Is Celebrating Mawlid al-Nabi Bida?

It is a great injustice that an injudicious, yet vocal minority has brought the celebration of Mawlid al-Nabi into contention, simply because apparently it was not celebrated by the Pious Predecessors.
Showing gratitude to Allah and expressing happiness on the birth of the Holy Prophet sws is intrinsic to a Muslim’s faith. Allah commands the believers to rejoice in His mercy, which the exegesis have interpreted as a command to celebrate the arrival of the Merciful Prophet. The Holy Prophet sws marked the day of his birth by fasting on Mondays and showed gratitude to Allah by sacrificing an animal and distributing its meat, thus making it a Sunna for his Umma.

The Mawlid is a great tool for raising awareness. The pleasant breezes of Rabi al-Awal bring an energizing season of renewal, reconnecting oneself with Allah’s Beloved sws. With the increasing trials and challenges in our time, and the relentless barrage of insults being directed at the Prophet sws, if there was ever a need for the mawlid, it is certainly today. It is an occasion which ideally should unite the Muslims: the mawlid revives hope and is an effective means to engage Muslims and non-Muslims alike—such an excellent opportunity should not be wasted.

In this work by eminent scholar and recognized authority on Islam, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri explores if celebrating the Mawlid is bida or not.