Celebrating the Prophet’s (s) Birthday - Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah
- Filed under: Islam
- Date: Feb 22,2007
This is the best Islamic ruling by one of the top (probably the top) scholar in the entire planet, Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah (may Allah bless him and grant him jannah). I personally celebrate the brith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) almost every day (I try too at least). So all those wasabis that want to hate, please read this fatwa. It will be very pleasing to even you. I found the fatwa on Imam Suhaib Webb’s blog, TheTranslators. So it’s “remixed” by the Translators themselves. The blog is actually run by a group of students and is supervised by Imam Suhaib Webb.
Here it is:
On Celebrating The Prophet’s Birthday (sa) Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah.
Remixed by TheTranslators
Background:
The celebration of the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is an issue of controversy amongst the scholars. Thus, there were some who considered it a disliked innovation, a few even saying it reached the level of prohibition. And there were others who considered it a praiseworthy innovation. This difference is traced back to a divergence concerning the division of innovation (bid’ah). Some scholars recognized the validity of such innovations and this was, primarily, the school of Imam Al-Shafi’i (May Allah have mercy upon him) and the head of this thought was Al-’Izzi Adin Abdul Salam (May Allah have mercy upon him). In addition, Imam Al-Qurafi (May Allah have mercy upon him) who was a Maliki, carried this same opinion, giving it great attention and explaining it in an exhaustive manner. In his discussion Al-Qurafi (ra) expanded the concept of innovation to included innovations that were commendable, highly recommended and of an obligatory and disliked nature. Thus, he divided innovation into five parts: (obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked and forbidden). However, there were some scholars who failed to accept this division contending that, “Indeed, any innovation, if it appears, then it is repulsive in nature.†They did this by regulating the statement of ‘Umar, regarding the tarawih prayers, “This is a good innovation†to its linguistic meaning. There was a large body of scholars who held this opinion such as Taqi al-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah, Al-Shatibi, in his book Al-’Itisam, and many scholars from the Maliki and Hanbali schools (may Allah have mercy upon all of them). Finally, there were scholars who wrote in support of celebrating the Mawlid such as Al-Suyuti (May Allah have mercy upon him) and, at the same time, there were others who wrote against it. Thus, in my opinion, there is no need to drag this discussion out, nor continue to argue about it any longer.
The Ruling:
Indeed, whoever wants to celebrate the Prophet’s (sa) birthday should celebrate it and avoid doing any action contrary to Islamic Law. In addition, this act should be done with an intention that it is not a sunna nor an obligatory act. If these conditions are observed, and one is careful not to contradict Islamic Law, out of sincere love for the Prophet (Peace and blessing of Allah upon him), then, Allah willing, there is nothing wrong with this action and this person will be rewarded. Commenting on this, the Shaykh of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (May Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Indeed, such a person will be rewarded because of his intention.†Likewise, for the one who shuns this celebration, seeking to cling to the sunna out of fear of falling into innovation, then this person will also be rewarded, Allah willing. It is important to note that this is not a big issue. Nor is it necessary to give it more attention then it deserves.
The Methodology:
Our attention towards this issue is directed towards uniting the Muslims and curbing these differences. We base this understanding on facilitation (for both sides) and ease. This ease is not founded on an empty premise, but is referenced directly back to the Quran, traditions of the Prophet (sa), the fundamental objectives of Islamic law, and the order of the Prophet (sa) to work towards unity between others. Therefore, if a contentious issue arises pertaining to a matter, we exercise great consideration and respect for both sides. This consideration is not simply an act of being overly accommodative, as some contend, or attacking those who hold weak opinions. But, this respect and consideration for differences is guided by the fact that both opinions are based on proofs from Islamic Law. In some regards these proofs are clear, and in other regards the opposite holds true. Thus, some (scholars) have provided evidences for thes acts legitimacy, and others hold proofs for the opposite. In conclusion, our stance is that both are on goodness, Allah willing, as long as this act is not mixed with some type of evil and the intention is correct.
Allah knows best
Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah (May Allah preserve him)
Remixed by TheTranslators 2007
Taken from TheTranslators
22 Responses for "Celebrating the Prophet’s (s) Birthday - Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah"
I really like how this was written, as if meant to unite all the Muslims on agreeing to disagree.
And I think it’s very important that he stated:
“this act should be done with an intention that it is not a sunna”.
Alhamdulillah, nice article. Jazak Allah khair.
as salam `alaykum
So far this is the only balanced article that I have come across.
May Allah reward Sheikh bin Bayyah.
Ahsan
Asalamalaikum
Jazakallah khayr for this great post.
Ameen to the dua
Bismillah.
Yeah for Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah! May Allah increase him in ‘ilm and reward him with Jannah al-Firdous. Ameen.
I haven’t done the Mawlid before, but I must say this softened my heart towards those that do. Yeah for Unity =)
“Indeed, such a person will be rewarded because of his intention.†what a great point and this seems logical to me since there is no evidence saying this act is harram or obligitory so you shall get what you intead. jazzak allah khayr
salam, mashallah, the scholars’ ways of approaching matters are so different from laymen (our) ways. I still disagree with the essence of the assertion that intention is sufficient on a very basic, simple level, wallahu alam. For instance, I could start adding an extra rakah to a nawafil act (like to make 3 rakahs of tahiyatul masjid instead of 2) with all the good intentions; everyone will undoubtedly agree that this would be wrong.
In any case, there is some more to add with respect to Ibn Taymiyyah’s comment (this was in a comment to Muslimapple’s post her blog):
Ibn Taymiyyah (RH) continued:
“But this does not prevent one from detesting and prohibiting it and to replace it with a legislated action containing no bid’ah…. Just as the Jews and Christians may find benefit in their worship because it is possible that their worship includes an aspect of what is legislated but this does not necessitate that you perform their actions of worship or you report their words because all of the innovations contain evil that outweighs their good, this due to the fact that if their good outweighed the evil then why would the Sharee’ah have disregarded it? So we depend upon the fact that it’s sin is greater than it’s benefit and this necessitates forbiddance.â€
He continues:
“As for what they contain - i.e. these innovated festive seasons such as the Mawlid - of benefit then they are opposed by what they contain of the corruption of innovations that outweigh the benefit, along with what has preceded of the corruptions of belief and state - that the hearts become content with it at the expense of a large number of Sunnahs to the extent that you find that the elite and the general masses preserve this in a way that they do not preserve the Taraaweeh’s or the five prayers….†mentioning many more cases.[al-Qawl al-Fasl (pg. 102) of Shaykh Ismaa’eel al-Ansaaree]
A number of points can be seen here:
1. Ibn Taymiyyah regards the mawlid as a bid’ah which the strict believer is not allowed to follow.
2. he allows it only for those who would leave this bid’ah for a greater bid’ah.
3. he states that those practicing this, either out of taqleed or ijtihaad, will get reward for their good intentions, but they will get no reward for their practising it.
4. that they will not get the burden of the sin of the innovation if their taqleed of ijtihaad contains the excuses that would lift this from them. â€
JazakAllah khair bro. Amad. Basically, Shaykh ul Islam ibn Taymiyyah says, the Mawlid is biddah, but if the intention is sincere and good, they will be rewarded for that, but he doesn’t condone it nor recommends doing it. That practice of the Mawlid is biddah.
Too bad the majority of the laymen salafis have no idea about this. May Allah guide us all and protect us.
It wasn’t an issue back then, it shouldn’t be now.
Another note, there are sufis who do not practice the mawlid. (ie the deobandi sufis, haha). Another fact that many mawlid bashers don’t realize.
But I will straight up say, the Mawlid is not part of the sunnah.
waiyakum akhi, I have posted a Nike Just Don’t Do it! article on my blog. I think its just the safer thing to do (i.e. not to do). Here is the link.
Btw, when is the official marriage? Any chances of wasabis being invited?
Assalaam-o-Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
i just wanted to say that people shouldn’t celebrate it i mean not in a bad way what i mean is lot people here they just celebrate it like a some kind of even not like that if you wana celebrate you have to be sincere!
Mashallah…very balanced and thoughtful article by the Sheikh. You can tell, this is definitely a scholar that is well-versed. learned, and uses his Hikmah. May Allah (swt) reward him with the good of this dunya and in the akhira. I’m definitely saving this article. Jazak Allahu Khair
Assalamu Alaykum Amir,
Jazak Allah Khayr for the article.
I do have one request, though. Your jesting by calling some of our brothers and sisters “wasabi’s” may be taken as a joke, but I just wanted to point out that it’s not really a good thing to do.
Muhammad ibn Abdel-Wahhab was a great man, and making a joke about his last name, which (more importantly) is tied to the name of Allah [swt] (Al-Wahhab), is kind of a disgrace to his legacy. If we took Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah’s name and called those who followed him “Bay-be’s” or something (staghfirAllah), it would be disrespectful.
So although it was just a joke with no ill intention, just take a look at the deeper roots of what your joking about. A great man, and, even greater, one of the names of Allah [swt].
wAllahu Alam
SubhanAllah, that was one of the main reasons for me using Wasabi, becuase I didn’t want to use the name of Allah (swt).
Good point though.
I don’t think it’s insulting. It’s insulting to use Wahhabi or Salafi, but wasabi is just a name for some japanese food. Not really insulting at all. That’s the only reason why I even started to use it.
But, inshaAllah, i mean if it is insulting to anyone, then I’ll stop using it.
It is ironic that I used the wasabi word for the first time and got knocked for it
I am sure whoever knows me, knows that I respect the Sheikh as a scholar… so obviously akhi abdur rahman, it wasn’t meant that way. I think by changing the word, it ‘lightens’ the issue, and stops dragging the Shaikh’s name through the mud. I actually like it! 
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the sufis are always the ones who tell the salafis to avoid matters in which there is doubt…yet they themselves indulge in the mawlid which the themselves are unsure about…biddah…sunnah…not sunnah…rewarded…not rewarded…???
Actually salafis are the ones that tell sufis that. Sufis are pretty neutral. They just do what they gotta do.
Here in Tampa we don’t have mawlids because people are haters. I was speaking to my Sheikh in Damascus on the day of the Mawlid and he asked me what am I doing for the Mawlid. I told him nothing, people here don’t like it and all. He admonished me for it. He reminded me that Abu Lahb is shown mercy on Mondays because he was happy the day the Prophet (May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him) was born. If Abu Lahb, the worst of kuffar and one of two people cursed to hell in the Quraan for cursing the Prophet, was shown mercy just for being happy the day the Prophet was born, imagine what he will do for those who believed!
Allah knows best.
its strange to talk about the good benefite and the bad benefite to see which out weights the other, very funy let me ask u this question? the privet part can coss great damage then good so should we cut off, since it will lead us to sin? because its well know its harm is more greater then its good
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Making milaad is optional and is recommended by Allah (swt) in the quran ul kareem it does mention something that for the mercy that was sent down to you, you may rejoice. also it is not sunnah but celebrating it is good because if you take a deep look if prophet muhammed (pbuh) wasnt here, we wouldnt be here. further more (M Abdul bin wahhab al najdi) is the shaytan who brought fitna and brought the sect Wahhabism, further more anyone who disagrees can debate our sunni shaykh Muhammed iqbal shami bring any deobandi/wahhabi/salafi batil firqa down.
Asalatu wasalam u alaika ya rasoolallah, wa ala alika was as habika ya habib allah.
milaad is celebrating the prophet’s peace be upon him bdai.and didnt the prophet’s peace be upon him fast on mondais becus it was thhe dai he was born.
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