nor from the Sunnah, nor from the practice of the rightly guided Caliphs, nor from the way of the exemplary generations to whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ attested as the best of people. It was introduced only after those generations, once ignorance had spread. The first to institute the Prophet’s birthday celebration were the Fāṭimid Shīʿah; later, well-meaning but naïve people who affiliate themselves with Ahl al-Sunnah adopted it, claiming that it expresses love for the Prophet. Yet this is not love for him. True love is shown by following him, not by inventing new matters:
You claim to love God while you disobey His command—
By my life, such reasoning is truly vile.
If your love were sincere, you would surely obey;
For the lover is ever compliant to the beloved.
The unmistakable mark of genuine love is adherence, whereas innovation is a sign of dislike. The Prophet ﷺ warned against innovation, yet you revive and introduce it; this means that you dislike the Sunnah, and whoever dislikes the Sunnah dislikes the Messenger. If you seek what is good, repent to Allah and turn back. As for obstinacy and stubborn pride, that is a wretched choice for yourself.
In the same way, we bind ourselves to the unified community and avoid isolated deviations. We must not perform a deed or utter a statement that stands alone, unsupported by the practice and words of the Muslims, for such oddities splinter unity and breed enmity. As long as the Muslims are proceeding upon the path of the Book and the Sunnah, we do not abandon what they hold for the sake of an eccentric opinion. Deviation and contravention are impermissible. Praise be to Allah, the Muslims seek the truth, and their consensus