In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, and sufficient is Allah as a Witness. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone, with no partner—a confession of His oneness and absolute monotheism—and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his companions, and abundant salutations.
To proceed:
O people, fear Allah the Almighty, and remember His blessing upon you when He guided you to Islam and singled you out with the Prophet of Mercy, peace and blessings be upon him. Before his mission, people lived in utter ignorance and blind misguidance, divided in their forms of worship—worshipping stones, trees, and idols, shedding blood, violating honor, usurping wealth and rights, turning to false judges (taghut) for judgment, and oppressing the weak and the poor. At that time, two oppressive superpowers dominated the world: the stray Christian Roman Empire and the vindictive, tyrannical Magian Persian Empire.
The world lived in pitch darkness and suffocating ignorance until Allah ordained the mission of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, as a mercy to the worlds. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, guiding people away from misguidance, giving insight to the blind, enriching the impoverished, and bringing humanity out of darknesses and into the light: “Indeed Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Quran), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Quran) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ (i.e. his legal ways, statements, acts of worship, etc.)], while before that they had been in manifest error.” [Aal ‘Imran: 164].
He commanded them to follow him, obey him, honor him, revere him, and send peace and blessings upon him. Allah coupled His name with the Prophet’s name in the two testimonies, the ‘call to prayer’ (Adhan), the Iqamah, and the sermons. He expanded his chest, raised his status, and decreed humiliation and disgrace for whoever opposed his command. He made it obligatory upon us to love him—after loving Allah—more than we love ourselves, our parents, our children, and all of mankind, until the Day of Judgment. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
O servants of Allah, this noble Messenger warned us against introducing into his religion that which is not part of it, stating, peace and blessings be upon him: “Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance.”
He also said: “Whoever performs an action that is not from our matter, it will be rejected.”
And in another narration: “Whoever introduces into this matter of ours that which is not from it, it will be rejected.”
He, peace and blessings be upon him, also forbade us from exaggerating in his praise and elevating him above the status with which Allah honored him—which is servanthood to Allah and His messengership—saying: “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Mary. I am only a slave, so say: ‘The slave of Allah and His Messenger.’”
Yet, despite this clear explanation and warning, some people transgressed the limits of Allah and His legislation. They introduced innovations, superstitions, and violations, treating them as part of the religion. They grew eager to practice, revive, and spread them while abandoning or neglecting the obligatory duties and prophetic sunnahs. Among these practices is what they repeat every year during this month: celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, until it has become almost like one of the legislated religious Eids, such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
However, this celebration is an invented practice in Islam. It was never performed by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, nor by his Rightly Guided Caliphs, his noble companions, nor the preferred generations that followed them, who were the best generations of this Ummah. This celebration only emerged in the sixth century of Hijrah, introduced by some ignorant or misguided people in imitation of the Christians’ celebration of the birth of Christ, peace be upon him.
Glory be to Allah! If this celebration were truly good, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would have clarified it for his Ummah. Had he clarified it, it would not have been hidden from his caliphs and companions—far be it from them! They loved the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, more than they loved themselves, and they revered him with a profound reverence befitting his status. So much so that one of their enemies, upon returning to his people after visiting them on the day of Hudaybiyyah, said: “O people, by Allah, I have visited kings—Chosroes, Caesar, and the Negus—and by Allah, I have never seen a king whose companions revere him the way Muhammad’s companions revere Muhammad.”
Why, then, did they abandon celebrating his birthday, peace and blessings be upon him? They abandoned it only because it is not part of the religion, and because it constitutes an imitation of the Christians, whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, warned us against imitating.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, stated:
“Likewise, what some people introduce—either out of emulation of the Christians in celebrating the birth of Jesus, peace be upon him, or out of love for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and reverence for him—by turning the birthday of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, into an Eid, despite people’s differences regarding the exact date of his birth: the early generations (Salaf) did not do this, even though the motive for it existed and there was no physical obstacle preventing them from doing so. If this were purely good or superior, the Salaf, may Allah be pleased with them, would have been more entitled to it than us. For they loved the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and revered him more intensely than we do, and they were keener on doing good. The perfection of loving him and revering him lies in following him, obeying him, adhering to his commands, reviving his Sunnah both inwardly and outwardly, spreading what he was sent with, and striving for that with the heart, hand, and tongue. This was the way of the foremost predecessors (Sabiqoon al-Awwaloon) from the Emigrants (Muhajireen) and the Ansar, and those who followed them in goodness. Most of those whom you find eager for such innovations are actually listless when it comes to the matters that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded them to be active in. They are merely like someone who adorns the Mushaf (Quran) but does not read it, or reads it without following its teachings; or like someone who decorates the mosque without praying in it, or prays in it very little…“ [End quote]
O Muslims, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is false and prohibited for several reasons:
- First: It is an innovation in religion, and every innovation is misguidance. Those who advocate for its performance will never be able to bring forth a proof for it from the Shariah.
- Second: It is an imitation of the Christians in their celebration of the birth of Christ, peace be upon him, and we have been forbidden from imitating them.
- Third: It frequently involves reprehensible and prohibited acts, the greatest of which is polytheism (shirk) in Allah—such as calling upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, seeking rescue from him, and chanting polytheistic poems in his praise, such as Qasidat al-Burdah and similar works.
- Fourth: There are only two Eids in Islam: Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr. Whoever introduces a third Eid has introduced into Islam that which is not part of it.
Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came to Madinah, and the people had two days in which they played. He asked, ‘What are these two days?’ They said, ‘We used to play in them during the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah).’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Verily, Allah has replaced them for you with something better than them: the Day of Adha and the Day of Fitr.’“ [Narrated by Abu Dawud, Ahmad, and An-Nasa’i, and its chain of transmission meets the condition of Muslim].
So fear Allah, O servants of Allah, and beware of innovations and violations. Cling to the Sunnah, follow and do not innovate. I seek refuge in Allah from the Satan, the outcast: (And, [desiring, He has ordained], “And verily, this (i.e. Allah’s Commandments mentioned in the above two Verses 151 and 152) is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This He has ordained for you that you may become Al-Muttaqun.” [Al-An’am: 153].
May Allah bless me and you through the Mighty Quran.