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Why do we Celebrate Prophet Mohammad`s Birthday?
Author : His Grace Shiekh Abdulkareem Al-Khasawneh
Date Added : 18-02-2024

Why do we Celebrate Prophet Mohammad`s Birthday?

 

 

Behold, the month of the birth of our Master and the Messenger has come, and its moon has risen anew. Its light has illuminated the hearts of the faithful, who were raised under the light of obedience, worship, and faith. At this time of every year, our mosques, homes, and countries are illuminated with the celebration of the birth of the Master of Humanity, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Rather, our hearts, souls, and minds rejoice with love and joy at his birth, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. His birth is not like any other occasion, nor is it a mere passing event in the course of history. Rather, it is the birth of a nation that was united after division, reconciled after enmity, and in which justice was established on earth after injustice and tyranny. It is the descent of mercy upon the worlds after cruelty had prevailed and filled the hearts of people, and the shining of a light that covered the earth after darkness had prevailed. Allah says {What means}: "And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate. And remember Allah’s favour unto you: How ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and He did save you from it. Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations unto you, that haply ye may be guided," {Al-Imran, 103}.

 

On the anniversary of the birth of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, hearts celebrate with joy the Prophetic radiance and  mercy that illuminated the darkness of ignorance, so the universes were lit with his light. How can our hearts not celebrate when the stars of the sky celebrated him and increased their brilliance, the thrones of Kisra fell, and the fire of the ignorant Magi was extinguished? The world rejoiced with the coming of good after it was drowned in the darkness of idolatrous worship, atheistic and kufr beliefs. Allah the Almighty says {What means}: "O Prophet! Lo! We have sent thee as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And as a summoner unto Allah by His permission, and as a lamp that giveth light. And announce unto the believers the good tidings that they will have great bounty from Allah."{Al-Ahzab, 45-47}.

 

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is our refuge in our distress and hardship, and our safety from the worries and miseries of the world. Through him, we intercede with Allah the Almighty to have mercy on us when our actions prevent us from acceptance. Through him, Allah the Almighty removes the burden, and with his mention, the ambition rises. We celebrate him because he is the mercy sent down, the blessing bestowed, and the means of salvation. "We haven`t sent you except as a mercy to the worlds." (Al-Anbiya, 107). So, all humans, jinn, and worlds are blessed by him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. "And Allah would not punish them while you are among them, nor will Allah punish them while they seek forgiveness." (Al-Anfal, 33).

 

Through his blessings, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, our sins are forgiven, our worries are removed, and our debts are paid off. The companions knew his right and his worth, so one of them said: I will make much Salah for you. Therefore, he had the pure good news from Allah and His Messenger: (Then your problems would be solved and your sins would be forgiven.) (Sunan al-Tirmidhi).

 

We celebrate our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because through him we have become a great nation after being a burden. We have become honorable after being humiliated. Through him, we rose from the dust to reach the heights of the sky. A nation was established on the scales of truth, justice, and equity among people. We were guided by his Sunnah to the best of words and the best of deeds. We came to know our Lord, established our religion, and spread the fragrance of love among us. Allah sent down with him the Quran, a book of guidance, light, and distinction, by which people are brought out of darkness into light. "So those who believed in him, honored him, supported him, and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be successful." (Al-A'raf, 157). He is our leader and the witness with our Lord to our faith, obedience, and love for him. "Then how will it be when We bring from every nation a witness and We bring you as a witness over these?" (An-Nisa`, 41).

 

We celebrate our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because the entire universe celebrated him, his arrival, and the light that was before him when Gibreel descended to him in the Cave of Hira. Our Lord honored him by the Night of Isra`, so he led the prophets in prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Then, he ascended to the high heavens and the angels greeted him with the most beautiful welcome. " The heart lied not (in seeing) what it saw. Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he seeth ? And verily he saw him yet another time By the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, Nigh unto which is the Garden of Abode. When that which shroudeth did enshroud the lote-tree, The eye turned not aside nor yet was overbold. Verily he saw one of the greater revelations of his Lord." (An-Najim, 11-18).

 

We celebrate him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because he is one of the first things we will be asked about in our graves, and the first thing we will resort to when we are resurrected. He is the one on whose foot we will be gathered, and we will call on him for help on the Day of the Great Stand, when hopes are cut off, and deeds are spread out. "On the Day when a man will flee from his brother, his mother and his father, his wife and his children. On that Day, every man will have enough concern to make him forget others." (Abasa, 34-37). On the Day when voices will be hushed before the Most Gracious, and you will hear nothing but whispers. The Lord Almighty will call out to him: (O Mohammad, raise your head, intercede and you will be interceded, ask and you will be given.). When every prophet will say, "Myself, myself," and our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, will cry out, "My people, my people."

 

In conclusion, when we enter Paradise, it will be the most beautiful way to celebrate our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. What is higher and more honorable than accompanying our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace? This is the ultimate goal of the Companions and the Dua` of the righteous, and the wish of all Muslims. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "A person will be resurrected with the one he loved." We ask Allah Almighty to gather us with our Prophet at the Hawd and to drink from his hand a sip after which we will never get thirst again. May all Muslims and we be in his company in Paradise, whose width is the heavens and the earth.

 

And all perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on undoing braids of hair during the ritual bath?

It is not a condition to undo braids if the water reaches all the hair and penetrates to its base. If the water does not reach except by undoing the braids, then it is obligatory to undo them for the water to reach. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Is it permissible for the person who hasn`t made wudu` (state of minor ritual impurity) to perform the Adhan?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
It is disliked (Makruh) for a person in a state of minor ritual impurity (Hadath Asghar) to perform the Adhan. However, if he does so, his Adhan is considered valid and fulfills the sunnah of the Adhan despite it being disliked. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What is the ruling on performing the night prayer (*qiyām al-layl*) between the first and second adhān of Fajr? And which is better: delaying the prayer until shortly before the Fajr adhān, or performing it earlier than that?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The time for night prayer (qiyām al-layl) begins after the Maghrib prayer and lasts until the second adhān of Fajr. The best time for it is the last third of the night, and best of all are the fourth and fifth sixths of the night. If the night is divided into two halves, the latter half is better.
Whoever intends to pray at night is encouraged to delay the Witr until he has prayed the night prayer. If he knows that he will not wake up, it is better for him to pray and perform Witr before sleeping, so that he does not miss both the night prayer and the Witr.
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vpl.1/p.462): “I say: The voluntary prayer of the night, that is, the absolute voluntary prayer (al-nafl al-muṭlaq), is better than the absolute voluntary prayer of the day, because of the report in Muslim: ‘The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.’ In another narration of his: ‘In the night there is an hour that no Muslim man meets while asking Allah for any good of this world and the next except that He gives it to him, and that is every night.’ It is also because the night is a time of heedlessness. I restricted the voluntary prayer to the absolute kind following the commentator, although what the ḥadīth and the underlying meaning require is that the night rawātib be preferred over the day rawātib, since the jurists preferred the two rakʿahs of Fajr over everything except Witr. The middle of the night is better than its two ends if it is divided into thirds, because heedlessness is greatest then and worship is hardest. If he wishes to pray during some third, the best is the fourth and fifth sixths, based on the ḥadīth in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: ‘The most beloved prayer to Allah the Exalted is the prayer of Dāwūd: he would sleep half the night, stand for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth.’ Then the latter part is better than the first if he divides it into two halves, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ‘And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness’ [al-Dhāriyāt: 18], and the report of the two Shaykhs: ‘Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted, descends,’ meaning His command descends, ‘to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: Who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who asks of Me, that I may give him? Who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”
It is also stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik (p. 60): “It is better to perform it [the Witr] immediately after the sunnah of ʿIshāʾ, unless he has tahajjud, in which case it is better to delay it so that he performs Witr after it. If he performs Witr and then wishes to pray tahajjud, he prays two rakʿahs at a time and does not repeat the Witr, nor does he need to cancel it with a single rakʿah before the tahajjud. It is recommended that he not deliberately pray after it.”
Qiyām al-layl is a term applied to any prayer performed at night. Tahajjud, on the other hand, refers to the night prayer that follows sleep, whether it is prayed after Maghrib or after ʿIshāʾ, or the prayer performed after ʿIshāʾ without sleep. On this basis, the Witr is also called tahajjud, since it is only prayed after ʿIshāʾ.
It is stated in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.4/p.84): “The sound position, as stated in al-Umm and al-Mukhtaṣar, is that the Witr is called tahajjud.”
It is stated in Nihāyat al-Zayn (Vol.1/p.114): “Among the absolute voluntary prayers is qiyām al-layl. If it is performed after sleep, even during the time of Maghrib and after having prayed ʿIshāʾ early (taqdīman), it is called tahajjud.”
And it is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī ʿalā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.1/p.418): “His statement: ‘(the night prayer)’: the genitive construction (iḍāfah) carries the sense of fī, meaning a prayer in the night. His statement: ‘(it would be more fitting)’: the reason it is more fitting is that the night prayer includes both tahajjud and other prayers.” And Allah Almighty knows best.

Does burping (belching) break the fast?

Burping does not break the fast. However, if anything comes up from the stomach, the fasting person must spit it out and rinse their mouth to cleanse it.
If they swallow it intentionally while being able to expel it, or if they swallow their saliva before rinsing their mouth, their fast is invalidated.