Mawlid al-Nabi (redirected from Prophet's Birthday)

Mawlid al-Nabi (Maulid al-Nabi; Prophet's Birthday)

12th day of the Islamic month of Rabial-Awwal

Mawlid al-Nabi celebrates the birth of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Born in Mecca around 570, he was a shepherd and a trader who began to receive revelations from God when he was 40 years old. Over the next 23 years he not only established a religion but brought an unprecedented political unity to Arab tribes. Muhammad's birth began to be observed as a public holiday about the 12th century, except by conservative sects such as the Wahhabis who do not celebrate any human. They believe that to do so would detract from the worship of God. It is celebrated with the recitation of litanies in mosques, and with firecrackers and gift-giving throughout the Middle East and countries with prominent Muslim populations. In Burkina Faso and parts of Ghana the holiday is called Damba and in Indonesia, Sekaten. The Prophet's birthday is a legal holiday in more than 30 countries around the world.

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