I’m sure you have heard of Maulud Nabi before. There are some people who are challenging the existence of it along with many other religious acts that has been practiced customarily in Malaysia. They say Maulud Nabi is Bid’ah or wrong innovative. In other words, they say that the act of doing Maulud Nabi was not done by the Prophet therefore, if you do it, you will be doing an innovative act. By so doing you will go to hell.
Funny. It is so easy for some people to justify hell for others.
If what they say is true, than most probably their ancestors are all in line to be in hell as I am sure their forefathers did Maulud Nabi before.
Fortunately for their ancestors, Maulud Nabi is not a bid’ah. Well, at least to my personal opinion it is not. The strongest dalil or authority for Maulud Nabi can be derived in the Quran itself. Take a look into Surah Hud, the 11th Surah in the Quran. In it are the stories of previous Prophets that was related to Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
All Muslims will agree that the Prophet’s heart believes firmly in Allah. On top of that, in verse 120 in Surah Hud, Allah said:
"All that We relate to thee of the stories of the apostles,- with it We make firm thy (Prophet Muhammad) heart: in them there cometh to thee the Truth, as well as an exhortation and a message of remembrance to those who believe" (11:120)
Allah says that relating the stories of previous Prophets will increase the firmness of the Prophet’s heart. If it can have such an effect on the Prophet’s heart (whose heart is already firm) imagine what good it would do to our weak hearts. If you read the translation of Maulud Nabi, in particular Maulud Dibai, all that is being recited are stories of Prophet Muhammad. Most Malaysians may not understand the Arabic language, hence the reason why there is a Malay translation in the Maulud Dibai booklet. It is meant to make the Muslim’s heart firm by reading and knowing the history of Prophet Muhammad.
I would be inclined to further say that that verse is actually a wise way of educating the whole Muslim community even though it is directed to the Prophet, as how most of the permissible and injunction verses were revealed.
There are many types of Maulud Nabi. There is the Maulud Dibai (one which I am more familiar with which involves beautiful stories of the Prophet and many verses of selawat and request for forgiveness from the Al-Maighty), Maulud Imam Jaafar Barzanji (I would assume the term Barzanji or the on-of-a-kind way of singing history lessons was derived from his name), maulud Alhabshi (which is a mix and match of various mauluds), Maulud Alshatrie (there is one which appparently was created without a single fullstop. Considering it was done in Arabic language, it is sort of difficult to find connecting words without a fullstop. However, I have just heard about it and have not seen it before) and many other Mauluds.
How can you now say that doing these Maulud is a Bid’ah and you will end up in hell if you do it?
Allah knows best.
Blog adjourned.
5 obiter dictum:
You quoted a translation of the verse which seems to support the celebration of maulid nabi. My reading of it though suggests that God's relating "to thee of the stories of the apostles..." (11:120) is done through the scriptures, i.e., the Quran and the previous revelations, not the traditional, almost folk re-telling of events during the Prophet's life, done during maulid nabi. BTW, I am neutral in my personal opinions regarding the celebration of the maulid. It is in all likelihood, bid'ah but no danger has arise from it if one is sincere in the reasons for celebrating it.
You quoted a translation of the verse which seems to support the celebration of maulid nabi. My reading of it though suggests that God's relating "to thee of the stories of the apostles..." (11:120) is done through the scriptures, i.e., the Quran and the previous revelations, not the traditional, almost folk re-telling of events during the Prophet's life, done during maulid nabi. BTW, I am neutral in my personal opinions regarding the celebration of the maulid. It is in all likelihood, bid'ah but no danger has arise from it if one is sincere in the reasons for celebrating it.
Salam Fuad, thank you for your comments. Well, on this point, when we look at the hadith of the Prophet or about the Prophet, we should consider it from two perspectives. One is the substance of the hadith and the second is the isnad or the chain of transmition. As far as I am aware, the hadith used in Maulud to tell about the Prophet are of reputable chain of transmition and not fabricated hadith as it is haram to fabricate anything about the Prophet. so, it may not be divine revelation like parables from the Quran but more to what the companions have to say about the Prophet. Al-Muwatta' (Imam Malik's kitab), Sahih Bukhari and Muslim all have descriptions of the Prophet although the Maulud's hadith are not only from these kitabs. :)
As for Bid'ah, I do not agree that it contains no danger. If it's a bid'ah, then it is haram and no small dosages or pure intention can purify it or lessen its danger. Hence for it to be a bid'ah, it must be an innovation that is prohibited. My submission is that Maulud is not a bid'ah thus cannot be categorized as a haram Majlis.
:)
two_one,
your argument has no basis as it is already your conclusion. First you need to establish that it is or not haram, where are your arguments on THAT? Maybe I'm dim as I don't see it but I know that you are!
Anon,
should my conclusion be different my argument?
if you are looking for a specific authority to say that it is haram or permissible, i don't think you would find any. hence analogous derivation of authorities are used to say that it is ok and not ok. thus there is a differences of opinion.
as for me, i am inclined towards its permissibility.
Anyway, to further support the idea that you can celebrate birthdays, i reproduce a part of the hadith in Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 38 : (the earlier part is not relevant but u can search for it if you want)
"Narrated 'Ursa; Thuwaiba was the freed slave girl of Abu Lahb whom he had manumitted, and then she suckled the Prophet. When Abu Lahb died, one of his relatives saw him in a dream in a very bad state and asked him, "What have you encountered?" Abu Lahb said, "I have not found any rest since I left you, except that I have been given water to drink in this (the space between his thumb and other fingers) and that is because of my manumitting Thuwaiba."
Further explanation, Thuwaiba was freed by Abu Lahab as a form of celebration when she came to inform Abu Lahab about the birth of the Prophet.
So, even Abu Lahab, who has a special surah mentioning his perishment in the Quran is given respite for celebrating the Prophet's birthday.
i may be dim just as how u admit urself to be too, but at least i can see it :)
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