The Mawlid of al-Barzanji
Together with frequent contributor Abdal Hakim Murad LastProphet.info is honoured to present a short clip from a recording of the mawlid of Imam Ja’far al-Barzanji (d. 1764). One of the most famous and popular mawlid recitals celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) birth, this particular recording comes all the way from Cape Town, South Africa, where it was movingly performed by the acclaimed M...

Albanian Mawlid
Together with frequent contributor Abdal Hakim Murad LastProphet.info is honoured to present a short clip from the recording of a mawlid performance filmed at the Fatih mosque in the city of Durrës, Albania. The mawlid is sung in Albanian from a translation written by Hafiz Ali Ulqinaku in 1873 of Suleiman Chelebi’s famous 15th century mawlid. Hafiz Ulqinaku was an extraordinary figure whose...

Mawlid
Meaning "place and time of birth," the word "mawlid" is used in the Islamic world to express the honored welcoming of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to this world. Muslim poets competed with one another to make literary works regarding the Prophet, whom Allah sent as a mercy to the worlds. It was attempted in these prosaic and poetical works to welcome him to the world, to describe the miracles and extr...

Discovering the Legacy of Muhammad
Going beyond the hype and discovering the legacy of Muhammad Today is a special day, for it is today we remember a man who was without peer, who changed history more than any other person and would bring balance to the lives of his followers throughout the centuries. Strangely, the image that some of the world has of this man is in stark contrast to the vast literature of eyewitness accounts. Th...

How Are We to Realize the Mawlid?
The word mawlid is defined as “place and time of birth” in dictionaries. The “Mevlid,” or the “Veladet Kandili” in Turkish, is the night on which Prophet Muhammad graced the earth with his arrival, coinciding with the 12th night of the month of Rabi` al-Awwal on the Hijri calendar. The era of the Prophet and the four Caliphs that followed, as well as the reign of Umayyads and Abbasids, did not s...

Mawlid in the Middle East
digg_title = "Mawlid in the Middle East"; var sburl7792 = window.location.href; var sbtitle7792 = document.title; The Mawlid celebrations in the Middle East have a lot in common. As much of the Muslim population in Europe consists of immigrants from the Middle East, the origins of the celebrations in Europe originally come from the Middle East, where the Mawlid is celebr...

Mawlid in the Balkans
The term Mawlid is part of the daily vocabulary of the Muslim population in the Balkans. It is a term that is of great importance meaning due to the fact that it symbolizes the identity of a people who are followers of Islam. In the dictionaries Mawlid is defined as follows: 1. The Dictionary of Foreign Words, by Mikel Ndreca: mevlyd - Ar. Mawlid, Turk. Mevlit - birthday of Muhammad. Religious ...

Mawlid in Africa
The Mawlid celebrations in Africa are quite different from those celebrated in the Middle East or Asia. Even the name of the celebrations differs according to the country or region of the continent. For instance, in Sudan the Mawlid celebrations are called Havliye, in Mali it is Donba (as "The Big Day"), in Nigeria it is Gani-gani-rite de passages, in Togo fête des couteaux. (1) In many African c...

Mawlid in Europe
Every year the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is celebrated with a variety of different activities in parts of Europe. In nearly every country of Europe, Muslim populations come together to meet on this blessed night, to pray and celebrate together. For instance, in recent years, women organizations in the UK have marked the occasion of the Mawlid. Commonly held in community centers, these p...

Mawlid in Asia
Indonesia Indonesia is one of the largest nations with a majority-Muslim population in Asia. Religion is very important in Indonesia, and this can be understood from the first principle of the state: "Pancasila", which means "belief in the one and only God." Although there are many religions that are practiced in the country, Islam has the highest percentage, with 86% of the population.1 For thi...

Mawlid all over the World
digg_title = "Mawlid All over the World"; var sburl8305 = window.location.href; var sbtitle8305 = document.title; The twelfth night of the month of Rabi al-Awwal is a night of the blessed memory of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) throughout the Islamic world. In every corner of the world countless Muslims wait for this night, praying, re-reading his biography and celebrating his...