THE BIRTHDAY OF THE PROPHET

Celebrating the Prophet's birthday is bida'ah (an innovation in the religion); the Prophet (Sala allahu alaihi wa salam) did not instruct others to do it, and he didn't have companions around him doing it and then give any type of permission (including silent permission).

We are not to make distinction between any of the Prophets. Distinction in status, for instance. Like to say one is better than another. This leads to idol worship, similar to what the christians did when they began to worship Jesus instead of treat him as the Prophet he was. They just took it a step too far.. and kept running with it, up to what it is today.
The Prophet (salalahu alaihi wa salam) has said:

Do not over praise me as the Christians over-praised the son of Mary. I am His slave so say: 'Allah's slave and messenger'

                         [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
What is important about each Prophet and/or Messenger is the MESSAGE.

The eminent scholar Muhammad Salih bin Uthaimeen was asked concerning the celebration of the birthday of the Messenger of Allah (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam), to which he responded:
To begin with, the exact day of birth of the Messenger of Allah (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam) is not known with certainty. Rather, some contemporary researchers have confirmed that he died on the 9th of Rabee’ al-Awal and not the 12th (as is commonly believed), and thus there is no historical basis for specifying the 12th for celebration.
Furthermore, this celebration has no basis in the religious point of view, since if it was legislated, the Prophet  would have performed it or informed his nation to do so. If he had performed it or informed his nation to do so, it would be necessary for it to have been preserved, since Allah ( Subhanna wa ta'ala) says:

“Verily It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Remembrance of the Qur`an) and surely, We will guard and preserve it (from corruption).”

                                     (al-Hijr: 9)


Since this was not narrated, we come to know that it is not from the religion of Allah. If it is not from the religion of Allah, then it is not allowed for us to worship Allah (Subhanna wa ta'ala) and seek to come close to Him in this manner. If Allah (Subhanna wa ta'ala) has made a particular path for us to follow to reach Him (and His pleasure), which is the path of the Messenger of Allah , how can it be permissible for us, while we are only slaves, to make another path which leads to Allah’s Pleasure from our own selves (and not revealed)? Indeed it is a great transgression against the right of Allah (Subhanna wa ta'ala) to legislate in His religion that which is not part of it. Moreover, this entails a denial of what Allah (Subhanna wa ta'ala) said in the Qur`an:

“This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion”

                                       (al- Ma`idah: 3)

If this celebration was from the Perfection of the Religion, it must have been in existence before the death of the Messenger of Allah (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam). If it is not from the Perfection of the Religion, then it is not possible that it be from the religion, since Allah (Subhanna wa ta'ala) said: “This day I have perfected your religion for you.” Whoever claims that it is from the Perfection of the Religion which occurred after the death of the Messenger of Allah , then his claim amounts to a denial of this verse of the Qur`an. Without doubt those who celebrate the birthday of the Messenger of Allah , only desire to magnify, extol and praise the Messenger , show their love for him, and increase their enthusiasm to bring out their feelings in this celebration for the Prophet . All of this is a form of worship. The love of the Messenger  is a worship that is necessary for faith, since one’s faith is not complete until he loves the Messenger  more than his own self, his son, his father, and all of humanity. Magnification, exaltation and praise of the Messenger of Allah  for Allah’s sake is an act of worship and is from the religion, as is enthusiasm for the Messenger of Allah , since they draw one closer to Allah’s religion.

Thus it follows that celebration of the birthday of the Prophet  in order to draw near to Allah and to extol His Messenger  is regarded as an act of worship, and since it is an act of worship then it is never allowed to innovate anything new in religion which is not of it. Therefore, the celebration of the birthday is an innovation and prohibited. Also, we hear various reports that these celebrations contain many unlawful acts, which neither the religion, one’s senses, nor any reasonable intelligence deem permissible. They sing rhymes and poems which go to extremes in respect to the Messenger , so much so that they make him greater than Allah, and refuge is sought in Allah. We also hear about the foolishness of some of the participants, that when an orator tells the story of his birth and reaches the part of his delivery, they all stand up in attention together saying and believing that the soul and spirit of the Messenger of Allah , has appeared among them manifest, and that they stand out of respect. This is extreme folly and absurd superstition. Moreover, it is not mannerly to stand up for the Messenger of Allah  since he used to dislike that. The Sahaabah, who loved and extolled the Messenger  more than anyone else, would not stand for him while he was alive due to his hate for it, so how foolish is this baseless superstition?
The celebration of the birthday of the Messenger of Allah  is a blatant innovation which never occurred until after the three righteous generations following the death of the Messenger of Allah , and it is full of undesired and wicked things which oppose the basis of the religion of Islam, moreover the mixing and integration of men and women together in one area and many other objectionable acts.
[Source: Majmoo‘ah Fataawaa, Muhammad bin Salih al-Uthaimeen vol. 2/ p.297-300]

BIDA'H: INNOVATION

Bida'h mean innovation , to create something without precedence.

 

One needs to distinguish between the two kinds of bid’ah. The first type is innovation in matters of the world in technology, medicine, computers, etc. This is allowed because it involves matters of life. The second kind of bid’ah is innovation in matters of religion.

‘Aisha(Radia Allahu anha) reported Muhammad(Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam) said:

"Whoever innovates into this affair of ours something that we have not commanded it is to be rejected"

                         (Bukhari and Muslim)

Jaabir (Radia Allahu anhu) narrated Muhammad(Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam) said,

"To proceed: The best speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance and example is that of Muhammad, and the worse of all things are the newly invented things (in the religion), for every innovation is a error and a misguidance." (Muslim)

This shows us there are no acceptable innovations in Islam.

People often point to the statement of Umar (Radia Allahu anhu) when talking about the tarawih prayer in Ramadan, "What a good bid’ah this is." We can see Umar (Radia Allahu anhu) simply revived the praying of tarawih and it was not something which he did which was not done by Muhammad (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam). We can not do something in Islam which was not done by Muhammad (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam) and the Sahaba (companions of Prophet Muhammad (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam)).
 

Allah said:

"This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion"(Al-Maidah 5: 3)

Our religion is already perfect, so doing some deed which is not found in the Qur’an and Sunnah, one seems to think they have come up with a better version of Islam than Allah revealed did. May Allah keep us away from doing such deeds. For Allah tells us about doing something other than the way Muhammad (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam) did:

"And let those who oppose the Messenger’s way beware, lest some conflict befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them." (Al Noor, 24:62)                                   

Allah has warned us by telling us what happened to the people of the Book.

"Say, O people of the Book exceed not the bounds in your religion, trespassing beyond the truth. Nor follow the vain desires of people who went astray in times gone by, who mislead many and strayed from the even way. Curses were pronounced on those among the children of Israel who were disbelievers, by the tongue of David and of Jesus son of Mary, because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses."

                                    (Al-Maidah 5:77-78)

We can also see another consequence of falling into bid’ah by the following hadith, Muhammad (Sala allahu alaihi wa salam) said,

"Verily I shall proceed you to the Fountain (Al-Kawthar). Whosoever will pass by me shall drink (from it) and never get thirsty. People whom I know and who will know me will certainly come to me for drink but there will be a barrier between them and me. Then I will say, "Verily they are of me.’ It will be said, ‘You certainly do not know what bid’ah (innovation) they made after you.’ Then I shall say, "Be off those who made bid’ah after me.’

                                    (Bukhari and Muslim)

Abdullah Ibn Masood narrated,

"The Messenger of Allah (Sala allahu alaihi wa salam) drew a line for us and then said, ‘This is Allah’s Straight Path.’ Then he drew lines to its right and left, then he said, ‘These are paths, upon every one of them there is a devil calling towards it.’

                                             (Ahmad)

Then he (Muhammad (Sala Allahu alaihi wa salam)) recited (from the Qur’an ):

"Verily this is My Straight path, so follow it and follow not (other) paths, they   will separate you away from His path. This He has ordained for you that you may become pious."

                                           (Al-Anam 6:153)

We have been warned that our Muslim Ummah would be split as Prophet Muhammad (Sala allahu alaihi wa salam) said:

Those evils that befell the children of Israel shall befall my Ummah, so much that if there was one amongst them that openly committed fornication with his mother there would be one among my Ummah who would do that too. And the children of Israel split into seventy-two sects and my Ummah shall split into seventy-three sects all of them in the fire except one group." The Sahaba asked, ‘Which one is that O Messenger?’ He said, "It is the one to which I and my companions belong."

                                           (Tirmidhi)

The Sahaba’s Opinion Concerning Bid’ah:

Amr ibn Yahya narrated his father told him,

"We used to sit at Abdullah Ibn Masood’s house before Fajr prayer. If he exited we would follow him to the musjid. Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari then came to us and asked us, ‘Did Abu Abur-Rahman (Abdullah Ibn Masood) come out yet?’ We said, ‘No’, so he sat with us till he emerged. We all stood up when he exited. He (Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari) said, ‘O Abu Adur-Rahman, I just saw something which I did not recognize, and I did not see, all thanks to Allah, but good.’ He (Ibn Masood) said, ‘What is it?’ He (Abu Musa) said, ‘If you live you will see it. I saw in the musjid people sitting in circles waiting for the prayer. In each circle there is a leader, and they have stones in their hands. He (the leader) would say, ‘Say Takbir (Allahu Akbar) 100 times’, so they say Takbir 100 times. He (the leader) would then say, ‘Say Tahil (La Ilaha Illa Allah) 100 times’, so they say Tahil 100 times. He (the leader) would then say, ‘Say Tasbih (Subhana Allah) 100 times’, so they say Tasbih 100 times. Ibn Masood said, ‘Did you not order them to count their evil deeds, and guarantee them that none of their good deeds will be lost?’ Then he and us left till we reached one of the circles. Then he (Ibn Masood) stood next to the circle and said, ‘What are you doing?’ They said, ‘O Abu Abdur-Rahamn, (these are) stones that we count our Takbir, Tahil, tasbih, and Tah’mid (Alhumdu’lillah).’ Ibn Masood said, ‘Count your evil deeds, for I guarantee that none of your good deeds will be lost. What is the matter with you, O nation of Muhammad? How soon you come to your destruction! The companions (of Muhammad) are still many, these are his clothes still not worn out and his cookware did not break yet. By whom my soul is in His Hands, you are either following a religion better than Muhammad’s or followers of a way of evil.’ They said, ‘By Allah, O Abu Abdur-Rahman, we sought only what is good.’ Ibn Masood said, ‘Many people seek good, but they do not reach it. The Messenger told us some people who read the Qur’an will not have the Qur’an leave their throats (to their hearts). By Allah I do not know if most of you are from them.’ Then he left them. Amr Ibn Salamah said, ‘We saw most of those people fighting against us, in the battle of Nahrawan with the Khawarij.’                                          (Tirmidhi)

Once a man sneezed in the presence of Ibn Umar and said, "Praise be to Allah and peace be upon the Messenger.’ Ibn Umar chastised the man and said, "The Prophet has only taught us to say Alhumdu’lillah."

         (Tirmidhi)