Refuting the false ijtihad of the Wahhabis (Pseudo-Salafis)
Introduction
1
What is Bid'a?
2
Ibn Kathir on the Inventor of Mawlid
3
Other Scholars Who
Accepted Mawlid
4
Conclusion
5
Bism-Illahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim
by Shaykh Abdul Hadi Palazzi
Al-hamdu li-Llahi Rabbi-l-'alamin wa-s-salatu wa-s-salamu 'ala Ashrafi-l-Anbiya'i wa-l-Mursalin, Sayyiduna Muhammad Imam al-Muhtadin, wa 'ala Alihi-l-Mutahirin, wa Ashabihi-l-Mukramin, wa man ittabahu ila yaumi-d-din.
We praise Allah, Lord of the worlds, for increasing science in this Ummah, and ask for His mercy upon those disciples that make jihad with their pens to support Haqq and refute batil. Rejoicing in auspicious anniversaries is sunnah mutahhara. When the Messenger of Allah (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) found Jews fasting on 'Ashurah, he fasted with them, out of his closeness to his brother Musa (A), and commemorating the day when Allah subhanaHu, freed the Bani Israeli from slavery in Misr.
Rahmah from Allah Ya'ala is wasi'ah, including all created beings. Rasul-Ullah's (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) birthday was celebrated as an auspicious day even by mushrikun in the time of Jahiliyyah. This world was enwrapped in darkness and ignorance, and woke up on the day Rasul-Ullah (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was born. The consensus of mujtahidin is that mawalids practices by Ahl as-Sunnah are ni'mah al-bid'ah and a good opportunity for 'ibadat. Their status is similar to those unanimously admitted for tarawih in jama'ah (bid'ah hasana al-'Omariyyah) or second adhan in salah al-jum'ah (bid'ah hasana al-'Uthmaniyyah).
Sunni answers to a Wahhabi-oriented letter as follows:
"As salaam-u-alaikum again brother Fulan ibn Fulan,
"Bid'a, as Islamic Law defines it, may be in one of 5 categories stated in the previous message. If Muslims celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam), i.e. MAWLID, then the meaning of "celebrating" must be looked into before condemning MAWLID as a "reprehensible innovation." What orthodox Sunni scholars approved of in "celebration," were activities such as: reading more Qur'an on that day, feeding more poor people on that day, reading more stories of Companions to strengthen the taqwa of children, being more attentive to Islamic principles and abiding more by them, etc. If MAWLID means undertaking the above-stated activities, then MAWLID cannot be classified as a "reprehensible innovation," since celebrating merely entails following the Qur'an and Sunnah.
"Of course, if people dance unlawfully, or have other sexual and indecent activities when celebrating MAWLID, then this is of course forbidden--because the activities which define "celebrating" oppose Islamic principles. For that matter, anything which opposes Qur'an and Sunnah is impermissible, regardless of what you "term" the activity.
"For example, if I say: "I am listening to the radio," it doesn't automatically mean I'm committing a haram act. If "listening" means listening to Islamic speeches by scholars, then this cannot be haram, whereas if I'm listening to lustful music, than it is obviously haram because it opposes Qur'an and Sunnah. We must investigate what certain words mean before labeling them as "reprehensible." Another example is, the word "sufi." If a sufi means: Someone who does a lot of supererogatory acts in addition to the fard acts, does a lot of dhikr, and focuses on purifying his soul so that all of his good deeds are in obedience to Allah Ta'ala and to none else," then a sufi simply cannot be a heretic. Of course the so-called sufis who said kufr are incorrect, but those are the sufis that Muslim scholars have spoken against, while they spoke in favor of sufis who abided by Islamic principles: like Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, Hasana al-Basri, Bishr al-Hafi, Imams Nawawi, Junayd al-Baghdadi, Imam Dhu-l-Nun al-Misri, Abdu-l-Qadir Jilani, Abu Hamid Ghazali, Shaykh Muhiddin, Shaykh Shahrani, Shaykh Waliullah Dihlawi and Imam Rabbani Sirhindi.
So now we know that MAWLID (birthday of the Prophet, Sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam), if it entails permissible activities, is certainly valid. This is agreed upon by the Muslim majority.
Below, I'd like to make some comments regarding your message of "THE INVENTOR OF MAWLID."
On Thu, 21 May 1998, Brother Fulan wrote this message, with the title: THE INVENTOR OF MILAD-AN-NABI:
"As regards the celebration of the birthday of the Messenger (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam), the scholars have clearly stated that the person who first introduced this innovation (bid'a) was Muzaffar ad-Din ibn Zain al-Din, the ruler of Irbil. "He was a prodigal monarch. He commanded the scholars of his time to follow the conduct based on their own derivation and independent thinking (ijtihad), and that they should not follow any school of law of any master except their own. A group of scholars and a body of the servants inclined towards him. He used to celebrate the birthday of the first monarch to introduce this practice among the Muslims:"[1] He used to spend one hundred thousand (dirhams) on the celebration of the birthday of the Messenger (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) every year."
What you have stated so far about the "inventor of Mawlid", Muzaffar ad-Din ibn Zain al-Din, is correct and praiseworthy. If you notice, none of what is stated above so far criticizes the "inventor of Mawlid," but rather praises him. Let's go on...
"[2] His assistant and helper in this innovation was Abdul Khattab Umar b. Dihya. "He was employed in the Maghrib, then traveled to Syria, then to Iraq, and then went to Irbil in 604 A.H. and found its monarch Muzaffar al-Din b. Zain al-Din who took keen interest in celebrating the birthday of the Messenger (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam). He composed a book for him "al-Tanwir fi Mawlid al-Siraj al-Munir" and recited it to him. He rewarded him with one thousand dinars."[3]
Now you should notice that you have changed the topic from the "inventor of Mawlid," to "a man who knew the inventor of Mawlid." What is said above is about Abdul Khattab Umar b. Dihya. So far, no scholar of Islam has criticized the "Inventor of Mawlid" yet. Let's go on...
"Ibn Kathir has reported on the authority of al-Sabt about Ibn Dihya: "Ibn Unayn used to defame the Muslims and disparage them. He would make additions in his report and exaggerate. So the people gave up narrating traditions from him and falsified him. Kamil was favoring him. When his conduct was disclosed to him, he withdrew Dar-al-Hadith from him and disgraced him."[4]
Now you continue to choose statements from questionable scholars like Ibn Kathir to try to prove that celebrating MAWLID is reprehensible - all out of context. As you see, you have not yet mentioned anything about the actual inventor of Mawlid, Muzaffar ad-Din ibn Zain al-Din, which is negative. You have changed the whole topic away from him into what scholars said about Abdul Khattab Umar b. Dihya, who is NOT the "Inventor of Milad an-Nabi, but rather someone who KNEW the inventor of Milad an-Nabi. Let's go on...
"We give below the resume of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's comments on him: "He was a liar, lied frequently, and a fabricator. He often slandered the scholars and the jurists of the past, used evil tongue, self-conceited, lacked insight in religious matters, and looked down upon religion. This has been reported from al-Hafiz Diya. He further says: Ali b. al-Hussain Abul Ali al-Isfahani narrated to me - it is enough to mention his name as an authority - when Ibn Dihya came to us in Isfahan, he stayed with my father in the hospice. He honored and respected him very much. One day he came to my father with a carpet. He kissed it and placed it before him saying, "I offered such and such thousand rak'ahs of prayer on this carpet, and recited the whole Qur'an in the Ka'ba." He said: My father took it, kissed it, placed it on his head, and accepted it from him with a great pleasure. At the end of the day an inhabitant of Isfahan came and began to talk to us."
"During his conversation he said by chance: The faqih of Maghrib who is staying with you has purchased a beautiful carpet today for such and such a price. Thereupon my father ordered to bring the carpet. Seeing it the man said, "Yes by Allah Ta'ala, this is the same." My father kept silent, and the eyes of Ibn Dihya fell down.[5]"
After quoting Ibn Kathir, you now quote Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, the great Sunni scholar of hadith. But you quote their statements regarding Abdul Khattab Umar b. Dihya, but not their statements about the actual INVENTOR of MAWLID, Muzaffar ad-Din ibn Zain al-Din. WHY?
It is only fair now to state what the great scholar IBN KATHIR stated about the ACTUAL INVENTOR OF MAWLID. In IBN KATHIR'S "Tarikh," he stated:
"He [Muzaffar] used to celebrate the noble Mawlid in Rabi' al-Awwal and organize huge festivities for it. He was a wise King, brave, a fierce fighter, intelligent, learned, and just. May Allah Ta'ala have mercy on him and ennoble his grave. Shaykh Abu al-Khattab ibn Dihya compiled for him a book on the Mawlid of the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and named it "al-Tanwir fi Mawlid al-Bashir al-Nadhir" [The Illumination Concerning the Birthday of the Bringer of Glad Tidings and Warner] and the King rewarded him with 1,000 dinars for it. His rule lasted until he died in the year 630 [Hijri] as he was besieging the French in the city of Acca [Acre, Palestine] after a glorious and blameless life."
So now you know the whole truth about IBN KATHIR'S perspective about the actual "inventor" of MAWLID. Once again, he said: "He was a wise King, brave, a fierce fighter, intelligent, learned, and just. May he have mercy on him and ennoble his grave...." Now ask yourself: If celebrating Mawlid was a "reprehensible innovation," then why did Ibn Kathir praise the inventor of Mawlid? Obviously because Muzaffar ad-Din ibn Zain al-Din made a "good innovation" for Muslims.
To further prove that IBN KATHIR accepted MAWLID as being legitimate, one may be interested to know that in his last days, he wrote a whole book praising MAWLID, titled "DHIKR MAWLID RASULULLAH," in which he wrote on page 19:
"The Night of the Prophet's (Sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) birth is a magnificent, noble, blessed and holy night, a night of bliss for the Believers, pure, radiant with lights and of immeasurable price."
This is enough to prove that Ibn Kathir supported celebrating MAWLID. The title of your message, "INVENTOR OF MILAD AN-NABI" was a wrong title because you never stated what was actually said about the inventor by other Ahl al-Sunnah scholars. Your message focused on someone OTHER than the actual inventor of Mawlid.
And if you care to mention Hafiz IBN HAJAR AL-ASQALANI, it is a fact that he also accepted MAWLID to be legitimate. This is according to Hafiz JALALUDIN SUYUTI, in his "Hawi li al-fatawa," who also accepted MAWLID to be legitimate. You may refer to the book, "THE RELIANCE OF THE TRAVELER," a book by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, translated by Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, for more information about this.
In addition, IBN TAYMIYYA, whom you had called "Shaykh ul-Islam" in a previous message of yours, also accepted MAWLID to be legitimate. This is Ibn Taymiyya's opinion about Mawlid from the Collected Fatwas, "Majma' Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya", Vol. 23, p. 163 and his "Iqtida' al-sirat al-mustaqim", p. 294-295, Section entitled: "The innovated festivities of time and place" (ma uhditha min al-a'yad al-zamaniyya wa al-makaniyya):
"To celebrate and to honor the birth of the Prophet (Sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and to take it as an honored season, as some of the people are doing, is good and in it there is a great reward, because of their good intentions in honoring the Prophet (Sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam)."
So, if you claim that Ibn Taymiyya is "Shaykh ul-Islam," then what keeps you from accepting his acceptance of MAWLID?
Other scholars who accepted MAWLID are: Mufti of Mecca Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan, Imam Taqi al-Din Subki, Imam Shawkani, Imam Abu Shama (the Sheikh of Imam Nawawi), Imam Sakhawi, Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Ibn al-Jawzi, among plenty of others whom made up the Sunni Ulema. Even those who follow Ibn Taymiyyah, like Ibn Kathir and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, express similar opinions.
Please accept this proof. We are here to help each other accept what is correct and warn each other from what is incorrect. The entire ummah testifying that MAWLID IS A GOOD INNOVATION is a decisive proof in itself of its legitimacy since the Prophet (Sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) states in hadeeth: "My Ummah does not unite on a single error."
All the proof stated here is accepted by scholars worldwide today and by scholars who lived in the past. Instead of interpreting such issues with our own minds, we should make it a habit to consult "Those who know...," i.e. the Ulema.
Shaykh Abu Omar Abdul Hadi says, "The message was amended in few insignificant details, and clearly shows how this student of ours is acquiring basic proficiency in Islamic studies." Shaykh Ali Mo'allim Hussen says, "We ask for Allah Ta'ala's mercy upon all those who are engaged is preaching 'aqidah as-sahihah."
All praises are for Allah Ta'ala, and may Allah Ta'ala grant his Mercy to the best of creations, Prophet Muhammad, salla-Allah Ta'ala-'alayhi-wa-salam, and forgive us for our sins. Amin.
Wa-s-salamu 'alaykum wa-rahmat-Ullahi wa barakatuH.
Latest additions
from the Islamic Institute:
