Suhaib Webb – Mawlid & A Functional Ummah

Suhaib Webb
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the issue of celebrating the Prophet's life, which is considered a sign of taqwa and sharia. They argue that celebrating the Prophet's life is considered a form of offense, not a sign of weakness, and that sharia and na' century are important ways to celebrate the Prophet's life. The speaker suggests avoiding division and focusing on what everyone is agreeing on and forgive each other for their actions.
AI: Transcript ©
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To mawlid or not to mawlid, that is

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the question people ask every year, subhanAllah, and

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every year it seems like we recycle the

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same debates and fights online.

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First and foremost, this is an issue of

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tremendous difference amongst the jurists, although the majority

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of jurists say that celebrating the mawlid is

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something commendable because it is a way of

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expressing love for the Prophet ﷺ, expression of,

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you know, respecting the sacred.

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Like whoever honors the sacred things, this is

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a sign of taqwa, although they all agree

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that it is not a sunnah, an explicit

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sunnah, established by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

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or the sahaba.

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And Imam al-Shafi'i said the one

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that thinks that anything not done by the

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Prophet ﷺ or anything not done by his

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sahaba is misguidance, is off, is someone who

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doesn't really understand the contours of sharia.

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We have a great axiom that says, just

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because the Prophet ﷺ didn't do something and

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the sahaba didn't do something, it doesn't mean

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that that thing is, that that's a proof

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that they didn't do it.

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The second area is related to mustarahat, terminology,

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and we find people rightfully saying, well bid

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'ah in acts of worship is forbidden.

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Bid'ah in acts of worship is forbidden.

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Yes and no, because ibadah is defined by

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the majority of jurists of anything that's done

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in wajh al-qurba, of something that falls

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under needing a niyyah, needing intentionality, there's being

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pillars, conditions, shurut like wudu, ghusl, you name

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it.

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Celebrations don't fall under ibadah, right?

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Celebrations don't fall under ibadah, and that's why

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the sahaba radiAllahu anhum, they continue to observe

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itriyya, a celebration that happened before the time

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of the Prophet ﷺ and continued well into

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the early Abbasid period as far as I

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know.

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And you find this mentioned in hadith and

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there's a difference of opinion about its permissibility

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amongst the jurists, the malikis, and the hanabila

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allowing it.

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So therefore the mawlid falls under celebration, not

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ibadah, so it doesn't really get under the

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purview of ibadah, although there may be acts

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within the mawlid that are innovations, that are

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ibadah that we should avoid.

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What should we be doing if we celebrate

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the mawlid?

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Reading the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, singing

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na'atar songs in celebration of the Prophet's

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life ﷺ, and drawing near to our understanding

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of his greater mission to heal a fractured

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world.

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Both schools have very strong positions.

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Both schools have their evidences to support either

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explicitly or implicitly why they do it or

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why they don't do it.

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We should avoid fighting over this issue, divisions

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over this issue, and focus on what we

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agree upon and forgive each other and where

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we differ.

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If we say to the disbelievers, you is

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your religion, to ours our religion.

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Should we say to scholars and great scholars

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and Muslims who follow great scholars and Muslims

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who follow scholars and other great scholars, some

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say yes, some say no,

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