Balaghal Ula Bikamalihi, Kashafadduja Bijamalihi

By A.K.M. Fazlur Rahman Munshi

Hafiz Asqalani’s Evidence for Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (S)

Hafiz Ibn Hajar Asqalani (773–852 AH), based on the authentic hadith mentioned above, established the religious basis of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (S) and presented evidence for the permissibility of commemorating the birth of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (S). Citing Ibn Hajar’s argument, Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti (849–911 AH) wrote that when Shaykh al-Islam and Hafiz al-Asr Abul Fazl Ibn Hajar was asked about the practice of Milad Sharif, he replied that he had found its fundamental basis.

It is established through Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that when the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) arrived in Madinah, he saw the Jews fasting on the Day of Ashura. He asked them why they were fasting. They replied that on this day Allah had drowned Pharaoh and saved Prophet Musa (AS), and they fasted to express gratitude to Allah.

The aforementioned hadiths prove that when Allah grants a blessing, favor or gift, or removes a calamity, expressing gratitude to Him on a specific day and renewing the memory of that day every year is appropriate and commendable. It is well known that gratitude to Allah can be expressed through prayer, prostration, fasting, charity, Quran recitation and other acts of worship. Can there be a greater divine blessing than the birth of the Prophet of Mercy (S)? Since there cannot, gratitude should certainly be expressed on that day.

Hafiz Ibn Hajar Asqalani (773–852 AH) took these hadiths, unanimously recorded in Sahihayn, as the basis for his argument regarding the celebration of Milad-un-Nabi (S). These hadiths show that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) encouraged expressing gratitude for the great blessing and victory granted to Prophet Musa (AS) and the Children of Israel and observing that day like a day of Eid. He also established this practice as a means of following the Sunnah. Can there be a greater blessing than the day on which the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) entered this world? If not, then what reason can there be for not commemorating the Day of Milad-e-Mustafa, the birth of the Messenger of Allah, with joy and in the manner of an Eid?

Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti (849–911 AH), in Al-Hawi lil-Fatawa (pp. 205–206), supported the validity of Hafiz Asqalani’s argument. He explained that although Hafiz Asqalani’s evidence concerning fasting on Ashura relates to the specific day on which Prophet Musa (AS) achieved victory, the virtue of fasting on that day remains because gratitude for that blessing can be expressed every year on the same date. This demonstrates that although the original event does not recur, the blessings associated with that day can recur. An example of this, according to the argument, is that every Monday the punishment of Abu Lahab is reduced through the blessing associated with the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (S). Before the fasting of Ramadan was made obligatory, fasting on Ashura was obligatory for Muslims.

References:
(1) Tahawi, Sharh Ma‘ani al-Athar, Bab Sawm Yawm Ashura, Vol. 2, pp. 129–132.
(2) Ayni, Umdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 11, p. 121.

When the fasting of Ramadan became obligatory, the obligatory status of fasting on Ashura was abrogated. Imam Bukhari (194–256 AH) narrated in his Sahih that Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqah (RA) said that the Messenger of Allah (S) used to command fasting on Ashura. After the fasting of Ramadan became obligatory, whoever wished could fast on Ashura and whoever wished could leave it.

Source: Sahih Bukhari, Kitab al-Sawm, Bab Wujub Sawm Yawm Ashura, Vol. 2, pp. 704, Hadith Nos. 1897–1898.

Some may wonder that since the obligatory nature of fasting on Ashura was abrogated, perhaps its virtue no longer remains. The first answer is that after Ramadan became obligatory, no other fast remains obligatory. However, this does not affect the permissibility or virtue of fasting on Ashura. Even after the obligatory ruling was abrogated, the Messenger of Allah (S) did not say that Muslims no longer had a special connection with Prophet Musa (AS). Rather, when fasting, he said that Muslims had a greater claim to Musa (AS) than the Jews, even though the event involving Musa had taken place many centuries earlier. Even after the obligatory status of Ashura fasting was abrogated, hadiths continued to mention the virtues of fasting on that day. Therefore, the virtue that fasting on Ashura possessed in the past continues today and will continue, because virtues are never abrogated. For this reason, the abrogation of the obligation to fast on Ashura does not affect Hafiz Ibn Hajar Asqalani’s argument. Even if, for the sake of argument, it was accepted that the virtue of this fast had also been abrogated, it would still not affect the evidence for celebrating Milad. The people who should rejoice most for Prophet Musa (AS) are those who claim to be his followers. Yet the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S), by observing the fast of Ashura, may be understood as directing the attention of the Muslim Ummah toward the principle that if people continue to express gratitude for the victory of a prophet, then Muslims should express even greater gratitude and lawful joy for the birth of their Prophet.

However, in his wisdom, the Prophet Muhammad (S) did not consider it appropriate at that time to directly say, “Fast on the day of my birth.” Rather, he regularly fasted on Mondays. He did not explain the reason until someone asked him about it. The fact that he did not explain the reason without being asked is presented as part of his wise and natural approach.