Mawlid
Mawlid is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of Muhammad on the traditional date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. A day central to the Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam, the Mawlid is also celebrated by Shia Muslims. The celebration was initiated either by the Abbasids or the Fatimids. The Muslim general Gökböri, a deputy of Saladin (r. 1174–1193), is believed to have been the first to publicly celebrate Mawlid, which he did in an impressive ceremony at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. The Ottomans under Murad III (r. 1574–1595) declared it an official holiday. Celebrants hold mahfils on Mawlid in which religious poetry is recited in praise of Muhammad accompanied by a feast. Other customs affiliated with Mawlid are supererogatory fasting, Islamic music and dhikr. Most denominations of Islam approve of the commemoration of Muhammad's birthday. The Mawlid observance is generally approved of across the four Sunni schools of law, the Shia, and by mainstream Islamic scholarship. Mawlid is considered a reprehensible bid'a (innovation) in Deobandism and Salafism. Mawlid is recognized as a national holiday in most of the Muslim-majority countries of the world except the Salafi states of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
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