Id-e-Milad revelry sees sharp rise

Id-e-Milad celebrations in the city and surrounding towns have seen a sharp rise this year which according to Sunni Muslims who observe the birthday of the Holy Prophet on the 12th of Rabi ul’ Awwal (the third month in the Islamic calendar) is due to increased awareness about the life of the prophet and love for him.

However, clerics have attributed the increase in celebrations as an effort to differentiate the Sunnis from the extremist Wahabi and Ahle Hadith sects that support terrorist groups like the ISIS and ban such celebrations. Mumbai police confirmed that processions of Id-e-Milad in the city have increased by almost 20 per cent over the previous occasion that was observed on January 4, 2015.

Speaking about the Milad un Nabi celebrations in the city on Thursday, Maulana Saeed Noori, general secretary of Raza Academy, said that the occasion is celebrated by lovers of the prophet and those who recognise him as a messenger of peace and harmony. “The birth celebrations of the Holy Prophet is celebrated worldwide amongst Muslims and several countries have a national holiday on this day. Only terror groups like ISIS and Daesh etc do not celebrate this day. Hence it is a better way to condemn such terrorist organisations and their acts and also the respective governments can identify such groups by their stand on such celebrations,” said Mr Noori.

Concurring with the views of Mr Noori, Maulana Ejaz Kashmiri, a member of the All India Ulema Council, added that by supporting terrorist groups the Wahabis were damaging the image of the prophet and giving Islam a bad name by misinterpreting jihad to promote terrorism. “Before 1920, Milad un Nabi celebrations took place in Mecca and there used to be processions, banquets and night-long poetry sessions to commemorate the occasion. All over the world the occasion was celebrated with great aplomb. But since 1920 the extremists have banned celebrations in Saudi Arabia and the same has been effected in countries that follow them,” said Mr Kashmiri.

In 1920, Mohammad ibn Abdul Wahab, who propounded the extreme ideologies of Ibn Taimiyyah, a 7th century scholar, played a major role in upstaging the Ottomon dynasty and brought the Saud household to power. The region of Hejaz was christened Saudi Arabia on the condition that Wahab would take care of religion and the Sauds would rule the country. This arrangement with the Sauds enabled Wahab to propagate Taimiyyah’s ideologies, which prohibited Milad-un-Nabi celebrations on the grounds that it was innovation in religion (bidah).

In recent times, the rise of ISIS, Daesh and Al-Qaeda, all of which follow the ideologies of Wahab to various degrees, has made the Sunni Muslims eager to distance themselves from the extremist groups by defying the prohibitions by the Wahabis and Ahle Hadith, which also prohibits such celebrations.

Mohammad Siraj Shaikh, a resident of Antop Hill when asked on the reason for participating in the procession said, “It is the reverence for the prophet that has prompted me to join the procession and also get my children to accompany me to it.” When asked whether it was to defy the restrictions by the extremists he said it was also one of the reasons. Shahid Shaikh, a resident of Wadala, said that the number of people who took part in the celebrations was ever increasing and would keep increasing every year. “Previously people had the fervor but preferred to stay home. However, they now realise the need to come out to show their strength and hence the number of processions have increased,” said Mr Shaikh.

The Mumbai police confirmed the increase and said that while it was difficult to put a number on the processions, based on rough estimates it can be assumed that they have gone up in the city by nearly 20 per cent. Thane police said that this year there were nearly 100 processions more than in January. Navi Mumbai police also pointed to the rise in the number of processions by 20-25 per cent.