Celebrating Birth Day

of Prophet Muhammad
[saw]
On
12th Rabiul Awal

l ity
ea
e R
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 "Say: If you do love
Allah, follow me: Allah
will love you and
forgive you your sins,
for Allah is Oft-
Forgiving, Most
Merciful." [Al-Imran:
31]
Love towards Rahmata’lil
Alameen

Muslims all over the world

dearly love the Prophet
Muhammad [saw]. He is
highly respected amongst
the Muslims as well as non-
Muslims. Love for Rasool
Allah [saw] is a sign of true
faith as mentioned in the
hadith:
[Bukhari:2:13
]

Narrated Abu Hurairah [ra],

Allah's
messenger [saw] said, "By Him
in Whose Hands my life is,
none of you will have faith till
he loves me more than his
father and his children."
 (Tirmidhi)

Prophet Muhammad [saw] said:

“Love
Allah because He nourishes and
sustains you. Love me because
Allah loves me”
 [Quran 3:31]
Say: ‘If you do love Allah follow me,
Allah will love you and forgive your
sins for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most
Merciful.’
Allah says in the Quran:
"Say: If your fathers, your sons, your
brothers, your wives, your kindred, the
wealth that you have gained, the
commerce in which you fear a decline,
and the dwellings in which you delight
are dearer to you than Allah and His
Messenger, and striving hard and
Fighting in His Cause; then wait until
Allah brings about His Decision
(torment). And Allah guides not the
rebellious folk." [Quran 9:24]
 One day in the whole year!

But is this love only limited to

decorating mosques with green flags
and lights, having Milads, reciting
Durood on 12th Rabi ul Awwal and
saying poems in honor of Rasool
Allah [saw]? Is this all there is to
complete one’s faith? One day in the
whole year, to proclaim your love for
the Rasool?
 [Bukhari 56:757]

Narrated Abu Hurairah [ra]:

Allah's messenger [saw] said, "I
have been sent [as a messenger]
in the best of all the generations
of Adam's offspring since their
creation."
 [Bukhari 48: 819]
Narrated Zahdam bin Mudharrib :
“I heard Imran bin Hussain
saying”, "The Prophet(saw) said,
'The best people are those living
in my generation, then those
coming after them, and then those
coming after [the second
generation]." Imran said "I do not
know whether the Prophet
mentioned two or three
generations after your present
Since the Sahaba of Rasool Allah [saw].
were the best generation and the best
Muslims of all times, we need to
analyze how they displayed their love
for Rasool Allah [saw]. Did they ever
celebrate the birth day of Rasool Allah,
hold Milads and decorate the mosque,
loudly recite the durood and poems in
praise of their Nabi [saw]? How did
they prove their love for Rasool Allah
[saw] and complete their faith?
 "Today I have perfected
your religion for you, and
completed My grace upon
you, and approved Islam
as your religion." [Al
Ma'idah: 3]
 The Day of Eid, 10th of Dhul
Hijjah. On this day, about 1430
years ago, Allah revealed His last
word to humankind.
He said the deenul Islam is
completed on that day. Even the
sahabas of Rasool Allah (SAW)
did not try to make any thing
new in Islam. They never carried
this feast.
Date of Birth of Prophet
Muhammad [saw]!

Most historians are silent about the

exact date of birth of the Prophet
[saw], whereas those who do
mention it, there are many
contradictions and disagreements
amongst them.
 Muhammad Hussain Haykal in the
biography of Muhammad [saw] writes :
“Historians have disagreed about the year of
Muhammad's birth. Most of them hold that it
took place in "the Year of the Elephant," i.e.
570 C.E. Ibn 'Abbas claims that Muhammad
(saw) was born on "the Day of the Elephant."
Others claim that he was born fifteen years
earlier. Still others claim that he was born a
few days, months, or years, after "the Year
of the Elephant."
Some even assert that Muhammad was born
thirty years and others seventy years later
than "the Year of the Elephant."

Historians have also differed concerning the

month of Muhammad's birth although the
majority of them agree that it was Rabi` al
Awwal, the third month of the lunar year. It
has also been claimed that he was born in
Muharram, in Safar, in Rajab, or in Ramadan.
 Furthermore, historians have differed as to
the day of the month on which Muhammad
was born. Some claim that the birth took
place on the third, of Rabi` al Awwal; others,
on the ninth; and others on the tenth. The
majority, however, agree that Muhammad
(saw) was born on the twelfth of Rabi` al
Awwal, the claim of ibn Ishaq and other
biographers.”
 The presence of such disagreements on the
exact day of his birth, proves that birthdays
were not important to the Arabs. Arabs were
very well known for their great memorization
skills. They used know the lineage of their
families and other Arabs by heart; they used
to know hundreds of verses of poetry by
heart, a great feat of memorization.
 'Amr b. Sharid reported his father as
saying: “One day when I rode behind
Allah's Messenger [may peace be upon
him], he said [saw] [to me]: “Do you
remember any poetry of Umayya b. Abu
Salt?” I said: “Yes.” He [saw] said: “Then
go on.” I recited a couplet, and he [saw]
said: “Go on.” Then I again recited a
couplet and he [saw] said: “Go on.” I
recited one hundred couplets [of his
poetry]. [Muslim 28:5602]
If the birthday of Rasool Allah [saw] was such
an important celebration, surely they would
have remembered it and noted it down.
Furthermore, there is also no proof from
history that Prophet Muhammad [saw]
mentioned his exact date of birth nor
encouraged his followers to hold milads or
recite durood loudly on this day.
Neither is it recorded from any Sahaba that
they celebrated his date of birth. However, he
[saw] used to fast on Mondays and so did the
sahabas, irrespective of the month and
according to authentic ahadith he was born on
a Monday and the deeds are also presented to
Allah on Monday. He took up this day, not as a
The only authentic narration regarding
the birth day of the Prophet (saw) has
been narrated in Muslim, concerning
the fasting on Mondays.

Abu Qatada Ansari [Allah be pleased

with him] reported that Allah's
Messenger [saw] was asked about
fasting on Monday, whereupon he [saw]
said: It is [the day] when I was born and
revelation was sent down to me. [Maliks
Muwatta 6:2606]
 The point to be noted here is that
Rasool Allah (saw) did not say 12th
Rabiul Awal, but rather mentioned
Monday. Another Hadith mentions that
all Mondays are special, irrespective of
the month, as doors of Jannah are
opened on Mondays and Thursdays.
 Narrated one of the wives of the
Prophet [saw]: Hunaydah ibn Khalid
narrated from his wife on the authority
of one of the wives of the Prophet
[pbuh] who said: “The Messenger of
Allah [pbuh] used to fast the first nine
days of Dhul-Hijjah, Ashura' and three
days of every month, that is, the first
Monday [of the month] and Thursday.
[Abu Dawood 7:2431]
Abu Hurayrah [ra] says: "Rasool Allah
[saw] said: 'Deeds are presented
before Allah on Mondays and
Thursdays. I desire that my deeds be
presented whilst I am fasting'".
 Narated Usamah ibn Zayd : The client
of Usamah ibn Zayd said that he went
along with Usamah to Wadi al-Qura in
pursuit of his camels. He would fast on
Monday and Thursday. His client said
to him: Why do you fast on Monday
and Thursday, while you are an old
man? He said: The Prophet of Allah
[pbuh] used to fast on Monday and
Thursday. When he was asked about it,
he said: The works of the servants (of
Allah) are presented (to Allah) on
Monday and Thursday. [Abu Dawood
7:2430]
 Conclusion
History proves that Prophet Muhammad
[saw] never celebrated his own birthday.
He used to fast on Mondays irrespective
of the month. All that we know for sure is
that he was born on a Monday and that
deeds are presented to Allah on
Mondays, which is the reason he used to
fast on Mondays. His exact date of birth
and even the month is a subject of
debate, which further proves the
insignificance of birthday celebration of
 Further more none of the
Sahabas, his closest
companions ever celebrated his
birthday, decorate mosques,
read aloud poetry in his praise
or hold milads or take out
processions on 12th Rabiul
Awal. This tradition of Milads
seeped into Muslims culture
later on and was not part of
original Islam. It is clearly an
 Rasool Allah [saw] him self
said:"Whoever has performed a deed
which is not in the religion from its
inception is rejected [not acceptable to
Allah]". [Bukhari and Muslim]

Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam)

said: "Whoever innovates in this matter
of ours, that which is not from it, shall
have it rejected." [Saheeh Muslim (1718)]
 The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-
sallam) used to say on Friday
Khutbah,"The best of speech is the
Book of Allah, and the best
guidance is the guidance of
Muhammad, and newly invented
matters are misguidance."[Saheeh
Muslim (867)] and an-Nas'aaee
(1579) included in his
narration: "and every misguidance
is in the Fire."
 ALLAH does not
change the
condition of any
people unless
they themselves
make the decision
to change. 13:11
Dear Brothers and sisters,
Let us change
If we change ourselves
now, then we have done it.
Or else we will be in
trouble.
 Remember me in your dua
and also those Muslims
who are named muslims
but they are in darkness
and think they are in the
light of Quran and Sunnah.
May Allah guide us
all in his right
way…
As per Quran and
Sunnah…
Aameen
Assalaamu Alikum
Wa rahmathillahi
Wa Barakaathuhu

Ashraf
Abdulkareem