The innate disposition with which Allah fashioned the children of Adam (1), together with the honesty (2) and religious devotion for which that community was renowned, and the duty laid upon them by their Sacred Law to proclaim the truth, all make it a matter of certain knowledge that concealing such a thing would have been impossible (3).
Our purpose here is not to debate the question of the Imamate; rather, it is to state that turning this day into a festival is a newly invented practice with no foundation whatsoever. None of the early generations—whether from the Prophet’s Household or from others—ever treated that day as a festival or introduced special observances for it, for festivals are part of the Sacred Law: they must be followed, not innovated.
The Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—delivered sermons, concluded covenants, and experienced decisive events on many days: Badr, Ḥunayn, the Trench, the Conquest of Mecca, the moment of his migration, his entrance into Madinah, and many other occasions on which he laid down the fundamentals of the religion. Yet none of this required that such days be turned into recurring festivals. Only the Christians, who commemorate events in the life of Jesus (peace be upon him) as festivals, or the Jews, behave in this manner. A festival is a matter of revealed law: whatever Allah has legislated is to be followed, and nothing new is to be introduced into the religion.
The same applies to what some people have introduced—either in imitation of the Christians with regard to the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) or out of love and veneration for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—namely, treating the Prophet’s birthday as a festival. Allah may reward them (4) for their love and their earnest intention, but not for the innovation itself, especially since people differ about the very date of his birth. The early generations never did this, even though the motive for it existed and nothing stood in its way had it truly been good. If it had been purely—or predominantly—good (5), those predecessors—may Allah be pleased with them—would have been more entitled to it than we are, for they loved and revered the Messenger of Allah far more than we do, and were keener in the pursuit of every good.