Shortened Question:
Is it permissible to celebrate birthdays?
Question:
Is it permissible to celebrate my children’s birthdays?
Is it permissible to gather together to read Quran for the sick or the deceased?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is not permissible under any circumstances to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries etc.
Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi wa Sallam says those who imitate a nation is from them.[1]
Attached is our detailed answer relating to your query.
It is permissible to make dua and read Quran for your sick or deceased loved ones.[2],[3]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Saeed Ahmed Golaub
Islamic Solutions
Jamaica
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
There are major differences between the thinking of Muslims and the non-Muslims. The life of a non-Muslim is confined to the pleasures and the luxuries of this world. A non-Muslim is not concerned regarding the hereafter. Enjoyment, celebration etc. are the absolute objectives of their lives. The true purpose of their life has been forfeited. There remains nothing for the non-muslims in the hereafter.
Contrary to that, while we as Muslims mark happy occasions, that is not the end of it. Our greatest concern is the hereafter. True happiness and pleasure can only be achieved in the hereafter.
When one completes a year of his life that is a great bounty of Allah. It is a moment of happiness. For that, one should thank Allah and ask Allah for a long life span and barakah (blessings) in his life. This is how we should celebrate our birthdays. The happiness during ones birthday should not be expressed like the customary birthday celebrations in which there is only entertainment and merry. The prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam has mentioned in a Hadith:
مَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ) سنن أبي داود (4/ 44)
“Whosoever emulates a nation is amongst them.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4/44)
Let us examine the origin of birthdays:
Development of Calendars[i]
Early people had no way of keeping track and marking time except by the moon, sun or by some important event. Little attention was paid to the anniversary of a person’s birth. Everyone realized, of course, that people grew older as time passed; but they didn’t mark any special milestone for it. Only when ancient people began taking notice of the moon’s cycles, did they pay attention to the changing seasons and the pattern that repeated itself over and over and so they began to mark and note time changes. That’s the beginning of birthday in history. Eventually, the first calendars were formulated in order to mark time changes and other special days. From this tracking system, came the ability to celebrate birthdays and other significant anniversaries the same day each year.
Birthday History
History of Birthday observance can be traced back before the rise of Christianity. Birthday celebrations began as a form of protection. In pagan culture, it was believed that evil spirits visited people on their birthdays. To protect the person from the evil effects, friends and family members used to surround him and make merry. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to ward off the evil spirits. A lot of noise used to be created in such parties to scare away the evil spirits. In those times, there was no tradition of bringing gifts and the guests who attended the birthday parties would bring good wishes for the birthday person. However, if a guest did bring gifts, it was considered to be a good sign. Later, flowers became quite popular as a Birthday gift.
Popular Birthday Celebrations in History
- Best known birthday in the history is that of Jesus Christ. For nearly 2,000 years since the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Christians have been honoring the day as Christmas.
- About 4,000 years ago King Pharaohused to celebrate his birthday by giving a feast to his court followers.
- King Herod is said to have celebrated his birthday by treating lords, high captains and special friends with a special supper party in Galilee.
Common people and especially children never celebrated their birth when the idea came about. This trend has been explained by a theory that noble ones were the only people wealthy enough to throw such celebrations, and quite possibly were the only ones thought to be important enough to have been written about or remembered. Some historians believe that these early birthday bashes resulted in the custom of wearing birthday “crowns” as time went on.
History of Popular Birthday Traditions and Symbols
Many of the popular Birthday traditions and symbols that we see today, originated hundreds of years ago. Some believe that the tradition of “Birthday Cake”was started by early Greeks who used to take a round or a moon shaped cake to the temple of Artemis (the Goddess of Moon). Others believe that the custom of Birthday cake initiated in Germany where people used to make bread in the shape of baby Jesus’s swaddling cloth.
The popular custom of lighting candles on cakes is said to have originated from the Greeks since they used to light candles on the cake taken to Artemis to make it glow like a moon. Some believe that the custom originated from a religious belief that the gods lived in the sky and the lighted candles helped in sending signals or prayers to the god. Germans are said to have placed a big candle in the center of the cake to symbolize ‘the light of life’. Even today people make silent wishes as they blow out candles. It is believed that blowing out all candles in one breath brings good luck.
More in birthday history: The song “Happy Birthday to You” was composed by two sisters, Mildred and Patty Hill, in 1893, but nobody really paid much attention to it until the original words “Good Morning to You” were changed to “Happy Birthday to You”, words that are sung in virtually every home across the world at least once a the year.[ii]
As Muslims, we should endeavor to follow the lunar calendar as two tenets of Islam are based on the lunar calendar. Ramadan falls on the 9th month of the lunar calendar. Haj is performed in Zil-Hijjah which is the 12th month of the lunar calendar. Eid-ul-Fitr falls in Shawaal, the beginning of the 10th month of the lunar calendar. The calculation of Zakāt in 1 year will be calculated according to the lunar calendar and not the solar 1 year. The determination of a person’s age is according to the lunar calendar. When a child reaches the age of 15 years, according to the lunar calendar, he will be considered bāligh (mature) and obliged to adhere to the laws of Shari’āh. This is approximately 6 months earlier than the solar calendar since the lunar calendar is about 10-11 days shorter than the solar calendar.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Abdul Hannan Nizami,
Student Darul Iftaa
USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net
[1]4031 – حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو النَّضْرِ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ، حَدَّثَنَا حَسَّانُ بْنُ عَطِيَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِي مُنِيبٍ الْجُرَشِيِّ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «مَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ»
سنن أبي داود (4 / 44):
[2]:1057 – حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو السَّوَّاقُ، قَالَا: حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ اليَمَانِ، عَنْ المِنْهَالِ بْنِ خَلِيفَةَ، عَنْ الحَجَّاجِ بْنِ أَرْطَاةَ، عَنْ عَطَاءٍ، عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ دَخَلَ قَبْرًا لَيْلًا، فَأُسْرِجَ لَهُ سِرَاجٌ، فَأَخَذَهُ مِنْ قِبَلِ القِبْلَةِ، وَقَالَ: «رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ، إِنْ كُنْتَ لَأَوَّاهًا تَلَّاءً لِلْقُرْآنِ» سنن الترمذي ت شاكر (3 / 363)
[3]:(موعظة الْمُحدث) ، أَي: وَفِي بَيَان قعُود أَصْحَاب الْمُحدث حول الْمُحدث، وَكَأَنَّهُ أَشَارَ بِهَذِهِ التَّرْجَمَة إِلَى أَن الْجُلُوس مَعَ الْجَمَاعَة عِنْد الْقَبْر، إِن كَانَ لمصْلحَة تتَعَلَّق بالحي أَو الْمَيِّت لَا يكره ذَلِك، فَأَما مصلحَة الْحَيّ فَمثل أَن يجْتَمع قوم عِنْد قبر وَفِيهِمْ من يَعِظهُمْ وَيذكرهُمْ الْمَوْت وأحوال الْآخِرَة، وَأما مصلحَة الْمَيِّت فَمثل مَا إِذا اجْتَمعُوا عِنْده لقِرَاءَة الْقُرْآن وَالذكر، فَإِن الْمَيِّت ينْتَفع بِهِ وروى أَبُو دَاوُد من حَدِيث معقل بن يسَار قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُول الله صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسلم: (اقرأوا ي س على مَوْتَاكُم) . وَأخرجه النَّسَائِيّ وَابْن مَاجَه أَيْضا، فَالْحَدِيث يدل على أَن الْمَيِّت ينْتَفع بِقِرَاءَة الْقُرْآن عِنْده، وَهُوَ حجَّة على من قَالَ: إِن الْمَيِّت لَا ينْتَفع بِقِرَاءَة الْقُرْآن. عمدة القاري شرح صحيح البخاري (8 / 186)
[i] http://www.tokenz.com/history-of-birthday.html
[ii] http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/birthday-history.html
