Beyond the dispute over the celebration validity

Beyond the dispute over the celebration validity

By: Mohammed Lahlal

Whenever the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, approaches, the Muslim community (Ummah) spontaneously prepare for this day to express their love, pride in and attachment to their Prophet, but a minority of Muslim scholars would launch a campaign to discredit the celebration as a heresy and innovation (bid’a). They, thus, create an environment of controversy and heated debate that would spread more confusion among ordinary Muslims and divert their attention from seeking the way to explore the Prophetic path so as to model on the Prophet’s faith, excellence, high morality, action and engagement. In this article, I would not delve into the debate, but suffice to say that many eminent Muslim scholars throughout Muslim history have been positive about it as long as it does not contradict the core foundations of Islam.

Instead, I would focus on some characteristics of the Prophetic method so that we, as individuals, society and Muslim community figure out a viable way to address a plethora of challenges that face the Ummah to recover its spiritual energy, strength and leadership in the way God wants to see it: “You are the best nation created (as an example) for mankind”. In no way can we model on the Prophet’s path if we do not identify well the functions and mission of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, and of his righteous disciples, God, the Almighty, says in the Qur’an: “It is He who sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves; reciting His revelations to them, and purifying them, and teaching them the Scripture and wisdom”. (al-Jumu’ah, 2). So, how can we have a share of the Prophet’s mission and model on his high standard virtues and efforts?

A messenger from themselves:

Before he is sent to humanity as a Messenger from God, the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, has been known within his community as the truthful and trustworthy. His wife, Khadija, God be pleased with her, comforting her husband at the beginning of his mission, describes his lofty virtues by saying: “I swear by God that He shall never put you to shame. By God, you join ties of kinship, you speak the truth, you bear people’s burden, you help the destitute, you entertain guests, and you help against the vicissitudes which affect people”. This is an expressive lesson for Muslims who undertake the mission of Da’wah (calling to God) to be proactive and effectively engage in addressing the problems of their community, and share their joy and hardship rather than stay aloof from people and seek self-salvation which is an elusive goal.

The mission of teaching the Revelation and wisdom:

Unless we are imbued with the light of Qur’an in our hearts, reciting it at a regular basis, making efforts to learn it by heart, understanding its meanings and striving to apply its commands, we may be affected by thoughts that take us away from the very precious source of knowledge: the Qur’an and the Sunnah. In our modern age, materialistic pursuits hold sway over minds and souls to an extent even the Islamic thought has been affected by the mainstream materialistic view of life, and you barely find in Muslim authors’ writings talk about the afterlife and ways to get nearer to God and how to acquire His love and that of His Messenger, Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him; the talk about these issues for them is deemed self-evident and a private concern. And how can we claim we follow the path of our Messenger if we put the sources of Revelation (Qur’an and Sunnah) aside and have recourse to them only when we engage in the arena of intellectual dispute to demonstrate our “rationalism” and richness of our civilizational heritage?

The mission of soul purification (Tazkiya).

The Prophet’s main mission is to save mankind from the darkness of disbelief to the light of faith (Iman) and to the higher rungs of excellence (Ihsan). When we read the biography of his companions, you see the fruit of the Prophet’s method of education. You find out hearts and souls filled with faith and certitude in God’s promise, you find out loyalty and commitment to their cause: calling to God; you find out how they willingly revere and obey their Prophet; you see how they are united with the tie of fraternity. This was not achieved by intellectual indoctrination, but through a process of companionship and community based on love of God and His Messenger and readiness to sacrifice for the sake of God; God, the Almighty, praises the fruit of this education by saying: “Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Those with him are stern against disbelievers, but compassionate amongst themselves” (al-Fath, 29) Thanks to this relationship, the Prophet and his companions were able to build a strong and cohesive community that in a short period of time spread the light of Islam to remote places in the world. To revive the energy of the Ummah and recover its unity, we are in need of the Prophetic method of balanced education based on the branches of faith (Shu’ab al-Iman) that can take us from the state of lethargy and vague goals and solutions to a consistent, comprehensive framework for the Ummah’s renaissance.

And praise be to the Lord of the worlds, and May God bestow his blessing and peace upon Muhammad, His most beloved Messenger.