three generations." Thus, the first part of his speech contradicts the second part of the speech. This is because the Righeous Salaf did not perform it because of the absence of a text.

If no text was understood by them to legitimize celebrating the mawlid, then no such text exists as an evidence. If the interpretation of Ibn Ḥajar of this ḥadīth was correct, we would have seen that interpretation transmitted from the Salaf. But the Salaf never understood that from any text and Ibn Hajar acknowledges they did not practice it. Also there is nothing in the ḥadīth itself that comes remotely close to an intelligible reason for celebrating the Prophet's mawlid since the Prophet () simply fasted and ordered the Muslims to fast and beyond this, there is nothing else in the ḥadīth. Note that every other type of evidence is similar to this one.

Whether a verse from the Qurʾān, a ḥadīth or a statement from a Companion, it is so broad and general and disconnected from the actual issue of celebrating the 12th of Rabī al-ʿAwwal that one wonders how on Earth they managed to make the connection. And it also shows that the later scholars such as same calibre and grounding as the mujtahid Imāms of the second and Aḥmad and others. Whilst they contributed to Islāmic sciences, may Allāh reward them and have mercy upon them, they are nowhere close to the actual pioneers of those sciences in ḥadīth and fiqh who preceded them by centuries and who have far greater fiqh (understanding) and baṣīrah (insight) than them. 118 bidah.com  page 88 9. The Allegation that the Prophet Performed His Own ʿAqīqah Also from the baseless evidences is the alleged report that the Prophet 119 () performed his own ʿaqīqah! This is related by al-Bayḥaqī from Anas bin Mālik that the Prophet performed his ʿaqīqah after prophethood ʿAqīqah.120 The narrator of this ḥadīth was Ibn Muḥarrar and he was abandoned by the ḥadīth scholars because he narrated this ḥadīth.

Imām Aḥmad said about him "Munkar" and declared him weak.121 Ibn Ḥibbān said about him, "He was from the best of the servants of Allāh, save that he used to lie and would not know and he would turn the reports around and would not understand."122 And al-Bayḥaqī himself said, "ʿAbdullāh bin Muḥarrar reported a munkar ḥadīth concerning the Prophet 123 citing the full passage from al-Bayḥaqī, "End of the speech of al-Bayḥaqī that he did not mention the speech of al-Bayḥaqī about the ḥadīth. Rather, he left it out so as to give the impression to the one who reads it that it is worthy of being used as evidence."124 Al-Nawawī also says, "This ḥadīth is bāṭil and al-Bayḥaqī said it is munkar."125 There are also other statements of al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Mizzī and al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Ẓahabī and others to this effect. This is sufficient to invalidate this futile angle of evidence. 119 Refer to Rasāʾil Fī Ḥukm al-Iḥtifāl bil-Mawlid al-Nabawiyy (p. 479 onwards). 120 In al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhidāt Li Bayān Mā Iqtaḍathu Rusūm al-Mudawwanah min al-Aḥkām (2/15) as indicated in the previous reference. 121 Refer to Ibn al-Qayyim's Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd bi Aḥkām al-Mawlūd (p. 51). 122 123 Al-Sunan al-Kubrā (9/300). 124 Rasāʾil Fī Ḥukm al-Iḥtifāl bil-Mawlid al-Nabawiyy (p. 482). 125 Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab (p. 330) in the chapter on ʿAqīqah. bidah.com  page 89 10. The Statement of Ibn Masʿūd: What the Muslims Deem to Be Good is Good with Allāh Another broad argument is that the scholars have considered it something good and it has been acted upon and in light of the statement of Ibn Masʿūd (), "What the Muslims deem as good then it is good with Allāh and what the Muslims deem as repugnant then it is repugnant with Allāh" it is an acceptable practice. And the answer to this is that this narration is referring specifically to the Companions in the context of agreeing upon the khilāfah of Abū Bakr ().

Al-Ḥākim brings this statement of Ibn Masʿūd, "What the Muslims deem as good then it is good with Allāh and what the Muslims deem as repugnant then it is repugnant with Allāh, for all of the Companions have held the view of Abū Bakr succeeding in rule."126 The same is also reported by Ibn Kathīr in alchain as follows, "Indeed Allāh looked into the hearts of the servants and found the heart of Muḥammad () to be the best of the hearts of His servants and so He chose him for Himself and sent him as a Messenger. Then He looked into the hearts of His servants after Muḥammad () and found the hearts of the Companions to be the best of the hearts of the servants. So He made them ministers of His Messenger () fighting for His religion. So whatever the Muslims hold to be good then it is good with Allāh and whatever the Muslims hold to be evil it is evil with Allāh."128 After it is established this is referring to the Companions, it is clear there is no proof in this statement. For the celebration of the Mawlid on 12th Rabīʿ al-Awwal never arose in the minds or hearts of Companions because it was not a legislated way to show love and veneration of the Prophet ().

Further, if the saying of Ibn Masʿūd was referring to all the Muslims, then all the Muslims have 126 Al-Mustadrak (3/78). 127 Al-Bidāyah (10/327). 128 Related by Aḥmad and al-Ṭayālīsī and refer to Minhāj al-Sunnah (1/166) of Ibn Taymiyyah. bidah.com  page 90 not actually agreed upon the mawlid celebration and it would still therefore not be a proof. 11. That Ibn Taymiyyah Said: The One Who Performs the Mawlid is Rewarded Then they present the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah () that some people may be rewarded for performing the mawlid celebration as However, this is a misquote of his speech and does not present the full picture of the view of Ibn Taymiyyah on this issue.129 Ibn Taymiyyah said, "Likewise what some people introduce, either out of resemblance to the Christians in (celebrating) the birthday of ʿĪsā () or out of love and veneration for the Prophet (). Allāh may reward them for this love and exertion (ijtihād) but not for the innovated (practices) such as taking the birthday of the Prophet () as a celebration, alongside (the fact) that the people have differed concerning his birthday. For this was never done by the Salaf despite the presence of what required it (to be performed) and the absence of anything to prevent it, had it been something good. And if it had been pure goodness, or overwhelmingly the case, the Salaf () were more worthy of (initiating and performing) it than us.

For they were more severe in love and veneration for the Prophet () than us and more eager for goodness. However, the perfection of love and veneration lies in following him, obeying him, following his command, reviving his Sunnah inwardly and outwardly, spreading what he was sent with and striving upon that with heart, hand and tongue. For this is the way of the first of those who preceded in faith from the Muhājirūn and Anṣār and whoever followed them in goodness, Most of those whom you find to be 129 bidah.com  page 91 eager for these innovated practices, alongside what they have of good intention and striving (ijtihād) on account of which reward is hoped for them, you will find them (at the same time) slack with respect to the command of the Messenger, with respect to (those commands) which they have beeen commanded to show eagerness. They are at the same level as the one who embellishes the Qurʾān but does not read it, or he reads it but does not follow it. And also like the one who beautifies the mosque but does not pray in it, or prays in it very little.

And like the one who takes the beads and prayer mats as beautification and the likes of these outward decorations which are not legislated and which are accompanied with showing off (riyāʾ), pride (kibr) and preoccupation away from what is legislated to what corrupts the condition of the person who does such things, as has come in the ḥadīth, 'The action of no people turned evil except that they beautified their places of worship.' Know that from the actions are those which comprise goodness because they comprise various types of legislated affairs but they also comprise evil such as innovation and other than it. Thus, that action is good with respect to what it comprises of the types of legislated affairs and evil with respect to what it comprises of turning away from the religion in its entirety such as is the condition of the hypocrites and the sinners. And this is what the ummah has been put to trial with in the later times. So upon you is two ways: The first of them: That your eagerness should be for holding fast to the Sunnah, inwardly and outwardly, with respect to yourself and those (under your command) who obey you. Inform of what is good (maʿrūf) and show rejection of what is evil (munkar).

The second: That you call the people to the Sunnah according to ability. So when you see the one who does this (action) and who will not abandon it except by turning to something more evil than it, then do not call to him to abandon that evil by doing something more evil than it, or by abandoning an obligation (wājib) or recommendation (mandūb) whose abandonment is more harmful than doing that disliked thing. However, if there are (aspects) of goodness in innovation then provide a substitute for it with legislated goodness according to your ability. This is because souls do not abandon something except for something else. And it is not desirable for a person bidah.com  page 92 to abandon goodness except to what is of its like or to what is better than it.

For just as those who perform these innovations are censured, having brought something which is disliked, those who abandon the acts of sunnah are also censured..."130 Ibn Taymiyyah explains that the intent of a person can vary, it may be to resemble the Christians in their celebration of the birth of ʿĪsā () in which case it is an unlegislated matter because of this factor of resemblance.131 Or it could be because a person loves the Prophet () in which case a person may be rewarded for his inward love that drew him to this innovation but not for the actual innovated celebration itself. Further, in this second situation, Ibn Taymiyyah differentiated between a person who if prohibited from the mawlid celebration would go to something that is more evil than it in which case he is not called to abandon it such that he falls into what is worse than it. But as for the believer who is not like this who is able to know and understand and follow right guidance, then his action is disapproved of and it is obligatory upon him to stick to the Sunnah inwardly and outwardly with respect to himself and those under his authority. And all of this discussion is after Ibn Taymiyyah establishes in the same passage and elsewhere that this is an innovated practice not performed by the Salaf despite the presence of factors that would have invited them to do it and hence it is judged an innovation that clashes with the guidance of the Prophet () because loving and venerating the Prophet is only through making ittibāʾ and practising and spreading his actual Sunnah. 130 Iqtiḍā Ṣirāt al-Mustaqīm (Maktabah al-Rushd, pp. 619-621). 131 This is in fact how the celebration of the Mawlid appeared amongst the Bāṭinī days found with the Christians or Persians. They celebrated the birthdays of Ahl the celebration of the Prophet's mawlid so as not to alienate the Sunnīs whose misguidance they were intending. bidah.com  page 93 Hence, the use of the speech of Ibn Taymiyyah amounts to both clipping and twisting of his speech.