Praise be to Allah,  Lord of the universes, and let His Blessings (Salah) with Safety (salam) be upon he who is sent Mercy to the universes; our Master Mawlana Mohamed; and upon his family, companions, followers, and descendants to the Day of Judgment.

Certainly, the birthday of the Nobel Messenger is the birth of tremendous light and joy.

The joy that appears on the faces of the faithful – springing from their hearts- is not an uncommon expression.  Can  anyone deny the  absolute  truth that the Prophet -Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (SAAWS) is the one who delivered them out of darkness unto Light?

As you may know; showing joy does not have to be based on a Holy order because joy occurs whenever a person experiences a happy event.  Also, showing sorrow does not need a Divine text or commandment; as it manifests itself when a person experiences a sad feeling.

One should observe the religious ordinances of “Do” and “Don’t Do” when expressing signs of joy or sadness.

Expression of happiness is allowed as long as it is not associated with wrong-doing (Munkarat), e.g. eating or drinking something forbidden, or moving toward committing a sin.

It is allowed during time of sorrow if a person becomes sad but without tearing his clothing apart, slapping his cheeks, or uttering with the disbelief claim (Shirk) of the pre-Islamic period (Jahilyiah).  When our Master Ibrahim- the son of our Master; the Messenger of Allah (SAAWS) – passed away, tears of mercy appeared in his eyes and he stated: “tears come out of our eyes while our hearts are humble but we say nothing that displeases the Lord. We are saddened by your departure, oh Ibrahim. We belong to Allah and we surely are returning to Him”.

Adults know rules and limits (of Shari’a ordinances) but children do not know and their expression of joy differs from adults. 

I do not find it objectionable for children to play and have fun in celebrating  the Prophet’s (SAAWS) birthday using a doll, a camel or a horse made of sweet.  This should not be confused with idolatry (Wathanyia) as children are not held accountable for their deeds even if they were to worship an idol.  For children it’s a matter of having fun cause due to their innocence they do not distinguish between fun and worship.  We have not heard of a child who had been playing with a statue in his childhood and turned to worship it when he/she grew up!

Moreover, there is an interesting point to consider: these sweet dolls and statues show up only during the birthday of Allah’s Messenger (SAAWS), doesn’t this indicate the greatness of the Prophet (SAAWS) as these articles used to be worshipped and bowed to by great people before the beginning of our Prophet’s (SAAWS) mission.  The people of that time period used to worship these articles as holly gods but now they are toys in the hands of Muslim children who were raised up by the Prophet (SAAWS) to uphold Monotheism (Tawhid).

Any sane person would not think that a Muslim would worship a horse made of sweet when he owns a real horse in his house.  It would be better for him if he was an idolater to use the real horse for worship rather than the one made of sweet.

There is no harm in having a statue (Timthal).  The prohibition is for having an idol (Sanam) that is worshipped to bring the worshipper nearer to his god, and a godling (Wathan) that is worshipped as a deity rather than the true worship of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala (SWT).

Dear reader, know that intentions (Nyiah) is the final criteria when judging people as faithful or un-faithful, and this is only known to Allah (SWT).

There is no Power or Might except with Allah the Most High the Most Glorious.

 

Original Arabic text in Behira Wal-Akalim Journal- Issue # 235

Filed under: Let It Be Good, O' Allah on January 17th, 2011