Today is the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh). May the day be blessed.
Muqtedar Khan, over at AltMuslim, writes about some of the issues around Milad an-Nabi, a tradition started by the Fatimid Dynasty in Egypt a millennium ago.
Omid Safi, in his usual wonderful way, writes about the value Muslims place on the day.
It was this Muhammad — the cosmic Muhammad who served as the cause of creation, the Muhammad that God so loved that were it not for him creation would not have been (according to the Sacred Hadith “Wa law laaka…” )— that was the object of Muslim devotion. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so does Muhammad reflect the light of God onto the cosmos. The above Mevlud poem continues to be recited in Turkish homes down to today as it was in Ottoman times, a remarkable longevity in devotional life of Muslims.