In Islamic terminology, it refers to innovations in worship for which there is no precedent in Islam.

In this regard, I should make clear that it is not bid`ah to express our love for the Prophet of mercy (peace and blessings be upon him) as long as we are not introducing new forms of worship while doing so. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) allowed certain things or events associated with him during his time to be commemorated, and Muslims used to express their love freely without any inhibition. They would even show their love for him by using the leftover water from the Prophet’s wudu’.

Thus, we have enough evidence to prove that we are allowed to express our love and to commemorate the event of the Prophet’s birth.

Commemorating the Prophet’s birthday would only fall into the category of bid`ah, or innovation, if we were to innovate forms of worship that were not initially prescribed in the religion.

We have precedents in the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as well in the life of his pious predecessors, to commemorate the things or events associated with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Didn’t they commemorate the Prophet’s entry to Madinah with singing and expressions of joy; didn’t they commemorate the event of Hijrah by making it the basis of the Islamic calendar; and didn’t they compose poems in praise of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? The companions also commemorated the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by cherishing them dearly as expressions of their love for their Messenger.

Nations commemorate historical moments in order to foster their unity and sense of who they are. Can there be any event in Islamic history that is more significant for Muslims than the birth, mission, and life of the Messenger of Allah? How then, can we say that we cannot commemorate it in a fitting manner, when we do so in respect to all kinds of events in the life of our nation, political party, or institution. Ameen.

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http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1144161655187

This is sheer and utter rhetoric devoid of any substantial evidence of utility to the decisions of the `ulema. The bottom-line is (as Dr Umar F. Abd-Allah) mentioned, “The mawlid is an innovation, but to say that it is an offensive innovation is in itself an innovation.” What he obviously meant was that the scholars of every school of law have been in agreement about the praise-worthy nature of the mawlid, and the only people who disagree with this are either those who lose sight of the larger picture in pursuit of the particulars or those who simply want to stand out and attract attention (as one of my teachers said over another issue beloved to this same group, folding the hands on the chest, they just “want to be punk”).

Arguing that the Salaf did not do something that wasn’t known to them is equivalent to arguing that airtravel is prohibited because they only road on camels. Yet even this is a red herring, a complete side show (if not a freak show), because as you yourself stated in forwarding this bijou, the Prophet (saws) himself commemorated the day of his birth, proving that to similarly honour this day with fasting and pious actions is not as great an innovation as your dogmatic overlords make of it. Also, as students of the Maliki madhhab should be familiar, it is also said that just as Medina is considered surperior to Mecca because of the presence of the Prophet there, so is the day of the mawlid equivalent if not greater than the Night of Power (Laylat ul-Qadr) (saws, wa SubhanAllah).

As the erudite scholar, the pure-hearted saint, and the noble scion of the Prophet’s own lineage (saws), Habib Ali al-Jifri (may God increase his benefit and light and grant him iman and `afiya) said, the end result of tearing the Ummah away from the mawlid and other acts of devotion and gratitude for the blessing of Prophethood, is to diminish this blessing and remove it from the hearts of people. A`uðu bil Lah!

Conclusion: if you don’t like the mawlid, don’t go to it; but spare the rest of us your obsession.

There is nothing in the Qur’aan to say that we should celebrate the Mawlid or birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet himself (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do this or command anyone to do it, either during his lifetime or after his death. Indeed, he told them not to exaggerate about him as the Christians had exaggerated about Jesus (upon whom be peace). He said: “Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about the son of Maryam. I am only a slave, so say, ‘The slave of Allaah and His Messenger.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari). What has been reported is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made the day of his birth a day of worship, which is different to celebration. He was asked about fasting on Mondays, and he said: “That is the day on which I was born and the day on which I was entrusted with the Mission or when I was first given Revelation.” (Reported by Muslim, al-Nisaa’i and Abu Dawood).

Moreover, we know that the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) were the people who loved the Prophet most. Was it reported that Abu Bakr, who was the closest of people to him and the one who loved him the most, celebrated the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? Was it reported that ‘Umar, who ruled for twelve years, or ‘Uthmaan, did this? Was it reported that ‘Ali, his relative and foster son, did this? Was it reported that any of the Sahaabah did this? No, by Allaah! Is it because they were not aware of its importance, or did they not truly love the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? No one would say such a thing except one who has gone astray and is leading others astray.

Did any of the imaams – Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al-Shaafi’i, Ahmad, al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Seereen – do this or command others to do it or say that it was good? By Allaah, no! It was not even mentioned during the first and best three centuries. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said in a saheeh hadeeth: “The best of mankind are my generation (or my century), then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then there will come a people who will not care if their testimony comes before their oath or vice versa (i.e., they will not take such matter seriously).” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Muslim and al-Tirmidhi). The celebration of the Prophet’s birthday appeared many centuries later, when many of the features of true religion had vanished and bid’ah had become widespread.

Thus this celebration became a sign of one’s love for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? But can it be possible that the Sahaabah, the imaams and the people of the best three centuries were unaware of it, and it was only those who came later who were aware of its importance?! What the Qur’aan tells us is that love of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is demonstrated by following the guidance he brought. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you (really) love Allaah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Say: ‘Obey Allaah and the Messenger.’ But if they turn away, then Allaah does not like the disbelievers.” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:31-32]

The first aayah explains that love is just a claim, but the proof of sincerity is following what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) brought. The second aayah reaffirms the importance and necessity of obeying Allaah and His Messenger. Hence Allaah ended the aayah with a very stern warning in which those who refuse to obey are described as kaafirs, and Allah does not love the disbelievers. We ask Allaah to keep us safe from that. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us of the danger of not obeying him, and the danger of adding to what he brought. The celebration of Mawlid or his birthday is indeed an addition to what he brought – as all the scholars agree. He said: “The best of speech is the Book of Allaah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The most evil of things are those which are newly-invented (in religion), and every innovation is a going astray.” (Reported by Muslim and al-Nisaa’i).

We ask Allaah to protect us from bid’ah and to bless us by helping us to follow. Allaah knows best. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Sidi Gibril Haddad responded to the article on his email list saying,

Re: The Birth-Date of the Prophet and the History of the Mawlid

Salam `alaykum:

It comes as no surprise the standard anti-Mawlid discourse continues with its
distraction and miseducation. What is sad is no one flails the factual gaps and
legal incoherence. Datewise, 12 Rabi` al-Awwal is the mashhur in the Umma, end
of discussion, at least as far as the general public is concerned. Any honest
discourse on Mawlid needs to reflect that fact. Two, the legal *asl* is the Holy
Prophet’s (upon him blessings and peace) own emphasis, in that he *marked* his
birthday both verbally (“That is the day I was born”) and with an act (fasting)
- no other birthday was marked in the authentic Sunna – and he encouraged the
Companions to extol his person in their panegyrics. Hence we mark his birthday
and extol his person. “The asl is Sunna even if the modality is bid`a” (Shaykh
al-Islam Zakariyya). Three, the people of Makka singled out the Mawlid Mosque
for du`a and nafl centuries before the Fatimis singled out the Mawlid month for
sadaqa. But the latter universalizes a good deed otherwise restricted to the
Meccans – and made impracticable after the Wahhabis’ destruction of the Mawlid
Mosque. For good reason did Abu Shama, al-Dhahabi and Ibn Kathir consider the
Fatimi celebration a praiseworthy innovation. If it was good enough for those
three, it is good enough for us.

Was-Salam.
GF Haddad

The FULL QUOTE of what Ibn Taymiyyah [ra] said:

“…because the Eeds are legislated laws from amongst the laws, so it is necessary to follow them, and not to innovate them, and the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) had many lectures, treaties, and great events that happened on a number of (documented) days such as the Day of Badr, Hunain, al-Khandaq, the Conquest of Mecca, the occurrence of his hijrah, his entry to Madeenah…and none of this necessitated that these days be taken as days of Eed. Rather this sort of thing was done by the Christians who took the days in which great events happened to Jesus as eeds, or by the Jews. Indeed the Eed is a legislated law, so what Allaah legislates is followed, otherwise do not innovate in this religion that which is not part of it.

And like this is what some of the people have innovated, either in opposition to the Christian celebration of the birthday of Jesus, or out of love for the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) and in honour of him. And Allaah will reward them for this love and ijtihaad, but NOT FOR THE BID’AH of taking the day of the birth of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) as an eed – this along with the difference of the people as to when he was born. For indeed this (celebration) was not done by the salaf, despite the existence of factors that would necessitate it and the lack of any factors that would prevent them from doing so if it were indeed good. And if this was genuinely good or preferable then the salaf, may Allaah be pleased with them, would have more right to doing so then us, for they had more severe love and honour of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) in following him, obeying him, and following his command, and reviving his sunnah inwardly and outwardly, and spreading that which he was sent with, and performing jihaad for this in the heart, with the hand and upon the tongue. So indeed this was the way of the Saabiqeen al-Awwaleen from the Muhajiroon and the Ansaar, and those that followed them in good.

And you will find the majority of these (who celebrate the birthday) in ardent desire of these sort of innovations – along with what they have of good intention and ijtihaad for which reward is hoped for – but you would find them feeble in following the command of the Messenger, that which they have been commanded to be eager and vigorous in, indeed they are of the position of one who adorns the Mushaf but does not read what is in it or reads what is in it but does not follow it. Or the position of one who decorates the mosques but does not pray in them, or prays in them rarely…

And know that from the actions are those that have some good in them, due to their including types of good actions and including evil actions such as innovation etc. So this action would be good with respect to what it includes of good and evil with respect to what it contains of turning away from the religion in it’s totality, as is the state of the hypocrites and faasiqeen. This has what has afflicted the majority of the ummah in the later times. So upon you is two manners (of rectification):

1. that your desire be to follow the sunnah inwardly and outwardly, with respect to yourself specifically and those that follow you, and you enjoin the good and forbid the evil.

2. that you call the people to the sunnah in accordance to ability, so if you were to see someone doing this (celebration) and he were to not leave it except for an evil greater than it, then do not call him to leaving the evil so that he may perform something more evil than this….

So honouring the mawlid, and taking it as a festive season (mawsam) which some of the people have done, there is a great reward in it due to the good intention and the honouring of the Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) because of what I have previously stated to you – that it is possible that something be good for some of the people and be denounced/considered to be ugly by the strict believer. This is why it was said to Imaam Ahmad about some of the leaders, that he spent 1000 dirhams upon the mushaf or similar to this. So he replied, ‘leave them, for this is better than them spending it on gold (jewellery).’ This despite the fact that the madhhab of Imaam Ahmad was that it is abhorrent to decorate the mushafs, and some of the companions (of Ahmad) interpreted this to mean that the money was spent in renewing the pages and writing. But this is not the intent of Ahmad here, his intention here was that this action had a benefit in it, and it also contained corruption due to which it became abhorrent. But these people, if they did not do this, would have substituted this for a corruption that contained no good whatsoever, for example spending upon one of the books of evil…”

http://muslimmatters.org/2009/03/11/the-birth-date-of-the-prophet-and-the-history-of-the-mawlid-part-i-of-iii/