Mawlid: Which is the birthday of Prophet Muhammad?
The Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca, a city in the Hejaz region, west of the Arabian Peninsula. The exact date of his birth is not known. This is because there was no specific calendar in use among the Arabs at that time. As a result, historians and astronomers who have worked on the subject have given many possible dates for the Prophet's birth as their opinions. And because of this difference of opinion, the Encyclopedia Britannica has given a doubtful date, putting a question mark in the place of birth. This makes it clear that the world is not sure on what date the Prophet Muhammad, who is known as the last prophet, came to earth.
The Prophet's birthday or Mawlid is generally considered to be the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal of the Year of the Elephant (i.e. the year in which the Abyssinian emperor Abraha attacked the Kaaba with his elephant army), although there is a difference of opinion on both the year and the date. However, most Muslims do not know that there has always been a debate about the exact date and that 12 Rabi' al-Awwal is not a universally accepted date. And the results of recent archaeological research on the Year of the Elephant have challenged the generally accepted information and have thus given more weight to this alternative view. Research shows that the Year of the Elephant was about 17-18 years before the birth of the Prophet. And Haqqal also mentions a different opinion on this matter in the Sira, that the event could have been 15 years before the birth of the Prophet or even 30-70 years before his birth.
None of the six books of hadith known as 'Sahih Sitta' contains any hadith that would specify the date of the Prophet's birth. Rather, the only hadith in this regard specifies only the day, not the date -
Abu Qatadah narrates that a Bedouin asked the Prophet about fasting on Monday, and the Prophet replied - "That is the day I was born and the day the Quran began to be revealed." - Sahih Muslim.
And we know the time of day when he was born - from the narration of Sidi al-Ghaws Abd al-Aziz al-Dhabbag, al-Ibrij. He mentioned - "He (the Prophet) was born, in the last third of the night, and Allah Almighty knows best."
So the Prophet was born on Monday. But which Monday of which month? And which year? We have to look to other sources to know this. However, the books of hadith that are considered as authoritative sources do not mention any specific date. Yes, there is a narration whose authenticity is, however, disputed, namely, that of Suyad bin Ghafla, who narrated: “The Prophet and I were born in the same year, the year of the Elephant.” Sunan al-Bayhaqi, Volume 1, Page 79. Some other sources also indicate that he was born in that year. So, from the original and expanded books of Hadith, we have gathered two pieces of information so far:
one. He was born on a Monday,
and two. He was born in the year of the Elephant.
Again, if we look at the books of history, we find many dates of the Prophet's birth. Ibn Ishaq (d. 150 AH) - one of the most reliable early biographers of the Prophet. He states without any hadith or other reliable source that the Prophet was born on Monday, the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal, in the year of the Elephant. There is a gap of about 200 years between the births of Ibn Ishaq and the Prophet, so we definitely need some more evidence to accept this date.
Another important early historian, Ibn Sa'd (d. 230 AH), has presented the opinions of some of the early narrators about the date of the Prophet's birth in his Tabaqah. In order, they are:
1. Monday, the 2nd of Rabi' al-Awwal, in the year of the Elephant.
2. Monday, the 10th of Rabi' al-Awwal, in the year of the Elephant.
3. Monday, no specific date.
4. In the year of the Elephant, no specific date.
It is interesting to note that Ibn Sa'd, a famous historian of early Islam, did not include the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal as a possible date in his list. Of course, the last two options are also correct and do not conflict with any specific date. But from these quotes from the early sources who gave so much information, it can be easily inferred that none of them knew the exact date of the Prophet's birth, and therefore they gave only what they knew.
The famous medieval historian Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH) also recorded many opinions about the date of the Prophet's birth in his memoir Al-Bidaya wal-Nihayyah. He states that most scholars believe that the Prophet was born in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, but they differ on the exact date. Some of those opinions are-
a). 2nd Rabi' al-Awwal: This is the opinion of Abu Ma'sar al-Sindhi (d. 171 AH), one of the early scholars of Sira, and the famous Maliki jurist and scholar, Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 463 AH). As a possible option, this date is also recorded by al-Waqidi (d. 207 AH), who, despite his weakness as a narrator of Hadith, is recognized as one of the renowned historians of early Islam.
b). 8th Rabi' al-Awwal: This is the opinion of the Andalusian scholar Ibn Hazm (d. 128 AH) and some other early scholars. Imam Malik (d. 179 AH) mentioned this opinion as the opinion of al-Zuhuri (d. 128 AH) and Muhammad bin Jubayr. Among others, Ibn Abd al-Barr ruled in favor of the first opinion, but admitted that this opinion is the opinion of most historians. Ibn Dhayya (d. 610 AH), one of the first authors of the biography of the Prophet, considered this date to be the strongest opinion.
c). 10th Rabi' al-Awwal: This is the opinion of Abu Ja'far al-Baqir (d. 114 AH), a descendant of the Prophet and one of the Shia Imams, as narrated by Ibn Asakir (d. 571 AH). And it is also the opinion of the famous scholar and student of the Companions, al-Sha'bi (d. 100 AH), and al-Waqidi (d. 207 AH) himself.
d). 12th Rabi'ul Awwal: This opinion is attributed to Ibn Ishaq (d. 150 AH), who mentioned it without any source. In other sources, it is mentioned as the opinion of Jabir and Ibn Abbas, but no isnad has been found for them in the primary source books on this matter.
e). 17th Rabi'ul Awwal: This date is the opinion of some Shia scholars and most Sunni scholars have rejected it without providing any reasonable argument.
f). 22nd Rabi'ul Awwal: This opinion is attributed to Ibn Hazm (d. 128 AH).
g). 12th Ramadan of the year of the Elephant: This was the opinion of the early scholars, as narrated by Ibn Asakir.
h). In the month of Ramadan in the year of the Elephant: This is the opinion of the well-known early historian Al-Zubayr bin Al-Bakkar (d. 256 AH), who wrote the first and most widely accepted history of Mecca. And some early scholars also agreed with him on this matter.
This is one of the strongest opinions about the date of birth of the Prophet. However, this list can by no means be considered complete because a modern researcher has come to the conclusion that the correct date should be the 9th of Rabi' al-Awwal. And people of little knowledge like us can easily calculate it like this -
we know that a lunar month is about 29.5 days, so a lunar year = 29.5 x 12 = 354 days, which is (365-354) = 11 days less than the conventional Gregorian year.
Now, 2015 Gregorian year = 1,436 Hijri year.
And, we know, the Prophet migrated when he was 53-54 years old.
So the total lunar years from the birth of the Prophet to this day = Hijri year + 54 (54 years are taken to get the lower limit of the year) = 1,436 + 54 = 1,490 years.
These 1490 lunar years are 1,490 x 11 or 16,390 days or 16,390/354 = 46.3, that is, about 46 years less than the equivalent Gregorian year.
So the Gregorian year equivalent to 1,490 lunar years = 1,490-46 = 1,444 years.
Therefore, the year of the Prophet's birth = 2,015-1,444 = 571 CE. And if we assume that the Prophet migrated at the age of 53, then this would be 572 CE.
On the other hand, the Prophet's birthday was on Monday in the month of Rabi'ul Awwal of the year of the Elephant, and since we have already learned that the 8th and 10th are the most favored dates, we can easily calculate backwards from the calendar and find that Monday falls on the 9th of that month.
That is, 571 CE = Monday 9th Rabi'ul Awwal 54 BC and the corresponding Gregorian date is 20th April 571 CE. And this date was first suggested by the Egyptian astronomer Muhammad Pasha al-Falaki (1302/1885). However, the problem with these methods of calculation is that there is no specific method of conversion between Gregorian and Hijri, so the conversion used in these cases is not entirely accurate.
Another different calculation shows that the Prophet's birthday was Monday, June 17, (12 Rabi'ul Awwal) 569 CE and is recommended by the famous Muslim scholar of our time, Muhammad Hamidullah (2002).
However, we find references to other different opinions in the account of Muhammad Husayn Heckle. In his biography of the Prophet, he mentions that the months of the Prophet's birth could be Muharram, Safar or Rajab, in addition to Rabi' al-Awwal and Ramadan. He also mentions, quoting a Persian orientalist, that the most likely date is August 570 CE, which corresponds to Rajab. And as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, Heckle mentions in his Sira that the year of Hasti could be 15 years before the Prophet's birth or even 30-70 years before his birth, which is also consistent with the results of recent geological research.
However, in analyzing all the information presented above, we see that there are many opinions about the exact date of the Prophet's birth, some of which differ in terms of the month and the rest even in terms of the year. However, a large majority of historians and scholars agree that the Prophet was born on a Monday in the month of Rabi'ul Awwal, corresponding to 570 (or 571) CE. And taking this information into account, we also see that there are about half a dozen opinions on the month of Rabi'ul Awwal. In fact, two of these dates - the 8th and the 10th - were the popular opinions until the first five centuries of Islam. And of these two, the latter opinion was especially valued.
So now the question arises, why do most people celebrate the 12th of Rabi'ul Awwal as the Prophet's birthday? But are most people unaware of such a difference of opinion?
The answer is that the actual date was not known to any of the companions or the wives of the Prophet and that “12th Rabi’ al-Awwal” is just another day, but Ibn Kathir mentions this: “…and this is the most common opinion on this matter, but Allah will speak best about it.” However, this opinion is not attributed to any of the first few generations of Islamic scholars. Meanwhile, Ibn Rajab al-Hambali also writes in his Latif al-Ma’rif (page 185) – “The majority of people are of the opinion that he (the Prophet) was born on the second day of the week (Monday) on the 12th Rabi’ al-Awwal… in the year of the Elephant.” And as we have already said, Ibn Ishaq also mentioned this date (without any source). However, we believe that the following two factors may have played a role in this:
First: Ibn Ishaq’s own popularity. His Sira is the primary source of information on the Prophet’s biography. And so his book, ignoring other opinions, was used as a standard reference by many scholars later in their writings, simply copying and pasting, which played a helpful role in determining the date.
Secondly: When a group of people first took the initiative to celebrate the day as the Prophet's birthday, they probably chose the 12th date without much analysis. Then, when the celebration of Milad-un-Nabi spread, this date also gained majority acceptance. And this idea also explains why Abd al-Barr, before the idea of celebrating Mawlid (Milad-un-Nabi) in the 5th century AH, mentioned that the majority opinion among historians was 8 Rabi'ul Awwal, and why Ibn Kathir, three hundred years later, when Milad-un-Nabi had become known as a public festival, mentioned that the majority opinion was 12 Rabi'ul Awwal.
The summary of the information presented so far is that the exact date of the Prophet's birth has always been a matter of debate among classical scholars. The books of Sahih Hadith do not state anything specific about it, and this proves that they did not consider it as significant as later scholars did.
Most Shia scholars believe that the 17th of Rabi' al-Awwal and most Sunni scholars believe that the Prophet's birth date is 12th Rabi' al-Awwal. And that is why the Islamic Republic of Iran has designated 12-17 Rabi' al-Awwal as a week of unity to honor both views.
Completed.
Not revised.
Source:
Sahih Bukhari,
Sahih Muslim,
Sunan Bayhaqi,
Malik bin Anas, Al-Muwatta,
Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah,
Ibn Sa'd Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir,
Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya Wal Nihaya,
Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Madinat Damascus,
Mawlid Na Mawlid - Islamic Encyclopedia,
Al-Waqidi, Kitab Al-Tarih Wal Maghazi,
Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali, Al-Latif Al-Ma'rif,
Ibn Hazm, Al-Ihkam Fi Usul Al-Ahkam,
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, Fatih Al-Bari Fi Sarh Sahih Al-Bukhari,
Al-Zurair Al-Bakkar, Al-Muntakhab Min Kitab Awwaz Al-Nabi,
Dr. Yasir Qadhi, The Birth-date of the Prophet and the history of the Mawlid, muslimmatters.org/2009/03/13/
Vaiz Zade Khorasani, Muhammad (1996). "Muhammad birthday, Unity Week and 9th International Islamic Unity Conference". Mishkat (51): 4–43.
