Selected Quotes from Iqtida' al-sirat al-mustaqlm li-mukhalafat ashab al-jahim of Ibn Taymiyya edit
A man may venerate the Prophet's (s) birthday and celebrate it. He may be amply rewarded for his good intention and devotion to the Prophet; for; as I have mentioned somewhere above, in some people that will be considered good while in the true believer it may be considered bad (Taken from Memon, Muhammad Umar, ed. (1976). Ibn Taimiya's Struggle Against Popular Religion: With an Annotated Translation of His Kitab iqtida as-sirat al-mustaqim mukhalafat ashab al-jahim. Walter de Gruyter. p. 245. ISBN 9783111662381.)
If you see someone observing the Mawlid and you know that he would only abandon it for worse do not summon him to abandon it for an even more detestable act, nor should you enjoin him to abandon something obligatory or recommended which [its abandonment] would be worse than observing their (makruh) reprehensible deed. But if there was a good element in the innovated practice, substitute it with a lawful good to the best of your ability. Since people do not relinquish something without something to replace it, and it is not necessary to abandon something good except for something equally good or better. (Iqtida 2:125, Taken from Ibn Taymiyya and His Times, Oxford University Press, p 326.)
Selected Quotes from Majmu ' fatawa shaykh al-islam Ahmad ibn Taymiya of Ibn Taymiyya edit
There is no doubt that the one who performs these [innovated festivals], either because of his own interpretation and independent reasoning or his being a blind imitator (muqallid) of another, receives a reward for his good purpose and for the aspects of his acts that confirm with the lawful and he is forgiven for those aspects that fall under the scope of the innovated if his independent reasoning or blind obedience is pardonable. (quoted from Raquel M. Ukeles, Islamic Law in Theory: Studies on Jurisprudence in Honor of Bernard Weiss, BRILL, p 186).
The gathering of people for a banquet during the two canonical festivals or the 11th-13th of Dhu al-Hijja (ayyam al-Tashriq) is a normative commendable practice (sunna, these being among the rites of Islam that the Messenger of God (pbuh) instituted for Muslims, and similarly caring for the poor by feeding them during the month of Ramadan is one of the commendable norms (sunan) of Islam. For the Prophet (pbuh) had said: "whoever provides breakfast food for one who is fasting, he receives akin to his reward=, and helping the poor [Qur'an] reciters is a pious act ('amal salih) at any time, and whoever supports themshares in their reward. And as for the establishment of a seasonal festival (mawsim) that is not among the shar'iyya festivals, such as one of the nights of Rabi' al-Awwal, which is said to be the night of the Mawlid, or one of the nights of Rajab, or the 18th day of Dhu al-Hijja or the first Friday prayer of Rajab or the eighth of Shawwal, these are among the innovations that the ancestors (salaf) did not recommend nor did they practice, and God Sublime and Exalted knows best. (Majmu'at al-Fatawa 1:312, Taken from Ibn Taymiyya and His Times, Oxford University Press, p 326.)
Reliability of Sources edit
When assessing the acceptability of a source we need to use criterion based on Wikipedia policies. The sources that I have cited are reliable according to WP:RS and WP:SCHOLARSHIP which states that:
Material such as an article, book, monograph, or research paper that has been vetted by the scholarly community is regarded as reliable, where the material has been published in reputable peer-reviewed sources or by well-regarded academic presses.
In line with the above, I am am stating that the following sources are reliable and should be used:
- Ibn Taymiyyah and his Times. This book is published by Oxford University Press. The particular article in question is written by Dr. Raquel M. Ukeles who is the Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University. Her article in this book is based on her PhD dissertation at Harvard University in 2006 entitled Innovation or Deviation: Exploring the Boundaries of Islamic Devotional Law.
- Islamic Law in Theory: Studies on Jurisprudence in Honor of Bernard Weiss. This book is published by BRILL. The relevant article is written by Dr. Raquel M. Ukeles.
- The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad(s): Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam. The book is published by Routledge. The author is Marion Holmes Katz who is Associate Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, New York University.
All of the above clearly fulfill the conditions of WP:RS. If you think otherwise then please provide your reasons.