Fataawa Regarding Mother's Day

1- The scholars of the Permanent Committeesaid,
All perfect praise be to Allaah, theLord of the Worlds and may His
peace and blessing be upon His Messenger, his family and Companions.
First: The word "'Eed" [festival] is a term given to the occasion of
assembly which customarily recurs annually, monthly, weekly or so on.
It implies a recurring day such as the day of 'Eed Al-Fitr,Friday, and
so on, the assembly on that day and the deeds wherewith it is held, in
terms of acts of worship and customs.
Second: Any of the days that are intended for worship, drawing closer
to or honoring Allaah, seeking reward, or imitating the people of the
pre-Islamic days or their likes from among the disbelievers, is an
invented religious innovation, that is forbidden [under Sharee'ah], as
being included in the general statement of the Prophet:"Whoever
introduces anything new in our matter [i.e. religion], which does not
originally belong to it, it will be rejected."[Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
A typical example is celebrating the Prophetic Mawlid (birthday),
Mother's Day and National Day. The first implies a religious
innovation of an act of worship, which was not ordained by AllaahThe
Almighty on the one hand, and an imitation of the Christiansand others
like them from the disbelievers. The second and the third imply
imitation of the disbelievers. However, if the occasion is intended to
organize work in a way that serves the benefit of the Ummah (nation)
and adjusts the affairs of its people, like holding a traffic week,
putting a timetable at the beginning of the academic year, meeting
with employees to organize work, and so on, whose aim is not to come
closer to, honor or worship [Allaah], it thenbelongs to the ordinary
innovations which are not included in the statement of the Prophet.
There is nothing wrong with it, and it is even validunder the
Sharee'ah.
With Allaah The Almighty lies success; and may Allaah confer blessing
and peace upon our Prophet - Muhammad- and his household and
Companions.
2- They also said,
It is impermissible to celebrate what is called "Mother's Day" or
other such innovated days [festivals], due to the statement of the
Prophet:"Whoever does something that is not supported by our matter
[religion], it will be rejected."[Muslim] The celebration of Mother's
Day neither belongs to the Sunnah of the Prophetnor was it done by his
Companionsnor the righteous predecessors of this Ummah. On the
contrary, it is a religious innovation that also involves imitation of
the disbelievers.
3- Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaansaid,
Muslims imitate the disbelievers in many things, including mattersof
worship, such as polytheistic deeds like building over graves,
installing tombs over them and exceeding the due limits in the matter
of the graves in general. The Messenger of Allaahsaid:"May Allaah send
His curse on theJews and Christians, who took the graves of their
prophets as places of worship."He said that whenever a righteous man
died among them, they used to build a place of worship over his grave
and paint pictures in it and say that they would be considered (by
Allaah) as the worst of peopleon the Day of Judgment. Because of
exceeding the due limits in thematter of graves, the people fell into
major Shirk (polytheism), which is well-known among all people.
Going back to the matter at hand, such practices give rise to such
deviation due to imitating the Jews and Christians in matters like the
celebration of polytheistic and innovated festivals, for example the
celebration of Mawlids (birthdays) on the birth-date of the Messenger
of Allaahand the celebration of the birthdays of presidents and kings.
These kinds of polytheistic innovated events might be called certain
"Days" or "Weeks", like National Day, Mother's Day, Cleanliness Week,
and so on; all these have come to the Muslims via the disbelievers, as
in Islam, there areno more than two 'Eeds (festivals): 'Eed Al-Fitr
and 'Eed Al-Adh'ha, and anything else is a religious innovation and an
imitation of the disbelievers. So, it is obligatory for the Muslims to
take heed of this and not be deceived by the large number of people
who do it, from among those who belong to Islam but are ignorant of
the real nature of Islam, which causes them to fall into these
mistakes because of their ignorance, as well as those who are not
ignorant of the real nature of Islam, which means that they make these
mistakes intentionally. In the latter case of people who adopt such
practices intentionally, the calamity is evenmore severe. Allaah The
Almighty Says (what means):{There has certainly been for you in the
Messenger of Allaah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope isin
Allaah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allaah often.}[Quran
33:21]
4- When Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-'Uthaymeenwas asked about the
ruling on celebrating what is called Mother's Day, he gave the
following answer:
Indeed, all festivals [and days] that conflict with the
Sharee'ah-approved festivals are but innovated festivals which were
unknown among the righteous predecessors. Keeping in mind that their
source might be non-Muslim, they would then imply, besides their being
a religious innovation, an imitationof the enemies of Allaah The
Almighty.
The Sharee'ah-approved festivals are known among the Muslims, i.e.
'Eed Al-Fitr and 'Eed Al-Adh'ha,in addition to the weekly 'Eed,
i.e.Friday; and there are no festivals in Islam other than these
three. Any festivals that have been innovated other than these should
be rejected because they are invalid under the Sharee'ah ofAllaah The
Almighty, due to the statement of the Prophet:"Whoever introduces
anything new in our matter [i.e. religion], which does not originally
belong to it, it will be rejected."[Al-Bukhaari and Muslim] i.e. it
will be rejected by its originator and not accepted (by Allaah).
According to another version:"Whoever does something that isnot
supported by our matter [religion], it will be rejected."[Muslim]
Being so, it is impermissible, concerning the day mentioned in the
question, which is called Mother's Day, to do any rite that is
characteristic of 'Eed, like expressing delight and pleasure,
presenting gifts and such things. Moreover, it is obligatory for the
Muslim to cherish and be proud of his religion, and be satisfied with
what has been ordained by Allaah The Almighty for His slaves,without
addition or reduction. The Muslim should also not be a yes-man, who is
too submissive and follows whatever is called for. On the contrary, he
should form his independent personalityaccording to the principles of
the Sharee'ah of Allaah The Almighty and follow that rather than
follow others. He should be a good pattern [to be followed] and not an
imitator [of others]. This is because the Sharee'ah of Allaah - all
perfect praise be to Allaah - is perfect in all respects, as confirmed
by Allaah The Almighty in His saying (what means):{This day I have
perfectedfor you your religion and completed My favor upon you andhave
approved for you Islam as religion.}[Quran 5:3]
The mother deserves to be honored every day of the year. Her children
should care for her, look after her and obey her in anything that
leads to no disobedience of Allaah The Almighty, in every time and
place.