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What The Muslim Scholars HAve Said
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Melad-ul-Nabi (Sallallaho Alaihi Wasallam)
The Commeration of the birth of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad(Sallallaho Alaihi Wasallam)
Author
Prof.Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
From:
Jashan-e-Mīlād-un-Nabī sall-Allāhu `alayhi wa sallam A'imma o Muhaddithīn ki
nazar mae
Translated by: Azhar Baghdadi, Masjid at-Tawheed, Mountain
View, California, USA
Edited by:
Allama Ghulam Rabbani al-Afghani , Raffiq Ahmed
IN THE EYES OF THE SCHOLARS OF ISLĀM
The commemoration of the birth of the Holy Prophet peace and blessings of Allāh
be upon him (Mawlid or Mīlād) is received by some people with doubts, suspicion
and aspersions. Recently some have even made attempts to provide scholarly
evidences in order to denounce it (Allāh forbid) as a bid`a (reprehensible
innovation). In reality, this is not only jā'iz (permissible), mustahsana
(recommended) and a Shar`i act, but it is a means to develop blazing love for t
he Holy Prophet peace and blessings of Allāh be upon, something which is much
needed by the Muslim Community today. This book, "Jashan-e-Mīlād-un-Nabī
sall-Allāhu `alayhi wa sallam ki Shari` hasayyat" (The status of commemorating
the birth of the Holy Prophet peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him according
to the Sharī`ah) was written in order to shed light about the acceptance of the
practice from the sources of law. This particular article includes the verdicts
and opinions of the leading classical and traditional scholars of the past with
regard to the practice. May Allāh enable us to have extreme love for His Beloved
Prophet, to show the utmost respect and honour towards him and to obey him
unconditionally and thoroughly peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him (Āmīn bi
jāhi Sayyidul-Mursalīn sall-Allāhu `alayhi wa sallam).
A: al-Imām Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūtī on Commemorating the Birth of the Holy
Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him (Mawlid).
(1) Imām Ibn Hajar `Asqalānī
"Shaykh al-Islām, the Keeper (Hāfiz) of the Time, Abul-Fadl Ibn Hajar [al-`Asqalānī],
has been asked about the practice of Mawlid. He answered, and these are his
exact words:
...and that which has been confirmed in the Sahīhayn [two rigorously authentic
books of ahādīth, Bukhārī and Muslim], that when the Prophet peace and blessings
of Allāh be upon him, came to the city of Medina, he found that the Jews fasted
on the day of `Āshūrā'. When he asked them about it, they said:
This is a day when Allāh drowned Fir`awn (Pharaoh) and saved Mūsā (Moses). So we
fast it in thankfulness to Allāh, the Most High (shukr Allāhu Ta`ālā).
From this, we learn to perform the act of thankfulness to Allāh, the Most
High on a certain day for a bounty He has bestowed or a disaster He has averted.
And that act has to be repeated on the same day every year (anniversary). And
thankfulness to Allāh, the Most High is done with different kinds of `ibādāt
(acts of worship) like sujūd (prostration), fasting, giving charity and
recitation (of the Qur'ān). And what bounty is greater than the bounty of
the coming of the Prophet peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, the one who
is the Prophet of Mercy on that day?"
(2) Imām Jalāl ad-dīn Suyūtī himself writes:
"The report regarding the `aqīqah of Allāh's Messenger peace and
blessings of Allāh be upon him for himself after becoming Prophet: I said: It
occurred to me to relate it (the hadīth) from another source, and that is what
Bayhaqi narrated, from Anas Allāh be well pleases with him, that the Prophet
peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him made an `aqīqah for himself after
becoming a prophet, even though it has been reported that his grandfather
`Abdul-Muttalib had made it for him on the seventh day of his birth and the `aqīqah
is not repeated twice. This could be interpreted to mean that the Prophet peace
and blessings of Allāh be upon him did that to express his gratitude to Allāh,
the Most High for making him a Mercy to the Universe and an honour to his
Nation. And he also used to make salāt (invoke praise) on himself. Therefore
it is mustahab (advisable) for us to express happiness during his birth by
making gatherings of brothers and delightful displays of joy, including giving
food and all kinds of other offerings." [Husn Maqsid fī `Amal-il mawlid by Imām
Jalāl ad-Dīn Suyūtī, pp. 64-65]
(3) Imām Shams ad-Dīn al-Jazrī
Suyūtī mentions a statement by Hāfiz Shamsud-dīn al-Jazrī:
"...then I (Suyūtī) saw what the Imām of Qurā' (reciters/scholars of Qur'ān),
Hāfiz Shamsud-dīn al-Jazrī said in his book, `Urf at-ta`rīf bil-Mawlid ash-sharīf:
Abū Lahab was seen in a dream after his death and he had been asked, 'how
are you doing?' He said, 'In fire, but I get a respite every Monday night.
(He then gestured with the tips of his fingers and said) I suck from my two
fingers this much water [which gives some relief] and this is because of my
kindness to Thuwayba when she brought me the good news of the birth of the
Prophet peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, and that she had suckled him.'
So if Abū Lahab, a kāfir (disbeliever) who has been cursed in the Qur'ān,
is being rewarded for celebrating the night of the birth of the Prophet peace
and blessings of Allāh be upon him, how about the Muslim, a muwahhid (one who
believes in the Oneness of Allāh), from the nation of the Prophet, who
celebrates his birth and spends what he can afford for his love peace and
blessings of Allāh be upon him? And I swear (by my life) that his reward
from al-Karīm (the Most Generous), Allāh, would be to admit him to the Paradises
of happiness (jannātun-na`īm)." [Husn Maqsid fī `Amal-il mawlid by Imām Jalāl
ad-Dīn Suyūtī, p. 66]
(4) Imām Shams ad-Dīn ibn Nāsir ad-Dīn ad-Dimashqī
The Shaykh al-Islām and master of the Shāfi`ī madhhab during his time, al-Imām
Suyūtī mentions the statement of Hāfiz Shamsud-dīn ibn Nāsirud-dīn ad-Dimashqī
from his book Mawrid as-Sādī fī Mawlid al-hādī:
"It has been authenticated that the torment of Abū Lahab is reduced on Monday
for freeing (his slave) Thuwayba in celebration of the Prophet's birth peace and
blessings of Allāh be upon him."
[Husn Maqsid fī `Amal-il mawlid by Imām Jalāl ad-Dīn Suyūtī, p. 66]
He then writes the following piece of poetry:"If this is a kāfir who has been
cursed, and his hands are in hell where he is abiding forever, it has been said
that on every Monday,his torment is being eased because he was pleased with [the
birth of] Ahmad, what then about the servant, who all his life, is pleased with
Ahmad and dies a muwahhid?"
(5)
Imām Kamāl ad-Dīn al-Adfawī
The great scholar, Jalālud-dīn [`Abdur-Rahmān] Suyūtī, related from Kamālud-dīn
al-Adfawī's book at-Tāli` as-Sa`īd, who stated in there:
"Our friend al-`Adl Nasirud-dīn Mahmūd ibn al-`Imād narrated to us that Abut-Tayyib
Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm as-Sabtī al-Malikī, who lives at Qūs and who is one of the
practising scholars (al-`ulamā' al-`āmilīn), used to pass by the school on the
day of the Prophet's peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him birth and say:
'O faqīh ! This is a day of joy. Let the children go' and he would let us go.
This is a proof of his confirmation and acceptance, not a denial (of showing
happiness for the Prophet's birth). This man was a Mālikī faqīh, excellent in
science and an ascetic. Abū Hayyān and others took (Ahādīth) from him. He
died in 695 H."
[Husn Maqsid fī `Amal-il mawlid by Imām Jalāl ad-Dīn Suyūtī, pp. 66-67]
One can conclude from this that the practice of commemorating the Birth of
our Master, the Holy Prophet peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him has been
accepted by the great authorities of Islam. One cannot possibly compare
these and many hundreds of other great Imam's, who have made up the majority of
the Muhadithīn (Compilers of Hadīth), Fuqahā, Mufassirīn (Scholars of Qur`anic
Exegesis), the Sūfiyya (Scholars of Self-Purification) and those who specialised
in other Islamic fields to idolaters, innovators, ignoramuses and those lacking
God-fearingness! Muslims should use this occasion to guide the masses, to
encourage them to learn Islam and to develop blazing love for the Holy Prophet
peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him. May Allah forgive me for any sort
comings in this article.
AMIN!
allāhumma Salli `alā sayyidinā muHammadi(n)w-wa `alā āli sayyidinā
muHammadi(n)w-wa bārik wa sallim
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