In the month of Rabi’ul Awwal [Rabi’ul Awwal: the third month of the Islamic year], gatherings are held to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The celebration is called the Mawlid [the Mawlid: the celebration of the Prophet’s ﷺ birthday], and it is held out of love for him, by people who intend to honour him. So the question deserves a straight answer from the books: did the Prophet ﷺ or his Companions celebrate his birthday? Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked the question directly, and he explained it in two more of his books. This page gathers his words.
The Question Asked Directly
In his book of fatawa [fatawa: formal answers a scholar gives to questions about the religion] on the pillars of Islam, the Shaykh was asked: “What is the ruling on celebrating the birthday of the Prophet ﷺ?” His answer begins with the date itself:
“The night of the Messenger’s birthday is not known for certain. Indeed, some of the contemporary scholars have determined that it was the night of the 9th of Rabi’ul-Awwal and not the night of the 12th of that month, in which case, making a celebration on the 12th of the month is without any basis from the historical point of view.”
Then he turns to the ruling itself:
“From the point of view of the Islamic Law, there is no basis for celebrating it, because if it were from Allah’s Law, the Prophet ﷺ would have celebrated it, or he would have informed his people about it. If he celebrated it or informed them about it, it would have been preserved, because Allah, the Most High says: “Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’an) and surely We will guard it (from corruption).””
None of that occurred. So, the Shaykh continues:
“Since none of this occurred, it is known that it is not from the religion of Allah, and if it is not from the religion of Allah, then it is not permissible for us to worship Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful or try to get closer to Him in such manner.”
Allah has already marked out the path to Him:
“Since Allah, the Most High has designated a specific path for reaching Him and that is what was brought by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ then how can it be permissible for us and we are creatures to make a path from our own design to bring us to Allah? This is a crime against the right of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, for we would be legislating in His religion with something that is not a part of it.”
And to hold the celebration to be a part of the religion, he says, implies belying the words of Allah:
“So, we say that if this celebration were a part of the perfection of the religion, then it would have been present before the death of the Messenger ﷺ. If it is not a part of the perfection of the religion, then it is impossible that it could be a part of the religion, because Allah, the Most High says: “This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you,” So, whoever claimed that it is a part of the perfection of the religion while it occurred after the death of the Messenger ﷺ, his saying implies belying the Noble Verse.”
Love of the Prophet ﷺ Is Itself Worship
The Shaykh does not doubt why people celebrate, and he grants the intention in full:
“There is no doubt that those who celebrate the birth of the Messenger ﷺ, intend by it nothing other than glorification of the Messenger ﷺ, to display their love for him, and to encourage the people to believe that they are showing affection for the Prophet ﷺ in this celebration. All of these things are acts of worship: Love of the Messenger ﷺ is an act of worship; indeed, faith is not complete until the Messenger ﷺ is more beloved by a person than himself, his children and his father and all of the people. Venerating the Messenger ﷺ is an act of worship, as is inciting affection for the Prophet ﷺ, because it encourages love for his Law.”
That is exactly why the celebration cannot be invented:
“Therefore, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet ﷺ in order to get closer to Allah and to venerate the Messenger ﷺ is worship. Since it is worship, then it can never be permissible to innovate something in the religion of Allah which is not a part of it. So, celebrating his birthday is an innovation and it is unlawful.”
But He Fasted on the Day He Was Born
The Shaykh deals with an objection in his commentary on Kitab at-Tawheed. It is said that celebrating his birthday is established in the Sunnah [the Sunnah: the way of the Prophet ﷺ, what he said, did, and approved], because the Prophet ﷺ was asked about fasting on Mondays and he said: “That was a day on which I was born and I was appointed or given revelation” (the hadeeth [hadeeth: a narration of the Prophet’s ﷺ words or actions] of Aboo Qataadah, reported by Muslim). He used to fast on both days, saying: “They are both days on which deeds are presented to Allah. So I love that my deeds are presented while I am fasting” (the hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah, reported by at-Tirmidhee). The Shaykh answers point by point. First:
“Fasting is not celebration of his birthday as they do. It is but fasting and abstinence. As for those who celebrate birthdays for him, their celebration is contrary to that. It thus means that if a person fasts on that blessed day he gets such-and-such reward, it does not mean that we should celebrate on it.”
Second, even if what is cited were taken as a basis, worship is not built on it beyond what was transmitted:
“Assuming that what they cite forms a basis; it is obligatory to limit it to what is transmitted since worship is Tawqeefiyyah (revelation-based). Were the celebration of his birthday that is common among the people today right, the Prophet ﷺ would have explained it either by speech or action or his approvals.”
Third and fourth, the celebration as kept matches neither the day of the week nor the month, and it was unknown to the first generation:
“Those who celebrate birthday for the Prophet ﷺ do neither restrict it to Mondays nor to the day they think he was born, 12th of Rabee’ al-Awwal, even though such is not established historically. Some later astronomers even prove that it was rather on the ninth and not twelfth (as they think!)”
“Celebrating his birthday in the known manner is plain innovation because such was not known during the time of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions even when such could be necessary (during his time) and there were no impediments.”
Intending Good, and What It Does to the Heart
Explaining how falsehood becomes mixed with truth, the same commentary gives this celebration as its example:
“For instance, those who exceed proper limits about the Prophet ﷺ; celebrating birthdays for him, (perhaps) intend good therewith with this innovation while its evil is much more than it benefits. This is because it gives an individual some unapproved vigor at a given time and then, some slackness – also not legislated – follows for the rest of the year. So, you would find those who exceed the bounds regarding this innovation slackening in the clearly approved issues in the religion; they will not be active like others.”
“You Do Not Love Him, Then?”
In the chapter on the prohibition of heresies in the religion in his explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, the Shaykh lists the harms of innovation [bid’ah: something newly brought into the religion that the Prophet ﷺ did not do]. One of them is division: innovation splits the Ummah [the Ummah: the whole community of the Muslims], and each side accuses the other. His example is this celebration:
“When people continue to innovate (things in their religion), they will become divided; everyone will say, “The truth is with me and so-and-so is misguided and deficient!” He will accuse him of lie, slander, evil intention and similar things.”
“We give an instance: Those who introduced celebrating the Prophet’s birthday (Mawlid an-Nabiyy) in the religion; they go on celebrating what they claim to be the birthday of the Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him; that is, the twelfth day of the month of Rabi’ul Awwal. Do you know what they say about whoever does not partake in this Bid’ah? They claim that: “These people are showing anger to the Messenger ﷺ and that they detest him. So they would not rejoice at his birth nor celebrate for him” and similar things. You find them accusing the people of truth regarding what they themselves are guilty.”
His answer is that the implication runs the other way:
“The truth, however, is that the Innovator implies that he hates the Prophet ﷺ even though he would claim to love him. Because when he brought a new affair in the religion which the Messenger – alayhi as-salaam – did not approve them, then he (i.e., the Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) would be ignorant or concealing the truth.”
And he leaves the door open for the one who meant well:
“Some people may bring an invent matter in their religion with a sincere intention; but such would have been right in his intention but wrong in his deeds! The purpose behind an action may be good even though the deed itself is bad. So, it is obligatory for the one who knows that his action is wrong to retract from it and follow the Sunnah brought by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”
What Accompanies These Celebrations
The fatwa also names things heard of in these celebrations, which the Islamic Law does not acknowledge:
“Also, we hear that there are great evils in these celebrations which are not acknowledged by the Islamic Law, nor by sense, nor reason: They sing chants which contain excessive praise of the Messenger ﷺ, even claiming that he is greater than Allah, may Allah protect us from that; likewise we hear from the foolishness of some of the celebrants that if someone recites the story of his birth and he reaches the words: Al-Mustafa was born, they all stand up as one man and say: The spirit of the Messenger ﷺ is present and so we stand up in order to venerate it.”
The book’s own note gives al-Mustafa [al-Mustafa: the Chosen One, one of the names of the Prophet ﷺ] as “the chosen one”. As for standing when his birth is mentioned:
“It is not a part of good manners to stand up, because the Messenger ﷺ used to hate that people stand up for him and his Companions, who were the greatest of us in venerating the Messenger ﷺ, did not stand up for him, because they considered it to be something disliked and that was when he was alive. So, then what of these fancies?”
And the celebration itself came late:
“This innovation – I mean the innovation of celebrating his birthday – occurred after the passing of the best three generations, and these hated things which accompany it and which transgress the fundamental principle of the religion occurred therein in addition to the other things which occur, such as the mixing of men and women and other evils.”
So, What Does Islam Say About Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday?
- The night of his ﷺ birth is not known for certain, and the 12th of Rabi’ul Awwal has no basis from the historical point of view.
- If celebrating it were from Allah’s Law, the Prophet ﷺ would have celebrated it or taught it, and it would have been preserved. He did neither, so it is not from the religion.
- The religion was perfected before his ﷺ death, so a celebration that occurred after it cannot be part of its perfection.
- Love of the Messenger ﷺ and venerating him are worship, so the celebration, done as worship, cannot be invented: worship is only what Allah legislated and His Messenger ﷺ brought.
- His ﷺ fasting on a Monday is not a celebration of his birthday. Fasting is abstinence, and worship is limited to what was transmitted, in the form it was transmitted.
- Leaving the celebration is not a lack of love for him. The books answer that charge directly, and they hold out the way back for the sincere: retract from the wrong deed and follow his ﷺ Sunnah.
- The celebration came after the best three generations, and the books name evils that accompany it: excessive praise of the Messenger ﷺ and the mixing of men and women.
Nothing here denies the love that makes a person want to mark the day he ﷺ was born: the books say that love is worship, and worship is Allah’s to appoint, not ours. He ﷺ is loved most truly in the way he ﷺ himself taught: by following him. May Allah fill our hearts with love of His Messenger ﷺ, and keep that love upon his ﷺ way.
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). Question 89, printed pp. 261-264.
Commentary on Kitab at-Tawheed, Volume 1: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, commenting on Kitab at-Tawheed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. English translation by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf. Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, Riyadh, 2014. The chapter on extremism regarding the righteous, the fifth matter, printed pp. 393-394.
Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin (Sharh Riyaad as-Saaliheen), Volume 2: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen. Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2016. ISBN 978-603-500-380-3 (Vol. 2). Translated by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf and Abu Abdil-Barr Muhammad Yaqeen. Chapter 18: Prohibition of Heresies in the Religion, printed pp. 328-329.
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 Does Islam Say About Birthdays?: what the books say about celebrating the birthdays of people, and about attending birthday parties.
Who Is Muhammad ﷺ: who the Messenger ﷺ is, and what believing in him means.
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.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.