Dispelling myths about mawlid

Dispelling myths about mawlid

Imam as-Suyuti writes in Al-Hawi fil-Fatawa that Tajuddin Umar ibn Ali al-Fakihani, one of the scholars of Maliki Madhab, said Mawlid was a hateful innovation. He wrote a book on this topic and stated, “These are meetings of men, women and teenagers together in a one room or two, but so that they see each other. And they dance bending from side to side and circle around. They speak of nothing forgetting the Judgment Day.

Or sometimes it is a separate meeting of women, who raise their voices in congratulations and sing nasheeds that break the calmness of the hearts, make dhikr and read Qur’an in an irrelevant to the Shariah way. And they forget the words of Allah: “Indeed, your Lord is in observation” (Surah alFajr, ayah 14). And there is no doubt that this is forbidden. No one having good disposition will ever consider this beneficial, but the ones whose hearts are dead because of great sins. Besides, they believe this was a divine service and not a hateful or forbidden action. Truly, Allah is our Creator and we all will return to Him!”

Imam as-Suyuti commented on this, “Actually he is right. But these meetings are not forbidden because of Mawlid itself. They are forbidden because of these unlawful actions. If similar deeds happened during the Friday prayer, this would also become forbidden. But this would not turn forbidden performing the Friday prayer in its must-be form. Truly I have seen people performing this kind of actions on the believers’ gatherings for Taraweeh-prayer at the nights of Ramadan.

Do we have a right to forbid a meeting for collective Taraweeh-prayer just because someone performs unlawful actions there? Of course, not! Quite in the contrary we say that these meetings are based on Sunna and they lead to Allah’s grace, but the unacceptable deeds performed herewith are foul and prohibited. The same way Mawlid is based on the good and if one performs there anything hateful, then the action itself is forbidden” (See vol. 1, p. 185).

The advantages and divine grace of Mawlid:

An outstanding alim Abu Baqr Uthman ibn Muhammad al-Bakry commented on the book Fath ulMubin, “Al-Hasan al-Basri, who is one of the known tabi’un, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “I would like to have as much gold as big the Uhud mountain, so that I could spend it on reading Mawlid of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)”. Junayd al-Baghdadi, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “Anyone who visits a place where Mawlid of the Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) is read and honours him is a true believer”.

Ma’ruf al-Qarhi, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “If anyone cooks on the day of Mawlid of the Allah’s Messenger (PBUH), invites brothers in faith, dresses smartly and perfumes his house, thus showing respect for the Prophet’s birthday (PBUH) Allah will raise him on the Judgment Day together with the Prophets, peace be upon them, and grant him the highest levels of Heaven”.

Al-Yafin al-Yamani, may Allah have mercy on him, writes similarly. As-Sariyu as-Sakaty, may Allah have mercy on him, said that a person who visits a Mawlid of the Prophet (PBUH) is truly seeking the Eden. Because he goes there just out of love for the Prophet of Allah (PBUH). Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “The one who loves me will be right next to me in Heaven”.

The imam of those who knew Allah Jalaludin as-Suyuti affirms in Al-Wasail sharhu ash-Shamail that angels and Allah’s mercy surround any place, house and mosque where people read Mawlid. Truly I wrote this article to urge people to read Mawlid of the Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) and to rejoice at his birth. Because his arrival is a mercy and he undeceived people.

Allah says in Quran, “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (Surah Al-‘Anbya’, ayah 107). Do not pay attention to the words of those people whose hearts are blind. They cannot distinguish the really hateful and forbidden in Islam from the desired and permitted!

If anyone seeks for the truth about the mentioned above, let them follow the given links and read the biographies of the people mentioned. This is so that the seekers can be aware of their knowledge, authority in Sharia studies, their devotion and godliness, their care of Islamic sciences and compliance with the Sunnah of Prophet (PBUH). Because they are leading figures in Islamic sciences, hafizes of the Qur’an and of the Prophet’s hadith (PBUH).

We do not need Imam Shafi’i or any other Imam to have performed an action to evaluate it. It is enough that they laid down the foundations relying on the Quran and Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). And all the innovations that arose after their times and the times of the Prophet’s companions must be compared to the basis they left us. When these innovations correspond to the fundamentals, they are permissible. And if they contradict the basic principles, they are forbidden.

For a better understanding of this question I will give an example. Once men gathered together in a Dagestani country mosque to celebrate Mawlid. There were some worshipers who left the place quoting the words of the Prophet (PBUH) that all innovations go to hellfire. This made those who did not know much about religious matters [except for the obligations like salah and fasting] began to hesitate. In fact, the ones who left disrupted the Muslim community of the village.

And what was taking place in the mosque? At first men collectively performed the evening salah, then they pronounced three times the witness of the monotheism (shahada) and repented sins (tauba) saying “Astaghfirullah”. After that the believers remembered Allah by making dhikr “La ilaha illallah”. Two of them read then a poem about the night trip (Miraj) of the Prophet (PBUH).

The parishioners recited salawat of the Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) at the beginning and the end of the meeting. The imam of the village and some especially invited theologians were present on this gathering. These ulama preached on different topics calling to the good, explaining the bases of Islam and the importance of observing them, disclosing the advantages of remembrance of Allah (dhikr) and reciting salawat of the Prophet (PBUH). Everyone said their prayers to Allah (made du’a) and thus ended the meeting. Those who could afford to give alms did so. People called this meeting Mawlid and held it at the night of the night trip of the Prophet (PBUH).

Now let us think over all this without caviling at the words and names, if we have a will to discover the truth. And no matter who are we hearing this truth from. Is there anything this community performed that could be called an innovation forbidden in Islam and which could disrupt Muslims? Does not Islam impel us to pray collectively? Does not it impel repentance of sins (tauba), the remembrance of Allah (dhikr), praise of the Prophet (PBUH)?

Need we not learn the history and events which occurred to Allah’s Messenger (PBUH)? Or is there in Islam a permission to preach to incompetent people? And finally does not Islam caution against disruption of Muslims? We can list many actions approved by the religion, all of them are based on Quran and Sunna of the Prophet (PBUH). We are not going to list these actions here, because they are so common that anyone who is to some extent acquainted with Islam knows them.

Here arises a question – did the Prophet’s companions celebrated Mawlid the way we do today. Here is the answer – there are so many deeds they did not perform. But then the bands of Islam expanded and they saw that there appeared something that was not practiced in the times of the Prophet himself (PBUH) and of his companions. And they did not hasten to forbid it but compared it to the norms of the Quran and Sunna. If they found something contradictory, they would correct it and say it was forbidden or was permissible but that you must eliminate here this and that. Thus imams defined different types of innovations and were able to find different solutions according to their correspondence with the bases of Islam.

Today we organize such events called Mawlid at least to retell people the story of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and to make them think about meaning of the Being, repentance of sins (tauba), remembrance of Allah (dhikr), etc. Were the companions and their followers in need of all this? Did anyone need special events like our modern contests for motivating people [and especially youngsters] to learn the life of the Prophet (PBUH)? Did not they know it to perfection? Their times were free of such a mass lack of knowledge of Islam and the story of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They spent their time serving their Lord and studying their religion. The whole of their lives was worship.

But who are the people visiting our Mawlids? Most of them are engaged in worldly business and their attention is away from Allah. They visit mosques only on Fridays and festive days. They usually miss both the desired and obligatory deeds. The reason for this is lack of knowledge, zeal for Islam and its propaganda and imperfection of their faith. It is like as though it was “something they should know, but Abdulrashid not we”.

It is possible to go on with the topic but everyone already knows who we are and what the times are - and that the main problem of our community is ignorance. So let us call to staying away from everything contradicting Islam. No matter what place, what time or on what meeting it happens – a funeral, a wedding, Mawlid etc. And let us leave as it is everything that satisfies Islamic demands.

May Allah give us the proper understanding of Islam and may He grant us the Intercession (shafa’ah) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the Judgment Day!

Ameen.

MUHAMMAD MAGOMEDOV