Muhsin Ibrahim
@muhsin234
A few years back, I barely noticed my birthdays pass. A few years later, during my postsecondary studies, I began to receive a lone reminder of those days: an SMS from my bank. That is no longer the case. The day comes with a lot of buzz and fuss. A plethora of “Happy Birthday” messages trickle into my phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc inboxes and timelines. Some close friends call; others walk into my office to express their wishes and prayers. What a change! I am heartily grateful, ladies and gentlemen. But that was not my (our?) culture. It gradually becomes so because of the “sameness” effect of globalisation, which binds cultures. Today, people go to the extent of writing “Happy birthday to myself” on social media!
Celebrating a birthday that way is rather a new culture, at least so I believe. It is a novel culture we are willingly adopting today; it was not imposed on us by anyone, lest you think that. Therefore, I don’t outright look down upon the tradition of throwing a party to celebrate a birthday. It’s a choice. However, it’s not my culture, as I didn’t grow up seeing anyone’s birthday celebrated at home or in our neighbourhoods. My memory can only recall seeing “Birthday Celebrations” on TV, reading about it in books, or hearing about it. I could be wrong, given the vagaries of the brain, but I cannot remember any birthday celebrations in my immediate environment in childhood.
My early youth – and I am still a youth – coincided with the popularity of what some people describe as the “orthodox” version of Islam, the Izala Movement, within Kano city. Following their exegesis, I began to consider birthday celebration as Haram, i.e. forbidden in the religion I profess and practice. Several scholars have preached against Maulud – the birthday celebration of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention. They are unmistakably convincing, for, to me (us), the common pictures and stories of birthday celebration were, by and large, only of and by the non-Muslims. I, therefore, concluded that if celebrating the Prophet’s is, at worst, Haram or, at best, Bid’ah, i.e. innovation, what of celebrating others’? It kind of merits capital punishment!
I am not, in any way, trying to reopen the dull debate about the acceptability of Maulud here. I am only narrating a personal experience and opinion. I partially share Malam Ibrahim Khalil’s view on Maulud. The controversial scholar argues that those who do it should keep doing it, while those who don’t should start. To me, Maulud is of different categories. Some I consider wrong, others I frown at, and less than a few others I feel indifferent towards. But I do not do it, and I will not start. That is why I find myself contemplating even celebrating my own birthday. Luckily for me, the day fell on vacation days while I was in India. Otherwise, my very jovial Indian friends would have forced me to celebrate it lavishly, as they usually do.
I crossed three decades yesterday. I am so very grateful to Allah, the Exalted, for His countless blessings upon me. A few Facebook friends have noticed that they couldn’t access my timeline to post their wishes and prayers. I actually intentionally locked it down. I learned a lesson over the last years. I received a deluge of messages – thanks to all for that. I received slightly less than that this year. As mentioned, I am equally grateful to whoever sent me a message, however they did. This was alright; it was a low-key ‘celebration’ if you like. May we witness many more years to come in peace and prosperity, amin.
I have nonetheless observed how some jokers celebrate their own birthdays in style but berate those celebrating the Prophet’s. In all honesty, I think that is hypocritical. I am sorry if this hurts, but I can’t find a better adjective. I had intended to take on such a practice, but I changed my mind to avoid any misunderstanding. Sincerely speaking, I cannot reconcile their argument with their actions; they are contradictory.
As Maulud is a Birthday Celebration, my view doesn’t change. I don’t celebrate it, for I have yet to discover or understand its significance. I age every day, not on a particular day of the year. Yet, I don’t blame those who do it, particularly the Christians in whose religion birthdays are a rewarding ritual. Hindus, Sikhs, and others also attach great importance to it. In fact, a birthday is a daily ritual in India, where millions of gods, goddesses, demigods, and saints are worshipped. They celebrate almost all of these.
I eagerly send birthday wishes to friends who wholeheartedly believe in it, and to a few non-Hausa and fewer Hausa-Muslim friends. The celebrant feels happy and grateful. I want to make everyone happy, but I detest double standards. I am also not conservative; I am receptive to change, perhaps intransigently, though. Thanks, once again, for the well-wishes and prayers.
It's a novel culture that's getting a groundi our culture. But, electronics and social media platforms are the agents which brought them so close to our immediate environs.
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