Birthdays, The Facts

Celebration of birthdays is a contentious matter amongst Muslims.

BTW When I talk about birthdays I just mean the concept of the birthday itself. Not the haram practices that can be done at birthday parties like drinking and dancing etc. There is no dispute on this matter. However there is dispute on whether Muslims should or should not celebrate birthdays even by "Halal" means. i.e. if the concept of Birthdays itself is "wrong" then it should be avoided by all means.

Just search on google for "Birthdays Origins" and read How they originate. You will find numerous links to historical accounts of where Birthdays come from. See what Christians say about the Origins of Birthdays. Lastly a secular historic view at Birthdays

A few points I should mention.

1) From my knowledge none of the Anbiya (prophets) (as), Sahaba, Scholars, Pious People in the past or anyone associated with the righteous celebrated their birthday (if anyone can find evidence otherwise in any text Bible, Torah etc please let me know)

2) The Biblical references to birthdays are always associated with a calamity and there are no mention of birthdays in the Qur'an.

3) There is evidence that the Prophet(saw) gave importance to the day he was born (note not the date but the day of the week i.e. Monday as their is a Hadith that he used to fast on Mondays because he was born on a Monday and that was the day his prophet hood started also). However no evidence can be found for giving any significance to the month or the date itself Rabbi- Awal in terms of the significance of the birth month of the Prophet (saw).


So therefore birthdays are wrong or are they?


Leaving the issue aside that Birthdays are not Haram and so we can and should carry on with them.

From reading the above we get the feeling birthdays are "wrong" and "evil" clearly something from shirk is evil and must be avoided.
Lots of people argue based on this We must stop others from committing this evil.
Those that are celebrating birthdays are committing shirk and following their desires of imitating the Kuffar.

Agreed from the Evidence indicates birthdays are wrong and if after reading this you may decide you will not celebrate your own birthday anymore that is your personal choice. Unfortunately Birthdays are not just to do with an individual, they are a social occasion. So how do we deal with issues such as being invited to children's birthday parties or our own children wishing to celebrate their birthdays?


Most Contemporary Fiqh Scholars as you know agree that Birthdays as a concept are not "Haram" or they do not even classify "birthdays" as "Makruh". However I have been told many many people (who are not scholars) that Scholars are against Birthdays because scholars give warnings and they have read and researched the evidence presented. I agree the evidence is quite compelling that birthdays have shirk practices but I think most people are not reflecting on their micro ijtihad on this issue.

To understand my position on birthdays I must first present what the Shafi school defines as "wrong" and the way "Tarieqah" of how we should approach "wrong" and interact with those doing "wrong" i.e. HOW we should "Forbid the wrong" I will cover the first later insha-Allah as the former is covered in a very deep subject called "Usul Fiqh" but for now let us just consider "Birthdays" as "wrong" as you currently perceive what "wrong" means. Lets see how we should interact with "wrong" according to the Shafi Fiqh.