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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 15, 2017 13:56:44 GMT
Allama Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti said: "I answer that the origin of the celebration of Mawlid, which consists of (1) the gathering of people, (2) the recitation of Qur'an, (3) the narrating of accounts related to the beginnings of the Prophet (s) and the miracles that have been told as taking place upon his birth, and (4) then in the giving of food to the people who eat and leave without adding anything to this, -- *this is one of the praiseworthy innovations* [huwa min al-bida` al-hasana] for the doing of which one obtains reward, because of the respect shown to the greatness of the Prophet (s) and the demonstration of joy and happiness at the news of his noble birth."
[Al-Hawi lil-Fatawi, Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-`Arabi, 1:251-252] Suyuti mentioned three constituents of Mawlid: 1) Gathering of the people. 2) Recitation of the Noble Qur'an. 3) The narrating of accounts related to the beginnings of the Prophet (s) and the miracles that have been told as taking place upon his birth 4) Then in the giving of food to the people who eat and leave without adding anything to this. Are all these things wrong?
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 15, 2017 13:44:30 GMT
If “Mawlid” was only “commemorating the Prophetic birth” or “being happy at the fact the Prophet was born”, this was of course something done by the early communities; whereas there are clear statements of scholars, even those in support of Mawlid, saying that the Mawlid is an innovation and is unprecedented.* Thus, it is even defined as the specific devotional celebration/gatherings that take place in Rabi ul-Awwal by, for instance, Abu Shamah and al-Fakihani An Annual Religious Conference that is done to spread Prophetic guidance is considered Bid'ah (Hasana). Spreading Prophetic guidance was done by early communities too. Khatm-e-Khwajgan is a form of Dhikr. But it is considered Bid'ah (Hasana). Dhikr was done by early communities too.
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 15, 2017 13:12:38 GMT
Haji Imdadullah defended Mawlid in his book Sharah Faysala Haft Mas'ala. Mufti Jamil Ahmad Thanawi defended this by saying that the evils present in the Mawlid gatherings of subcontinent can not be discovered in the ones of Makkah and Madina. He said that Haji Imdadullah was not aware of the condition of the people of the subcontinents and the evils attached to the Mawlid by them. (Sharah Faysala Haft Mas'ala) Similar statement was made by Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi. The great scholar, Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi knew about the Mawlid of Haji Imdadullah but still, he never argued or debated with him. Why?
1. Was that Mawlid performed by Haji Imdadullah accurate or not?
2. If it was, then please elaborate which type of Mawlid is inaccurate and accurate according to you.
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 15, 2017 12:06:24 GMT
Are you saying that all those who celebrate Mawlid define Mawlid in this way? Would you then agree that to mark the month of Rabi ul-Awwal specifically or the twelfth of that month for extra acts of devotion or celebration, done publicly and repeatedly, with greater fervor and emphasis than other times of the year, is incorrect? Shaykh 'Awali al-Maliki believed there is extra virtue, in each reoccuring year, to the time of the year that coincides with the time the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam) was born. Do you agree with this? 1. Yes, I do agree that to mark the month of Rabi ul-Awwal specifically or the twelfth of that month for extra acts of devotion or celebration, done publicly and repeatedly, with greater reward than other times of the year, is incorrect. All those who celebrate Mawlid does not celebrate it with this intention. Yes, that day is significant, important and a special day as on this day Muslims were blessed with the guidance of our messenger ﷺ. This was the greatest blessing for the world. This day is the most blessed. 2. Where did Shaykh Alawi al-Maliki say that there is an extra virtue, in each reoccurring year, to the time of the year that coincides with the time the Prophet ﷺ was born? He said that the day of Mawlid is greater than Eid because Eid and our Prophet ﷺ both were blessings for us and our Prophet ﷺ is a greater blessing. Hence, the day of Mawlid is greater. This doesn't mean that a good deed has a greater reward in the day of Mawlid and lesser reward in any other day. The use of the word 'virtue' doesn't every time mean that doing good acts on Mawlid holds greater reward. It can also be used to express greatness, honour and respect of a person, thing or a day. If Shaykh Alawi said that there is an extra virtue on the day of Mawlid, he is wrong (In my view he didn't say something like this). No one is free from error, he can err too. If there was an extra virtue, the Sahaba would have benefited from this virtue.
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 14, 2017 16:22:30 GMT
However, “Mawlid” does not only mean these things, but historically and in the present, is used to mean the popular “ birthday celebration of the Prophet”. Note, this is not merely a “celebration of the fact the Prophet was born” or even a mere “recollection of the historic day on which he was born,” but is to celebrate and mark, in each year, the day/time/month of the year in which he was born. Hence, people who celebrate the Mawlid refer to this time as an ‘Id, and emphasise the day and month in which he was born, and this specific occasion is given special importance in a ritualised manner. This is the “Mawlid” that is being addressed here. Are you saying that all those who celebrate Mawlid define Mawlid in this way? Secondly, all those who celebrate it does not consider it to be an I'd such as Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki. He said: “How many times have we stressed that the Messenger of Allah’s day of birth is not considered a Eid, neither do we regard it as a day of Eid, for it is a day greater and more virtuous than the day of Eid. Eid only comes once a year, whilst celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and mentioning his Sirah should be a constant thing, without restricting it to a particular time or place.”After quoting Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki, Mufti Muhammad bin Adam al-Kawthari said: "When we study the above quotes of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki (may Allah have mercy on him) taken from his book which he compiled in support of the Mawlid, it becomes clear that there is agreement between what the scholars of Deoband say and those who celebrate Mawlid regarding the evil and unlawful practices. As such, there is no disagreement in reality."
The Mufti later advised: "Indeed, there are some ignorant Muslims who do practice the evils mentioned by the Deobandi Ulama, but rather than refute their celebration of the Mawlid altogether, Deobandis should strive and correct these practices. If they begin to refute the Mawlid altogether, then those who practice it will say that these are Wahhabis, etc, and won’t even reflect upon their unlawful actions. Conversely, if they support the Mawlid, there is a great chance of them correcting the evils. Thus, they should be given an alternative of pure and uncontaminated gathering of Mawlid in which the general Sirah of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is mentioned. A gathering in which people are encouraged to implement the Sunnas and characteristics of the beloved of Allah, whether you call it a Mawlid gathering or a Sirah gathering, for names are irrelevant. This is my sincere advice to the Deobandis."www.daruliftaa.com/node/6074
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 14, 2017 16:14:53 GMT
This illustrates a problem with understanding the reality of what is being addressed. “Mawlid” may be interpreted as “commemorating the Prophetic birth” or as “being happy at the fact the Prophet was born.” No one has any problem with “mawlid” defined in this way. What Mawlana Khaleel Ahmad Saharanpuri addressed in Muhannad was “commemorating the Prophetic birth” ( dhikr wilādat al-nabī), which is of course something praiseworthy and meritorious. However, “Mawlid” does not only mean these things, but historically and in the present, is used to mean the popular “ birthday celebration of the Prophet”. Note, this is not merely a “celebration of the fact the Prophet was born” or even a mere “recollection of the historic day on which he was born,” but is to celebrate and mark, in each year, the day/time/month of the year in which he was born. Hence, people who celebrate the Mawlid refer to this time as an ‘Id, and emphasise the day and month in which he was born, and this specific occasion is given special importance in a ritualised manner. This is the “Mawlid” that is being addressed here. If “Mawlid” was only “commemorating the Prophetic birth” or “being happy at the fact the Prophet was born”, this was of course something done by the early communities; whereas there are clear statements of scholars, even those in support of Mawlid, saying that the Mawlid is an innovation and is unprecedented.* Thus, it is even defined as the specific devotional celebration/gatherings that take place in Rabi ul-Awwal by, for instance, Abu Shamah and al-Fakihani. * For example: Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (d. 852 H) said: “The basis of the practice of Mawlid is an innovation (bid‘ah) that has not been transmitted from any of the pious Salaf from the three generations.” (Quoted in al-Ḥāwī li l-Fatāwī, 1:196) Al-Sakhāwī (d. 902) said: “The practice of Mawlid Sharīf has not been transmitted from any of the pious Salaf from the virtuous three generations, and it only emerged thereafter.” ( al-Ajwibat al-Marḍiyyah, p. 1116) ‘Allāmah Ẓaḥir al-Dīn Ja‘far al-Tazmantī (d. 682) said: “ This practice did not occur in the early period of the pious Salaf, in spite of their glorification and their love for him – such glorification and love that us put together will not amount to [the love of] even one of them, and not even an atom’s weight of it!” ( Subul al-Hudā, 1:442) Both Hafiz Ibn Hajar and al-Sakhawi supported Mawlid. Secondly, for an act to be permissible, it is not necessary that is should be performed by the pious Salaf. We are doing many things which were not done by the Salaf. This is not a valid objection.
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 14, 2017 13:28:01 GMT
the mawlid is not singled out to one day a year or one month a year. No one is talking of "mawlid" in the sense of certain gatherings that are conducted throughout the year. This is equivocation. "Mawlid" in the sense we are using it here can only take place in Rabi ul Awwal. "Mawlid" means marking the day/month of the year in which the Prophet was born for devotional celebration, just as in the definition you gave from Abu Shamah. That is the "Mawlid" that is being spoken about here. And by definition, this amounts to singling out a day/month for devotional practice. Singling out a day is not always impermissible. Hakim ul-Ummah said that if a person does this specification for an accurate reason, this specification is also permissible. This specification must be non-ritualistic (A'di) and not ritualistic or Deeni. It should not be given religious status. Ulama e Deoband only considered the Mawlid of subcontinent impermissible due to misdeeds attached to it. It is related that Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi once on his journey to Makkah al-Mukarrama for Umra visited his Shaykh and spiritual master, Haji Imdad Allah Muhajir al-Makki (Allah have mercy on him). Incidentally, on one of the days a Mawlid gathering was organized. His Shaykh Haji Imdad Allah (Allah have mercy on him) said to Shaykh Gangohi that there is a Mawlid gathering organized, would you like to attend with me? He refused and said:
“How can I attend a gathering of Mawlid when I prevent others from attending it in India due the evils that have been attached to it. If they (people in India) came to know of me attending a Mawlid what would they say?"
Upon hearing this, his Shaykh Haji Imdad Allah said: “May Allah reward you. I would have not been happier if you attended the Mawlid than I am in you refusing to come with us, because you are steadfast on what you believe to be the truth." Thereafter, Haji Imdad Allah al-Makki attended the Mawlid and one of the servants and students of Shaykh Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, without informing his Shaykh, also went with him. This student of Shaykh Rashid Ahmad said after attending the Mawlid:
“Had my Shaykh, Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, attended the Mawlid gathering, he would have not condemned it, for it was free from evil and impermissible matters." (See: Malfuzat of Mufti Mahmud al-Hasan Gangohi, 1/99)
Mawlana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri said: “It is clear from the above that we do not reject the mentioning of the Messenger of Allah’s (Allah bless him him & give him peace) 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 (Allah bless him & give him peace) is an evil and innovation…” (al-Muhannad, P: 80)It seems that Ulama e Deoband only considered the Mawlid of subcontinent impermissible due to Evils attached to it mentioned above. Secondly, everyone does not do Mawlid by specifying a date. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta says: "As a matter of fact, Muslims should be in a constant state of joy and happiness with the birth of the noble prophet all year long and should not only confine the celebration of the Prophet’s birth to a certain day"
www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=85&text=mawlid
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 14, 2017 13:14:01 GMT
Islamic Schools, Khanqahs started after the Prophet. But they are given importance too as if they have some religious importance. Why are these not stopped? Writing tafsirs of Qur'an is also famous in our age. One should have knowledge about the Tafsir of Qur'an. But there was no tafsir book at the time of the messenger, not even at the time of mujtahids. There were no Hadith collections at that time of our Prophet. But now the use of these Hadith collections is prevalent. But they are not stopped, Why? Different Islamic conferences are held on specific days. So if specifying was wrong then why date is fixed for the conferences. Hakim ul-Ummah Ashraf Ali Thanawi divided Takhsees (specification) into two types: A'di and Deeni. He said that A'di takhsees is permissible and Deeni takhsees is impermissible. (Khutbaat e Milad al-Nabi) You have answered your own question. These are non-ritualistic ( 'adi) specifications, not given any religious meaning in and of themselves. People understand madrasas, for instance, are means to an end and are not intrinsically meritorious. Mawlid, the celebration of the birth-anniversary in Rabi al-Awwal, however, is treated as an "Id" by many and is treated as though it has intrinsic religious merit, which amounts to a ritualistic ( ta'abbudi) restriction, as opposed to a non-ritualistic ( 'adi) one. This explains why there are some people, even scholars, who actually believe there is extra merit for carrying out certain good deeds specifically in the month of Rabi al-Awwal, but no one believes the transmission of religious knowledge is intrinsically more meritorious in madrasas. Yes, people might believe it is better for other (practical/organisational) reasons, but not for any intrinsic religious meaning. Al-Shatibi explains: “As for madrasas, there no ritualistic matter connected to it about which it will be said: it is bid‘ah, unless it were supposed that part of the sunnah was that religious knowledge is only studied in masjids, but this is not found – rather, religious knowledge in the early period was distributed in every place, whether masjid, house, travel or residence, or other than that, and even in the markets. Thus, if someone prepares a madrasa for studying religious knowledge, by preparing which he is assisting students, this is no more than him preparing it as a house amongst houses [in which knowledge is distributed]…so where does bid‘ah enter into here? If it is said that bid‘ah is in specifying that place over other places, then the specification here is not a ritualistic ( ta‘abbudi) specification…” ( al-I‘tisam, 1:346) So you are saying that Madrassas are not Bid'ah because "People understand madrasas, for instance, are means to an end and are not intrinsically meritorious." Those who defend Mawlid always say that Mawlid is not an Ibadah and is not intrinsically meritorious, but the acts performed in it are meritorious. Haji Imdadullah (or Hakim al-Ummah Ashraf Ali Thanawi) said in his Faysala Haft Masa'la that Mawlid is never considered an Ibadah but the acts performed in it are considered Ibadah.
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 13, 2017 18:46:48 GMT
So you accept that the scholars who have differed on this issue are of high calibre.
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Post by SyedMuhammadIbnAlAfaq on May 13, 2017 16:27:03 GMT
The practice of using definitions like "Wajib, "Fard", "Sunnat al-Mo'akda" etc started after our Nabi and These definitions are also given importance. They are prevalent. They are also considered salient features (shi‘ār) of the religion. So if giving importance makes some Bid'ah impermissible, then using these definitions are Bid'ah too. Similarly, Islamic Schools, Khanqahs started after the Prophet. But they are given importance too as if they have some religious importance. Why are these not stopped? Writing tafsirs of Qur'an is also famous in our age. One should have knowledge about the Tafsir of Qur'an. But there was no tafsir book at the time of the messenger, not even at the time of mujtahids. There were no Hadith collections at that time of our Prophet. But now the use of these Hadith collections is prevalent. But they are not stopped, Why? Different Islamic conferences are held on specific days. So if specifying was wrong then why date is fixed for the conferences. Hakim ul-Ummah Ashraf Ali Thanawi divided Takhsees (specification) into two types: A'di and Deeni. He said that A'di takhsees is permissible and Deeni takhsees is impermissible. (Khutbaat e Milad al-Nabi)
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