Milaad: Not an Act of Pomp and Vanity

If there is one with a claim of firm belief in Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad, be peace and blessings of Allah upon him, he has to come with a solid proof how much truthfulness and sincerity is there in his claim. Love for Allah and His Messenger, SAW, is considered one of the biggest proofs for firmness and earnestness of Iman. The believers are stronger in love for Allah as compared to the love of idolaters for their idols. Allah says: “Among the people are those who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Him). They love them as they (should) love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah…” (Al-Baqrah: 165)

As for the love for the Prophet, be peace and blessings of Allah upon him, he is next to his Lord. His position is unchallenged till the Day of Judgment. He himself set a criterion saying: “No one of you can be a believer until I am placed in love higher than his parents, his children and ever thing of this worldly life”. (Bukhari) The Quran clarifies the matter much more in detail: “Say (O Muhammad) if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, the wealth you have obtained, the commerce wherein you fear decline and dwellings with which you are pleased are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger and Jehad (striving in His Cause) then wait until Allah brings about His decision (of punishing you) and Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.” (At-Taubah: 24)

How much undoubted and unalloyed is the love itself is also a matter to scrutinize very shrewdly. Then how to judge its purity? Again it has to be put in a sieve of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, be peace and blessings of Allah upon him, to get sifted. If its quintessence passes through the sieve and proves worth the claim and not all the lumps in the light of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, SAW, the claim is incontrovertible, if not then it is all self-deception and spuriousness. Even the expressions of love also have to be in consistence with the Quran and the Sunnah. Articulation or practical way of demonstration of love with Allah, the Most Exalted, and His Prophet is required to be in conformity with the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah. If they are a little away from the Quran and the Sunnah then they are valueless.

While carefully going through the history of the lifetime of the Prophet and his extremely loving companions we find no proof of the huge processions and colourful exhibitions on 12 of Rabi’ Al-Awal, celebrating the birthday (Milad) of the Prophet, SAW. It is all an invented thing coming in vogue long after the glorious time of the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet, SAW). Presently Milad phenomenon is very high mainly in South and Far Asia. The trends of this Bida’ (innovation in religion) are in high and gaining popularity only because of speedily growing religious sectarianism (Firqah Wariat). The Ulama, extremely ignorant of the spirit of Quran and Sunnah make only sectarian spectacles through such rallies and processions.

The way how the companions of the Holy Prophet, SAW, used to prove their loyalty, devotedness and intrepidity was through their matchless love, unconditional obedience and inordinate reverence. Showing their respect they dared not put themselves before Allah and His Messenger, showed not courage make decisions advance to Allah and His Prophet and risked not raise their voices above the voice of the Prophet, SAW. They were aware of the fact told in Surah Ahzab: 71 that whosoever obeys Allah and the His messenger, he has achieved a great achievement and has certainly attained highest attainment. The Quran makes it clear that the righteousness is possible to gain only by the obedience of the Prophet, be peace and blessings of Allah upon him. “If you obey him, you shall be on the right guidance.” (An-Nur: 54)

Only because the companions of the Prophet, SAW, strictly followed the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet, SAW, no sign of hyperbole ever appeared their verbal expressions and in practices. They transmitted Deen (Islam) to the generations coming after them in its natural and pure form. They were conscious of the fact that many of the communities before them went astray and sank in the marsh of Shirk because they lost the balance in manifestations of their love for their religious guides and eventually put their saints and religious preceptors equal to the Creator of the universe. In the history of the Prophets the most recent example is of Isa (Jesus) whose followers went to an extreme in their exaggerations of devotion to him that first they raised him from the position of a humble slave of Allah and at last declaring him ‘son of Allah’ they settled him equal to his Lord.

After the time of Sahabah, during the period of Tabi’een (followers of the companions of the Prophet) and even long after Taba’ Tabi’een the teachings of Islam were safe from any mixture. But when Islam got acceptance deep in Ajam (Iranian territories) and Iranian people started converting to Islam they brought with them many of traits of Ajami Jahiliyyah (ignorance of the Persians) and started mingling them up in Islam. Thus almost all the same gradually developed and many of the traditions of Jahiliyyah corrupted the Islamic cultural values. The people who were used to concourse and hustle and bustle got unwilling with simplicity of Islam. This 12th Rabi’ Al-Awal in Pakistan saw a new thing with music and songs. About 70 kilo cake was cut exactly as it is done in birthday parties imitating the Western cultural values. Now in our ideological schism and heresy we are only a step or two behind the Christians and other polytheistic religions.

May Allah save us from going astray as many of the people went before us! And at last they remained of no use for the Noble Cause and sacred mission of Islam. Our deliverance in Akhirah and success in this worldly life totally depend on unadulterated teachings of the Quran and obedience of the Holy Prophet, SAW. Not getting satisfied with the pure teachings of Islam and the simple and straight Sunnah of the Prophet, SAW, is a type of reluctance and unwillingness. The Prophet, be peace and blessings of Allah upon him, is reported to have once said: “Whole of my Ummah will enter Jannah (Paradise) except those who showed reluctance and unwillingness.” He was asked: who are those who reject and show declination and reluctance? He replied: “Whosoever obeyed me will enter the Paradise, and those who disobeyed me are those who decline and show unwillingness.” (Bukhari)