Birthdays are a normal part of the year for most families around us: a cake, gifts, and a party on the day a person was born. So a Muslim who is learning his religion asks a fair question: does Islam have anything to say about this day? The scholars in my library were asked about it directly. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked about organizing celebrations for the birthdays of children, and the Standing Committee was asked about attending birthday parties. This page gathers their words, and the words of the answer he gave about Mother’s Day, another yearly day that people invented, because his answer there explains what makes a day a festival in the first place.
The Celebrations That Islam Knows
The answer begins with what Islam itself has set down. A celebration in this religion is not something people add when they feel like it. The days of celebration are the ones Allah and His Messenger ﷺ appointed. Asked about celebrations, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, answered first with the whole list:
“There are no celebrations in Islam except Friday the weekly ‘Eid, the first day of Shawwal – ‘Eidul-Fitr following Ramadan, and the tenth day of the month of Thul-Hijjah – ‘Eidul-Adha. The Day of ‘Arafah might be called an ‘Eid for those who are at ‘Arafah on that day, and the days of Tashreeq, following ‘Eidul-Adha.”
That is the full list the Shaykh gives: the weekly ‘Eid [‘Eid: a festival, a day of celebration that returns at its set time] of Friday, the two yearly festivals of Fitr and Adha, the Day of ‘Arafah [‘Arafah: the place near Makkah where the pilgrims stand during the Hajj] for those who are there, and the days of Tashreeq [the days after ‘Eidul-Adha]. A birthday is not on it. Neither is any other day that families or countries have chosen for themselves.
Asked Directly: Celebrating the Birthdays of Children
The question put to the Shaykh was not a general one. It asked about organizing celebrations for the birthdays of children, and about wedding anniversaries, by name. After giving the list above, he answered that part of the question in one sentence:
“As for birthday celebrations for a person or his children, or wedding anniversaries or the like, none of them are legislated and they are closer to being innovations than to being allowed.”
So the books do not leave this as a matter of taste. A birthday celebration is not legislated, meaning it is not something the religion has appointed or approved, and the Shaykh places it nearer to innovation [bid’ah: something newly brought into the religion that the Prophet ﷺ did not do] than to what is allowed.
Why the Books Call These Celebrations Innovations
In the answer just before it, the Shaykh was asked about Mother’s Day, and his answer opens with the reason that covers every invented celebration, birthdays among them:
“All celebrations which contradict the lawful Islamic festivals are innovated celebrations which were unknown during the time of the righteous Salaf. The person who established them might also be a non-Muslim, and so in them, there is the innovation of imitating the enemies of Allah, the Most Glorified, the Most High.”
Two things are said here. The first is that these celebrations were unknown in the time of the Salaf [the Salaf: the righteous first generations of the Muslims]: the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions did not keep them. The second is imitation: a yearly celebration taken from other peoples carries the one who keeps it into copying them in their festivals. The Shaykh then supports the answer with the words of the Prophet ﷺ, in the two wordings his book prints:
“Whoever innovated something in this matter of ours which is not a part of it will have it rejected.”
“Whoever performed a deed which is not from this matter of ours will have it rejected.”
The same answer closes by quoting the words of Allah: “This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” (5:3). On that basis the Shaykh says the Muslim must confine himself to what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have determined for him, and that he “should not add anything to it, nor should he subtract anything from it”. A religion already perfected does not need new festivals added to it.
What Makes a Day an ‘Eid
The Mother’s Day answer also draws the line that a birthday crosses. A day becomes an ‘Eid by the way people treat it: they return to it every year, and they mark it with the joy and the gifts of a festival. Of Mother’s Day the Shaykh said:
“If this is clear, then it is not permissible in the case of Mother’s Day, to innovate any of the distinguishing features of an ‘Eid. This includes displaying joy and happiness, giving gifts and the like.”
And he pointed to where honour belongs when it is real. It is not locked into one day of the year:
“A mother deserves more than to be celebrated on only one day of the year. Indeed, a mother has the right upon her children to be taken care of by them, and to be provided for by them, and to be obeyed by them, in all matters which do not involve disobedience to Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful at all times and in all places.”
Care, provision, and obedience are owed at all times and in all places. The religion gives that honour every day of the year, and does not reduce it to a yearly date.
Attending a Birthday Party
A second question reaches the person who does not hold the party himself but is invited to one. In the book Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women, the Standing Committee [the Standing Committee: a body of senior scholars that answers religious questions] was asked about women attending wedding parties and birthday parties. Most of its answer deals with wedding parties and what may or may not be present at them. Its words about birthday parties are short and direct, and they speak of men and women alike:
“As for birthday parties, neither a Muslim man or a Muslim woman should attend them because they are innovations. The only exception would be to attend them to put a stop to them and explain the rule of Allah concerning such parties.”
So the one door the Committee leaves open is going in order to stop the thing and explain Allah’s rule about it, not going to take part in it.
So, What Does Islam Say About Birthdays?
- Islam has its own celebrations, and the list is closed: Friday, ‘Eidul-Fitr, ‘Eidul-Adha, and the days joined to them. A birthday is not among them.
- Asked directly about organizing celebrations for the birthdays of children, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said they are not legislated, and are closer to being innovations than to being allowed.
- Celebrations that people invent were unknown in the time of the Salaf, and keeping them carries a person into imitating the festivals of non-Muslims.
- A day is treated as an ‘Eid by returning to it yearly with joy and gifts. The books do not allow those features to be innovated for a day Allah did not appoint.
- Attending a birthday party is also addressed: the Standing Committee said neither a man nor a woman should attend one, except to put a stop to it and explain Allah’s rule.
- Honour in Islam is not yearly. A mother, and by the same teaching every right a person holds over us, is cared for at all times and in all places.
The answer the books give is plain, and it is not harsh: Allah has already given this nation its days of joy, and He has spread the honouring of people across every day of the year. There is nothing a birthday adds to either. May Allah keep us to what He and His Messenger ﷺ appointed, and make us people who honour others in every season.
References
Fatawa Arkanul-Islam: Islamic Verdicts on the Pillars of Islam (Volume One), Creed and Prayer: Shaykh Muhammad bin Salih Al-‘Uthaimeen. Collected and arranged by Fahd bin Nasir bin Ibrahim As-Sulaiman. Darussalam (Maktaba Dar-us-Salam), First Edition, October 2003. ISBN 9960-892-67-0 (Vol. 1). Questions 90 and 91, printed pp. 264-266.
Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women: compiled by Muhammad bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Musnad. Darussalam, First Edition, 1996/1417H. Translated by Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo. ISBN 9960-740-87-0. Question 163, printed pp. 176-177.
Further Reading
Innovation (Bid’ah): what innovation in the religion is, and why nothing is added to the worship.
Innovation Can Be Good If Intention Is Good?: why a good intention does not make an invented act of worship accepted.
What Is the Difference Between Following the Sunnah and Following Cultural Traditions?: why the Sunnah is followed, and why a people’s custom has no authority of its own.
What Is Sharia?: the law Allah revealed, complete and in no need of additions.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.