ON CELEBRATING THE BIRTHDAY OF THE PROPHET (S.A.W) :
All praise is due to Allaah, and may peace and blessings be upon
our final Prophet the Messenger of Allaah (S.A.W), who cautioned against
extravagance, innovation and disobedience. May Allaah bless him, his
companions, and all those who follow his footsteps until the day of
Judgement.
In relation to the subject of innovation in religion, and the necessity of adhering to the Sunnah, this question has been oft-repeated :
Is it permissible to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammed
(S.A.W) (known as milad-un-nabi), as well as the rituals that accompany
this celebration?
The answer is : It is not permissible to celebrate the birthday or
our beloved Prophet (S.A.W), or that of anyone else. This is considered an Innovation (BID'AH), as the Prophet (S.A.W) himself never
celebrated his birthday, nor commanded others to do so for himself, or
for anyone who passed away before him, or for any of his family members.
The Salaf-us-Salih (rightly-guided caliphs, the companions, the tabi'een,
and the tabi'tabi'een), never celebrated this event, nor did any of the Muslim scholars [Imam Abu Hanifa,Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'ee, Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal, Imam Sufyan,Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim,
Imam Tirmidhi, Hafiz Ibn Kathir (rahmatullahi-alaihim)] who passed
in the centuries that followed. These great people knew the Prophet
(S.A.W) best, they loved him more than us, and they followed the
shari'ah better than those who came after them. If celebrating the
Prophet's birthday was a good deed, they would have been the first one to do so.
Furthermore, Celebrating Birthdays is the practice of the Christians and as Muslims we are not allowed to follow any one except the Messenger of Allaah (S.A.W) and his companions (r.a).
The prophet (S.A.W) said in an authentic Hadith,"Whoever resembles
any group, then he is one of them."
In another tradition, the Prophet (S.A.W) said :
"You must keep to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly-guided caliphs; cling to it firmly, bite onto it with your molar-teeth. Beware of the newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an
innovation and every innovation is misguidance and every misguidance will be going to the Hell-fire. - Reported by Sunan Abu-Dawood, Hadith no : 4607
As Muslims we are commanded to follow the path that has been shown
to us, and we are forbidden from innovating and adding to the religion in any way. This is due to the perfection of Islam, and the sufficiency
of what Allaah and his Messenger have given us.
Allaah the Almighty states in the Noble Qur'an:
"........,This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion, ........." - Qur'an (5:3)
As Allaah has completed and perfected the religion for us, we cannot add or delete anything from it.
Aaishah (r.a) narrated that the Prophet (S.A.W) said:
"Whoever introduces anything into this religion of our's which is not of it, will have it rejected."
[Reported by Al-Bukhari,Volume # 3, Book of Peace-making, No # 2697]
Our beloved Prophet (S.A.W) used to say in every Friday's Khutbah:
"The best discourse is the book of Allaah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (S.A.W), and the worst of the affairs are newly invented matters and every innovation is misguidance." - Reported by Muslim (Book of Jumu'ah)
Thus, these traditions contain a strong caution against innovations, as well as warning that every innovation is a deviation from the straight path. The Prophet (S.A.W) warned the people of the gravity of these innovations and of their harmful consequences. There are many more traditions indicating the same meaning.
Allaah the Most High says:
".......And whatever the Messenger [i.e. Muhammed (S.A.W)] gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids for you, abstain (from it). ......." - Qur'an (59:7)
"Indeed, in the Messenger of Allaah you have an excellent example to follow, for anyone whose hope is in Allaah and the Last Day, and who remembers Allaah often." - Qur'an (33:21)
To celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (S.A.W) means that the religion is not complete, and perfected by Allaah the Almighty, for the Ummah. This would also imply that the Messenger did not impart to the people what is necessary regarding the religious duties. Undoubtedly, this is a great danger and is tantamount to criticizing Allaah the Almighty and His Messenger, as Allaah has already completed and perfected the religion, and the Prophet (S.A.W) has already conveyed the message in its totality.
It is authentically reported that the messenger of Allaah (S.A.W) stated the following two ahadith :
''Beware of extravagance in religion. it has caused those before you to perish.'' [Bukhari]
''Do not exaggerate (excessive praise) me as the Christians did
with the son of Maryam. For i am only a slave, so simply say, ' The
slave of Allaah and his Messenger.''' [Reported by Al-Bukhari,Volume #
4, Book of Stories Of The Prophets, No # 3445]
And with Allaah lies all success and may Allaah send prayers and salutations upon our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his family and his companions.
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