The long answer:

If Islam is so comprehensive that it covers how we go to the bathroom and which

side to sleep on - then how can it not cover such a big thing as what days are
worthy of public celebration, and how they should be celebrated? Those celebrations
that are Islamically approved must also tie in with the fact that the Shariah is
meant to be simple, convenient, functional and beneficial for humans, everywhere,
over the long run, till the end of time. This wide and long term view means that
some things about the Shariah aren't going to make sense to regular people like us,
given our own limited contexts, unless we study them deeply. The Shariah sometimes
prohibits things NOT because those things in themselves are harmful or evil, but
because of the long-term side-effects that they could cause in society, physically
or spiritually.

So there's nothing wrong with personally remembering the Prophet (S), privately, or
perhaps fasting on that day, or trying to read extra durood that day. The problem
is when the mawlid becomes a public, societal ritual. There's also nothing wrong
with thanking Allah on the day of your birth for the life and religion that He gave
you.

The issue arises when things become public, social rituals.

Islam tells us that the public, social, ritual celebrations are the two Eids. In
addition, Islam also tells us about having reasonable feasts on weddings,
distributing food on the birth of a child, and then every Friday too is a special
day, where men are expected to dress well, perfume themselves, and there is a lot
of virtue in extra worship that day. In addition, the best days in the year for
extra worship in the eyes of Allah are the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, and the
best nights - the last ten of Ramadan. All things worth celebration/appreciation
that humans require have already been dealt with, and this is all they are. Islam
has the right to tell us only these things are worth celebrating, and that if we
create a new, regular community celebration, they automatically fall under "not
worth the celebration".

But can't some celebrations be neutral? What's the harm in them?

We need to see our collective lives through the lens of what encompasses
"religion", in order to understand this. You already agree that religion is not
confined to five pillars, but that it defines how we feel, think, walk, talk, and
so on.

1. Everything that Allah has stipulated as worth celebrating, is worth celebrating

for a reason, a reason that is holistically (spiritually, physically, socially,
ideologically, and practically) apt. Something that has a functional and spiritual
benefit in society coming together for it. If an individual's date of birth - any
individual in the world - has hardly been given even an important mention in any of
the vast literature of the Quran and the Hadith, then how can such a non-entity be
given so much importance that it becomes cause for publicly sanctioned regular,
mass celebration? Who decided this is worth celebration? Certainly not Allah and
His Messenger, and Islam claims only Allah and His Prophet (S) have the right to
tell us what is worth a public celebration, and what isn't. In any case, the crux
of Islam is the worship and celebration of God, and the concept of celebrating
oneself and ritualistically paying "homage" to the "self" every year is inherently
at odds with the Islamic worldview.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) came across some companions indulging in a
celebration that they were used to from pre-Islamic times. Referring to the two
Eids, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah, the Exalted, has replaced these
days for two days better than them: the day of breaking the fast and the day of
sacrifice." (al-Nisaai) In other words, all other ritual celebrations have been
nullified.

(This is not to say that if we randomly feel like throwing a party and inviting
some friends over for any personal reason, then this is not allowed. Remember,
we're only discussing *community-wide* *officially accepted* celebrations).

The difference between a minaret and a regular ceremony is that the former is a
structure on a building with little consequence to human society, while the latter
is a ritual celebration that does affect people directly and alter their behavior
and religious commitments. Which brings me to the next point.

2. Regular, public celebrations are a religious phenomenon, whether they are

labeled as being part of a specific religion or not. They are social *rituals*,
just like fasting in Ramadan is a ritual, or gathering for prayer five times a day.
Public rituals are not the same as private rituals. A person might make it a
"ritual" to have tea at exactly 6:00, or read their newspaper before their lunch.
That's fine and doesn't affect the rest of society. But public affairs are a
different matter. And engaging in public rituals from another culture or religion
means mixing their religion with yours.

As you know, Allah had stipulated different days of importance for different
religions. Today, those religions been corrupted over time, and several other man-
made religions also cropped up, but they all have their own various celebrations -
Judaism, Christianity, Hindusim, Satanic cults, and pagan religions (in which the
birthday has its roots). The "New year" celebrations are still celebrated twice a
year in China, even though after the Communist revolution Chinese today are
generally distant from any religion, but the roots of these celebrations remain
religious, grounded in legends of great heroes and dragons and what not, and based
on faulty calculations of time. (Allah specifies in the Quran that there are
exactly twelve months in a year, the way He created it to be, and so a year cannot
be over before a cycle of twelve months). The point I'm trying to drive home is
mass celebration/apprecation is a religious concept, a social ritual, whether or
not the people celebrating realize it or are even religious themselves. This should
be easy to understand when we believe that "deen" does not cover the five pillars,
but defines our entire lifestyle, everything down to the way we walk and talk. So
if you claim to be a Muslim, and then observe the Christian Sabbath, are you
correctly being Muslim? (The idea behind Sabbath was that it was the day that God
"rested", but Muslims know Allah never tires). Celebrations have a spiritual
essence and ideological background, they symbolize something. Birthdays are the
leftovers of other religions too, and pagan religions at that, which indulged in
Shirk outright. So when we belong to one religion and follow the rituals of another
religion, aren't we introducing elements of other religions and spiritual ideals
into our lives? We may question why Mother's Day and Father's Day should be
included in this list - they're simply a product of a different culture. But
remember the breadth of "deen" is everything you do, your entire way of life and
thinking. Anyone's entire way of life. And the Western way of life is its own
"deen", with its own celebrations.

To illustrate the vastness of the word "deen", remember that in advising people to
choose their close friends carefully, the Prophet (S) said "A person is on the
*deen* of his close friend", and he was referring to Muslims befriending other
Muslims, not people of other religions.

So even if Mother's Day was invented by an atheist, it doesn't stop its celebration
from being a religious issue.

Giving flowers to moms on Mother's Day is not a small deal. Islam is meant to be
simple, not for you alone individually, but for all of society collectively.
Approximately $2 billion dollars of mother's day flowers are bought on a single
weekend in America alone. This is a big deal. It is an artificially imposed
expenditure that Islam, being simple and convenient, never made mandatory for us.
And we are not allowed to mandate new things on ourselves that Islam did not say
was worth it. Whoever came up with Mother's Day was not God and did not decide to
fix the date for Mother's Day to be according to the laws of human psychology, for
all people, calculating what pros and cons the economy would face if everyone were
to buy flowers that day, whether or not flowers were available in their country or
if they were going to have to be mass imported, and what not. The Islam that Allah
has created however, has been created with His complete wisdom and consideration
for every aspect of human life. And how can it not be like that? When it comes from
the same Creator who made sure to provide us with rich hydrating melons in the
summer, and heat-producing nuts in the winter. Everything is precisely designed to
be its simplest and most productive for human life, and the Shariah complements
this entire design, it doesn't oppose it. Nothing in Islam is random, and public
holidays affect masses of people at once.

3. Muslims are commanded to maintain their own Muslim identity, distinct from
others. The Prophet (S) said in reference to the Jews and Christians: "Be different
from them" (Sahih Muslim).

To the extent that when the Prophet (S) found the Jews to be fasting on Ashura to
celebrate the day the children of Israel were rescued from the enemy, he said as
true followers of Musa (AS), we too should fast on the same day, however, in order
to be different from the Jews, he instructed us to fast not only on the day of
Ashura, but on two days - the day of Ashura itself, and the day before or after it.

Allah's Messenger (S) said, "The Jews and the Christians do not dye (their grey
hair), so you shall do the opposite of what they do (i.e. dye your grey hair and
beards)." (Bukhari)

"Whoever imitates a people is one of them." (Abu Dawood)

This does make sense when you understand that a Muslim carries Islam both inwardly,
as well as outwardly.
This Hadith refers to social customs, not things like using a plane instead of a
camel. (There are proofs for this point as well but that might be another topic and
this is getting long as it is).

4. If society starts consuming its time and resources gathering together,

religiously, for things that are NOT meant to be celebrated that way - they are
gradually distancing themselves from the things that they - as Muslims *were* meant
to be doing. There are only 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. If we start
filling them up (not randomly, but regularly, and religiously, with activities
borrowed from other cultures and religions), we eventually start becoming something
other than what Muslims were supposed to be. When people start, at a collective
social level, imbibing regular celebrations into their lives that were not a part
of the Islamic culture that the Prophet (S) created, then they are eventually
creating new "Sunnah" and "fard" in their lives, which will take the place of the
real "Sunnah" and "Fard" that Islam stipulated for us. The feelings that we were
supposed to have about activities that Allah and His Messenger (S) told us to do
are now diverted to things that have no importance in Islam at all, until when the
real Fard and Sunnah of Islam are violated, we don't even raise an eyebrow. It is
not only the modification of the scriptures that corrupted previous religions. The
inclusion of foreign rituals and celebrations and customs and practices also
corrupted them over time. There are Christians who still recognize that to
celebrate Easter is to take part in the ritual celebrations of paganism. The Mayoon
and the Mehndi that take part in subcontinental Muslim weddings are also borrowed
from Hinduism. Maybe a Muslim doesn't believe in the myths that a Hindu might
believe in while taking part in those extra ritual celebrations, but the fact
remains that they are celebrating extraneous Hindu customs. An Indian friend of
mine complained that Hinduism has degenerated into little more than a schedule for
partying and celebrating and "auspicious" days of good and bad omens. The spirit of
worship and character building is largely lost on many Hindus.

When people are celebrating Meelad collectively, and expensive Nasheed-singers are
hired, and loads of money is spent in the party set-up and extravagant food and the
lavish dressing up and several things that are entirely opposed to Islam - are they
really respecting the Prophet(S)? Isn't true respect of the Prophet(S) to follow
his Sunnah? he asked that his grave not even be made conspicious, and "Do not
eulogize me as the Christians eulogized the son of Maryam". (Bukhari, Muslim). This
same money could be better spent feeding the poor.

Flowers on Mother's day, gifts on Father's Day, kites on Basant, birthday bashes
and wishes on candles and so on - these are all good things for fun and gifts and
parties, but they are formalities that distract from the purpose of our lives. And
if we were allowed to come up with celebrations for whatever we feel are good,
who's to put a stop on how many celebrations we're going to invent over the
centuries? If such things were allowed in Islam, then who's to say that people
would stop at celebrating the birthday of the Prophet(S)? Why not the rest of the
Prophets, if we managed to trace their birthdays, and why not a multitude of
saints?

Islam tends to the nip the evil in the bud. It prohibits not only things that are
in themselves Haram, but also those which lead to deterioration.

5. In addition to corrupting a pure and simple religion, there is another

consequence that we can see immediatley in our midst, without having to cross
generations to notice. Functionally, such borrowing of public ritals can cause
serious problems.

All the additional wedding celebrations from Hinduism has turned marriage into an
unnecessarily expensive headache that creates problems. There is only one banquet
in a wedding according to Islam, and that is the Walima. Anything more causes
prolems for the less well-off in society. Marriages today are started out in debt
in order to fulfill the unnecessary social obligations borrowed from other
cultures/religions.

Take the idea of "jehez" for another example - where a valid question is - "So
what? The girl's family is giving these as gifts out of their own happiness!" But -
you may be aware of this - this whole concept of Jehez, which is Hindu, has created
many problems in marriages, in the lives of the brides, and has in fact reached a
point where many girls simply can't get married because of the demands of Jehez,
and if they do get married, their husband's family is a constant source of
financial stress. The bridegroom's family today thinks it has the right to make
demands of "jehez" from the bride's family. What must have started out amongst
Indian Muslims as an innocent exchanging of gifts, just to share little extra
happiness, or maybe, just to respect the customs of Hindu relatives - has today
reached a point of being dysfunctional and outright oppressive to entire segments
of society.

We need to understand that an encompassing Shariah that was created for all people
in all times and cultures, must include mechanisms to maintain its purity and
benefit over time, across generations. Maybe some celebrations are truly harmless
at the moment. But who's going to sit down and decide? How are people going to draw
criteria of what type of celebration is harmless, and what isn't? It's very likely
that when the bride's family started giving Jehez out of their own happiness to the
groom's family, it looked harmless at that time. Only Allah knows the consequences
of rituals over generations of human life. No one in their current generation can
accurately predict the future social, functional, spiritual consequences.

Islam is supposed to be simple. If God had created 10 Eids a year for us, would all
parents in all levels of society be able to afford that many gifts for their
children?

As for a child's birthday. Your child wouldn't be robbed of a fun day of gifts. You
can make any day important for him and invite his friends over whenever he wants.
Islamically, the problem is not in giving him a party because you love him, the
problem only lies in following the public (foreign) ritual of dedicating a specific
day for it to commemorate his birth.

If you lived in a society where no one celebrated their birthdays and this was the
social norm, would you still think your child was being robbed of such happiness?
If you think about it, maybe not. Maybe it's not the lack of a birthday itself
that's the problem at all. It's just the lack of a birthday *while being surrounded
by a culture that celebrates birthdays* - that contrast is the thing that creates
an issue.

Many people think that these issues make Islam look harsh and unloving, and a turn-
off for non-Muslims. Not at all. It's only when we've grown so accustomed to the
humanly-decided imoprtance of a given social custom that we think that not giving
it due importance is a bad thing. But where did that importance even come from?
Back to the first point. If Allah didn't make it so important, it's not.

It is entirely practical and possible to maintain politeness with non-Muslims

without doing the things they do.
The important point is to respect them and be good to them. Respecting is not the
same as imitating or following. I have a non-Muslim friend who insisted I come to
her birthday and would be offended if I didn't. I just let her know that I was busy
but that I loved her more than a birthday party. She was immediately satisfied. See
what happened there? All I had to do was address the fact that a birthday isn't
even a socially important enough occasion to gauge one's warmth towards another
person. And that's the truth. These are customs created by humans, not God.

Muslims are supposed to be tolerant, but not push-overs.

We respect others, but don't become them.
Because as we both agree, innward and outward expressions of Iman must be aligned.

In referring to the Persians of that time, Abd-Allaah ibn Amr said in Sharh Sunan
Abu Dawood, Whoever ... celebrates their Nawroz (new year) and Mahrajaan
(festival) and imitates them until he dies will be gathered with them on the Day of
Resurrection.