Is celebrating Milad-un-Nabi religiously permissible?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is celebrating Milad-un-Nabi religiously permissible?". Your opponent's style: Islamic scholar

The Holy Qur’an Says ::.. قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا أَنزِلْ عَلَيْنَا مَآئِدَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ تَكُونُ لَنَا عِيداً لأَوَّلِنَا وَآخِرِنَا وَآيَةً مِّنكَ وَارْزُقْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ Eisa, the son of Maryam, said, “O Allah, O our Lord! Send down to us a table spread from heaven, so that it may become a day of celebration for us – for our former and latter people – and a sign from You; and give us sustenance – and You are the Best Provider Of Sustenance.” [Surah Al-Ma’idah, Verse 114] The day when food is sent from skies is day of rejoicing (EID); then the day when soul of universe Peace be with him was born must be the delight for the day of rejoicing.Look what Allah has said: وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ And abundantly proclaim the favours of your Lord. [Surah Al-Duha, Verse 11] Allah himself commemorating Milad in Holy Qar’an as we do in our gatherings, Allah SubHanuhu wa Ta’ala Says in the Holy Qur’an: هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللهِ شَهِيدًا It is He Who has sent His Noble Messenger with the guidance and the true religion, in order to make it prevail over all other religions; and Allah is sufficient as a Witness. [Surah Al-Fatha, Verse 28] وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ الُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ And remember when Eisa the son of Maryam said, “O Descendants of Israel! Indeed I am Allah’s Noble Messenger towards you, confirming the Book Torah which was before me, and heralding glad tidings of the Noble Messenger who will come after me – his name is Ahmed (the Praised One)”; so when Ahmed came to them with clear proofs, they said, “This is an obvious magic.” [Surah As-Saf, Verse 6] لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ Indeed there has come to you a Noble Messenger from among you – your falling into hardship aggrieves him, most concerned for your well being, for the Muslims most compassionate, most merciful. [Surah Tauba, Verse 128] لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللهُ عَلَى الْمُؤمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولاً مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُواْ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلالٍ مُّبِينٍ Allah has indeed bestowed a great favour upon the Muslims, in that He sent to them a Noble Messenger (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) from among them, who recites to them His verses, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom; and before it, they were definitely in open error. [Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 164] يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۔۔۔ قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللّهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذَلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُواْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ O mankind! The advice has come to you from your Lord and a cure for the hearts – and guidance and mercy for believers. Say, “Upon Allah’s munificence and upon His mercy – upon these should the people rejoice”; that is better than all their wealth and possessions. [Surah Al-Yunus, Verse 57/58] And this is what we do, we celebrate; we rejoice; we do spend our money to show gratitude to Allah Almighty on his greatest mercy and Blessing i.e. celebrations of Milad-un-Nabi because Qur’an Says: وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ And We did not send you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) except as a mercy for the entire world. [Surah Al-Anbiya, Verse 107]

You're twisting those verses to fit what you want, not what they actually say. The Quran praises the Prophet, yes—but praising someone is not the same as celebrating their birthday with parties and gatherings. Allah commands you to proclaim His favors, not create annual festivals around a date. Show me one verse where Allah ordered Milad celebrations specifically. You can't, because it doesn't exist. The Prophet himself never commanded this. You're adding to the deen what Allah didn't require.

Allah commands to proclaim his favours and mercy the prophet is rahmat ul alameen so why can't we rejoice on the day of his birth

Because proclaiming mercy isn't the same as inventing festivals Allah never commanded. The Prophet lived mercy daily—you don't need a birthday party to honor that. Where's his order to celebrate his birth? He never did it. Why add what he rejected?

You're confusing silence with rejection. The Prophet never forbade celebrating his birth—he never rejected it. But Allah explicitly commanded us to rejoice in His mercy. The Prophet IS that mercy made manifest. Celebrating his birth is celebrating Allah's greatest gift to humanity. That's not adding to the deen—that's fulfilling what Allah ordered: to rejoice in His blessings.

Silence isn't permission—it's silence. If celebrating birthdays was part of Islam, the Prophet and his companions would have done it. They didn't. They celebrated Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha because Allah explicitly ordained them. Milad is a later innovation with no Quranic basis. You're equating rejoicing in Allah's mercy with creating man-made festivals. That's not the same thing. Show me one companion who gathered to celebrate the Prophet's birth date.

Companions' silence is not a prohibition—it's simply their historical context. They lived with the Prophet daily; they didn't need an annual reminder. We do. The Milad gathering, stripped of claims to sacred obligation or festival status, is merely a container for already-established acts: Qur'an recitation, salawat, sirah teaching, and charity—all of which are undeniably commendable. The date is a practical trigger for remembrance, not a theological declaration of sanctity. Since the Shari'ah operates on default permissibility for collective gatherings of good (ma'ruf), and since no text explicitly prohibits marking a historical date with permissible acts, I hold that Milad—when free from impermissible elements—falls within the realm of mubah (permissible) at minimum, and for many, a praiseworthy means of renewing love for the Prophet ﷺ.

You're hiding behind "default permissibility" to justify what the tradition explicitly rejected. The companions didn't need reminders because they lived the Sunnah—you're claiming we need annual festivals they never established. That's not practical necessity, that's innovation dressed as pragmatism. If Qur'an recitation and charity are commendable, do them any day—why bind them to one date and call it remembrance? You're creating sacred time where none exists. If Milad is truly just "mubah," why do your gatherings feel like Eid?

You're claiming the companions rejected what they never actually addressed. They didn't establish Milad because the need didn't exist then—the Prophet was alive. That's not rejection; that's irrelevance. But here's your contradiction: you accept that reciting Qur'an and giving charity are commendable, yet you demand we scatter these acts randomly rather than gather around a meaningful date. Why? Because you're afraid gathering itself looks like celebration. But remembrance isn't sacred time—it's focused attention. A wedding isn't "sacred," yet we gather on one date. Milad is identical: purposeful assembly for permissible acts. Your objection isn't theological; it's aesthetic.

Your wedding analogy collapses instantly. Weddings mark contracts Allah ordained—marriage itself is Sunnah. Milad marks nothing Allah commanded. You're manufacturing "need" to justify innovation. The Prophet taught us remembrance through following his example daily, not through annual gatherings you invented. Stop hiding behind "permissible acts"—the issue is binding them to a fabricated occasion and calling it remembrance. Why that date specifically? Because tradition told you to, not because Allah or His Prophet did. That's bid'ah dressed as pragmatism.