The Venerations and Celebration of Prophet Muhammad's Birthday
Maulid al-Nabi:
The Veneration and Celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday RLGN 3190
April 15, 2014
The message of Islam has spread across many lands with differing cultures and varying interpretations of the divine word of Allah. The entity that unites all the variances of the religion is the Prophet Muhammad. Unlike the rest of the topics that surround the religion, his importance as the pioneer of Islam is unique and unquestioned. It can reassuringly be claimed that the unique position of the Prophet is monumental for all Muslims since he marked the emergence of Islam through his persistence, and thus, the love and affection of the Muslim masses for the Prophet is bountiful. The display of affection however takes many forms, which then creates dispute among the believers of the acceptable and unacceptable veneration of the Prophet.
According to Malaki scholars, the unacceptable forms of venerations can be equated to idolatry, polytheism, or the Arabic term, shirk. These forms of unacceptable venerations are highly severe, but majority of the controversy lies with innovation of the religion, or the Arabic term bidah. The celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, also known as the Maulid, is a largely debated issue as it is seen as a pagan-like ritual to Malaki scholars (Samuli, 325).
The incremental transition of the normative Muslims’ practices of Islam diverting from the fundamentals of acknowledging the oneness of Allah fears many scholars. Schimmel concisely alludes to a similar gradual shift of Muslim norms regarding the Prophet Muhammad. Her statement is applicable to Muslims as a whole when she says,
“ ‘He is verily of noble nature’ (Sura 68:4). In several places one finds the Divine command ‘Obey God and obey His messenger’ or similar formulations. Such Koranic sentences formed the bases of veneration of Muhammad that soon far surpassed the respect normally accorded to a prophet, and even now the pious Muslim
The Veneration and Celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday RLGN 3190
April 15, 2014
The message of Islam has spread across many lands with differing cultures and varying interpretations of the divine word of Allah. The entity that unites all the variances of the religion is the Prophet Muhammad. Unlike the rest of the topics that surround the religion, his importance as the pioneer of Islam is unique and unquestioned. It can reassuringly be claimed that the unique position of the Prophet is monumental for all Muslims since he marked the emergence of Islam through his persistence, and thus, the love and affection of the Muslim masses for the Prophet is bountiful. The display of affection however takes many forms, which then creates dispute among the believers of the acceptable and unacceptable veneration of the Prophet.
According to Malaki scholars, the unacceptable forms of venerations can be equated to idolatry, polytheism, or the Arabic term, shirk. These forms of unacceptable venerations are highly severe, but majority of the controversy lies with innovation of the religion, or the Arabic term bidah. The celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, also known as the Maulid, is a largely debated issue as it is seen as a pagan-like ritual to Malaki scholars (Samuli, 325).
The incremental transition of the normative Muslims’ practices of Islam diverting from the fundamentals of acknowledging the oneness of Allah fears many scholars. Schimmel concisely alludes to a similar gradual shift of Muslim norms regarding the Prophet Muhammad. Her statement is applicable to Muslims as a whole when she says,
“ ‘He is verily of noble nature’ (Sura 68:4). In several places one finds the Divine command ‘Obey God and obey His messenger’ or similar formulations. Such Koranic sentences formed the bases of veneration of Muhammad that soon far surpassed the respect normally accorded to a prophet, and even now the pious Muslim