Mawlid (Arabic: مولد) is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on the date of 12 Rabi I, the third month of the Islamic calendar. The Muslim general Gökböri, a deputy of Saladin (r. 1174–1193), is believed to have been the first to publicly celebrate Mawlid, which he did in an impressive ceremony at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. The Ottomans under Sultan Murad III (r. 1574–1595) declared it an official holiday. Celebrants hold mahfils on Mawlid in which religious poetry is recited in praise of Muhammad accompanied by a feast. Other customs affiliated with Mawlid are supererogatory fasting, prayer and dhikr. Mawlid observance is a recognized national holiday in most Muslim-majority countries of the world. It is generally approved by the Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i schools of Sunni Islam, as well as by Shia Muslims. However, Salafism and Wahhabism regard celebration of the Mawlid a reprehensible bid'a (innovation) and prohibit its observance. Deobandi jurists take an intermediate position, viewing the matter as an issue of Ikhtilaf (scholarly disagreement).
Etymology The term Mawlid is derived from the Arabic root word walad, meaning "to give birth" or "descendant". Although it is a generic term for any day of birth, Mawlid usually refers to the observance of the birthday of Muhammad. The day is also known as Mawlid al-Nabi and sometimes spelled Milad in some areas. Along with being referred to as the celebration of the birth of Muhammad, the term Mawlid refers to the 'text especially composed for and recited at Muhammad's nativity celebration' or "a text recited or sung on that day".
Date According to the majority of Sunni Muslims and most Shias, Muhammad was born on the 12th of Rabi I. Many Twelver Shia Muslims on the other hand assert that Muhammad was born on the 17th of Rabi I. It stands as a matter of ikhtilaf or disagreement since prominent Shia scholars such as Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, Ibn Babawayh, and Zayn al-Din al-Juba'i al-'Amili have affirmed the date of the 12th of Rabi' al-Awal. Nonetheless, others contend that the date of Muhammad's birth is unknown and is not definitively recorded in the Islamic traditions. The issue of the correct date of the Mawlid is recorded by Ibn Khallikan as constituting the first proven disagreement concerning the celebration.
History The Ottomans declared it an official holiday in 1588, known as Mevlid Kandil. The term Mawlid is also used in some parts of the world, such as Egypt, as a generic term for the birthday celebrations of other historical religious figures such as Sufi saints.
In the early days of Islam, observation of Muhammad's birth as a holy day was usually arranged privately, and later was an increased number of visitors to the Mawlid house that was open for the whole day specifically for this celebration. The history of this celebration goes back to the early days of Islam when some of the Tabi‘un began to hold sessions in which poetry and songs composed to honour Muhammad were recited and sung to the crowds. The early celebrations included elements of Sufi influence, with animal sacrifices and torchlight processions along with public sermons and a feast. The celebrations occurred during the day, in contrast to modern day observances, with the ruler playing a key role in the ceremonies. Emphasis was given to the Ahl al-Bayt with presentation of sermons and recitations of the Qur'an. The exact origins of the Mawlid are difficult to trace. According to Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God, the significance of the event was established when Muhammad fasted on Monday, citing the reason for this was his birth on that day, and when Umar took into consideration Muhammad's birth as a possible starting time for the Islamic calendar. According to Festivals in World Religions, the Mawlid was first introduced by the Abbasids in Baghdad. It has been suggested that the Mawlid was first formalized by al-Khayzuran of the Abbasids. One of the earliest recorded Mawlid celebrations took place in the 8th century when al-Khayzuran, mother of Harun al-Rashid, invited people to pray, celebrate and rejoice at the site where Muhammad was born. Ibn Jubayr, in 1183, writes that Muhammad's day of birth was celebrated every Monday of Rabi I at his birthplace, which had been converted priorly into a place of devotion under the Abbasids. According to the hypothesis of Nico Kaptein of Leiden University, the Mawlid was initiated by the Fatimids. It has been stated, "The idea that the celebration of the mawlid originated with the Fatimid dynasty has today been almost universally accepted among both religious polemicists and secular scholars." Annemarie Schimmel also says that the tendency to celebrate the memory of Muhammad's day of birth on a larger and more festive scale emerged first in Egypt during the Fatimids. The Egyptian historian Maqrizi (d. 1442) describes one such celebration held in 1122 as an occasion in which mainly scholars and religious establishments participated. They listened to sermons, distributed sweets, particularly honey, Muhammad's favourite and the poor received alms. This Shia origin is frequently noted by those Sunnis who oppose Mawlid. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, however, what the Fatimids did was simply a procession of court officials, which did not involve the public but was restricted to the court of the Fatimid caliph. Therefore, it has been concluded that the first Mawlid celebration which was a public festival was started by Sunnis in 1207 by Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökburi. It has been suggested that the celebration was introduced into the city Ceuta by Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi as a way of strengthening the Muslim community and to counteract Christian festivals.
Start of a public holiday In 1207, the Turkic general Gökböri started the first annual public festival of the Mawlid in Erbil. Gökböri was the brother-in-law of Saladin and soon the festival began to spread across the Muslim world. Since Saladin and Gokburi were both Sufis the festival became increasingly popular among Sufi devotees which remains so till this day. The Ottomans declared it an official holiday in 1588, known as Mevlid Kandil. It is a national holiday in most parts of the Muslim world except Saudi Arabia and Qatar which are officially Salafi.
Observances
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