CHRISTMAS AND MAWLID CELEBRATIONS: THE MEETING POINT
By
Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori
Christmas is to Christians what Mawlid Nabiyy Celebration is to People of Bid'ah. Both have no basis in the Sunnah (Islam). What this means is that Christmas has no bearing in Christianity. It was innovated into their faith by their leaders. Pastor Kumuyi, may Allāh guide him to Islām, had once said this. The same way, Mawlid has no bearing in Islām, it was innovated by the People of Bid'ah. Those who innovated Mawlid did it to imitate the Christians. Many of those who celebrate Mawlid today are either ignorant of its genesis or carried away by their desires. Allāh's aid is sought!
The people of bid'ah imitate the Christians and the Jews a lot in the ways they practice their religion. They copy from them span by span, and they introduce anything they deem fit into their religion just like the Christians and the Jews. There is a Saheeh hadith on this. The Hadith was reported by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رضي الله عنه. The Messenge صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا فِي جُحْرِ ضَبٍّ لاَتَّبَعْتُمُوهُمْ " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ آلْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى قَالَ " فَمَنْ
You would tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch and step by step so much so that if they had entered into the hole of the lizard, you would follow them in this also. We said: Allah's Messenger, do you mean Jews and Christians (by your words)" those before you"? He said: Who else (than those two religious groups)? (Saheeh Muslim, 2669)
It is not a surprise that many of those celebrating Mawlid Nabiyy don't also see anything wrong in celebrating Christmas because they believe Jesus عليه السلام was also a Messenger whose birth deserves to be celebrated. They also see nothing wrong in celebrating their own birthdays too despite its pagan origin. So, there is clear and direct connection between Christmas and Mawlid.
The celebrants of Mawlid had to fight for its holiday just because the Christians were granted Christmas holiday. This is a clear connection.
Meanwhile, celebration of Christmas is not for Muslims. We do not to greet, feast or rejoice in respect of it. Then, it is against the Sunnah for a Muslim to imitate the non-Muslims in their religion or celebrate their festivals with them. Greeting, feasting and rejoicing with kuffar on their festivals is like giving them the impression that they are on the right path. They are not to be joined in any of their acts of worship. The best way to show love to non-Muslims is to call them to Islām with wisdom, and not by celebrating their festivals with them.
However, it must be noted that those who celebrate Mawlid are not upon kufr that take them out of Islām except they perpetrate shirk in it. For instance, those who call on other than Allāh in their Mawlid gatherings are doing kufr. Those overpraising the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم with attributes that are meant for Allāh alone in their Mawlid Celebration are upon shirk.
One of the common things about bid'ah is that if not curtailed, it could later grow to the extent of taking its perpetrator out of Islām.
Allāh's aid is sought.
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