Indeed, the strongest argument to which the advocates of these innovated feasts and celebrations cling is their claim that such practices—above all the celebration of the Mawlid—have become customary among Muslims, have been known and approved by many respected scholars, and that the Ummah has reached consensus on them, for the Ummah, they say, never agrees upon misguidance.
We answer them as follows:
This claim is flimsy, because:
First: It is not supported by any sharʿī proof from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.
Second: Not all Muslims have adopted these practices, nor have all scholars—indeed, not even the recognized authorities among them—approved them, and the Ummah has never unanimously agreed upon them. Ever since these innovations were introduced, a segment of the Ummah has continued to denounce them, clarify the truth for the Muslims, advise the community, and guide it to the straight path laid down by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, and followed by the Companions and the righteous predecessors. The calls of Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, then Imām Ibn Taymiyyah, then Imām Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, along with the efforts of the other imams of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah, are well known. Neither the Companions, the Successors, nor the imams of the virtuous early centuries—such as the four imams and the rest of the rightly guided leaders—ever practiced these celebrations.
Despite the fact that our own era is among the worst periods in Muslim history and among the most deviant, we still find—praise be to Allah—a group that continues to condemn these innovations, proclaim the truth, and warn Muslims against falling into bidʿah. In the very lands most afflicted by innovations, superstitions, and acts of shirk—especially the innovated feasts and celebrations, Sufi inventions, and the rites performed around graves—there remains a group that censures these practices, combats them, and guides and advises the Muslims to avoid them with frankness and courage.