Barah Wafat or Eid Milad-un Nabi holds a significant place in the Muslim festival calendar and is celebrated with great zeal in India.


Barah Wafat

Eid Milad-un Nabi also known as Barah Wafat is celebrated across the Muslim community around the globe with great reverence as the day commemorates the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad. There are various other terms used to describe this sacred day in various different languages, some of them are Mawlid (Arabic), Mawl�d (Kurdish), Milad an-Nabi (Urdu) etc. This pious occasion is celebrated, as per the Hijri calendar in the third month known as, Rabi' al-awwal. However, the dates of celebration of this event are different among Shias and Sunnis. While the first celebrate it on the 17th of the month, the later observe on the 12th, of the same month. As per the Gregorian calendar, these dates vary every year, since Islamic calendar is lunar based and the Western calendar follows the solar cycle.

The day has bittersweet relevance as it is also the day on which, as per the Islamic tradition, the Prophet left this earthly realm and passed on to his heavenly abode. This occasion is known as Barah Wafat, because the word 'barah' that is related to the twelve days, during which the Prophet lay sick. To mark this event, various Islamic sermons are preached in mosques, these highlight the numerous virtues of Prophet Muhammad. The day is celebrated with great fervor by the Muslim community as Muhammad is considered the last of God's messengers on earth. To commemorate his birth anniversary and his accession to heaven, huge street processions are taken out. Houses and mosques are adorned with various fineries. One of favorite activities done on the day includes, elders of the family retelling stories of Prophet's valor and adventures to children of the household.

To mark this occasion as part of its celebrations in India, many of the holy relics of the Prophet are displayed for the public to see at the Hazratbal Shrine, located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The night long prayers organized at this shrine are known as Shab-khawani and are attended by thousands of worshippers. Like India, various other non-Muslim counties celebrate Barah Wafat, some of the most noted among them are Kenya and Tanzania. However in Indonesia the grandeur and splendor of these celebrations surpasses that of even the official Islamic holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The celebrations of Eid Milad-un Nabi are considered viable by most Islamic scholars except by Wahabi and Deobandi scholars, who consider it a later innovation, thus forbid its festivities. But such people are in minority as most of the Muslim community considers this day as a positive incident in the history and development of Islam.

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