and peace of Allah be upon him) on the basis of the hadeeth in Saheeh
Muslim, al-Nasaa'i and Abu Dawood, which says that when he (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on Mondays,he
said: "That is the day on which I was born…"
Also on the basis of this hadeeth, is it permissible for a person to
fast on theday on which he was born, following thereby the example of
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)? Please
explain.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Muslim (1162) narrated from Abu Qataadah al-Ansaari (may Allah be
pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on Mondays and he said: "On
(that day) I was born and on it Revelation came down to me."
Al-Tirmidhi (747) narrated, in a hadeeth that he classed as hasan,
from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Deeds are
presented (to Allah) on Monday and Thursday andI like my deeds to be
presented when I am fasting."
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
From the saheeh hadeeths quoted above, itis clear that just as the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) fasted on Mondays
out of gratitude for the blessing of his birth on this day, he also
fasted it because of its virtue, because the Revelation came down to
him on that day, and on that day deeds are presented to Allah. So he
(blessings andpeace of Allah be upon him) liked his deeds to be taken
up when he was fasting. The fact that he was born on that day wasone
of several reasons for fasting that day.
If a person fasts on Mondays, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) did, hoping for forgiveness on that day, out of
gratitude for the blessings that Allah bestowed upon His slaves on the
day – the greatest of which blessings is the birth of His Prophet and
His sending him – and hopingto be among the people who are forgiven on
that day, then this is something good and is in accordance with what
is proven of the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him). But he should not single out one week for that to the
exclusion of others, or one month to the exclusion of others.Rather he
should do that as much as he can on a permanent basis.
With regard to singling out one day of the year for fasting it, in
celebration of the birth of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him), this is an innovation (bid'ah) that is contrary to the
Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) fasted on Mondays,
and no otherday, but from year to the next, his birthday may come on
that day or any other day of the week.
For more information on the ruling on celebrating the Prophet's
birthday (Mawlid), please see the answer to questions no. 13810 and
70317 .
Secondly:
What is widespread among people nowadays of celebrating birthdays isan
innovation that is not prescribed in Islam. The Muslims do not have
any special days that they celebrate apart from the two Eids, Eid
al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
This has been discussed before in several answers;please see no. 26804
and 9485 .
Moreover, what comparison can there be between the birth of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), which is indeed a
blessing and a mercy for all of mankind as Allah says (interpretation
of themeaning): "And We have sent you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم)
not but as a mercy for the 'Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that
exists)" [al-Anbiya' 21:107] and a harbinger of good for all mankind,
and the birth or death of any other humanbeing? Moreover, what would
that attitude of his Companions, and the righteous who came after
them, be towards such an action?
It is not known that any of the salaf or early scholars said that it
is prescribed to fast on any particular day of the weekor the month or
the year, and regard that day as a "festival" because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to fast on the day of
his birth every week, which was a Monday. If that was prescribed, the
people of knowledge and virtue of the early generations whohastened to
do all that is good would have hastened to do it before us. As they
did not do that, it is known that this is something that is innovated
and it is not permissible to do it.
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