The Right Milad & the Wrong Milad, (Mawlid).

Now that Milad celebrations have cooled down, let’s look at it with a cool head!

1) Some celebrated it by attending lectures, listening to nasheeds, and by studying & spreading the Seerah. There is nothing wrong in this and it is obvious we will remember his blessed birth in Rabiul Awwal. It is like remembering other similar events of Seerah eg. Me’raaj in Rajab, the Battle of Badr in Ramadhaan, Hajjatul Wadaa in Dhul Hijjah, and as such his birth in Rabiul Awwal.

There is no harm in discussing incidents in their respective times, so there is no harm in discussing his blessed birth and the events surrounding it, during the month of Rabiul Awwal. After all, he was Rahmatullil Alameen, Shafeeul Muznibeen, Khatamun Nabiyyee, Sayyidul Awwaleen wal Aakhireen, may Allah’s peace & blessings be upon him and upon his family & companions, until the last day.

Those ulema who used to celebrate it, did so in a simple manner, by reading about the events connected to the birth, elaborating on the seerah, and by showing gratitude to Allah for His great blessing through Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam and for making us part of HIS ummah.

The scholars who practised Mawlid noted that the love of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam is diminishing from the hearts of the Ummah, so Rabiul Awwal would be a good opportunity to increase that love by talking about Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wassalam throughout this month. It is this which scholars like Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) permitted.

2) Then there were others who simply went wild with celebrations; violating all Shariah rules, neglecting Fardh Salah, disturbing everyone with noise, halting traffic by marches, putting up excessive lighting in homes and in Masjids, enjoying birthday cakes, having parties, over exaggerating wordings of na’at sharif, to the extent that some say that the only difference between Allah and His Rasul is that of a big brother and small brother – may Allah forbid! And on top of all this, treating the Meelad as an obligation and accusing those who don’t participate in such things as not having love for the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam, labelling them as ‘Gustakhe Rasul’.

We need to understand that Ishq necessitates obedience. However, such people lack obedience; they have no regard for many important aspects of religious guidance, such as the beard and hijab. Salah is alien to them.

Many feel that by doing Meelad sharif, their sins of the whole year are forgiven, and they can then continue with haram actions throughout the following year.

Allah Taala has told us clearly that if we want Allah to love us and forgive our sins, we must follow the Sunnah of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam.

This type of Meelad sharif, in which the Shariah is violated, is common among Jaahils and ignorants. They have none or very little knowledge of Quran, Hadith, & Fiqh. They refuse to listen to anything that goes against them. Their ego is bloated and there is too much pride in their hearts and minds.

To them, Everything and anything becomes permissible under the label of love. Can a person truly be a lover if he promotes everything his beloved disliked and came to eradicate?

With a little bit of education and some common sense, such behaviour can be eradicated. But who will educate them when most of the religious leaders, who are supposed to teach them, don’t want to risk the delicious food items and various menus which come as part of these celebrations, so they just keep the general public away from education. They themselves lack Taqwa and thus they play with the emotions of people.

Even if some of their religious leaders feel that the community is doing wrong they don’t have the courage to correct the mistakes and they keep dragging things as they are.

Not all is lost though. The younger generation is understanding the reality and moving towards Haq. We can notice this on some of their online debates, and in their comments on social media websites. The sooner they accept the truth the better.

The young generation can see how the pure remembrance of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam is being polluted with ideas from other religions and from blind imitation of others.

May Allah protect us all from false beliefs, innovations, wrong practices, israaf and fuzool kharchi; wastage of money, energy and food. May Allah have mercy upon the Ummah, give us all complete hidayat and the ability to spend our lives according to the Sunnah. Ameen