Mawlid al-Nabi

Mawlid al-Nabi, also spelled Mawlid an-Nabawi, commemorates the birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in 570 CE in Mecca. The observance falls on the twelfth day of Rabi al-Awwal — the third month of the Islamic calendar — for Sunni Muslims, and on the seventeenth for many Shia Muslims. While not one of the two canonical Eids, the Mawlid is an officially recognized public holiday in dozens of Muslim-majority countries and is honored with extensive public devotional observance throughout the wider Muslim world. The earliest documented Mawlid celebrations date to the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt during the eleventh century and were institutionalized by Sultan Abu Sa'id Kokburi of Erbil in the twelfth century, evolving into a tradition of poetry, scholarship, and community charity.

Mosques and madrasas host gatherings devoted to the recitation of qasidas — devotional poetry in praise of the Prophet — most famously the Burda of Imam al-Busiri and the Mawlid al-Barzanji, which is recited in homes and mosques across the Muslim world. Lectures recount the Prophet's lineage, miraculous birth, his early life of integrity that earned him the title al-Amin (the Trustworthy), and major events of his prophethood. Communities prepare communal meals, distribute sweets and charity to the poor, decorate streets with lights and green flags, and assemble large processions in cities including Cairo, Karachi, Lahore, Istanbul, Konya, and Fez.

In Egypt, the Mawlid is celebrated throughout the year for various Sufi saints, but the Prophet's Mawlid in Cairo is the largest, with sweet stalls offering arousat al-mawlid (the bride of the Mawlid) sugar dolls. Pakistani and Indian cities including Karachi and Hyderabad organize Eid Milad-un-Nabi processions through main streets. Indonesia's Sekaten festival in Yogyakarta and Surakarta lasts a full week and combines Mawlid devotions with traditional Javanese gamelan performance. Moroccan Mawlid features the founding ceremonies of Sufi tariqa orders. Saudi Arabia and most Salafi-influenced communities do not officially observe Mawlid, considering its formal celebration a later innovation.