The Customary Mawlid Gathering

Question

In some places the mawlid is customarily held in this manner: in the name of the mawlid the common people are invited to listen; the arrangement of food and drink for the honourable ulama and the students is made at the homes of certain well-to-do landowners — otherwise it is counted as a defect in the eyes of the people of one’s neighbourhood; in this gathering some arrangement of candles together with other fragrances and the like is also made.

Answer

The blessed remembrance of the Prophet ﷺ in general — whether it is the mention of his birth or the mention of his acts of worship, dealings and so forth — is, without doubt, commendable, a cause of blessing and a source of reward. However, the mawlid in its [now] customary specific form existed nowhere in the generations attested with good (qurun mashhud laha bi-l-khayr)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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