The origins of the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday

One of the most talked about, hotly debated and controversial subjects of discussion amongst Muslims for a long time has been whether or not it is permitted to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him). In this short booklet, we hope to shed light on this practice that has been celebrated by a body of Muslims for centuries. To enable oneself to eventually come to a conclusion in this subject, we must be certain of the fact that the earlier one goes back in history, the purer the religion gets, until we reach the era of the Companions of Allah's Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him), to whom the Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I have left you on a clear proof, its night is like its day, no one deviates from it except that he is destroyed, and whomsoever amongst you lives for long will see great differing. So cling to what you know from my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me. Bite on to that with your molar teeth and beware of newly invented matters.” So when Muslims differ, they must return to clinging to the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the Sunnah of his noble Rightly Guided Companions (Peace and blessings be upon him). So this brief booklet has been compiled in light of this principle.