𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑Y 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐃
The month of Rabîul Awwal has arrived, the month in which the greatest Prophet, the Prophet who brought the last message, was born in the world. Almost all Muslims, especially in Indonesia, celebrate the birthday of the bearer of light who guides his people from the dark age of ignorance to the light of Islamic scholarship. Most Muslims celebrate it as an expression of gratitude and great love for the birth of the Prophet .
However, what we need to know has been that the early generations celebrated the Prophet's Birthday? When did Maulid Nabi start to be celebrated? Who was the first to initiate and celebrate this?
As we already know, that the first generation of Islam from the first to the third century (salafus shôlih) had not yet carried out the Mawlid of the Prophet even though they were the generation closest to the Prophet Muhammad and they knew best about what the Prophet did, because they always liveside by side with the Prophet and also the generation closest to him. Therefore, we are required to know the history of the beginning of the celebration of the Prophet's Birthday because any work that is not based on knowledge will be in vain. As Rasulullah said:
المؤمنين الله ائشة الله ا ال : ال رسول الله لى الله ليه لم: أحدث في ا ا ا ليس . اه البخاري لم , اية لمسلم: ل لا ليس ليه ا .
Meaning: From Umm believers Umm 'Abdillah, 'Aisyah radhiallahu 'anha, she said that the Messenger of Allah said: "Whoever invents something in our religious affairs that is not from us, then he is rejected". (Narrated by Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim). And in another narration from Imam Muslim: "Whoever does a deed that is not in accordance with our business, then he is rejected".
𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗱
The word "Mawlid" literally means the time of birth. In the book Lisânul 'Arabic by Ibn Mandhûr it is stated that the word "Mawlid" means: "Mawlid al-rajul: wilâdatuhu." So, what is meant by the word "mawlid" is the time of birth of a person. The definition in terms is an association in which there is a recitation of verses from the Qur'an, prayers, praise and Srah of the Prophet Muhammad , and may also be added by serving food to the audience. This kind of behavior belongs to the practice of bid'ah hasanah which is rewarded because it aims to glorify the Prophet Muhammad and show joy at his birth.
𝗦𝗲𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗱
There are several opinions about the origin of the Prophet's birthday:
said that Sholahuddin Al-Ayubi, who was the commander of the Islamic War against the Crusaders, first started the Maulid celebration because he saw the condition of the Muslims at that time getting further away with the sunnahs of the Prophet , while the crusaders every daywhen ready to attack the Muslim army in one hit. With ijtihad, he, Sholahuddin Al-Ayyubi, finally held the Birthday of the Prophet in order to grow the sunnahs that began to fade from the Muslim body and increase the fighting spirit of the Islamic troops in upholding kalimâtullâh.
historians such as Ibn Khallikan, Sibth Ibn al-Jauzi, Ibn Kathîr, al-Hafîzh al-Sakhawi, al-Hafîzh al-Suyûthî and others have agreed that the person who first held the Maulid memorial was Sultan al-Mudhaffar , noSaladin al-Ayyubi. As Ibn Khallikan wrote in his book called Wafayat al-A'yan; that Imam al-Hafîdz Ibn Dihyah came from Morocco to Sham, and so on until he reached Iraq. When crossing the Irbil area in 604 H, he found Sultan al-Mudhaffar, the ruler of the Irbil area who was very concerned about the celebration of the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad .
This opinion is also reinforced by Imam As Suythi in his book Husnul Maqôshid fî 'Amalil Maulid. He explained that the person who first held the Maulid Nabi was Sultan al-Mudhaffar, the ruler of the Irbil region who was known to be loyal and highly dedicated.
, according to historians such as al-Maqrizy and the Egyptian mufti as-Shaykh al-Muti'iy and Sheikh Ali Mahfudz said that the Ubadiyah Shia group developed rapidly during the Fathimiyah dynasty in Egypt as he wrote inhis book al-Ibdâ' fî Madhôril Ibtidâ'.
However, regarding the accusation that the Prophet's Birthday Celebration was first held during the Fathimiyah (Shi'a) dynasty, Sayyid Muhammad Alawi Al-Maliki dawuh in his book Dhiyâ'utthullâb: "And there is no need to pay attention to the words of someone who says that the first to celebrate the Prophet's Birthdayis al-Fathimiyyun. Because this could be due to some stupidity or pretending not to know the truth.”
But there are other opinions too. And this opinion can guarantee (summarize) all the opinions above. The first pioneer of Mawlid Nabi was when the Ubadiyah Shi'ite Fatimid dynasty ruled in Egypt. However, the Ihtifal (celebrations) performed by them are varied, so it is not only the birthday of the Prophet .
Like the celebration of Maulid Ali bin Talib Krw., Maulid Sayyidina Hasan-Husein Ra. Maulid Fatimah Ra, and others. However, when the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty replaced the Fathimiyah dynasty, all influence was cancelled when the Shia-educated Fathimiyah dynasty ruled throughout the territory of the Ayyubid dynasty except for Sultan al-Mudhaffar, the ruler of the Irbil region who married his sister. Saladin al-Ayyubi.
At the time of Sultan al-Mudhaffar, Abu Said Kaukabry bin Zainuddin Ali bin Baktakin (630 H), in order to face the Mongols, he held an unmitigated Mawlid celebration for 7 days 7 nights in a row which cost 300.00 dinars. Yusuf bin Qaz (grandson of Abu Farj Ibnul Jauzi) in his book Mir'ah al-Zamân narrates that in every celebration of the Prophet's Birthday, King Mudzaffar provides 5000 pieces of grilled goat's head, 10,000 pieces of chicken, 100 horses, 100,000 zabady, and 30,000 plates containing sweets.
As a result, with the blessing of the Maulid Nabi and the spirit possessed by the Islamic troops, the Muslims were victorious and were able to defend the territory and seize some of the territory that had been controlled by the Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan. At its peak, in 583 H/1187 AD, the troops under the leadership of Sultan Saladin al-Ayyubi were able to reclaim Baitul Maqdis from the clutches of the western crusaders which they had controlled for approximately 90 years.
It was told that he was Sultan Saladin al-Ayyubi at that time being difficult and sad because he saw the spirit of the Muslims weaken and decline, resulting in Baitul Maqdis being successfully controlled by the enemy. Then he took the initiative to motivate the fighting spirit of the Muslims by growing and strengthening the love for the Prophet Muhammad by holding a Mawlid celebration which was often done by his brother-in-law Governor al-Mudhaffar, the ruler of the Irbil region. Then in the year 579 H / 1183 H he announced to the Hujjaj (people who were carrying out the pilgrimage) so that later when they returned to their respective regions they announced that since the 12th of Rabi'ul Awwal 579 H it was set as the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad and bettercelebrated with various positive activities according to syar'i in order to motivate Muslims such as ittibâ'/following the actions of the Prophet .
Then in 580 H/1184 AD for the first time he held a biography/sirôh writing competition of the Prophet Muhammad , which in the end Shaykh Ibn Dihyah emerged as the winner. Ibn Khallikan when writing a biography of al-Hafîdz Abu Khattab Ibn Dihyah said: "He (Ibn Dihyah) was one of the leaders of the scholars who traveled the world, went to Maghrib (Morocco), Sham (Syria), Iraq, and then settled in Irbil in 604 H. There he found the king of the area (Governor Al-Mudzaffar) celebrating the Prophet's Birthday, then he wrote the book Al-Tanwîr fî Maulid al-Basyîr al-Nadzîr and read it in front of the King. Then the governor gave him a reward of 1000 dinars for it. Actually, all of the Mawlid books are intended to grow and increase love for the Prophet Muhammad in the form of sirh, praise, and others that tell about his morality and biography of the Prophet Muhammad . The commemoration of the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad which was carried out obtained very astonishing results, the psychological impact could lift the mental and moral of Muslims to always survive in the face of non-Muslims fighting over Baitul Maqdis so that in 583 H/1187 AD Sultan Solahuddinal-Ayyubi and Muslim troops were able to retake Baitul Maqdis.
Based on the opinions described previously, we can conclude that the celebration of the Prophet's Birthday such as the reading of Sholawat, syi'ir-syi'ir and the biography of the Prophet in the books of Maulid al-Barzanji, ad-Dibâ'i, Burdah, and others. it was not held during the time of Rasulullah ,the Sahaba, Tabi'în, Tâbi'ît Tâbi'în and also the time of the Imams of the Madzâhib al-Arba'ah (Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam ash-Shafi'i, and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal).
The celebration of the Prophet's Birthday was only held during the Mamâlikul Islam (Islamic Kingdoms) around the 6th/7th century Hijriyah, at which time heretical firqohs developed. But in our opinion, even though the Companions never did it, it was because they had enough to live side by side with Rasulullah by imitating the ahwâl, serving, serving and reciting to him. At the time of Tabi'in, they were busy with jihad fî sabîlillâh, reciting and memorizing the Qur'an and hadith to friends, and so on. Meanwhile, at the time of Tâbi'ut Tâbi'în and the Imams of Madzâhib al-Arba'ah too, they were busy with rihlah (Wandering) seeking knowledge, ijtihad directly with Istinbâtul Ahkâm, and deepening law and fiqh issues, and others. Wallahu a'lam.
Reference :
Practicing Shari'ah Teachings and Fixing Customs by KH. M. Najih Maimoen.
I'anathut Tholibin Juz 3 p.364 (maktabah ash-syamilah).
Oral Arabic by Ibn Mandhûr (Cairo: Dar al-Hadis), vol. 9, p. 398.
Husnul Maqoshid fi 'amalil Maulid by Imam Suyuthi.
Dhiya'utthullab by Sayyid Muhammad Alawi Al-Maliki.
al-Arba'in an-Nawawi by Imam An-Nawawi.
