A Dialogue between Shaikh al-Albanee and a proponent of Mawlid on the subject, Is the celebration of Mawlid a good deed (Khayr)?
Written by Salman Mohammed
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Shaikh al-Albanee: Is the celebration of Mawlid an-Nabawi Khayr (good) or evil?
The opponent: Khayr.
Shaikh al-Albanee: So, were the Messenger of Allah sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam and his Sahabah unaware of this Khayr (good)?
The opponent: No.
Shaikh al-Albanee: I am not convinced with your saying, 'No' because it is impossible that this Khayr (i.e. the celebration Mawlid) if it is Khayr
- be concealed from the Prophet sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam and his Sahabah since we do not know Islam and Eeman except through Prophet Muhammad sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam. So, how do we know a Khayr (good deed) that he did not know of? This is impossible.
The opponent: Establishing Mawlid an-Nabawi is reviving his sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam memories and is a tribute to him sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam.
Shaikh al-Albanee: This is a philosophy that we know of, and have heard from many and read in their books, but when Allah's Messenger sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam invited the people (to the Deen of Allah), did he call them to Islam as a whole or he invited them to Tawheed?
The opponent:Tawheed.
Shaikh al-Albanee:First, he invited them to Tawheed, next prayer was made obligatory, then fasting, later the obligation of Hajj, and so on. So, you follow this Sunnah of the Sharee'ah, (and talk about the issue under discussion) step-by-step.
We have now agreed that it is impossible that there could be a Khayr with us which the Prophet sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam did not know of. (Because) we know all the Khayr through the Messenger sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam... and I believe that anyone, who doubts in this matter, is not a Muslim.
From the Ahadeeth of Allah's Messenger sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam that support this statement is, "There is nothing that will take you closer to Paradise but that I have enjoined it upon you, and there is nothing that will take you closer to Hell but that I have warned you of it." [Musnad ash-Shafa'ee and others]
So, if Mawlid was Khayr and something that could bring us closer to Allah, then Allah's Messenger sallAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam would have guided us to it. Right or wrong?
I don't want you to agree with me except if you are convinced of every word I say. You have complete freedom to say, "Please, I do not agree with this point." So, do you stop at some point from what I have just said, or are you with me completely?
The opponent: I am with you totally.
Shaikh al-Albanee: Jazak Allah Khair.
