Eid Miladun Nabi marks the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Muslim parents will tell stories of the Prophet’s life to their children. Those Muslims who celebrate this festival do so joyfully.
It may seem strange to non-Muslims, but many Muslims do not believe in celebrating birthdays or death anniversaries because there is no historical evidence that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ever did this.
A BLESSING FOR THE WHOLE UNIVERSE: Despite this, large numbers of Muslims do commemorate the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), which falls on 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal of the Islamic lunar calendar.
This date is important to Muslims because the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is regarded as a great blessing for the whole of humanity.
The Prophet Muhammad PBUH is deemed to be the chief of all the Prophets sent on earth and it is to him that the Holy Quran was revealed.
A QUIET FESTIVAL: There are only restricted festivities on Eid Milad-Un-Nabi because the same day also marks the anniversary of the death of the Prophet.
FOCUSSING ON THE PROPHET (PBUH): The event is marked by public gatherings of Muslims. At these meetings religious leaders make speeches about the life of Prophet (PBUH).
Stories are told about different aspects of the life of the Prophet, his birth, childhood, youth and adult life.
The most important part of Eid Milad-Un-Nabi is focusing upon the character of the Prophet; on his teachings, sufferings, and how he forgave even his most bitter enemies.
Muslims think about the leadership of the Prophet (PBUH), his bravery, wisdom, preaching and his final triumph over the Meccan Muslims.
FESTIVITIES: As well as recounting the Prophet (PBUH)’s life, salutations and songs in his praise are recited. In some countries, streets and mosques are decorated and illuminated at night.
Some Muslims donate to charity. Families gather together, feasts are arranged and food is served to guests and the poor.
Importance of following the Prophet (PBUH)
The Quran is the last divine book, which was revealed from Allah as a declaration and guidance to mankind. It is an explanation of all things and means for men to be rightly guided. In many verses of the Quran, it is commanded to obey the prophet of Allah. This is quite a significant point because understanding the Quran fully can only be possible with following the Sunnah of the prophet, writes Harun Yahya. The Sunnah is the explanation of the Quran. It is the creed of ahl-i Sunnah, which has been constituted with collecting true hadiths of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and interpretation of these hadiths by great scholars in later times. It is worth dwelling upon a point here. The Sunnah is not a concept that can be dealt with separately from the Quran. In the Quran, it has been mentioned that the prophet removes heavy burdens, makes rules and teaches the ummah (society) the open and hidden meanings of the Quran. As a matter of fact, when we look at the practices of Sunnah, we see that the prophet of Allah gave His companions a lot of information about numerous subjects. This information was then interpreted by scholars of the time, continued to be practised in daily lives and has passed on to us generations to generations. Allah has informed in the surah Al-e Imran that the Prophet had the characteristic of teaching the Quran and purifying mankind: Certainly Allah conferred a benefit upon the believers when He raised among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His communications and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error. (Surah Al-e Imran, 164) It would be useful to attract attention to the phrase “teaching the book and the wisdom”. Because, It is not possible to understand the Quran fully and practise its commands without following the sunnah of the prophet of Allah. Our religion is a whole only with the Quran and the Sunnah. At that times when the Quran was revealed, the people around the prophet learned and practised the commands of our religion as required by looking at the examples of the prophet. Indeed, the prophet has been an important example with His life, where he practised the commands of the religion, for us to understand the Quran. We can give “salat” (ritual prayers) as a clear example to understanding the commands of the religion. As well known, in Islam, performing salat 5 times a day is an obligation and there are verses giving general information about how to perform it, how to perform ablution (wash). However, we can understand how exactly we should p erform prayers only by looking at sunnah. Because there is no detailed information in the verses about the way of praying, what to say in prayer, the way of man and woman’s performing the prayer, the degree of importance of the prayers, the details of ablution, what nullifies ablution. We can learn such details only by looking at Sunnah of the prophet. Imam Malik, one of the greatest Islam scholars, compared the Sunnah of the prophet to the ark of Noah and said : The Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) is like the Ark of Noah. Whoever embarks upon it reaches salvation and whoever refuses is drowned.”. The true salvation will be realised only when the creed of ahl-i Sunnah is understood by everybody and prevails in the society.
