/* */

PDA

View Full Version : celebrating the prophet's birthday..they are innovations



nosrat-sunna
03-04-2009, 02:55 PM
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

They are not Islamic Holidays, but Innovations



Every nation in the world has it’s own holidays and celebrations that are characteristics or landmark of that nation. This has been the case throughout the history of humanity, and it continues to be so in today’s societies.

Of course, there are reasons behind every one of these celebrations. And these reasons may differ from one to another. However, they all originated from either one of the following sources: The divine source or the human source.

The first refers to the revelation from Allah in its two known parts, the Qur’an book of Allah and the sunnah the tradition and saying of prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), and the second refers to the human made traditions and customs.

It is a sad thing, when we look at the situation of the Muslim nation to see that there is a great mix-up between religious holidays and celebrations that have no Islamic foundation. These unauthentic celebrations were passed through generations of Muslims from the time of deviation from true Islamic beliefs. What makes things worse is that some of these non-religious holidays take on a religious appearance, and sometimes use religious rituals, which made it very hard for the common Muslim to distinguish between what is authentic and what is not. And sometimes, Muslims think that these inauthentic holidays are an essential part of Islam. Like the three common unauthentic holidays practiced widely by Muslims now a days:


Celebrating the birth of the prophet (S.A.W.).

Celebrating the journey of the prophet, at night from Mecca to the "Aqsa Mosque" in Jerusalem, and then his ascendance to the 7th heaven.
3. Celebrating the night of the middle of "sha’ban", which is the month that proceeds month of "Ramadan".
Lets ask why this controversy has been going on for such a long time?

One can attribute this phenomena to two main reasons: The first is the ignorance of Muslims of the essence and purpose of holidays and celebrations in Islam, and the second is the blind imitation of others without examination or supporting evidence.

The first reason is that many Muslims have forgotten that holidays in Islam are a form of worship, and they are not like regular days we choose them as we wish or spend them as we like. It is very well known that the acts of worship in Islam are fully described in the revelation, and we are not supposed to invent a new forms of worship. However, due to the absence of clear concept of worship in the minds of many Muslims, unauthentic celebrations have been introduced into our life.

We can tell that a celebration or a holidays is an act of worship in Islam by following and understanding the sayings of prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) Imam An Nesa’i and Ibn Hebban reported an authentic hadith narrated by (Anas) that at the time when the prophet (S.A.W.) came to Madina and saw people have two days in which they celebrate. He said (the prophet) "Allah (S.W.T.) did replace these two holidays with better ones. The day of fiter (after the month of Ramadan) and the day of sacrifice (in the pilgrimage season)".

Thus, the acts of replacement eventually mean a total cancellation of pre-Islamic holiday and the introduction of celebrations that are acts of worship.

These acts of worship can be observed in many Islamic holidays and celebrations some examples are the gathering of Muslims for Eid prayer and the following speech, forbidding fasting in these days, raising the voice with "Allah Akbar" and giving animal sacrifices in the day of sacrifice and above all, the determination of the days of Eid by sighting the crescent of the new month. All these and many other things tell us that the acts of celebration are acts of worship and that the holidays are days of worship. That’s why Muslim scholars say that Muslims participation in the non-Muslims celebrations is prohibited because it is an act of worshipping Allah according to the methods of Unbelievers.

The second reason behind the mix-up in Muslim holidays, is the blind imitation of others without knowledge and evidence considered to be a disease that effect nations and individuals when ignorance and innovations spread widely and knowledge and sunnah demolish. This, in fact, is a serious problem because it introduced in the religion of Islam many things that are not a part of it, and in some cases, they are not allowed by the religion, because many Muslims practice them without close examination of their religious validity, these acts later on, became a habit unknowingly mixed with other religious rituals, or sometimes Muslims carry on the habits and traditions they learned from their parents and other Muslim figures in their countries, and these habits are mostly treated as if they were from the revelation of Allah (S.W.T).

It needs to be clear in our minds that such practices are only a sign of deviation from the path of Islam, because it violates the principle of judging all kinds of acts according to the Islamic laws. The sources of legislation and the tools of weighing other issues in Islam are well defined and must be fully implemented when ever we come across a new practice or a foreign act, otherwise, we would become like previous nations which took their rabbis and monks a source of legislation with Allah or without Him.

Allah (S.W.T.) warned us not to be like the people who claim to be believers but they refuse to accept judgment from Allah and his Messenger in their life matters. In surat An-Nuor, (verse 47 & 48), what can be translated as, "They say we believe in Allah and in the messenger and we obey, but even after that, some of them turn away, they are not really believers. When they are summoned to Allah and his Messenger in order that he may judge between them, behold, some of them decline (to come)."

And in the same surah Allah describes the true believers, "The answer of the believers, when summoned to. Allah and his messenger in order that he may judge between them, are no other than this: they say, we hear and we obey. It is such as these that will attain felicity."

Let us remember the Ayah from surat Al-Ma’edah, (verse 3), which could be translated as, "This day have I perfected your religion for you." Let us also remember that the prophet (S.A.W.) did not die until he conveyed to us the whole message from Allah (S.W.A) through his sayings and actions. We firmly believe that he did not leave out (purposely, or unpurposely) one word of Allah’s message to mankind. The prophet (S.A.W.) himself assured us about this fact when he said, "Everyone of the prophets who were sent by Allah was obligated to guide his nation to the good, to the best of his ability, and to warn them of the evil, to the best of his ability." (Reported by Imam Muslim)

From all of this we see that inventing in the religious matters is not allowed in Islam. That’s why Islam Flatly rejects such inventions. The prophet (S.A.W.) warned us in an authentic hadith reported by Imam Bukhari and Muslim "He who innovates something in our religion that is not part of it, will have it rejected. "And in another narration by Imam Muslim "He who dose an act, which is not in agreement with our religion, will have it rejected.." Also Imam Muslim reported that the prophet (S.A.W.) used to say in his speeches, "The best of the speech is embodied in the Book of Allah, and the best of the guidance is the guidance given by Muhammad. And the most evil affairs are their innovations; and every innovation is straying away from the guidance." Imam-An-Nisa’i added in a good narration, "And every (Dalalah) astray is in the Hell-Fire." Also reported by (As-Habussunan) that one time, the prophet (S.A.W.) was sitting among his companions preaching, and apparently, the speech was emotional. The companions stared to cry and said to the prophet: "It sounds like a farewell speech, please give us advice". He started giving them advice of which he mentioned: "He who will stay alive among you after me will see a lot of misinterpretation, so stick to my tradition and the tradition of the guided Caliphs after me, hold them tight, and beware of the inventions in the religion, because every such invention is a misguidance."

After all of these facts heard we know the three holidays that we mentioned were not specified for us as such neither by the Almighty Allah, nor by his messenger (S.A.W.). Therefore, they are innovations in the religious practices. And by being innovations, they are considered misguidance .

But let’s ask ourselves a simple question: Is celebrating the messenger’s birthday a proof of our love for him? If the answer is "yes" then how come that none of the companions of the prophet or even the guided Caliphs after him celebrated his birthday. They were the most loving and respect to the prophet (S.A.W.); They loved him more than themselves, their wealth, and their families. They showed their true love and respect, however, in a different way. They followed his example in every aspect of their lives. They were sincere through the revelation, This is the true celebration. We can show our love and respect the same way those good companions did.

The same thing can be said about celebrating the journey of the prophet, at night to the Aqsa Mosque. Yes, it is a great miracle that has been authentically transmitted to us as a miracle that indeed took place. But it is only one of many miracles that happened at the time of the prophet (S.A.W.). Why should we single it out of all the others? It is because we want to show our great respect to the prophet? We can do that by carefully following his tradition (sunnah). Or it is because it reminds us about "Al-Aqsa Mosque"? We can do that by returning to the forgotten "obligation" which is "Jihad" or fighting in the cause of Allah (S.W.A) to liberate the imprisoned mosque from the hand of the enemies . "Al-Aqsa mosque" is a very deer place for all Muslims, it was the first Qeblah for the prayer. Omar (R.A.) conquered it, then later when it was occupied, Salahud-Deen liberated it. Now, once again, it is under occupation, awaiting rescue from the Muslims who, for a long time, have given up Jihad in the midst of the absence of true Islamic ruling from the face of this Earth.

And what about the night of the middle of Sha’ban? Some Muslims observe that night and perform special prayers to celebrate it. We should be aware of two things: 1) The importance of that night is based on weak, unauthenticated saying of the prophet. And 2) the significance of the special prayer on that night is not even based on a weak "ahadith" it is a fabrication attributed to the prophet (S.A.W.) . Imam Al-Hafiz Al-Iraqi and Imam An-Nawawi are two of the many scalars who made it clear in their research that this observations and the special prayer associated with it are fabrications and have no basis in the tradition of the prophet (S.A.W.).

In the end we ask Allah to make us of those who listen to the guidance to follow it and see the misguidance and avoid it
Reply

Login/Register to hide ads. Scroll down for more posts
Muezzin
03-04-2009, 03:52 PM
Plus, they clog up the streets something awful.
Reply

ardianto
03-04-2009, 04:21 PM
I have read in a newspaper, celebrating the prophet's birthday is an innovation that innovated by Salahud-Deen Al Ayubi.
His reason was "If Christian celebrate their prophet's birthday, why we dont celebrate our prophet's birthday ?"
In first celebration he made a Shaalawat competition, and the winner was ....... I forget, sorry !. The winner was came from Barzanji and his Shaalawat is now known as Shaalawat al Barzanjiah.
Reply

doorster
03-04-2009, 04:28 PM
Actually, celebrating the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is a controversial issue among Muslim scholars. ...

wa salam

Scholars Speak on the Prophet's Birthday

By Living Shari`ah Staff


Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1235903580693&ampssbinarytrue -
Month of Rabi` Awwal is a chance for Muslims to re-think over the position of the Prophet in their hearts and actions. It is a good time for everybody to reflect on the status quo of Muslims and think about workable solutions for the problems we have.

And it is a high time for us Muslims to study the Prophet's Sunnah, apply his noble teachings, and work together to regain Muslims' unity, dignity, and leadership. If Muslims succeed in regaining their unity, the whole world will enjoy peace, justice, and prosperity.

In this folder, prominent Muslim scholars seize the chance of the Prophet's birthday to remind Muslims all over the world of their duty to maintain their love for the prophet and to spread justice and security everywhere.

Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1235912674921&ampssbinarytrue - Dr. Taha J. Al-`Alwani (Egypt)
Muhammad was the seal of the prophets to give the last guidance form Allah to human beings. The Prophet's mission of peace and unity is to all human beings who are in a bad need for it…



Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1235912674903&ampssbinarytrue - Dr. Esam S. Omeish (USA)
Celebrating the occasion is by insuring that we are the best example that follow of example of Muhammad (pbbuh). He was the best human being. He exemplified the Divine guidance. He served as a light and as an example. I ask everyone to know who Muhammad was, and to live like and by the message of Muhammad. This will bring mercy and happiness to humanity…




Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1235912674939&ampssbinarytrue - Shiekh Shaker ElSayed (USA)
The way we translate this occasion into celebrations and festivities has to be reviewed. Our love for the Prophet should cover our whole life not a specific day or month. This has to comply with Allah's expectations. True love for Allah and His Prophet is by following the Prophet and by letting the Qur'an shape our life…



Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1201952642500&ampssbinarytrue - Dr. Munir El-Kassem (USA)
We all know that there is a spontaneous outpouring love towards our beloved Muhammad (pbbuh) the teacher of humanity and final messenger. It is a kind of love that is deeply rooted in our sub-consciousness and consciousness. He is referred to as Al-Habeeb i.e. the beloved of Allah. He is a person who is loved, who is followed, who is an example that is still vital in our life…



Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1236000290773&ampssbinarytrue - Dr. Maher Hathout (Canada)
Prophet Muhammad actually changed life in depth, in grits, and in extension like never happened before in human history… for during these days we should take in the same breathe to reevaluate how merciful we are, how kind we are, how compassionate we are, so that we can deserve to claim that we are following the footsteps of the best of the messengers…



Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1236000290754&ampssbinarytrue -
Imam Ziaiaullah Khan (Canada)
Reviving the Messenger of Allah's legacy, especially in these days as his personality being attacked, and his ability to change human beings fourteen centuries ago is even more vital today…



Satellite?blobcolurldata&ampblobheaderimage2Fjpeg&ampblobkeyid&ampblobtableMungoBlobs&ampblobwhere1201952638173&ampssbinarytrue -
Dr. M. Abu Laylah (Egypt)
The Prophet was a guide and a light from Allah. If we follow him truly and out of sincerity, we shall be saved…

Reply

Welcome, Guest!
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up
Questfortruth
03-04-2009, 04:38 PM
I found this interesting.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th...y_celebrations

What is the origin of birthday celebrations?

Answer
Birthday celebrations are actually rooted in paganism.

The Encyclopedia Americana (1991 edition) states: ?The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia celebrated the birthdays of gods, kings, and nobles.? Authors Ralph and Adelin Linton reveal the underlying reason for this. In their book The Lore of Birthdays, they write: ?Mesopotamia and Egypt, the cradles of civilization, were also the first lands in which men remembered and honoured their birthdays. The keeping of birthday records was important in ancient times principally because a birth date was essential for the casting of a horoscope.?

So, there is a direct connection between the Pagan practice of birthday celebrations and astrology.(horoscopes and fotune telling)

Notice what the Bible says about astrology and fortune telling at Isaiah 47:13-15: "?You have grown weary with the multitude of your counselors. Let them stand up, now, and save you, the worshipers of the heavens, the lookers at the stars, those giving out knowledge at the new moons concerning the things that will come upon you. ?Look! They have become like stubble. A fire itself will certainly burn them up. They will not deliver their soul from the power of the flame. There will be no glow of charcoals for people to warm themselves, no firelight in front of which to sit down. ?Thus they will certainly become to you, with whom you have toiled as your charmers from your youth. They will actually wander, each one to his own region. There will be no one to save you."

Not surprisingly then, the ancient Jews did nt celebrate birthdays, regarding them as Pagan.

Also, The World Book Encyclopedia states: ?The early Christians did not celebrate His [Christ?s] birth because they considered the celebration of anyone?s birth to be a pagan custom.??Volume 3, page 416.
Reply

doorster
03-04-2009, 04:44 PM
^^ is this a refutation of http://www.islamicboard.com/general/...ml#post1106816

if so try reading beyond the first 2 lines
Reply

Ibn Abi Ahmed
03-04-2009, 05:08 PM
:sl:

I have a feeling this thread might get out of hand. So I'm going to close it with the words of Ibn Taymiyyah rahimullah who I believe has the most balanced outlook on this celebration:
"…because the Eeds are legislated laws from amongst the laws, so it is necessary to follow them, and not to innovate them, and the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) had many lectures, treaties, and great events that happened on a number of (documented) days such as the Day of Badr, Hunain, al-Khandaq, the Conquest of Mecca, the occurrence of his hijrah, his entry to Madeenah…and none of this necessitated that these days be taken as days of Eed. Rather this sort of thing was done by the Christians who took the days in which great events happened to Jesus as eeds, or by the Jews. Indeed the Eed is a legislated law, so what Allaah legislates is followed, otherwise do not innovate in this religion that which is not part of it.

And like this is what some of the people have innovated, either in opposition to the Christian celebration of the birthday of Jesus, or out of love for the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) and in honour of him. And Allaah will reward them for this love and ijtihaad, but NOT FOR THE BID’AH of taking the day of the birth of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) as an eed - this along with the difference of the people as to when he was born. For indeed this (celebration) was not done by the salaf, despite the existence of factors that would necessitate it and the lack of any factors that would prevent them from doing so if it were indeed good. And if this was genuinely good or preferable then the salaf, may Allaah be pleased with them, would have more right to doing so then us, for they had more severe love and honour of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) in following him, obeying him, and following his command, and reviving his sunnah inwardly and outwardly, and spreading that which he was sent with, and performing jihaad for this in the heart, with the hand and upon the tongue. So indeed this was the way of the Saabiqeen al-Awwaleen from the Muhajiroon and the Ansaar, and those that followed them in good. And you will find the majority of these (who celebrate the birthday) in ardent desire of these sort of innovations - along with what they have of good intention and ijtihaad for which reward is hoped for - but you would find them feeble in following the command of the Messenger, that which they have been commanded to be eager and vigorous in, indeed they are of the position of one who adorns the Mushaf but does not read what is in it or reads what is in it but does not follow it. Or the position of one who decorates the mosques but does not pray in them, or prays in them rarely…

And know that from the actions are those that have some good in them, due to their including types of good actions and including evil actions such as innovation etc. So this action would be good with respect to what it includes of good and evil with respect to what it contains of turning away from the religion in it’s totality, as is the state of the hypocrites and faasiqeen. This has what has afflicted the majority of the ummah in the later times. So upon you is two manners (of rectification):
  1. that your desire be to follow the sunnah inwardly and outwardly, with respect to yourself specifically and those that follow you, and you enjoin the good and forbid the evil.
  2. that you call the people to the sunnah in accordance to ability, so if you were to see someone doing this (celebration) and he were to not leave it except for an evil greater than it, then do not call him to leaving the evil so that he may perform something more evil than this….[a page omitted in which he explains this principle]

So honouring the mawlid, and taking it as a festive season (mawsam) which some of the people have done, there is a great reward in it due to the good intention and the honouring of the Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) because of what I have previously stated to you - that it is possible that something be good for some of the people and be denounced/considered to be ugly by the strict believer. This is why it was said to Imaam Ahmad about some of the leaders, that he spent 1000 dirhams upon the mushaf or similar to this. So he replied, ‘leave them, for this is better than them spending it on gold (jewellery).’ This despite the fact that the madhhab of Imaam Ahmad was that it is abhorrent to decorate the mushafs, and some of the companions (of Ahmad) interpreted this to mean that the money was spent in renewing the pages and writing. But this is not the intent of Ahmad here, his intention here was that this action had a benefit in it, and it also contained corruption due to which it became abhorrent. But these people, if they did not do this, would have substituted this for a corruption that contained no good whatsoever, for example spending upon one of the books of evil…"

Iqtidaa Siraat al-Mustaqeem 2/618
:w:
Reply

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-23-2010, 05:38 PM
  2. Replies: 57
    Last Post: 02-27-2010, 11:52 AM
  3. Replies: 6
    Last Post: 05-31-2009, 12:46 AM
  4. Replies: 11
    Last Post: 03-24-2007, 07:52 PM
British Wholesales - Certified Wholesale Linen & Towels | Holiday in the Maldives

IslamicBoard

Experience a richer experience on our mobile app!