The Celebration of Mawlid, The Birthday of the Prophet
by (@ostadjaan), weekly columnist
Lots of people argue over Christmas, whether it is the holy day to
honor the birth of the Jesus or a commercial, secular holiday. (And at
least to Neil deGrasse Tyson, the birth of Isaac Newton).
Muslims are no strangers to arguments, and have their own debates. No, not the debates over whether Muslims should celebrate Christmas, which is something of an annual ritual for Muslims living in Western societies.
I am speaking about the other important debate, the one over whether Muslims should honor the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. And this Friday night, January 2nd, Muslims begin celebrating the birth of Muhammad.
Stay with me here. ☺
Muslims cross a decorated street during Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan.
Credit: Rizwan Tabassum License: AFP/Getty Images.
Historically speaking, many Muslims have honored the birth of Muhammad in a ritual called the Mawlid.
These popular practices are festive occasions, often with decorations
all over cities, featuring tents in which sweets and candy are handed
out.
People walk under decorations erected ahead of the celebrations for al-Mawlid al-Nabawi in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.
Credit: Mohammed Huwais License: AFP/Getty Images.
Connected
to these festivities is a whole tradition of devotional songs that
portray Muhammad not simply as the deliverer of the last divine
dispensation (the Qur’an) but as a being of cosmic significance, an
opening of a channel of divine mercy onto this world, and a means of
intercession for us sinners.
Muslim Sufis play music in the streets in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon in celebration of Mawlid.
Credit: Mahmoud Zayat License: AFP/Getty Images.
It
was this Muhammad — the cosmic Muhammad who served as the cause of
creation, the Muhammad that God so loved that were it not for him
creation would not have been (according to the Sacred Hadith, “Wa law laaka…”
) — who was and remains the object of Muslim devotion. Just as the moon
reflects the light of the sun, so does Muhammad reflect the light of
God onto the cosmos.
Perhaps the most famous of these devotional Mawlid poems is a Turkish version that dates back to about 700 years ago. Written by Suleyman Chelebi, this Mawlid poem (referred to in Turkish as the Mevlut) offers a somewhat rare point of view in Abrahamic traditions: a chance to see a central religious narrative from the point of view of a female character — in this case Muhammad’s mother, Amina.
In
this rendering of a scene from 1787, Muslims take part in an official
prayer to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad in the presence of the
sultan and other supreme officials at the mosque of Sultan Ahmed in
Istanbul.
Credit: Ottoman Imperial Archives License: Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
The
narrative is something of a “super best friends” episode of great
luminous women of religious history: Muhammad’s mother, Asiya (who
raised Moses), and Lady Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Kashmiri
Muslims watch as an unseen priest shows a relic believed to be a hair
from the beard of the Prophet Muhammed at the Hazratbal Shrine in
Srinagar.
Credit: Tauseef Mustafa License: AFP/Getty Images.
As has been characteristic of the Muslim tradition, the paramount quality of Muhammad emphasized here is that of rahmatun li ‘l-‘alamin (“a mercy to all the worlds”), a direct reference to Qur’an 21:107.
The next section of the poem is referred to as the great “Welcome,” in which all of the cosmos joins in welcoming the newborn Muhammad.
Iraqi Sufi Kurds celebrate the holiday of Mawlid al-Nabawi in the Kurdish town of Akra, 300 miles north of Baghdad.
Credit: Safin Hamed License: AFP/Getty Images.
This
Muhammad is much more than simply a child; he is the cure for pain, one
who is not separated from God, and a saintly being (“friend of God”),
whom all will call upon to deliver them from sin in the days of the
Hereafter:
Riding horses with other children who have passed khatam
(a Qur'an reading class), children take part in the festival of Mawlid
celebrating Prophet Muhammad's birthday. The observance is held yearly
in Genurit, Kawengen, East Ungaran, Central Java. The procession is
followed by friends of the Qur'an reading (ngaji) class, family
members, and close neighbors. To distinguish between the khataman kids
and other ngaji pupils, those who have passed the class are decorated
with special clothing and flowers.
Credit: Chris Inno License: Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
Here
is where the Mawlid goes from being a nativity poem to an everyday
occasion of connecting to God. Muslims can celebrate Muhammad’s birthday
anytime.
In fact, many Muslims hold Mevlut ceremonies during the course of the year. Why? Because the cosmic Muhammad is not born just once a year, but offers an opening to the divine anytime — here, now. So the nativity poem to honor Muhammad is and can be recited at any time: in weddings, for example, or anytime that Muslims want to feel connected through God through the overflowing fountain of Muhammad's mercy.
An
Egyptian woman and her daughter buy a "bride" doll during a visit to
the Sayida Zeinab neighborhood market in central Cairo, Egypt during the
celebration of Mawlid.
Credit: Mohammed Abed License: AFP/Getty Images.
So
if the Mawlid/Mevlut is a chance to honor Muhammad, why would some
Muslims object to such a celebration? Why would the Muslim blogosphere
break out every year with debates over the properness of the Mawlid? For
some Muslims, the objection is mainly an objection to the presentation
of the cosmic Muhammad, which they feel glorifies Muhammad beyond his
mere human dimension.
For other Muslims who object to the Mawlid, it is based on a notion of objecting to religious practices that have no sanction in Muhammad’s own practice. In other words, since Muslims are to emulate Muhammad’s own paradigm, the argument against the Mawlid is that Muhammad never celebrated his own birthday, neither did his immediate contemporary community. To put it in comparative context, it would be akin to arguing that Christ never celebrated Christmas, so neither should Christians.
Aicha
Belkebir works on one the 13 candles which will be carried by
volunteers around the town of Sale, Morocco prior to the Eid al-Mawlid
celebrations marking the birth of Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam.
AFP PHOTO / ABDELHAK SENNA (Photo credit should read ABDELHAK
SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)
Credit: Abdelhak Senna License: AFP/Getty Images.
The
Mawlid gives us a useful chance to see the range of interpretations and
practices marked as Muslim. As paradoxical as it sounds, it’s all about
the love, even the disagreement. For the Muslims who honor Muhammad’s
Mawlid, it’s the deep love for Muhammad that brings them closer to God.
For those who identify as Salafi, and wish to abide only by practices
that they believe originate in the Qur’an and the example of Muhammad,
it is a way of honoring the desire to practice Islam as Muhammad would
have wanted us to do, without what is deemed to be later accretions and
potentially dubious practices. As the Prophet himself is to have said,
disagreement among the scholars is a mercy.
And here’s a fun little thought: next year, the birthday of Muhammad will fall even closer to…the birth of Christ. Whatever brings you closer to God, Christmas and Mawlid, may it be blessed.
Members of the Hassounia brotherhood celebrate the birth of Prophet Mohammed with music in Sale, Morocco.
Credit: Abdelhak Senna License: AFP/Getty Images.
Muslims are no strangers to arguments, and have their own debates. No, not the debates over whether Muslims should celebrate Christmas, which is something of an annual ritual for Muslims living in Western societies.
I am speaking about the other important debate, the one over whether Muslims should honor the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. And this Friday night, January 2nd, Muslims begin celebrating the birth of Muhammad.
Stay with me here. ☺
Muslims cross a decorated street during Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan.Credit: Rizwan Tabassum License: AFP/Getty Images.
People walk under decorations erected ahead of the celebrations for al-Mawlid al-Nabawi in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.Credit: Mohammed Huwais License: AFP/Getty Images.
Muslim Sufis play music in the streets in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon in celebration of Mawlid.Credit: Mahmoud Zayat License: AFP/Getty Images.
Perhaps the most famous of these devotional Mawlid poems is a Turkish version that dates back to about 700 years ago. Written by Suleyman Chelebi, this Mawlid poem (referred to in Turkish as the Mevlut) offers a somewhat rare point of view in Abrahamic traditions: a chance to see a central religious narrative from the point of view of a female character — in this case Muhammad’s mother, Amina.
In
this rendering of a scene from 1787, Muslims take part in an official
prayer to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad in the presence of the
sultan and other supreme officials at the mosque of Sultan Ahmed in
Istanbul.Credit: Ottoman Imperial Archives License: Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Some have said that of these charming three
One was Asiya of moonlike face,
One was Lady Mary without doubt,
And the third a houri beautiful.
Then these moonfaced three drew gently near
And they greeted me with kindness here;
Then they sat around me, and they gave
The good tidings of Muhammad’s birth;
Said to me: “A son like this your son
Has not come since God has made this world,
And the Mighty One did never grant
Such a lovely son as will be yours.
You have found great happiness,
O dear For from you that virtuous one is born!
He that comes is King of Knowledge high,
Is the mine of gnosis and tawhid [monotheism].
For the love of him the sky revolves,
Men and jinn are longing for his face.
This night is the night that he, so pure
Will suffuse the worlds with radiant light!
This night, earth becomes a Paradise,
This night God shows mercy to the world.
This night those with heart are filled with joy,
This night gives the lovers a new life.
Mercy for the worlds is Mustafa,
Sinners’ intercessors: Mustafa!’"
Kashmiri
Muslims watch as an unseen priest shows a relic believed to be a hair
from the beard of the Prophet Muhammed at the Hazratbal Shrine in
Srinagar.Credit: Tauseef Mustafa License: AFP/Getty Images.
The next section of the poem is referred to as the great “Welcome,” in which all of the cosmos joins in welcoming the newborn Muhammad.
Iraqi Sufi Kurds celebrate the holiday of Mawlid al-Nabawi in the Kurdish town of Akra, 300 miles north of Baghdad.Credit: Safin Hamed License: AFP/Getty Images.
Welcome, O high prince, we welcome you!
Welcome, O mine of wisdom, we welcome you!
Welcome, O secret of the Book, we welcome you!
Welcome, O medicine for pain, we welcome you!
Welcome, O sunlight and moonlight of God!
Welcome, O you not separated from God!
Welcome, O nightingale of the Garden of Beauty!
Welcome, O friend of the Lord of Power!
Welcome, O refuge of your community!
Welcome, O helper of the poor and destitute!
Welcome, O eternal soul, we welcome you!
Welcome, O cupbearer of the lovers, we welcome you!
Welcome, O darling of the Beloved!
Welcome, O much beloved of the Lord!
Welcome, O Mercy for the worlds!
Welcome, O intercessor for the sinner!
Only for you were Time and Space created…
Riding horses with other children who have passed khatam
(a Qur'an reading class), children take part in the festival of Mawlid
celebrating Prophet Muhammad's birthday. The observance is held yearly
in Genurit, Kawengen, East Ungaran, Central Java. The procession is
followed by friends of the Qur'an reading (ngaji) class, family
members, and close neighbors. To distinguish between the khataman kids
and other ngaji pupils, those who have passed the class are decorated
with special clothing and flowers.Credit: Chris Inno License: Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
In fact, many Muslims hold Mevlut ceremonies during the course of the year. Why? Because the cosmic Muhammad is not born just once a year, but offers an opening to the divine anytime — here, now. So the nativity poem to honor Muhammad is and can be recited at any time: in weddings, for example, or anytime that Muslims want to feel connected through God through the overflowing fountain of Muhammad's mercy.
An
Egyptian woman and her daughter buy a "bride" doll during a visit to
the Sayida Zeinab neighborhood market in central Cairo, Egypt during the
celebration of Mawlid.Credit: Mohammed Abed License: AFP/Getty Images.
For other Muslims who object to the Mawlid, it is based on a notion of objecting to religious practices that have no sanction in Muhammad’s own practice. In other words, since Muslims are to emulate Muhammad’s own paradigm, the argument against the Mawlid is that Muhammad never celebrated his own birthday, neither did his immediate contemporary community. To put it in comparative context, it would be akin to arguing that Christ never celebrated Christmas, so neither should Christians.
Aicha
Belkebir works on one the 13 candles which will be carried by
volunteers around the town of Sale, Morocco prior to the Eid al-Mawlid
celebrations marking the birth of Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam.
AFP PHOTO / ABDELHAK SENNA (Photo credit should read ABDELHAK
SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)Credit: Abdelhak Senna License: AFP/Getty Images.
And here’s a fun little thought: next year, the birthday of Muhammad will fall even closer to…the birth of Christ. Whatever brings you closer to God, Christmas and Mawlid, may it be blessed.
Members of the Hassounia brotherhood celebrate the birth of Prophet Mohammed with music in Sale, Morocco.Credit: Abdelhak Senna License: AFP/Getty Images.
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Contributor
Omid Safi is
Director of Duke University's Islamic Studies Center. He is the past
Chair for the Study of Islam, and the current Chair for Islamic
Mysticism Group at the American Academy of Religion. In 2009, he was
recognized by the University of North Carolina for mentoring minority
students in 2009, and won the Sitterson Teaching Award for Professor of
the Year in April of 2010.
Omid is the editor of the volume Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism,
which offered an understanding of Islam rooted in social justice,
gender equality, and religious and ethnic pluralism. His works Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam, dealing with medieval Islamic history and politics, and Voices of Islam: Voices of Change were published 2006. His last book, Memories of Muhammad,
deals with the biography and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad. He has
forthcoming volumes on the famed mystic Rumi, contemporary Islamic
debates in Iran, and American Islam.
Omid has been among the most frequently sought speakers on Islam in
popular media, appearing in The New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post,
PBS, NPR, NBC, CNN and other international media. He leads an
educational tour every summer to Turkey, to study the rich multiple
religious traditions there. The trip is open to everyone, from every
country. More information at Illuminated Tours.
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