Recitation of Poetry in Praise of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam is Sunna

Recitation of Poetry in Praise of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam is Sunna

Recitation of poetry in the Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam honor is one of the meritorious acts recommended by the Sunna. Thus, we find it is one of the primary means of observing the Mawlid in almost all Muslim nations. Here we cite a few examples from sirah and hadith in which the Prophet e listened to poetry in his praise.

The Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam uncle al-`Abbas composed poetry praising the birth of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam, in which are found the following lines:

When you were born, the earth was shining, and the firmament barely contained your light, and we can pierce through, thanks to that radiance and light and path of guidance.

[Suyuti’s, Husn al-maqsid, Ibn Kathir’s Mawlid, Ibn Hajar’s Fath al-Bari.]

Ibn Kathir mentions the fact that according to the Sahaba, the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam praised his own name and recited poetry about himself in the middle of the battle of Hunayn in order to encourage the companions and scare the enemies. That day he said:

I am the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam! This is no lie. I am the son of `Abd al-Muttalib!
[Ibn Kathir, Dhikra Mawlid an-Nabi]

The Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam was therefore happy with those who praised him because it is Allah’s táālā order, and he rewarded them from what Allah táālā was providing him by praying for them and giving them gifts. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya relates that the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam prayed that Allah táālā support Hassan ibn Thabit with ruh al-qudus (the Divine spirit) as long as he would support the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam with his poetry. Similarly, the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam rewarded Ka`b ibn Zuhayr’s t poem of praise with a robe (burda).

Hasan ibn Thabit recited this poetry about the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam on the day of his death saying:

I say, and none can find fault with me

But one lost to all sense:

I shall never cease to praise him.

It may be for so doing I shall be
forever in Paradise,

With the Chosen One for whose
support in that I hope,

And to attain to that day I devote
all my efforts.

[Ibn Hisham, notes to his Seerah, p. 797, Karachi, Oxford Press.]

As mentioned in the Dubai Fatwa, al-Hafiz Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Nasruddin ad-Dimashqi in reference to the Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam uncle, Abu Lahab, noted in his book, Mawlid as-sa`adi, that his punishment in Hell is lessened every Monday because upon hearing the good news of his nephew, the Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam birth, he released his handmaiden Thuayyba out of joy. For his celebration of the Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam birth his punishment is reduced on the day of his birth. "What then" he asks, "of the believer who all his life was joyful for the existence of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam and died believing in the Oneness of God?"

With these hadith in mind, people constantly relate the Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam sirah, speak to their children about the importance of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam in their lives, offer food, help people, recite poetry in his praise and recite salawat (darood) excessively. Alhamdulillah according to the principles of the Qur’an and Sunna, this is considered an acceptable and effective approach to revive the love of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam and his message, in our ears and in our lives.

Regarding praise of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam and other subjects, we would like to share here what Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab declared in muallafat ash-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, al-rasail ash-shakhsiyya, published by the Islamic University of Muhammad ibn Saud, on the occasion of "Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab Week", 1980.

"I was never against tawassul nor against praising the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam, nor against Dalail al-khairat [a book of prayers on the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam], but all these I accept. I never said I reject the four schools and that I claim ijtihad and that I am exempt from taqlid [obligation to follow one of the schools of fiqh], and I do not say ‘differences among the ulama are a curse’ and I do not call kaafir those who seek tawassul through the pious, and I don’t call al-Busiri, who wrote al-mudariyya and al-burda, kaafir for saying, ‘O Most honored of creation,’ and I never forbade the visit of the Prophet’s şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam tomb, and I never said, ‘burn Dalail al-khairat and Rawd al-rayyahin’ [books of praise of the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam], and I never said that Ibn al-Farid and Muhyiddin ibn Arabi are kaafirs."

So, as Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab, student of Ibn Taymiyya, did not reject all of these things, why do some contemporary scholars reject them today? This is an unambiguous article published by a Saudi Arabian University on the occasion of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab Week, 1980. In fact, we must ask: if Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab has a special week to commemorate his life and work, why then is it "wrong" to have one day––the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal—to commemorate the life and work of the Greatest Perfect Human Being, Sayyiduna Muhammad şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam?