Mawlid 12 Rabi-el-aouel

In the early days of Islam, the observation of Muhammad's birth as a holy day was usually held privately and later, increased numbers of visitors to the Mawlid House were open all day specifically for this celebration.

Early celebrations included elements of Sufi influence, with animal sacrifices and torchlight processions as well as public sermons and a feast. Celebrations took place during the day, unlike modern observances, with the ruler playing a key role in the ceremonies. The emphasis was placed on the Ahl al-Bayt with presentation of sermons and recitations of the Quran.

The exact origins of the Mawlid are difficult to trace. According to Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God, the significance of the event was established when Muhammad fasted on Monday, citing the reason was his birth on that day, and when Umar considered the birth of Muhammad as a possible start time for the Islamic calendar.

According to Festivals in World Religions, the Mawlid was first introduced by the Abbasids in Baghdad. It has been suggested that the Mawlid was first formalized by Al-Khayzuran of the Abbasids. Ibn Jubayr, in 1183, wrote that Muhammad's birthday was celebrated every Monday of Rabi 'al-awwal in his birthplace, which had been converted into a place of devotion under the Abbasids.

According to the hypothesis of Nico Kaptein of Leiden University, the Mawlid was initiated by the Fatimids. It was stated: “The idea that the celebration of the mawlid originated with the Fatimid dynasty is today almost universally accepted among religious polemicists and secular scholars. »

Annemarie Schimmel also says that the tendency to celebrate the Prophet's birthday on a broader and more festive scale first appeared in Egypt under the Fatimids. The Egyptian historian Maqrizi (d. 1442) describes one such celebration held in 1122 as an occasion attended mainly by scholars and religious institutions. They listened to sermons, distributed sweets, including honey, the Prophet's favorite, and the poor received alms.

This Shiite origin is frequently noted by Sunnis who oppose the mawlid. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, however, what the Fatimids did was simply a procession of court officials, which did not involve the public but was limited to the court of the Fatimid caliph. Therefore, it has been concluded that the first Mawlid celebration, which was a public festival, was initiated by the Sunnis in 1207 by Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökburi.

It has been suggested that the celebration was introduced to the city of Ceuta by Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi as a means of strengthening the Muslim community and counteracting Christian holidays.

In 1207, Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökböri initiated the first annual public Mawlid festival in Erbil (modern Iraq). Gökböri was Saladin's brother-in-law, and the festival soon began to spread throughout the Muslim world. Since both Saladin and Gökburi were Sufis, the festival became increasingly popular among Sufi worshippers, and remains so to this day.

Mawlid is celebrated in almost all Islamic countries, and in other countries that have a significant Muslim population, such as Ethiopia, India, United Kingdom, Turkey, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, Italy, Iraq, Iran, the Maldives, Morocco. , Jordan, Libya, Russia and Canada.

The only exceptions are Qatar and Saudi Arabia where it is not an official public holiday and is prohibited. Hari Maulaud Nabi is a public holiday in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. However, during the last decades of the late 20th century, there was a trend to "ban or discredit" Mawlid around the world

In Türkiye, Mawlid is widely celebrated. He is called Mevlid Kandili in Turkish, which means “the festival of candles for the birthday of the Prophet”. Traditional poems regarding the life of Muhammad are recited both in public mosques and at home in the evenings. The most famous of them is the Mawlid of Süleyman Çelebi. Many other mawlids were written during the Ottoman era.

Often organized in some countries by Sufi orders, Mawlid is celebrated in a carnival style, large street processions are held and houses or mosques are decorated. Charity and food are distributed, and stories about the life of Muhammad are told with recitation of poetry by the children. Scholars and poets celebrate by reciting Qaṣīda al-Burda Sharif, the famous poem by the 13th-century Arab Sufi Busiri.

A general Mawlid appears as "a chaotic and incoherent spectacle, where many events occur simultaneously, all held together only by the common festive time and space." These celebrations are often seen as an expression of the Sufi concept of the pre-existence of Muhammad. However, the main meaning of these festivities is the expression of love for Muhammad.

The first Sunni mawlid celebration of which we have a detailed description was sponsored by Muzaffar al-Din Kokburi and included the slaughter of thousands of animals for a banquet that reportedly cost 300,000 dirhams.

The presence of guests and the distribution of monetary gifts during mawlid festivals had an important social function because they symbolized "the concretization of patronage ties and the dramatization of the ruler's benevolence" and also had religious significance, because "questions expenses and food were essential to both the religious and social function of the celebration. Early fatwas and critiques of the mawlid challenged the "possibility of forced donations" because hosts often took monetary contributions from their guests toward festival expenses.

Jurists have often conceptualized the observance of the Prophet's birthday as a "form of reciprocity for the outpouring of God from the Prophet Muhammad" as a means of justifying the celebrations.

According to this thought, the bestowal of such a gift required thanksgiving, which took the form of celebrating the mawlid. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (1392 CE) and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalini (1449 CE) both expressed such ideas, specifically referring to the hadith about the Jews and the fast of 'Ashura,' but expanding the concept of "thanks to God" to several forms of worship, including prostration, fasting, almsgiving, and Quranic recitation.

During the Pakistani Mawlid, the day begins with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital and a 21-gun salute in the provincial capitals and religious hymns are sung during the day.

In many parts of Indonesia, the celebration of Mawlid al-nabi "seems to surpass in importance, vivacity and splendor" the two official Islamic holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

In Qayrawan, Tunisia, Muslims sing and chant hymns of praise to Muhammad, welcoming him in honor of his birth. Also, generally in Tunisia, people customarily prepare Assidat Zgougou to celebrate Mawlid.

, India is known for its Mawlid festivities. Muhammad's relics are displayed after morning prayers in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir at the Hazratbal shrine, where night prayers are also held. Hyderabad Telangana is known for its grand milad festivities. Religious meetings, night prayers, rallies, parades and decorations are held throughout the city.