Thousands of Muslims participated in Eid-e-Milad processions on Wednesday to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. Eid-e-Milad was observed on Monday, but the processions were held a day later owing to the Ganeshotsav festivities that ended on Tuesday. This year’s celebrations have a special significance as it marks the 1,500th birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.
Processions from different parts of the city converged at Khilafat House, Byculla, to take part in the rally that began at 2pm. There were processions in Malwani, Mumbra and other areas of the city. A few Sufi groups did not take part in the processions after their disagreement with the All India Khilafat Committee’s decision to hold the event on September 18. They said the arbitrary announcement did not give them time to set up their stalls and installations along the route to showcase Islamic culture, like calligraphy workshops.
Eid-e-Milad processions in Mumbai have a history similar to Ganeshotsav as it is celebrated today. Like the sarvajanik or community Ganeshotsav promoted by Lokmanya Tilak to circumvent government bans on political gatherings, Eid-e-Milad processions were conceived by brothers Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali, to bring together supporters for India’s freedom. Though there are contrary views on the year of the first procession – newspaper reports suggest it was in 1934 – the Khilafat movement began in 1919 as a reaction to the abolition of the Islamic Caliphate after the defeat of the Ottomans in World War I.
The processions played songs like ‘Amina ka Lal’ in praise of the prophet whose mother’s name was Amina. Some Islamic scholars, particularly those with Salafi and Wahhabi beliefs, regard the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday as an innovation that was not observed during the early years of Islam. They argue that while loving and respecting the Prophet is essential, creating new religious practices around his birth is not sanctioned by religious tenets. However, the majority of Sunnis and less-fundamentalist sects do not heed the Wahhabi view.
