Rabi' al-awwal 11, 1431 A.H, Thursday February 25, 2010
Sultan
Salahuddin al-Ayyubi viewed the disease of wahn as a disease
that must be eradicated from the hearts and minds of the Muslims. Therefore,
he organized a large scale event of festival all over the Muslim countries.
This festival is known as the celebration of Maulid ul-Rasul
SAW.
The disease of Wahn (the love of this life and hate of death) was
spreading and swallowing up the souls of the Muslims. This acute disease had
seeped into the deepest spot of the heart and infected the lives of most
Muslims. Accumulating wealth, forgetting the hereafter and fearing death had
made the Muslims reluctant to join the caravan of Jihad and fight. This was
the reason why the Muslims were easily subjugated by the kufr
Crusader forces the first time they set foot in Palestine.
The power of weaponry, technology and the number of forces had never been a
main factor in the history of the true Muslims’ struggles, like what we have
seen in the victories given by Allah SWT to His Rasul in the battle of Badr,
the battle of Yarmuk and many other battles.
It was all due to the Muslims’ love for shaheed and their longing
to meet their Rabb. However, the ambition to die shaheed
faded with times, replaced by the glitters of the world, to the point that
when the invaders arrived, there was no significant call for resistance i.e.
Jihad.
Sultan Salahuddin al-Ayyubi viewed the disease of Wahn as
a disease that must be eradicated from the hearts and minds of the Muslims.
Thus, he organized a large scale event of festival all over the Muslim
countries. This festival is known as the celebration of Maulid ul-Rasul
SAW. Therefore, this event of festival reverberated and was filled with
At-Taujih (briefings, instructions, guidelines), advices on the subject
of the sirrah (history) of Rasulullah SAW, as well as poetry and
story-telling contests with regards to the sirrah of Rasulullah
SAW.
In the beginning, this Maulid was opposed by some ulamas,
considering its nature, which was new and pointing towards bid’ah.
However, Salahuddin clarified that it was an activity that would enliven the
Shi'ar (hallmarks) of Islam (bid’ah hasanah) and not
ritual in character which is a forbidden bid’ah. Salahuddin asked
for the consent of the Abbasiyah Khalifah, an-Nasir, in Baghdad who approved
his initiative.
During the hajj season in Dzulhijjah 579 H (1183 AD), Salahuddin as
the sultan who was protecting Makkah, immediately instructed the
entire jama'ah of hajj to immediately spread the
information to all the Muslims when they all went back to each of their
villages, to organize the commemoration of the birth (Maulid) of
the Prophet SAW in the month of Rabiul Awal in the following year.
The Maulid they were going to organize should be having the character of
being able to arouse the spirits of the Muslims, so that they would return
to studying Islam and conduct Jihad.
Suddenly, the life of
Rasulullah SAW was once again exposed in every corner of the Muslim
countries and implanted into the souls of the Muslims. The winding courses
and the ups and downs of his struggles were clearly pictured in front of
their eyes. The longings and affections recurred, and the tears dropped
remembering the beloved Rasulullah SAW. This festival that took place for
two months without stopping really reawakened the Muslims to rise up from
their long slumber. The values of Jihad were also introduced which really
rekindled their spirits to conduct Jihad.
In this festival, a compilation of beautiful pieces of poetry which
praised Rasulullah SAW known as ‘Iqd al-Jawahir (a string of
gems) won the contest of the festival. This compilation of poetry is
better known as Barzanji, because it was written by Sheikh Ja’far
al-Barzanji, who came from Barzinj, Kurdistan. This is the most recited
poetry by the Muslims in many countries to these days. In fact, even the
Maulid of the Prophet SAW continued to be commemorated by the
Muslims today.
Unfortunately, these poetry and Maulid are like empty and without
meanings in their performance today. In fact, even the Sheikhs
and Ustadzs do not seem to understand the early history of
Maulid which they are commemorating every year. Even though the
performance of Maulid is repeatedly held, the ruh and
spiritual values of Jihad still do not arouse the Muslims to wake up from
their long slumber.
This festival solemnized by Salahuddin was successful in shaking the
countries of the Muslims. The elderly citizens and the youths, they both
rose and marched behind the Sultan to join ranks in Jihad. The
buzz and echoes of Jihad verses were reveberating everywhere. The caravans
of Jihad were lined up elegantly, the ambitions for shaheed
tolled and were ready to storm the invading Crusaders and cleanse
Palestine from humiliation and dishonor.
Note: Other source mentions that the Maulid was
first held by the Fatimiyyah Dynasty, also in the era of Salahuddin.
However, this is hard to accept considering the Fatimiyyah are Shi’ah
which generally is more inclined to idolize Ali RA than Rasulullah SAW.
Ibnu Kathir in his book al-Bidayah wan Nihayah, 13/137, mentioned
that King Mudhafir had organized the Maulid in the early 6th
century of Hijrah (Crusader War era), but only when he became
Salahuddin’s in-law that the Maulid was held in a much larger
scale in all the Muslim countries.
Translated from the book "Panglima Syurga" (Warriors Of Paradise) by Abu Fatah Grania
Submitted by a Mujahid