Mawlid

Mawlid (مَولِد) is the Islamic observation of the day when the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born. It is commemorated in Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month in the Islamic calendar. It is considered to be 12 Rabi' al-Awwal by most Sunnis, though most Shias consider 17 Rabi' al-Awwal to be the date. Mawlid's origins are disputed in the Islamic world. It was either introduced by the Abbasids or the Fatimids. The first public festival was started by the Muslim general Gökböri in 1207. Under Murad III (1574-1595), in the Ottoman Empire, Mawlid became an official holiday in 1588. Most denominations of Islam approve of the commemoration of Muhammad's day of birth. The Ahl-i Hadith, Deobandism, Salafism and Wahhabism movements disapprove its commemoration, considering it a bid'a ("innovation") in Islam. Mawlid is recognized as a national holiday in most of the Muslim-majority countries of the world with the exception of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Mawlid is derived from the Arabic root word ولد, meaning to give birth, bear a child, descendant. In contemporary usage, Mawlid refers to the observance of the day of birth of Muhammad. Along with being referred to as the celebration of the birth of Muhammad, the term Mawlid refers to the 'text especially composed for and recited at Muhammad's nativity celebration' or "a text recited or sung on that day". The term Mawlid is also used in some parts of the world, such as Egypt, as a generic term for the day somone was born celebrations of other historical religious figures such as Sufi saints. According to the majority of Sunni Muslims and some Shi'as, Muhammad was born on the 12th of Rabi' al-awwal. Many Twelver Shia Muslims on the other hand assert that Muhammad was born on the 17th of Rabi' al-awwal. It stands as a matter of ikhtilaf or disagreement since some Shiite scholars such as Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, Ibn Babawayh, and Zayn al-Din al-Juba'i al-'Amili have affirmed the date of the 12th of Rabi' al-Awal. Nonetheless, others contend that the date of Muhammad's birth is unknown and is not definitively recorded in the Islamic traditions.