Mawlid An-Nabi: Origin of Celebration

The Muslim across the globe celebrate the birthday of the prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) every year on Rabi’a I. The people celebrate this occasion of the Mawlid in different forms. While some of Muslim simply make it an occasion to gather and read the Seerah, then they present speeches and Qaseedahs (odes) for this occasion either at home or at the Masjid. Others, they make food and sweets etc., and offer them to the people present. Some people do not limit themselves to the actions mentioned above; they include in these gatherings Haram and reprehensible things, such as free mixing between men and women, dancing and singing, or committing actions of Shirk such as seeking the help of the Prophet calling upon him, seeking his support against their enemies and so on.

The question is: how this celebration started? Did the Prophet or his followers celebrate this occasion after his death?

When studying the hadeeth or the Seerah, There is no narration in the famous ‘Six Books’ of ḥadīth that specifies when the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) was born. Rather, the only narration that exists specifies the day he was born, and not the date. It was narrated that a Bedouin came to the Prophet and asked him about fasting on Monday, to which the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) replied, “That is the day I was born on, and the day that the revelation began”. The prophet made the day of his birth day of fasting but, he never commended his followers to celebrate it.

The practice of celebration of Mawlid was not known for the first centuries of Islam. The companions (may Allah be pleased with them) never celebrated this occasion after his death, though they were the people who loved the prophet most. The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said: however among you lives (for a long time) will see many differences. I urge you to follow my Sunnah and the way of the rightly-guided khaleefahs who come after me. Hold on to it firmly. Beware of newly-invented matters, for every innovation is a going astray.” 

The historians reported that the first time the Mawlid celebrated was in sixth century by the Shi’it Fatimids (descendants of Ali radiya Allah A’nh through his wife Fatima) who ruled Egypt. Later on, the festival spread to other Muslim land Mosul and Irbil (Iraq) that was ruled by king Abu Sa’eed Kazkaboori. The person who initiated it, Umar al-Mulla, was a venerated Sufi ascetic, and not a scholar of the religion.  The practice of celebrating the mawlid spread to other Muslim lands, and as the decades turned to centuries, more and more layers of celebrations were added.

It is reported that before the Mawlid day, it was preceded by an entire month of celebration.  Musicians, jugglers, and assorted entertainers attracted people from as far away as Baghdad and Niṣībīn (modern Nusaybin, Turkey). Muslim scholars, jurists, mystics, and poets began arriving as much as two months in advance. Two days before the formal mawlid, a large number of camels, sheep, and oxen were sacrificed. On the eve of mawlid, a torchlight procession passed through the town. On the morning of the mawlid, the faithful and the soldiery assembled in front of a specially erected pulpit to hear the sermon. The religious dignitaries were then honored with special robes, and all those attending were invited to feast at the prince’s expense.

In North Africa, the Muslim  “Al-Azafi”  who legitimize the celebration of the mawlid  so that the Muslims desist in the evil and reprehensible act of celebrating Christmas, Nawruz and other holy days of the Christians and pagans that some Muslims of Andalus had begun to adopt. He wrotes, “I have searched intensively and racked my brain to find something that would distract the attention of the people away from these bidʻahs to something that is permissible, which does not cause the one observing it to sin…Therefore, I drew their attention to the birth of the Prophet Muḥammad…” in his work, he refutes those who have criticized this act as being a reprehensible innovation by claiming that the mawlid is a praiseworthy innovation, not a reprehensible one. This in itself shows that there were scholars in Andalus who were opposed to this practice and dissaproved of it, hence al-Azafi was forced to defend the practice.

The scholar Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in his work Iqtiḍā Sirāt al-mustaqīm: that the general ruling is that such a celebration is not a part of the religion, but was added by later generations, and hence should be avoided; but it is possible that some groups of people who practice it out of ignorance will be rewarded due to their good intentions. The mawlid of the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) should be celebrated every day, by following his Sunnah and doing in our daily lives what He wanted us to do.

 Allah Almighty told us in the Quran that the love of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) is demonstrated by following the guidance he brought. Allah says: “Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you (really) love Allaah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (3:31) and Allah say: “And [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way." (6:153).

Finding Inner Peace in Salah

Salah is derived from the word Silah which mean connection.  Then Salah (Prayer) is the connection of the servant to his creator. It is an obligation that has to be performed by every adult muslim male and female at prescribed time. Allah says:

إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا

“Indeed prayers were prescribed for believers at set time” (4:103). The prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) when he was asked about the best deed to perform he said: “Performing prayer in its due time”.

Allah Almighty mentioned the purpose of Salah in two verses. Allah says, “Establish Salah to remember me,” (20:14) and “And Establish the Salah! Definitely, Salah prevents immorality and sin, and the remembrance of Allah is greatest,” (29:45)

The both verses remind us that the most purpose of Salah is to remember Allah throughout  the day and this is why we were created is to worship Allah, as Allah says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.” (51:56).

In prayer we find our inner peace because we show our submission to the almighty and it is the time that we ask Allah His Grace, mercy, abundance and forgiveness.

Safeguarding  Salah at its prescribed time protect us from sins and immorality. It reported that the Prophet said: "The five daily (obligatory) prayers, and Friday (prayer) to the next Friday (prayer), and the fasting of Ramadan to the next Ramadan, are expiation of the sins

committed in the interval between them, so long as major sins are avoided." [Muslim].

Prayer brings peace and tranquility to the heart, as Allah says “Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest (13:28). To attain this tranquility, one must have love, concentration, understanding and reflection.

To find comfort and joy during salah, one must develops khushu’a by emptying the heart from all the distraction and have strong desire to do the obligatory act of prayer and strives hard to focus on what one is saying and doing. Allah Almighty says:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ

“Certainly will the believers have succeeded, They who are during their prayer humbly submissive” (23:1-2).

Khushu’a bring us closer to Allah during prayer and through which we experience inner peace.

Islam and Halloween: Tips for Parents

As Muslim parents, we are responsible for our children. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for those under your care. A man is a shepherd, and he is responsible for those under his care. The woman is a shepherd in her husband’s household and she is responsible for those under her care.” It is the duty of parents to get the knowledge one must have firm knowledge of the teachings and rulings of ones own religion and belief system. so they can teach their children about right and wrong. 

In this blog , we will get to know the origin of Halloween and tips that help parents to  discuss with their children about it.

1-know about the subject:Halloween today is defined by children going house to house on the night of October 31st, dressed up in a variety of costumes collecting treats. Although Halloween may seem like a time for children to have fun carving pumpkins and collecting candy, not many know the origins of this ‘festival’ and its traditions that date back centuries.

Halloween was originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people wore costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III changed "All Saints Day" from May 13th to November 1st and incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain into the traditional Catholic holiday, hoping to replace popular pagan traditions with church-sanctioned behavior. Over time other traditions and holidays were absorbed into the mix, diluting the original purposes of each but culminating in the unique and convoluted day of celebration. Even the term "All Hallows' Eve," which referred to the night before the Catholic "All Saints Day," gave rise through linguistic shifts to the modern word 'Halloween.

Dressing up in costumes: This was done so that the ‘spirits of the dead’ would not recognize people. It was also done by people imitating supernatural beings that were believed to roam the earth at that time.

Trick-or-treating: The Priests/Druids would go from house to house on October 31st and demand specific types of food to offer to the spirits in order to calm them. If their demands were not met, it was believed the people and their homes would be cursed with trouble, sickness, and death. Prosperity was promised to those who generously donated (hence the phrase, ‘trick or treat’, implying a demand for treats or else a certain consequence would have to be given).

https://www.history.com/topics/halloween

2-make children understand that:

*Halloween has pagan roots

*It is associated with celebrating superstition, black magic, and devil worship

*Costumes are often inappropriate and immodest

*Trick or treating can be seen as either blackmail or begging and Muslims are not supposed to beg or extort people.

* Halloween is a celebration that rejoices in all things magical and evil.

3- Teach them to be proud of whom they are

4- Consider their school: Write a letter or meet with the  teachers  explaining your stance on Halloween. You may also want to consider picking them up early or even not taking them to school on the day there is a Halloween party.

5- Islam forbids the Muslims to imitate the kuffaar (disbelievers) . The prophet (peace be upon him) said: “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you hand span by hand span, cubit by cubit, to the extent that if they entered the hole of a lizard, you will enter it too.” We said: “O Messenger of Allaah, (do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said: “Who else?”

and He (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” 

Islam came to cleanse the pagan practice and as Muslim we should stay away from such practice.

Ways to Avoid envy and Jealousy

In my last post, I wrote about the evil of jealousy. In this blog I would like to give some of the solutions that help removing that envy and jeolousy from the heart.

Shaykh Salih Al-Munajjid mentioned different ways  to be followed to get rid of envy and jealousy :
* Making Du’aa to Allah and asking Him to remove any problem person is facing toward others. The Prophet (Pbuh) used to say “guide my heart and remove ill will from my breast).” The phrase “guide my heart” means to the straight path, and “remove ill will from my breast” means take away all insincerity, rancor and hatred.

* Pondering the meanings of the Quran and reading it frequently, especially the verses which speak of hasad (destructive jealousy), because reading the Quran brings one a great deal of reward for good deeds. Allah says: “Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds” (Hood: 114)

* Reading the biography of the prophet (Pbuh), seeing how he kept away from hasad and how he loved well for others, even for his enemies.

*Reading the biographies and stories of the Sahaabah that teach the love and how they helped each other without being jealous

 *Seeking refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytaan, and keep self busy with something that will make forget the whispers and bad thoughts.

 *If the Shaytaan manages to instill hasad in the heart, then beware lest you say or do anything which will show that hasad. Every person has his or her share of hasad. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: “Nobody is free from hasad, but the noble person hides it whilst the base person shows it.” (Amraad al-Quloob). A person will not be brought to account for whatever crosses his mind, but he will be brought to account for what he says and does. The Prophet (Pbuh) said: “Allaah will forgive my ummah for their mistakes, what they forget and what they are forced to do.”

*If you feel that you are jealous of a specific person, then buy him a gift and shake hands with him. The Prophet (Pbuh) said: “Shake hands, for this will dispel rancor, and exchange gifts and love one another, for this will dispel hatred.”

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in his book Amraad al-Quloob (diseases of the heart): 

“Whoever find in himself any hasad towards another has to try to neutralize it by means of taqwa (piety, consciousness of Allah) and patience. So he should hate that (the feeling of hasad) in himself… But the one who does wrong to his brother by word or deed will be punished for that. The one who fears Allah and is patient, however, is not included among the wrongdoers, and Allaah will benefit him by his taqwa.”

It is great lesson learned from the story of  Yusuf and his brothers about the danger of jealousy and what can lead to. So, for Muslim “male or female” should avoid hasad (jealousy) toward others and follow the solutions given to overcome it.