My Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam’s beloved followers! Allah Almighty has favoured us with immeasurable bounties which
cannot be counted. Every breath we take is a bounty and favour of Allah, if we cannot breathe in for a little while then that could mean the end of our life and if we cannot exhale that air then the case would be the same.
Likewise, Allah Almighty has blessed us with body parts such as eyes, hands, etc and bounties such as parents, food, shelter are signs of His immense Mercies on us. But Allah Almighty has never expressed His favour on any of these Mercies, except when He
blessed us with His Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam,
Quran: 3:164 - Allah has indeed bestowed a great favour upon the Muslims, in that He sent to them a Noble Messenger (Prophet Mohammed ? peace and blessings be upon him) from among them, who recites to them His verses, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom; and before it, they were definitely in open error.
Now that we know that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam is the greatest bounty of Allah Almighty upon us, then we should know that Quran asks us to rejoice on the bounties of Allah.
This is what we do in Eid e Milaad, to rejoice on the greatest favour of Allah Almighty as it is the arrival the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam who showed us the way to our Lord, who liberated us from the evil and entered us into the gardens of goodness, who made our hearts worthy to hold the love and manifestation of Allah, who gave us a peaceful heart and a peaceful society, who is more concerned about us then our own selves and if any one of us was to encounter any difficulty then he is most disturbed by it, as is made evident by this verse, Indeed there has come to you a Noble Messenger from among you ? your
falling into hardship aggrieves him, most concerned for your well being, for the Muslims most compassionate, most merciful. Then if they turn away,
say (O dear Prophet Mohammed ? peace and blessings be upon him), ?Allah suffices me; there is no worship except for Him; only Him have I trusted, and He is the Lord Of The Great Throne.? When the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam has given us so
much then should we, as a nation, not celebrate his Milad, to remember his blessed life and the sacrifices that he made for us?
The Sunnat of Allah Almighty
Let us talk about the very first Milad that took place,
Quran 3:81- And remember when Allah took a covenant from the Prophets; “If I give you the Book and knowledge and the (promised) Noble Messenger (Prophet Mohammed ? peace and blessings be upon him) comes to you, confirming the
Books you possess, you shall positively, definitely believe in him and you shall positively, definitely help him”; He said, “Do you agree, and accept My binding responsibility in this matter?” They all answered, “We agree”; He said, “Then bear witness amongst yourselves, and I Myself am a witness with you.”
This was indeed a very blessed gathering in which the host was Almighty Allah Himself and the guests were all the Prophets from
Hazrat Adam Alaihis Salaam until Hazrat Isa Alaihis Salaam and the purpose of which was to praise the Final Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam of Allah Almighty and to make evident his true status. In Milad, we too call a gathering and praise the Beloved Prophet of Allah, then, are we not following the way of Allah Almighty?
Did the Companions Celebrate Milad?
To celebrate the Milad of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam is not an innovation but rather a way established by the
companions. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam himself along with many of his companions used to Fast on Mondays to
commemorate his birth and the arrival of the first Revelation.
Hazrat Ka’ab Ahbar RadiyAllahu Anhu, before entering into the folds of Islam, was a Jew and a renowned scholar of the Torah which was revealed upon Hazrat Moosa Alaihis Salaam. The companions used to approach him and ask him to recite the verses from the Torah which highlighted the blessed qualities of the Final Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. Hazrat Ka’ab would take them home and recite the verses with much love and enthusiasm and the companions would then praise Allah Almighty for bestowing them with such a bounty.
Once the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam emerged from his house and found the companions sat in a gathering. He asked, ‘What are you doing?’ They replied, ‘We are praising our Lord, who only by His favour blessed us with Islam and His Beloved Prophet SallallahuAlaihi wa Sallam.’ Upon this RasoolAllah Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam
said, ‘Allah Almighty is expressing Pride upon His angels about you.’
Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas RadiyAllahu Anhuma reports, ‘Some companions were sat talking about the different Prophets of Allah
Almighty. One of them said, ‘Ibrahim Alaihis Salaam is the Khaleel of Allah (Friend of Allah)’, the other said, ‘Moosa Alaihis Salaam is the Kaleem of Allah (Spoke to Allah)’, the third one said, ‘Isa Alaihis Salaam is Kalimatullah’, the fourth one said, ‘Adam Alaihis alaam is Safiullah’. Just then the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam arrived and said, ‘I have heard your conversation and indeed you all have spoken the truth, but listen, I am the Beloved of Allah, and I don’t say this out of pride.’
Thus to organise a gathering to praise Allah Almighty and His Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam is not an innovation but
the Sunnah of the companions.
The Purpose of Milad
In Islamic terminology, Milad is to organise a gathering to remember and praise the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, talking
about his blessed birth, about his blessed life and achievements, to discuss the high merit bestowed by Allah on him, and so on.
Imam Jalaluddin Syuti Rahmatullah Alaih states, ‘The logic behind Milad is to recite the Holy Quran, to read the narrations highlighting the blessed birth of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam and then to distribute some sweets. The scholars are unanimous that these are blessed deeds and a way of expressing our joy at the arrival of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam and to remember his high status.’ [Husnul Maqsad Fil Amalil Mawlid]
The father of Alaa Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza, Hazrat Maulana Naqi Ali Khan RadiyAllahu Anhuma states, ‘The concept behind Milad is
that an individual or a group of people gather to sincerely and with the depth of their hearts remember and express gratitude on the
greatest bounty of Allah Almighty and remember his blessed birth, his days of fostering, the Revelations, the incidents of his life and
migration, the Irhas and the Mu’jizaat as shown by him, his blessed nature and character and the high rank decreed by Allah to him, to understand the respect and the exclusive characteristics unique to him, to quote the saying of the companions and the renowned scholars, to send excessive Duroods whilst in the gathering and distributes sweets at the end. All this is good, established, and proved.
How to celebrate
One is required to celebrate and rejoice in every possible manner. Just as we prepare and rejoice for the other Eids, in the same way we should prepare for this Eid because if it was not for this Eid, we would never have the other Eids. Allah Almighty has said that if it was not for His Beloved, he would not have created the universe. So, along with wearing new clothes, preparing good food, one should try and stand in Salaam at the time of birth, apply scent, spend generously on the family, feed the poor, provide to the destitute, etc and earn tremendous rewards.
Unfortunately, there are some, who in the name of celebrations, engage themselves in disliked acts such as fireworks and other un?
Islamic activities which is a complete waste of time and money.
The Reward of Milad
There are immense and uncountable rewards on celebrating Milad, let us look at just one:
Abu Lahb was one of the staunchest enemies of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam and is the only one amongst the enemies of RasoolAllah Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam who has been criticised by name in the Holy Quran. When he heard from his maid Suwaibah that a nephew was born to him, he out happiness and as a mark of celebration at the arrival of his nephew pointed his finger indicating that he has set her free for bringing the good news.
After he died, Hazrat Abbas RadiyAllahu saw him in his dream and enquired, ‘What is your state now?’ He replied, ‘I am in the severe
punishment of Allah Almighty but every Monday I am given water from my finger which I pointed to free my maid because of the arrival of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. [Bukhari Sharif]
It is interesting to note that if a non believer and a staunch enemy of RasoolAllah Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam has his torment reduced and receives water, which cannot even be imagined in Hell, for celebrating the arrival of his nephew, then we being the believers and the slaves of RasoolAllah Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, celebrate the arrival of our Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, then how can we be devoid of rewards from Allah Almighty?
More information?
Why not listen to our Podcast in which a Sunni Dawate Islami representative answers in detail questions to why we celebrate Milad.
To listen click here.
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