Eid Milad-un-Nabi

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi ﷺ (the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) is celebrated on the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal — the most blessed day in the Islamic calendar, marking the birth of the final Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the Mercy to all Worlds (Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen). Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born on a Monday, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal, in the Year of the Elephant (Aam-ul-Feel, approximately 570 CE) in Makkah al-Mukarramah, in the house of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib in the Shi'b of Banu Hashim. His birth was accompanied by extraordinary miraculous signs narrated in authentic sources: a light emanated from his mother Hazrat Aminah R.A that illuminated the palaces of Busra in Syria; the sacred fire of the Zoroastrian temple in Persia — which had burned continuously for a thousand years — was extinguished; fourteen balconies of the palace of Kisra (Persian Emperor) collapsed; and the idols in the Kaaba and temples worldwide fell on their faces.

His mother Aminah R.A reported that she felt no pain during his birth and that he was born clean, circumcised, and with his umbilical cord already cut — and that a light accompanied him that illuminated everything between East and West. The Prophet ﷺ himself honored this day by fasting on Mondays, saying: "That is the day on which I was born and the day on which I was sent as a Prophet and the day on which revelation was first sent down to me" (Sahih Muslim). Muslims worldwide celebrate this day with magnificent processions through cities, illumination of mosques and homes, Naat recitals (poetry praising the Prophet ﷺ), Quran recitation, scholarly lectures on the Seerah (Prophetic biography), Salawat gatherings, and generous distribution of food and sweets to all.

Scholars of the Ahl-e-Sunnat — including Imam al-Suyuti, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and Aala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan R.H — have affirmed the permissibility and virtue of celebrating the Milad as an expression of love and gratitude for the greatest blessing Allah SWT bestowed upon creation. The celebration of Milad is observed across the Muslim world — from Morocco to Indonesia, from Turkey to South Africa — with each culture adding its own beautiful traditions while united in love for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.