Maulud Rasul Celebrations Between Yes And No Again

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 The maulud is here again (the birthday of the Rasul or Messenger) today 9th October, 2022.  I believe in some arab countries it was yesterday 8th October 2022, coinciding with the 12th of Rabiul Awwal in the arabic calendar.
Once again the various videos and posters from the for and against 'celebrating maulud'  folks have been circulating.
Here is a video that I have posted before. This version seems to be slightly longer. I received it recently via WhatsApp. The fellow in the video is obviously a Wahabi / Salafi character. They are against celebrating the birthday or maulud of the Rasul. 
 


 
So this arab fellow says the exact birthdate of the Rasul is not known.  He says it was not on 12th Rabiul Awwal.

Then I also received the following newspaper report. It talks about the Mawlid celebrations in Mecca in 1917. (Their arithmetic is mistaken because 1917 + 109 = 2026).

 



Anyway these are obviously the anti-Salafi folks who promote the celebration of the maulud rasul. 
In Malaysia we get yet another public holiday for the maulud rasul. In Saudi Arabia they do not have a public holiday. 
A point to note is that in 1917 there was no Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932. 
The Turkish Ottomans ruled the area of Mecca (Hejaz) until 1916 when the British defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Mecca in 1916.
After that the Shariff Hussein also known as the Hashemite King ruled Mecca for a time. The British later got rid of him to Jordan where he became the Hashemite King of Jordan and where his family rules until today.
But in 1917 there were no Salafis or Wahabis in power in Mecca. There was still significant Ottoman and now British influence. Obviously the people there celebrated the maulud rasul.  Hence that newspaper clip above. 

After the Wahabis / Salafis established  Saudi Arabia in 1932 they stopped celebrating the maulud rasul there. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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