Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa BarakatuhuPraise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon Our Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa aalihi wa Sallam)Firstly Jazak'Allah for your question and kind comments that you made about my service. May Allah the Almighty give us all the sincere
tawfiq, to serve Him, His Beloved Messenger
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), His Religion, and His People. (
Amin)
Secondly, I was slightly amazed at the question of whether 'it was permissible to keep an
nafil (optional) fast', in the month of Milad an Nabi. I have to admit, that in no place in the Qur'an al kareem, Sunnah, nor in the consensus of the scholars, or analytical reasoning of the scholars (
qiyas), does it say, that we are not allowed to.
After all, what is the importance of it? Those who are the devotees, the pious minded ones, the religious ones will keep this superogatory fast, as a means of devotion, whereas other people who are against commemorating the blessings, and excellences of
Milad an Nabi, will prevent others from doing so.
There are the following proofs of keeping a
nafil fast, during the month of
Rabi al-Awwal:
Muslim narrates that
Abu Qatadah said that the Most Beloved Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) was asked about fasting on Monday, and He said "That wa the day I was born".This hadith clearly states that the Blessed Messenger of Allah
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) did not disapprove of keeping a fast on the day He
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) was born. Because the day He
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) was born was on a Monday, then it is permissible to keep a fast on this day, as it is shown in the above hadith. But because the days of the Islamic calendar rotate more quicker than the English calendar, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal may fall on any other day, and it is also permissible to keep a fast on that day.
One objection that may be raised is that, if one considers the 12th Rabi al-Awwal as an Eid day, then it is not permissible to keep a fast on the Eid day, then the answer to that question will be, that in the hadith, it is referred to as the '
Eidayn' in which fasts cannot be kept. Which are
Eid-ul-Fitr, and
Eid-al-Adha.
Not Eid Milad an-Nabi.
Eid Milad an Nabi, is therefore a day of blessing for us, in which the Noble Messenger of Allah
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), came to earth, and blessed it, and blessed us by giving us the knowledge, and giving us His teachings. We thank Allah
(Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) for this blessing, as the Qur'an al kareem states:
'La qad mannallhu 'alal mu'minina idh ba'atha fi him rasuluyy yatlu 'alayhim ayati hi wa yuzakki him...'(3:164)
and:
'Wa amma bi ni'mati rabbika fa haddith'.(93:11)
There are many verses of the Qur'an al kareeem as such, but we have quoted just one or two. In essence we are thanking Allah the Almighty, for giving us Our Messenger
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), by commemorating His birthday in the form of recitation of the Qur'an al kareem, recitation of poetry about Him, making supplications and invocations, by presenting blessings and praises upon Him, by distributing food, and by fasting.
Have you not heard the hadith about
when the Beloved Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) and His Noble Companions came to Madinah al Munnawarra, they found the Jews were fasting on the tenth of Muharram. When asked by them, why do you fast, they replied that we gained salvation from the Pharoah on this day.
The Noble Companions (Radi Allahu anhum), told the Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) about this, and He (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) replied that 'We have more right to Moses than they do' thus the fast of the tenth of
Muharram becoming a
Sunnah act. Then how is it possible that when the whole world came out from the darkness into light, from evil into good, from ignorance into intelligence, when the Most Beloved Messenger of Allah
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) came, then do we as Muslims not have similar rights, in showing our love and affection towards it, in the form of keeping a fast on the day of
Milad?
Of course we do, and this is what the mentioned
hadith suggests. More importantly, worship such as this must be encouraged to one another, not discouraged. It should be emphasised, not criticised. That was the way of our pious predecessors, and they are whom we follow.
I trust if there are any further questions, I am confident, that you will not hesitate to ask.
May Allah the Almighty grant all our days of all our lives, blessed days, so that we may do His
dhikr, and the
dhikr of His Most Noble & Beloved Messenger
(Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), as much as possible. (
Amin)
Wallahu A'lamu BiththawaabM. Waseem Ashrafi
