Questioner Muḥammad from Morrocco. May Allāh grant him success and set his affairs aright.
As-Salām ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh wa barakātuh.
Our Shaykh, may Allāh preserve you, one of the supporters of the celebration of the Prophet’s Mawlid (birthday) said this:
“We do not say that the commemoration of the [Prophet’s] birthday is compulsory. Likewise, there is no evidence in what they mentioned on its prohibition. And Allāh—the Most High—said in Sūrah Yūnus, Verse 58:
﴾Say: “In the Bounty of Allāh, and in His Mercy; therein let them rejoice.” That is better than what (the wealth) they amass.﴿
And in it is a clear evidence on the legislation of expressing joy and happiness on the likes of this occasion, if we do not say it is obligatory, because His statement: ﴾let them rejoice﴿ is a command, and the apparent meaning of a command is obligation. So, the least of its cases is for it to point to recommendation or permissibility.
If it is said: ‘There is no mention of the Prophet in the verse.’
We say: Nay, His statement ﴾And in his mercy﴿ includes the Prophet, according to [His] the Most High’s statement in Sūrah Al-Anbiyāʾ, Verse 107:
﴾And We have sent you (O Muhammad ﷺ) not but as a mercy for the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).﴿
And the intent is his [i.e., the Prophet’s] advent and the advent of his message and legislation. The verse has stipulated that he is a Raḥmah (mercy), and which Raḥmah is greater than the existence of an illiterate prophet amidst the Arabs? And which Raḥmah is greater than being guided by the light of his legislation?
Likewise, Allāh—the Most High—says:
﴾And whosoever honours the Symbols of Allāh, then it is truly from the piety of the hearts.﴿ [Al-Ḥajj: 32]
And which symbol of the muslims is greater than Muḥammad and what he brought?
And the least honour is for us to revive his remembrance in our hearts, show his virtues to the people, acquaint the ignoramuses with his level and disgrace the disbelievers by proclaiming allegiance to him, not by [making use of] musical instruments, dancing, singing, or drinking alcohol as the critic [of the celebration] assumes. Rather, [it is] by mentioning the loftiness of his status and character, and showing something from his biography.
It is surprising about those that object to everything that is related to the Prophet Muḥammad ṣ. They prohibit visiting his grave, kill his children, erase his traces, and forbid celebrating his birth, biʿthah (sending as a Messenger), migration, etc.
Are they Muslims? Do they love the greatest Prophet ṣ? And do they even listen to what their mouths are saying? And see what they are doing? And realize where they are going?” End of his statement—word-for-word.
How can a deterrent refutation be made against this claimant? So that we can benefit from your knowledge. May Allāh increase you from His knowledge and may He reward you.
Answer:
Wa ʿalaykum as-Salām wa raḥmatullāh wa barakātuh.
In response to your question and the doubts of this claimer of knowledge, I say—and with Allāh is all success:
In the name of Allāh. All praise is due to Allāh. May blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allāh, his household, his companions, and whoever follows his guidance. To proceed:
Indeed, the deceits and lies of the people of desire and falsehood do not finish! Except with their being guided to the truth—and that is what we hope for from Allāh, the Most High—or with their ruin upon falsehood! Refuge is sought in Allāh, the Most High.
Indeed, love of the noble Prophet ﷺ and rejoicing over his biʿthah is not for one day, two days, or three days in a year alone! Rather it is at every time and moment from the moments of our life.
And indeed, real love for him and genuine joy over him ﷺ and his legislation is only by following his religion, reviving his sunnah, and by acting upon that and rejoicing over it at every time and moment, not during numbered days in the year alone!
And his love and joy over his ﷺ biʿthah is not by innovating what he forbade and warned against severely, such as his warning against what you do of worst, newly invented, and innovated affairs!
Love necessitates obedience, as Allāh, the Most High, said:
﴾Say (O Muhammad ﷺ to mankind): “If you [really] love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur’an and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”﴿ [Āl ʿImrān: 31]
And He ﷺ said:
“All of my nation will enter paradise except whoever refuses.” They [i.e., the Companions] said: “O Messenger of Allāh, and who will refuse?” He said: “Whoever obeys me will enter paradise and whoever disobeys me has refused.” Reported by Imām Al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ.
So, which people have more love for him and are more joyous about him and his biʿthah—may the blessings of my Lord and His peace be upon him—we his actual followers or you that claim that [i.e., to be his lovers] for a single day in the whole year and are the opposers of his commands and perpetrators of his prohibitions?? May the blessings of my Lord and His peace be upon him.
As for their distortion of the meaning of the speech of Allāh, for that distortion to agree with their innovations, and for them to use it to support their falsehood by mentioning Qurʾānic verses that have no correlation with what they seek evidence for, then this is very much!
From that is what this deceiver brought regarding the statement of Allāh, the Most High:
﴾Say: “In the Bounty of Allāh, and in His Mercy; therein let them rejoice.” That is better than what (the wealth) they amass.﴿ [Yūnus: 58]
And His—the Most High’s— statement:
﴾And whosoever honours the Symbols of Allāh, then it is truly from the piety of the hearts﴿ [Al-Ḥajj: 32]
And his distortion of the words from their rightful places! By incorporating the innovation of celebrating the birthday of the Prophet ﷺ in His—the Most High’s—statement
﴾In the Bounty of Allāh and in His Mercy﴿, in the first verse; and in His—the Most High’s— statement ﴾Symbols of Allāh﴿, in the second verse.
This is very strange! None of the noble Salaf—at the head of them, the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ—said it.
Do you have a better understanding of the meanings of the speech of Allāh—the Most High—than the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ; those that witnessed the revelation with him, and [that] Allāh guided them to the best meanings and interpretations [i.e., of the Qurʾān]?!
And do you love the prophet ﷺ, his Mawlid, and his biʿthah, more than the noble companions, may Allāh be pleased with them?
So, why didn’t they celebrate his Mawlid, his biʿthah, his night journey, his ascension [to heaven], or his migration? May Allāh’s blessings and peace be upon him and his household.
And why did they not use these great verses and their likes as evidence for what you claim of “the legislation of celebrating Mawlid—if you don’t say it is obligatory”?!
Do you understand the Book of Allāh—the Most High—more than they do?!
Or [do] the companions, may Allāh be pleased with them, the allies of Allāh, hate the noblest Prophet ﷺ—and that is impossible—while the ʿUbaydī Fāṭimid Shīʿahs, the enemies of Allāh that innovated this celebration for you, love him?
Or you love him ﷺ more than all the Companions?
Verily, the people of intellect, who are sincere to themselves and their religion will answer with the truth, follow it, and submit to it. And they will remove from their necks, the rope of blind-following without knowledge, guidance, or an illuminating book.
As for the people of desire, there’s nothing we can do about them.
So, I ask Allāh to guide them, give them sight, and heal them from their misguidance and deception, or that He seizes them with a seizure of the All-Mighty, All-Capable. Āmīn.
And is it from love, adoration, and veneration for the noblest Prophet ﷺ, and good manners with him to symbolise, “peace and blessings upon him” in this your writing with “ṣ (the Arabic letter, Ṣād ص)”! And you didn’t impose just completely writing “may peace and blessings be upon him” upon yourself, out of being mannered with him—may the blessings and peace of Allāh be upon him, his household and his companions altogether—as the Imāms of Ḥadīth and Sunnah cautioned on that, those that were proud of following the Book and the Sunnah, and were never proud of the innovation of celebrating his ﷺ mawlid.
So, this your love, rather, your factual ignorance has become apparent from what you write, allege, and claim!
And for you is an immense portion of the statement of Allāh, the Most High, in Sūrah Muḥammad ﷺ:
﴾Had We willed, We could have shown them to you, and you should have known them by their marks; but surely, you will know them by the tone of their speech! And Allāh knows [all] your deeds.﴿ [Muḥammad: 30]
O Allāh, whoever from this ummah is upon other than the truth, while he thinks he is upon the truth, return him to the truth so that he will be from the people upon the truth… Āmīn Āmīn.
And all praise is due to Allāh, the Lord of the worlds.
And Allāh, the Most High, knows best.
Written by:
[Shaykh] Abū Isḥāq Al-Hilālī Al-Marzūqī
May Allāh pardon him, by His Favour, Bounty and Generosity.
Evening of Wednesday, 2 / Rabīʿ Al-Awwāl / 1444H
Source: His Official Telegram Channel (here)
