The month in which the beloved prophet was born inspires his lovers to celebrate that blessed event. We feel sympathy with those who cannot entertain this time.  Celebration initially springs up from the heart of a lover and it comes out in the form of words and deeds.  There is no meaning in arguing with people who cannot digest it since they lack the basic aspect of love.

Twitter

Last year I posted a map (Click to view) portraying the popularity and universality of Meelad celebrations. One of the few countries where the birthday is not a holiday is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.   Interestingly I found one twitter message from Shaikh Adil Kalbani former Imam at Masjid al Haram asking to call the birthday an official holiday.

Natives of the Blessed land of Makkah and Madina do celebrate this occasion. Here, You can see famous scholar of Makkah and a former lecture at Masjid al Haram Muhammad Alawi Maliki participating in an official ceremony of Meelad celebration in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Fatwa

In Qatar, despite official patronage, people do celebrate it. Yousuf Al Qardawi , a well-known Qatari scholar issued fatwa in support of it.

Let me quote from the earlier post:  “It is a time to listen to and to speak of the marvelous personality of the holy Prophet as well as to renew the commitment to follow His way of life; A time to come closer to His great self and to His Lord, the Almighty Allah. Youngsters get introduced and elders get reminded of the humanity’s obligation towards its Savior. We need to set up personal relationship with him and to be close to him all the time.

May Allah bless us with his sweet and glorious companionship! Aameen.”

The head of Al Azhar has put forward a Bill of Rights upholding freedom of expression and belief ahead of the beginning of the process of drafting a new constitution.
The bill comes as an attempt by Al Azhar to show its neutrality and objective standing when it comes to rights and freedom as well as standing as an example of moderate Islam. This recent step is one in a series which have been taken as adaptive measures to the changing political environment in Egypt.
Within this context, Al Azhar’s move is encouraging as it has to deal with the changing landscape with adaptability and flexibility.
In addition, the latest step is important as all religious entities have to keep away from any political alliance or favouritism. The role of such entities, after all, is to bring communities together and strengthen the fabric of society.
gulfnews : Al Azhar initiative deserves praise.

Here is the remarkable speech by Sheikh Aboobacker Ahmad, A veteran Islamic scholar from India. He is the General Secretary of the organization of Ahlussunna scholars in India and the patron of Jamia Markaz Saqafathi Sunniyya at Kozhikkode. His stands on various social, religious issues are widely discussed in Indian media and even in political circles as his mass support makes them anxious. Here we see him talking to world Muslim scholars and dignitaries in the Conference on Sufism in Cairo.

In the Name of Allah – the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and Blessings be upon the leader of Prophets and upon his family and companions as well.
Respected dignitaries and audience, Even though I brought here detailed essays on the subject, i.e. Sufism: an authentic way of personal and social reform I would like to summarize it as I am late to attend this conference. As I am also coming from India, representing Jamia Markaz Saqafathi Sunniyya al Islamiyya where some twenty thousand male and female students get their education. I don’t want to elaborate on Indian state of affairs since you heard it from our brother a short while ago.
Dear brothers and respected scholars, these days we are astonished to hear some people lashing out at Sufism and insulting Sufi scholars. They say “He is a Sufi” scornfully as if he were a heretic or a polytheistic. By God, We cannot understand how they can reject Sufism. If they do so because of some pseudo Sufis, likewise, Musailama, the Liar has falsely claimed prophet hood, can they reject our prophet because of that? There are genuine and counterfeit in everything, we take the original and throw the fake away. The same is true to Sufism also. This great way of life, Sufism, that we are talking about is the path where the great pious pioneers have stepped in. Imam abul Qasim al Junaidi, Supreme leader of the Sufis once answered to a question on Sufism (Tasawuf). He said it is the purification of heart. All Sufi scholars described Sufism in the same terms. Tasawuf we follow is what Our Messenger has pointed to by the word ‘Ihsan’and described it as to worship Allah as if you see Him, although you don’t see Him, He does see you.
So purification of mind from all bad characters such as Polytheism, heresy, arrogance, greed for fame and Hypocrisy is called Taswuf (Sufism) Almighty Allah indicated this in the holy Quran as He says: “Indeed Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses, and purifying them, ….
Look at the verses of almighty Allah. Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) supplicated Allah to teach the people first and then to purify. “Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own who shall recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them the Book and the Wisdom and purify them.” In these verses and other verses as well, Almighty Allah emphasizes Purification of Heart because the main purpose of sending prophets and messengers is to cleanse and sanctify people from all bad characters. Allah mentioned this in many verses and so the prophet (PBUH) in many hadiths
Dear scholars, We need to differentiate between the truth and the falsehood. We cannot accept a way that contradicts religious principles. See what Shaikh Abdul Khadir al Jeelani has said. He said in his Book Futuh Al Ghaib , Chapter One The Essentials of a Believer – Accept Allah’s Orders and Content with His judgments: He sets obeying religious Do’s and Don’ts as a precondition for entering into the Sufi Order. Shaikh Zainuddin Makhdum al Malaibari said in his book that all Sufi orders require complete compliance with the Quran and Sunnah.
The real Sufi Tariqah is stemmed from the Holy Quran and Sunnah so it can never contradict any Sharia rule. If somebody claims affiliation with Sufism, at the same time acts against Sharia rules and permits what is prohibited like alcohol, he has nothing to do with the Sufism. Sufism that we follow is what our Messenger (PBUH) has taught us. All though the term Sufism was formed many years later like all other technical terms, it has been firmly rooted in Quran and Hadith. The real Sufi, I don’t say Islamic Sufi, is the one who follows the footprint of the Prophetic way by Practicing all what is ordered and avoiding all that is forbidden. Moreover, he cleanses his heart form all rusts and dusts. Quran says: “No. In fact what they have been doing has rusted on their hearts.” Human hearts get rusted and become dirty so that we need to clean them and keep them stainless.
We seek help from Allah and all praise is due to Him.

Since long time ago, Habib Ali Al Jifri has been calling so called Salfists for serious dialogue especially after the release of a notorious audio of forged debate named “Peaceful Debate With Jifri=حوار هادئ مع الجفري “ made up of cropped clips from Habib Ali Jifri’s speech attaching their hapless replies to them.  see (al7war .net )Once they have got an opportunity to talk directly and expose the reality they have simply withdrawn!

I have had personal experiences of this kind of people running away from scholars as they have neither answers to the questions nor proofs for their claims.

MOSCOW — Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov broke into floods of tears as he unveiled a purported relic of the Prophet Mohammed in a bizarre ceremony involving a Rolls Royce motorcade, reports said Thursday.

The government of the majority Muslim Russian Northern Caucasus region, recovering after two separatist wars and still battling Islamic insurgents, boasted that the cup was 1,400 years old and had belonged to the Prophet.

The cup had earlier been flown into the Chechen capital Grozny from London where it was kept by unnamed descendants of Mohammed’s cousin Ali.

Kadyrov, clad in a bright purple shirt and trousers and a black Muslim skullcap, triumphantly carried the boxed relic straight off the plane at the airport at the ceremony on Wednesday.

He then sped through Grozny in a Rolls-Royce cabriolet surrounded by a motorcade of dozens of luxury cars, the first Russian television pictures of the event showed Thursday.

The flag-waving delegation then arrived to Grozny’s central mosque greeted by a crowd of singing and clapping people.

The Chechen leader proceeded to take the jade-coloured bowl out of bubble wrapping, and broke down in uncontrollable tears after kissing the object, covering his reddening face and shaking violently.

Chechen television aired a 18-minute long special on the event posted on the websiteChechnyatoday.com that shows Kadyrov’s car covered in traditional rugs gliding along a major street in slow motion to the sounds of a Chechen song with English-language lyrics “You came to me… when I was so lost.”

Footage showed a crowd of several hundred assembled near the mosque to listen to impassioned speeches in Chechen and shout “Allahu Akbar!” before the cup was shown to the public. Several took a sip from the cup and prayed.

The Chechen government said in a statement on its website that “the cup was used by Prophet Mohammed, passing to his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib the fourth Caliph.” Further details on its authenticity were not immediately available. 

Anyone will be able to drink water from it on the day of Mohammed’s birthday, the Chechen government said.

“Nobody can say anything else about the origin of the cup,” a Chechen government spokesman told AFP. “The negotiations were led by the famous businessman Ruslan Baisarov and it was announced by Ramzan Kadyrov,” he said.

Baisarov owns major stakes in Russia’s top copper and coal companies and has promised to finance the development of a ski resort in Chechnya planned by the Chechen President.

Kadyrov, who has ruled the war-torn region since 2007 and was reappointed in the post earlier this year, has overseen several grandiose projects and events in Grozny aimed at boosting his political clout.

He has also encouraged the revival of Islam in the region, inaugurating in 2008 the “Heart of Chechnya” mosque, said to be the biggest in Europe.

But rights groups have long accused him of presiding over a personal militia that they say has carried out serial rights violations, torture and even murder.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved

In my recent visit to the blessed site, I snapped some pictures of the wall along with the door of the chamber where one of the most famous lines from Qaseeda Burda has been engraved.

It reads: هو الحبيب الذي ترجى شفاعته لكل هول من الاهوال مقتحم [He is (Allah’s) most beloved, whose intercession is hoped for every fear that comes at once]

Here is the poem in full and   its English translation by G.F Haddad along with his introduction.

Poem of Tawassul and Praise
by Sh. G. F. Haddad

Sultan `Abd al-Hamid’s poem in praise of the Prophet upon him blessings and peace was engraved in the year 1191 (1777 C.E.) on the walls of the Prophet’s hujra in his mosque in Madina. The possessors of specious adab with the Prophet upon him blessings and peace covered up several of the verses with paint so that they could not be read, sparing what suited them, but the poem has been preserved in other ways. It can be found in the book of our late teacher Shaykh al-Islam fil-Balad al-Haram al-Sharif al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi al-Maliki titled Shifa’ al-Fu’ad bi-Ziyarati Khayr al-`Ibad (Healing the heart with the visitation of the best of Allah’s servants) (Dubai: Da’irat al-awqaf, n.d.) p. 203. Here is the text in full, with an asterisk indicating each verse that was painted over.

You can download it in PDF Format prepared by Taqwa.sg from this link  Qasseeda Tawassul PDF

On the day of Eid , Companions of the Beloved Messenger were used to say each other :

“May Allah Accept from us and from you”

ذكر ابن التركماني في الجوهر النقي حاشية البيهقي ( 3/ 320 – 321 )حديث محمد بن زياد ، قال : كنت مع أبي أمامة الباهلي وغيره من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم ، فكانوا إذا رجعوا يقول بعضهم لبعض : ( تقبل الله منا ومنكم ) ، قال : أحمد بن حنبل : إسناده جيد . اهـ .

وجاء في الفتح ( 2/446) : وروينا في المحامليات بإسناد حسن عن جبير بن نفير قال : كان أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم إذا التقوا يوم العيد يقول بعضهم لبعضتقبل الله منا ومنكم .

Scholars say that what you think of Ramadan is exactly what you can expect from it. If you think it would be tiresome and dull so it would be for you. On the other hand, if you want it to be a season of great enlightenment and spiritual ecstasy it would be so. Likewise, if you are happy to see and welcome it, it would be happy and kind to you and vice versa. To get out looking for the crescent of Ramadan is considered to be a sign of pleasure of receiving it. Moreover it is an act of Sunnah as it was done by the Holy prophet (PBUH) in His lifetime.
The 30th Night of Shaaban 1432 falls on 30th of July, 2011 and the moon is expected to be sighted immediately after sunset. Despite astronomers claim of not being sighted we need to uphold the great tradition our religion of looking at the sky for the crescent and not at mere speculative calculations.
Last year I wrote :

Almighty Allah wants us to see his wonderful  products on display. How many times he asked us to watch his marvelous creations? He asked us to look at the sky, the camel, the hills etc.. ,but we were busy with making money and wasting it. If you put your comment on it, you will get extra rewards! How can we put comments on his extremely stunning creations? And what we can put on them? Don’t worry! He himself mentioned the most appropriate comments in His Holy Quran

سبحانك ما خلقت هذا باطلا وقنا عذاب النار

(Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire. (3-191)

Regarding Moon sighting there are special comments and prayers to be chanted while looking at the crescent. Imam Nawawi (May Allah Bless him) reports  the following  hadiths  in his famous Book, Al Adkar :

1. اللهم أهله علينا باليمن والإيمان والسلامة والإسلام ربي وربك الله
2. ” الله أكبر ، اللهم أهله علينا بالأمن والإيمان والسلامة والإسلام ، والتوفيق لما تحب وترضى ، ربنا وربك الله
3. هلال خير ورشد ، هلال خير ورشد ، هلال خير ورشد ، آمنت بالله الذي خلقك ، آمنت بالله الذي خلقك, آمنت بالله الذي خلقك - ” الحمد لله الذي ذهب بشهر كذا وجاء بشهر كذا

Let us show our Lord Almighty Allah that we are prepared to welcome His Guest and eagerly waiting to accept His blessings by coming out of our home and to look for the crescent.  While some people are fearful about Ramadan and want to see it leaving, we need to express our longing to join our forefathers who started preparing for Ramadan before months!

Once Again , friends, DON’T MISS IT ! It would be an auspicious opening of a booming season of your life.

Wish you a happy and blessed month of Ramadan !

First, the night of mid-Sha`ban is a blessed night. There are numerous hadiths which strengthen one another (and are, thus, elevated to the degree of being fair and strong) and which establish the merits of this night. Therefore, commemorating this night is, undoubtedly, lawful regardless of the fact that these hadiths may be weak or fabricated.

Hadiths on the virtue of the night of mid-Sha`ban:

1. `A`ishah, the Mother of Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), said:”One night, I did not find the Prophet in his bed, so I went out searching for him and found him at Al-Baqi` cemetery with his head raised towards the sky. He said:‘O ‘A`ishah! Were you afraid that Allah and His Messenger would treat you unfairly?‘ I said, ‘No, I thought you had gone to spend the night with one of your (other) wives’. He said: ‘Allah Almighty descends to the lowest heaven on the night of mid-Sha`ban and forgives more people than the number of hairs on the hides of the sheep of Bani Kalb.” (At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad)
2. Mu`adh Ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “On the night of mid-Sha`ban, Allah looks at His creation and forgives all of them except for the polytheist and the quarrelsome.” (At-Tabarani and Ibn Hibban who declared it authentic)
3. `Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Perform the night vigil prayers on the night of mid-Sha`ban and fast its day (i.e., the day preceding it) for Allah descends to the lowest heaven at sunset of that night and says: ‘Is there any one asking for forgiveness that I may forgive him? Is there any one asking for sustenance that I may grant him sustenance? Is there any one under trial that I may relieve him? Is there any such-and-such…, is there any such-and-such?’ And so forth until the beak of dawn.” (Ibn Majah)

There is no objection to audibly recite surat Ya-Sin three times after the Maghrib Prayer in congregation because this is considered part of commemorating this night. As for the making dhikr (remembrance of Allah), the matter is open; it is permissible to designate certain places and times to regularly perform good deeds as long as this is not considered obligatory and thus a sin to neglect them.

`Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “Every Saturday, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to go to Qiba’ Mosque either on foot or riding” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

In Fath Al-Bari, Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar stated:

In spite of having different chains of transmissions, this hadith proves the permissibility of designating specific days to regularly perform certain good deeds.

In Lata’if al-Ma’`rif Al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab said: “The scholars of Ash-Sham differed over the manner of celebrating this night:

• The first opinion is that it is commendable to celebrate this night by assembling in mosques. Khalid Ibn Ma`dan, Luqman Ibn `Amir, and others used to wear their finest clothes, use incense, and line their eyes with kohl to celebrate this night in the mosque. Ishaq Ibn Rahawiyah approved of this.

Concerning commemorating this night in congregation in the mosque, he said, “This is not an innovation.” Al-Karmani cited this opinion in his Masa’il.

• The second opinion is that it is offensive to gather in mosques on this night to perform (special) prayers, narrate moral stories, and make supplications. It is not offensive for one to pray individually on this night. This is the opinion of Al-Awza`i, the imam, jurist, and scholar of the people of Ash-Sham.

Based on this, it is permissible to celebrate the night of mid-Sha`ban in the aforementioned manner; it is neither an innovation nor is it offensive provided that it is not deemed an obligation. However, if it is considered obligatory to the extent of obligating others to observe it and accusing those who do not participate in its commemoration of committing a sin, it is then an innovation because they obligate what neither Allah nor His Messenger have made obligatory.

This is why there were some people among the predecessors who maintained the offensiveness of commemorating this night in congregation. Therefore, if this obligation is non-existent, then there is no offensiveness attached to it.

Second, it is commendable to celebrate different religious occasions provided they do not include anything unlawful. The command to remind people to observe ‘the days of Allah‘ has been mentioned in the Shari`ah, (…and remind them of the Days of Allah…) (Ibrahim 14: 5)

It is also included in the magnanimous Sunnah— it has been reported in the Sahih of Muslim that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to fast every Monday. He said: “I was born on this day.”

Likewise, Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated: “When Allah’s Messenger came to Madinah, he found the Jews fasting on the day of `Ashura’. So he asked, ‘What is (the significance) this day you are fasting?‘ They replied, ‘It is a day of great significance. On this day Allah delivered Musa and his people (from their enemy) and drowned Pharaoh and his army — so Musa fasted this day out of gratitude to Allah. Therefore, we, also, fast on this day.’ The Messenger of Allah then said: ‘We have more right to Musa than you.‘ So the Messenger of Allah fasted on this day and commanded (Muslims) to fast it.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

Based on this, it is lawful to celebrate religious occasions in the aforementioned manner — it is neither offensive nor an innovation.

Rather, such celebrations are by way of honoring the rites of Allah Almighty, (…and whoever respects the signs of Allah, this surely is (the outcome) of the piety of hearts…) (Al-Hajj 22: 32)

Allah Almighty knows best.

Excerpted with slight editorial modification from, www.dar-alifta.org