SectionDiscussing the Most Common Doubts About the Mawlid
The First Doubt: The Verse {In that let them rejoice}
Allah says:
{Say: In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy, in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate} [Yunus: 58].
Rejoicing in the bounty and mercy of Allah, in Islam, in the Quran, and in the sending of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him is a lawful and constant rejoicing. But the verse does not contain singling out the day of his birth with an annual celebration, and the Companions did not understand it that way. Using the verse as evidence for a specific act of worship requires clarification from the Messenger peace and blessings be upon him or the practice of his Companions, and nothing of that has been transmitted.
The Second Doubt: The Hadith "Whoever Introduces a Good Sunnah in Islam"
The Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said:
"Whoever introduces a good Sunnah in Islam will have its reward and the reward of those who act upon it after him, without that decreasing anything from their rewards. And whoever introduces an evil Sunnah in Islam will bear its burden and the burden of those who act upon it after him, without that decreasing anything from their burdens."
Narrated by Muslim.
The hadith was about a man who hastened to give charity, and then people followed him in giving charity. What is meant is initiating action upon a Sunnah that already has an established basis in the Shariah, or reviving it and hastening to it, not creating a new act of worship. Otherwise, such an understanding would contradict the Prophet’s statement peace and blessings be upon him, "Every innovation is misguidance," and his words do not contradict one another.
The Third Doubt: Umar’s Statement may Allah be pleased with him, "What a Good Innovation This Is"
Umar may Allah be pleased with him said this when he gathered the people behind one Imam for the night prayer in Ramadan. Praying night prayer in Ramadan in congregation was not a newly invented act of worship; the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him had prayed with his Companions for some nights, then left continuing the gathering out of fear that it would be made obligatory upon them. When the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him died, revelation ended and the fear of obligation was removed, so Umar revived an established Sunnah and gathered the people upon it.
He called it an innovation in the linguistic sense, meaning that its continuous congregational form was new compared to what people had become accustomed to at that time, not that it was a religious innovation with no basis.
The Fourth Doubt: The Story of Abu Lahab’s Punishment Being Lightened
Some people use as evidence the report that Abu Lahab’s punishment was lightened because he rejoiced at the birth of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and freed Thuwaybah. What al-Bukhari mentioned from Urwah in the story of Thuwaybah is a mursal report containing a dream, not a marfu hadith attributed to the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, and legal rulings are not established by it. As for the famous addition that his punishment is lightened every Monday because of his joy at the Mawlid, that wording is not in al-Bukhari.
The report contains no legislation of an annual celebration and no singling out the night of the Mawlid with worship. Even if it were assumed that Abu Lahab was rewarded for a particular act of kindness, the most it would show is that Allah recompensed him for that kindness. It does not prove the creation of a religious season for Muslims.
The Fifth Doubt: The Celebration Only Contains Quran, Seerah, and Food
Reciting the Quran, teaching the Seerah, sending salah upon the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, giving charity, and feeding people are lawful actions in their lawful times and forms. But gathering them on a specific date that repeats every year, while believing in a special virtue for that gathering or seeking nearness to Allah through it as a Mawlid celebration, needs evidence.
The discussion is not about the original ruling of reciting Quran or giving charity; it is about singling them out with a time and form as a religious act that the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him did not legislate.
The Sixth Doubt: Did Ibn Taymiyyah Permit Celebrating the Mawlid?
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah may Allah have mercy on him did not permit taking the Mawlid as an Eid. Rather, he stated that it is "a newly introduced Eid that has no basis," and he explained that the Salaf did not do it despite the reason for it existing and no obstacle preventing it, and that if they had seen it as good, they would have preceded others to it.
As for his statement that some people may be rewarded for their love and good intention, it does not mean that the innovation is legislated. An ignorant person or someone mistaken in interpretation may be rewarded for his good intention, but not for the newly introduced act itself. He may Allah have mercy on him clearly stated this meaning when he said: "Allah may reward them for this love and effort, not for the innovations." A good intention may be an excuse for its doer, but it does not turn an action that opposes the Sunnah into a legislated Sunnah.
The Seventh Doubt: We Do Not Call It an Eid; We Call It a Commemoration
The reality of the action matters, not the name given to it. If people single out a day that returns every year and gather in it upon actions intended for nearness and reverence, it becomes a religious season and Eid in the Shariah meaning, even if it is called a commemoration, occasion, or celebration. Changing the name does not change the ruling.
The Eighth Doubt: The Basic Rule for Things Is Permissibility
This principle is correct regarding customs and worldly benefits. As for acts of worship and religious seasons, their foundation is textual evidence; nothing from them is legislated except what evidence proves. The Mawlid celebration is not performed as a mere worldly custom. Rather, it is intended as nearness to Allah and honoring the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. Therefore, evidence for its legislation is required, and it is not enough to say that the basic rule is permissibility.
The Ninth Doubt: The Prophet’s Mere Leaving of Something Does Not Prove Prohibition
Not everything the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him left is forbidden merely because he left it. But this issue is not based on leaving alone. The celebration is an act of nearness and a religious season, the foundation of worship is textual evidence, its reason existed during his time, there was no obstacle preventing it, then he, his caliphs, his Companions, and the virtuous generations all left it, along with the texts rejecting newly introduced matters. The combination of these matters shows that taking the Mawlid as a religious season is not from the Sunnah.
The Tenth Doubt: The Mawlid Is a Good Innovation Like Compiling the Mushaf
Innovation in its religious meaning is all misguidance, as the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him informed us. Whatever has a basis in the Shariah, or is a lawful means to preserve something legislated, is not a religious innovation even if it is new linguistically or organizationally.
The Companions’ compiling of the Mushaf was not the creation of a new act of worship or the singling out of a religious season. Rather, it was a means of preserving the Quran, which Allah commanded to be recited, conveyed, and acted upon, and the need to compile it into one Mushaf appeared after a number of reciters died. As for the reason for celebrating the Mawlid, namely the birth of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and love for him, it existed during his life and after his death, yet the Companions did not take it as worship or a season. Therefore, one matter cannot be compared to the other.
