Mawlid - Is there any truth in his references?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

The concept of having gatherings wherein the blessed mention of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) is made is indeed a praiseworthy one. None can deny that it is an act of virtue to indulge in talks regarding the noble Seerah of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).

Similarly, the issue of Mawlid falls under the same ambit of discussing the blessed life of Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam). The position of the Deobandi Ulama is that, not only is it permissible to have a gathering of Mawlid, rather it is an act of great virtue, as long as the gathering is free from the unlawful or reprehensible activities, such as free intermingling of the sexes, excessive wasteful spending, fixing of a particular date, etc, and it is not held to be something necessary to do such that those who choose not to participate are considered to be in the wrong or are looked down upon.

The above is understood from Al-Muhannad Ala Al-Mufannad by Hazrat Molana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri (Rahimahullah) which reflects the beliefs and stances of the Ulama of Deoband.

Hereunder is the excerpt in reference:  

A translation of the relevant parts is as follows:

“Far be it from any Muslim that he says (let alone us), mentioning the birth of the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) or even mentioning the soil under his footwear and the urine of his donkey, is an act of reprehensible and unlawful innovation. Thus, aspects that have even a minute connection with the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), mentioning them is from the much-loved of practices and from the greatest of recommendations, be it the mention of his blessed birth, or the mention of him relieving himself, standing, sitting, sleeping and being awake. This has been explained in detail in my book al-Barahin al-Qati’a in many places.” ……..

“It is clear from the above that we do not reject the mentioning of the Messenger of Allah’s (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) birth; rather, we reject and refute those evils that are attached to such gatherings as you may have seen them in the Indian subcontinent, such as mentioning fabricated and false narrations, intermingling of the sexes, excessive wasteful spending with lights and decorations, holding it to be something necessary to do such that those who choose not to participate are slandered and called non-believers, and other evils from which very few gatherings (in the subcontinent) are free. However, if the gathering is free from such evils, far be it from us that we say, mentioning the birth of the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) is an evil and innovation…”

With regards to the references cited by the speaker in the video in reference,[1] they are correct and true. However, they are to be understood in the context of the above explanation. If one were to check these references, it is evident that the people of the past did not carry out the Mawlid as is common today by confining it to a particular date, mentioning only the birth events instead of the full Seerah of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), undue extravagance, deeming it a necessity of Deen, and looking down upon those who do not participate.

We can therefore conclude that the references cited do not show the permissibility of conducting a Mawlid as it is conducted today with the many evils attached to it. If one were to carry out Mawlid free from such evils, then it is permissible to do so.

However, the fact of the matter is that Mawlid today, especially in the Indian subcontinent, is more or less always accompanied with the aforementioned evils and this renders it impermissible to attend and carry out.

For further information, one may refer to the following article.

https://www.deoband.org/2010/02/fiqh/miscellaneous/mawlid-deoband-and-hanafi-fiqh/

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Bilal Yusuf Pandor

Student Darul Iftaa

Lusaka, Zambia

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai

(2020-10-22)