Every year, as the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal arrives, debates resurface within the Muslim community about whether or not to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). While some regard the Mawlid as a show of love for the Prophet, closer examination of Islamic teachings and history tells a very different story.
No evidence in the Qur’an or Sunnah
The first and most important point is that no verse in the Qur’an or authentic hadith commands or even encourages the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday. The Prophet himself never celebrated it, nor did he instruct his Companions to do so. On the contrary, he warned against exaggeration, saying: “Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about the son of Maryam. I am only a slave, so say, ‘The slave of Allah and His Messenger.’” (Bukhari)
When asked about fasting on Mondays, the day of his birth, the Prophet clarified that he observed it as an act of worship, not celebration: “That is the day on which I was born and the day on which I was entrusted with the Mission.” (Muslim, Abu Dawood, al-Nasai).
The companions never observed it
The Prophet’s closest followers, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), loved him more deeply than any later generation could. Yet, neither Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, nor any of the Sahabah ever marked his birthday. If celebrating Mawlid was truly an act of devotion, would they have missed it? Certainly not.
The same holds true for the great imams of Islamic jurisprudence, Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi’i, Ahmad, and scholars like al-Hasan al-Basri and Ibn Seereen. None celebrated it, endorsed it, or even mentioned it as part of Islam.
A later innovation
History shows that the practice of Mawlid celebrations only emerged centuries after the Prophet’s death, long after the era of the Sahabah and the early generations praised by the Prophet himself: “The best of mankind are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them.” (Bukhari, Muslim).
By that time, various cultural influences and innovations (bid’ah) had entered Muslim practice, and the Mawlid was one of them. To claim that true love for the Prophet only came centuries later suggests that the earliest and most devoted Muslims somehow failed to recognize its importance, a claim that does not hold.
True love for the Prophet
The Qur’an is clear about what it means to love the Prophet: “Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you really love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.’” (Aal ‘Imran 3:31).
Real love is not shown by innovating celebrations that the Prophet never sanctioned. It is shown by following his teachings, obeying his Sunnah, and practicing the religion as he and his Companions practiced it.
The Prophet himself said: “The best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The most evil of things are those which are newly-invented (in religion), and every innovation is misguidance.” (Muslim, al-Nasai).
A call for reflection
For Muslims who genuinely seek to honor the Messenger of Allah, the path is clear: obey his commands, follow his Sunnah, and avoid innovations. The Mawlid may appear to be an expression of love, but in reality, it departs from the Prophet’s own example and the practice of those who loved him most.
As one scholar wisely put it, “Love for the Prophet is not in celebrating his birth, but in living by his message.”
Agunbiade (Abu Jannāt) is of the Taalib Jami’ei, Islamic Propagation Rabwa Saudi Arabia. He can be reached at agunbiadeib@gmail.com and 08065538110
