I say, and with God's success: The Prophet's birth: A gathering of people to read the Quran and narrate the news related to his birth , praises, and the offering of food and other good deeds, as mentioned in the book "Ain al-Talibin" 3: 361. The purpose of celebrating the Prophet's birth is to remind people of their love for their noble Prophet , his fragrant biography, and his good attributes, and to glorify his status among people; as Allah, the Exalted, said: {And whoever honors the rites of Allah - indeed, it is from the piety of hearts} [Al-Hajj: 32]. This includes spreading goodness and righteousness through feeding the hungry, mentioning the rulings, and increasing joy among Muslims by adhering to his love , mentioning his birth, miracles, biography, and introducing him , and feeding the poor and the needy. Al-Suyuti said in "Al-Hawi for Fatwas" p. 2528: "The essence of the celebration of the birth, which is the gathering of people, reading what is easy from the Holy Quran, and narrating the news related to the beginning of the Prophet , and what occurred at his birth from signs... is one of the innovations for which its doer is rewarded; for it involves honoring the status of the Prophet  and expressing joy and glad tidings at his noble birth." Among the evidences for the commendation of celebrating the birth: 1. Allah  said: {Say, "In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate"} [Yunus: 58]. Allah  commanded us to rejoice in mercy, and the Prophet  is the mercy to the nations. Ibn Abbas  said: "The bounty of Allah is knowledge, and the mercy of the Prophet , as Allah  said: {And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds} [Al-Anbiya: 107]." As mentioned in "Al-Durr Al-Manthur" 4: 367, Al-Alusi said in "Ruh Al-Ma'ani" 10: 141: "It is well-known that the Prophet  is described as a mercy." 2. Allah  said: {And all that We relate to you of the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart} [Hud: 120]. In this verse, there is a request to recount the news of the messengers for the purpose of firming the hearts of the believers, thus encouraging the repetition of mentioning the birth and caring for it. 3. Allah  said on the tongue of our master Jesus : {And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I die and the day I am raised alive} [Maryam: 33]. This verse, along with the previous one and others, contains many references to the birth of Christ , his praise, and the mention of the virtues that Allah bestowed upon him. All of these collectively testify and call for celebrating this great event, and the birth of Muhammad  is no less significant than the birth of Jesus ; rather, the birth of the Messenger  is greater than it because it is the greatest blessing, thus his birth is also the greatest and most significant. 4. Allah  said: {And remind them of the days of Allah} [Ibrahim: 5]. And He  said: {And recite to them the news of Abraham} [Ash-Shu'ara: 69]. The intention is to remind them and mention what Allah has blessed them with; for in mentioning what they brought of guidance, it draws hearts and minds to the favor of Allah upon His servants, so that they may turn to the rights of Allah upon them, perhaps they may hope for His mercy and fear His punishment, and call upon Him with desire and fear. This includes the news of the messengers from their birth until Allah takes them, in all their states, elevating the spirits, refining the insights, purifying the feelings, and guiding the errant souls back to obeying Allah and yearning for His love, adhering to Him and holding on to His pleasure, and fleeing from His wrath. All of this and more is what remembrance and reminding of Allah's blessings and celebrating them can achieve. 5. Allah  said: {Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace} [Al-Ahzab: 56]. This is a clear evidence of honoring and glorifying him at all times; for loving him  and being loyal to him is the essence of the religion and its foundation. All acts of worship lead to him and imprint the hearts with love for him. This is a noble status and a precious celebration, and celebrating the birth is nothing but conditioning the soul to increase prayers upon him ; hoping that love for him and his family will be imprinted in the hearts, establishing that love as a pillar of faith and erecting the edifice of certainty. 6. Abu Qatadah  reported that the Messenger of Allah  was asked about fasting on Monday, and he said: "That is the day I was born on, and on it the revelation was sent down to me" in Sahih Muslim 2: 819. This is a clear text in celebrating the day of his birth  that cannot be interpreted otherwise. Ibn Rajab said in "Lata'if Al-Ma'arif" p. 98: "It indicates the desirability of fasting on the days when Allah's blessings are renewed upon His servants, for the greatest blessing of Allah  upon this nation is the manifestation of Muhammad  and his mission and sending him to them, as Allah  said: {Indeed, Allah has conferred favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves} [Al-Imran: 164]. Thus, fasting on the day when this blessing was renewed from Allah  upon His believing servants is a good and beautiful act, and it is a way of reciprocating blessings at the times they are renewed with gratitude." The intention is to reach this obedience to the love of Allah and His Messenger , and this intention can be achieved by any legitimate means, for means have the same ruling as the objectives if the objective is lawful. 7. Ibn Abbas  said: "When the Prophet  arrived in Medina, he found the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. He asked them about it, and they said: 'It is the day when Allah granted victory to Moses and the Children of Israel over Pharaoh, and we fast in honor of it.' The Prophet  said: 'We are more deserving of Moses.' He ordered fasting on that day" in Sahih Al-Bukhari 7: 215. In this hadith, there is a foundation for observing the time and caring for it. Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani used this hadith to prove the legitimacy of celebrating the noble Prophet's birth, as mentioned in a fatwa he transmitted from Al-Suyuti in "Al-Hawi for Fatwas" 1: 196. He said: "It is derived from it to thank Allah for what He has bestowed on a specific day, whether it is a blessing or the removal of a calamity, and it is considered in relation to that day every year. Gratitude to Allah is achieved through various forms of worship such as prostration, fasting, charity, and recitation. And what greater blessing is there than the blessing of the emergence of this Prophet , the Prophet of mercy, on that day?" 8. The Messenger of Allah  sacrificed on behalf of himself after his prophethood. Al-Suyuti said in "Hassan Al-Maqsad" 1: 196: "It has been reported that he sacrificed on behalf of himself after the prophethood, although it has been stated that his grandfather Abdul Muttalib sacrificed on the seventh day after his birth, and the sacrifice is not repeated a second time. This indicates that what the Prophet  did was to show gratitude for Allah creating him as a mercy to the worlds, and it is a legislation for his nation, just as he used to pray for himself for that. Thus, it is also recommended for us to show gratitude for his birth by gathering, feeding, and other acts of goodness and showing joy. As for gathering for good, it is legislated based on his saying : "No people sit remembering Allah  except that the angels surround them, mercy envelops them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them among those with Him" in Sahih Muslim R2700. Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami said in "Fatwas Hadithiya" p. 150: "In it is the clearest evidence of the virtue of gathering for good and sitting for it, and that both states are good...". 9. The Prophet  said regarding the virtue of Friday: "On it, Adam was created" in Al-Muwatta 1: 108, and Sunan Al-Tirmidhi R419, and it was authenticated. Friday is honored by the creation of Adam, thus by the evidence of the text and the implication of the speech, and by analogy, the virtue of the day on which the Messenger of Allah  was born is established, and it has the same virtue whenever it recurs, just as the virtue of Friday. Among the scholars' statements regarding the commendation of celebrating the birth: There is a consensus on the commendation of celebrating the birth. The scholars mentioned that the first to celebrate the birth was the king Al-Muzaffar, the lord of Irbil, who used to invite the great scholars and others to the celebration. Many of the imams of jurisprudence have commended it, including: Abu Shama Al-Maqdisi (d. 665 AH) said in "The Motivator for Denying Innovations and Events": "One of the best things innovated in our time is what is done on the day corresponding to the day of his birth , such as acts of charity, kindness, and showing adornment and joy, for denying that - along with the good it does for the poor - is an indication of his love ." Al-Suyuti said in "Hassan Al-Maqsad in the Work of the Birth", which he authored regarding the desirability of celebrating the noble Prophet's birth, he said after a question was raised to him about the work of the Prophet's birth in the month of Rabi' Al-Awwal, what is its ruling in terms of Sharia, and whether it is commendable or blameworthy, and whether its doer is rewarded? He said: "The answer for me is that the essence of the work of the birth, which is the gathering of people and reading what is easy from the Quran and narrating the news related to the beginning of the Prophet's matter  and what occurred at his birth from signs, then they spread a mat for them to eat and they leave without anything more than that, and it is one of the good innovations for which its doer is rewarded; for it involves honoring the status of the Prophet  and expressing joy and glad tidings at his noble birth." Ibn Al-Jazari said in "The Definition of the Noble Birth": "It is well established that Abu Lahab is relieved of punishment in Hell every Monday night for freeing Thuwaiba when she gave him the good news of the birth of the Prophet . So if Abu Lahab, the disbeliever, who was condemned in the Quran, is rewarded in Hell for his joy on the night of the Prophet's birth , what is the case of the Muslim monotheist from the nation of the Prophet  who rejoices at his birth and gives what he can in love for him? Surely, his reward from Allah the Generous would be to enter him into the Paradise of Delight by His grace. And the scholar Shams Al-Din Al-Dimashqi recited in his book titled "The Source of the Thirsty in the Birth of the Guide": If this is a disbeliever whose condemnation has come * and his hands are cursed in the Hellfire forever It has been said that on Monday he is always * relieved of punishment for his joy at Ahmad So what about the servant who throughout his life * is joyful with Ahmad and dies as a monotheist? Ibn Kathir said in "Al-Bidaya wa Al-Nihaya" 2: 108 in the biography of Abu Al-Khattab Ibn Duhya: "He was one of the prominent scholars and famous virtuous men. He came from the Maghreb and entered the Levant and Iraq, and passed through Irbil in the year (604 AH) and found its great king Al-Muzaffar Al-Din Ibn Zain Al-Din taking care of the birth, so he wrote for him the book "The Enlightenment in the Birth of the Bearer of Glad Tidings" and read it to him himself, and he rewarded him with a thousand dinars." Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani said: "The essence of the work of the birth is an innovation that was not reported from any of the righteous predecessors from the three centuries: the companions, the followers, and the followers of the followers. However, it has included both good and bad aspects. Whoever strives to perform its good aspects and avoids its bad ones has a good innovation; otherwise, it is not." This is a subtle indication and a fleeting reminder of the importance of reviving this fragrant occasion in the hearts of the believers; to increase their love, honor, and reverence for their Prophet , and to adhere to his Sunnah and noble path in their lives. Countless books have been authored on his noble birth, including: "Celebrating the Anniversary of the Noble Prophet's Birth" by Muhammad bin Alawi Al-Maliki, "Perfecting the Craft in Clarifying the Meaning of Innovation" by Abdullah Al-Ghamari, "The Greatest Blessing in the Birth of the Master of Humanity" by Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami, "The Complete Guidance in the Sources of the Prophet's Birth and What is Customarily Done in It" by Muhammad Ali bin Hussein Al-Maliki, "The Prophetic Statement about the Virtue of the Manifestation of Perfections in the Birth of the Master of Creatures" by Salama Al-Radi, "The Ahmadian Inspirations and the Spiritual Breaths in the Birth of the Best of Creation" by Muhammad bin Abdul Kabir Al-Kattani, "The Beautiful Verses in the Birth of the Intercessor" by Yusuf bin Ismail Al-Nabahani, "The Birth of Al-Munawi" by Abdul Ra'uf Al-Munawi, "The Clear Statement in Refuting the Denier of the Noble Prophet's Birth" by Abu Hashim Al-Sayyid Al-Sharif, "Seeking to Attain the Love of Allah by Praising the Messenger and the Legitimacy of Reading the Birth" by Abu Muhammad Al-Wailtouri, and "The Compelling Arguments and Clear Evidence on the Permissibility of Celebrating the Noble Prophet's Birth" by Hamid Ahmad Babakr. And Allah knows best.