This year Eid-e-Milad will be celebrated in Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and more on Thursday, September 28, 2023. While Saudi Arabia is celebrating Eid-e-Milad on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Everyone is seemingly curious to celebrate Eid-e-Milad but do they know what is the history and significance of this festival? In this article, we are going to tell you everything about Eid-e-Milad. There are some people who are also keen to know why not all Muslims celebrate Eid-e-Milad. We have also pondered this aspect in the following sections. To unfold all the facts and truths of Eid-e-Milad, you need to go through it till the end. Drag down the page.
Why We Celebrate Eid-e-Milad?
Eid-e-Milad also known as Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi and Mawlid in Arabic, is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad. The celebration for the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad starts during Rabi’ the third month of the Islamic calendar, al-awwal. In India, this year, the crescent moon sighting in October was sighted on October 18 which marks the starting of Rabi’ al-awwal. Other subcontinental countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka also sighted the crescent moon on October 18. That means October 19 will be the first day of Rabi ul Awwal.
Who celebrates Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi?
As mentioned, there are some people who are perplexed about why not all Muslims celebrate Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi. Let’s take on this question. First of all, we tell you that the Sufi and the Barelvi Muslims celebrate the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad. However, other sections of Muslim religion believe in the fact that the celebration of birth does not take place in their religion. Thus, they do not follow the culture of celebrating the birthday of Prophet Mohammad. According to them, the Holy Quran and Sunnah say celebration of any event other than Eid-e-Adha and Eid-al-Fitr is not allowed, it is a kind of biddah in Islam.
Therefore, the people who follow Salafi and Wahhabi schools of thought, do not celebrate Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi. They say Mawlid or Eid-e-Milad is an innovation as there is no evidence of Eid-el-Milad celebrations during the Prophet Mohammad’s era and his successors’ era. Kindly note that some sections of Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE on the twelfth day of Rabi’ al-awwal. The history of observing Eid-ul-Milad on the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad dates back to the early 4 Rashidun Caliphs and the idea of marking this day was initiated by the Fatimids. Stay tuned.