The first Milad/Mawlid?

[mujahideenryder]

Asalamualykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

When was the first Milad-un-nabi or Mawlid?

I have heard that it was started by the Fatamid Dynasty, the Ismaili Shias.

JazakAllah Khair

[Zubair]

salam

i read the same that the first one's to celebrate the mawlid were the fatimid shias, i read it in by imam suyuti and i think there was a commentary on it or something and it said that it was the shias.

salam

[mujahideenryder]

aren't the ismaili shias not part of ahlus sunna wal jammah then?

and they started the milad/mawlid.

[mujahideenryder]

so no one knows?

[faqir]

:salam:

This may help:

http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e20.html

[see also the link at the bottom]

Wasalam.

[Muawiyah]

Sultan Muzaffar ud Din of Irbil i think

[mujahideenryder]

Sultan Muzaffar ud Din of Irbil i think
can you elaborate some more on this person.

[Muawiyah]

From `Allamah Suyuti's defence of Mawlid celebrations, written in refutation of `Allamah Fakihani who judged it a bidah http://www.nfie.com/meelad2.htm


Every year his expenditure on the Meelad Shareef amounted to three hundred thousand dinars.


Similarly, he used to spend two hundred thousand dinars annually to ransom Muslim prisoners-of-war from the Europeans. Also for the maintenance of the two Harams and for providing water along the routes in Hijaz (for pilgrims), he used to spend three thousand dinars annually.

[Abu Abdallah]

Assalamu Alaykum,

This doesn't directly answer your question, but it mentions many benefits that are attached to celebrating the birth of the Prophet (sal). It is from the writings of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba (ra), a great Sunni scholar (1854-1927) from Senegal:

http://freespace.virgin.net/ismael.essop/milaad.htm

We should also add that the Fatimids left a great legacy and inheritance for the Sunni world, including one of our centers of learning, al-Azhar, not to mention many other artistic, cultural, and religious contributions.

Take care,
Abu Abdallah

[faqir]

:salam:

InshaAllah this quote from Sh. GF Haddad will answer your question:





As stated by al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Maliki in his Fatwa _Hawl al-Ihtifal bi Dhikra al-Mawlid al-Nabawi al-Sharif_ (10th ed. p. 15): "The first to observe the celebration of the Mawlid was the Prophet himself by fasting on Mondays because it was the day of his birth as narrated in Sahih Muslim. This is the soundest and most explicit textual proof for the licitness of commemorating the Noble Prophetic Mawlid."


In the light of such a proof what does it matter that "after many centuries some monarchs started observing the 12th of Rabi'ul-Awwal" as the Mawlid date, and who can believe such a lie as to claim that such observance was "without a sound religious basis"? Is this what the reliable authorities say, or is it just the opinion of some latecomers unfamiliar with the differences of the Ulema and the principles of the Shari`a? When the critics are unable to disprove the lawful on the basis of the foundations of the Religion, they turn to vacuous opinion unaware that in the field of opinion there are plenty of more trusted sources than themselves.

Imam al-Dhahabi wrote in his Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' (Arna'ut ed. 22:335-336):

He [Muzaffar the King of Irbil] loved charity (sadaqa)... and built four hospices for the poor and sick... and one house for women, one for orphans, one for the homeless, and he himself used to visit the sick... He built a madrasa for the Shafi`is and the Hanafis... HE WOULD FORBID ANY REPREHENSIBLE MATTER TO ENTER INTO HIS COUNTRY... As for his celebration of the Noble Mawlid al-Nabawi, words are too poor to describe it. The people used to come all the way from Iraq and Algeria to attend it. Two wooden dais would be erected and decorated for him and his wife... the celebration would last several days, and a huge quantity of cows and camels would be brought out to be sacrificed and cooked in different ways... Preachers would roam the field exhorting the people. Great sums were spent (as charity). Ibn Dihya compiled a 'Book of Mawlid' for him for which he received 1,000 dinars. He [Muzaffar] was modest, a LOVER OF GOOD, AND A TRUE SUNNI who loved scholars of jurisprudence and scholars of hadith, and was generous even to poets. He was killed in battle according to what is reported."


Similarly, Ibn Kathir said in al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (Beirut and Riyadh: Maktabat al-Ma`arif & Maktabat al-Nasr, 1966 ed. 13:136-137):

"He [Muzaffar] used to celebrate the noble Mawlid in Rabi` al-Awwal and organize huge festivities for it. He was a wise king, brave, a fierce fighter, intelligent, learned, and just. May Allah have mercy on him and ennoble his grave. Shaykh Abu al-Khattab ibn Dihya compiled for him a book on the Mawlid of the Prophet and named it al-Tanwir fi Mawlid al-Bashir al-Nadhir ("The illumination concerning the birthday of the Bringer of glad tidings and Warner") and the king rewarded him with 1,000 dinars for it. His rule lasted until he died in the year 630 [Hijri] as he was besieging the French in the city of Acca [Acre, Palestine] after a GLORIOUS AND BLAMELESS LIFE."

[if0rg0t]

From `Allamah Suyuti's article linked above:

"Ibn Rajab (radi Allahu anhu) in his "Kitab al-Lata'if" wrote criticising the Rawafid (A Shia sect) that because of the martyrdom of Imam Husain (radi Allahu anhu) they have made Ashura (the 10th of Muharram) a day of mourning, whereas Allah and His Messenger (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), have prohibited taking the days of affliction on the Prophets and the days of their deaths (alaihimus-salaam) as days of mourning. What then is the justification for taking days of mourning for those who are not prophets?"

How does this mean that Urs (death aniversary) celebrations of saints at their tombs and the such (which is quite prevalent in Pakistan ... dunno about elsewhere) are no permissible?