Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
We are allowed to commemorate the event of the Prophet’s birth by offering charities and performing optional good works. We must never exceed the limits by equating the Prophet (peace be upon him) with Allah.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
The do’s on Prophet Muhammad’s birthday
We are allowed to commemorate the event of the Prophet’s birthday by offering charities and performing optional good works that are always permitted in Islam.
However, it would be even better to seize the opportunity to educate ourselves and others about the great benefactor, the Messenger of mercy and to express love for him by following in his footsteps.
Saying salawat (prayers) and nasheeds in praise of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are noble deeds.
Sending salawat on the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been enjoined in the Qur’an. Praising the Prophet (peace be upon him) is also an established tradition that we inherited from the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), thus, no one can consider it to be bidah (an innovation) in religion.
The dont’s on Prophet Muhammad’s birthday
Having said this, however, I must also make it clear that we must never exceed the limits by equating the Prophet (peace be upon him) with Allah.
This would be the case if we were to attribute divine powers to him or to take him as an intermediary in worship.
Our love of the Prophet (peace be upon him) must be expressed without any taint of shirk (disbelief).
In fact, celebrating the great life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) will go a long way in uniting Muslims together on the event that all of them will be proud of.
So, there is indeed a great benefit in these times, especially because Muslims are in need of a unifying event.
There is nothing more important for humanity than the coming of the mercy of the worlds. May Allah fill our hearts with the love for His Messenger (peace be upon him).
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.