When Rasūlullāh ﷺ returned from the expedition of Tabūk in Madīnah, his uncle Sayyidunā ʿAbbās said: “O Beloved of Allāh (ﷺ), I want to praise you”, and sought permission to recite some lines of poetry in his praise. He ﷺ replied: “Recite, may your mouth remain fresh.”
Thereafter Sayyidunā ʿAbbās began to recite his poetry, inside the Masjid, before Rasūlullāh ﷺ and in the gathering of approximate 30,000 companions, in which he mentioned the transition of our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ through the lineage of the previous Prophets and how he ﷺ blessed them all. He said:
“… 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙,
𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 (𝘪.𝘦. 𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘴) 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 (𝘈̄𝘥𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘦) 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴…”
Sayyidunā ʿAbbās then continues:
“...𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣* 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙉𝙤𝙤𝙧;
𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘦 – 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 – 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.”
*Note: The phrase ‘وأنت لما ولدت’ is used.
Amazingly, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ rejoiced the Mawlid in front of 30,000 Ṣaḥāba and in every line he recited, he mentioned the Mawlid of the Prophet ﷺ!
Subḥāna Llāh! This historically confirms:
1. Mawlid upon the tongue of the blessed Ṣaḥāba.
2. Permitted by the Prophet ﷺ without any reproach.
3. Takes place in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ.
4. Poetry (Nashīd) in the Masjid.
5. At Masjid al-Nabawī.
6. Witnessed by others.
7. Birth of the Prophet ﷺ honoured explicitly.
8. Massively recorded and transmitted by elite Ṣaḥāba and ʿUlamāʾ of this Ummah.
Just to mention a few references of this authentic narration and historical event that occurred:
► Talkhīs Mustadrak al-Ṣaḥīḥayn (this book is on the criteria of Bukhārī and Muslim and Ṣaḥīḥayn here refers to Bukhārī and Muslim), vol. 3, page 369, ḥadīth number 5417. Page 327 in another edition by Imām al-Ḥākim.
► Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ by Imām Dhahabī, vol. 2, page 102.
► Majmaʾ al-Zawāʿid by Imām al-Haythamī, volume 8, page 217.
► Al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by Imām al-Ṭabarānī, vol. 4, page 213, ḥadīth number 4167.
► Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ by Shaykh Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad, vol. 1, page 363.
► Al-Istiʿāb by Shaykh Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, volume 2, page 447, ḥadīth number 664 & volume 3, page 327.
► Kitāb al-Wafā, vol. 1, page 35 & Ṣifatu Ṣafwa by ʿAllāmah ibn al-Jawzī, volume 1, page 53.
► Al-Iṣāba by ʿAllāmah ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, vol. 2, page 273.
► Al-Mughnī by Shaykh Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī, vol. 10, page 1776.
► Al-Khaṣāʿiṣ al-Kubrā by Imām Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, vol. 1, page 66, and page 97 in another edition.
► Sharḥ al-Shifā by Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī, vol. 1, page 364.
► Ḥāfidh Ibn Kathīr’s Mawlid al-Muṣṭafā, page 29-30 & Al-Bidāya wa l-Nihāya, vol. 2, page 258.
► Kitāb al-Milal wa'l Niḥal by ʿAllāmah Shahrastānī, vol. 2, page 240.
► Imām Yūsuf ibn Ismāʿīl an-Nabhānī in his al-Anwār al-Muḥammadiyyah, page 62-84 & Jawāhir al-Biḥār, page 40 & Ḥujjatullāhi ʿAla al-ʿĀlamīn, page 222.
► Insān al-ʿUyūn, vol. 1, page 96 aka. al-Sīrah al-Ḥalabiyyah by ʿAllāmah Ḥalabī.
► Sharḥ al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyyah, page 23 by Imām Muḥammad al-Zurqānī.
► Subul al-Hudā war-Rashād, vol. 5, page 469 by Imām ibn Yūsuf al-Ṣāliḥī al-Shāmī.
Mawlid is to hold a gathering in which a scholar/orator narrates miracles of the Mawlid and collectively people thank Allāh for sending His Beloved ﷺ to this Dunyā. That is the essence of Mawlid celebration which is why the Mawlid has aṣl in Sunnah. We *do not* believe that it must only be done on Rabīʿ al-Awwal. It can be celebrated at anytime during the year.