Birthday Season
A special birthday season of love and remembrance
The following essay was edited on 9/7/2024.
Birthday of the Beloved
We are in a special time of the year.
Rabi’il Awwal is the month of the Prophet Muhammad (S)’s birth.
The word "Rabi" means "spring" and Al-awwal means "the first" in the Arabic language, so "Rabi' al-Awwal" means "the first spring" in Arabic. As the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, the month naturally rotates over solar years, so Rabīʽ al-Awwal has nothing to do with the actual season of spring.
Birthday celebrations are an expression of love. It is the time of year loved by so many of us who are totally in love with a man we have yet to meet.
The Birthday of the Prophet (S)
This dunya, this created world, has few genuine pleasures. The greatest light that God has bestowed upon this creation is the light that He sent through the messenger Muhammad ﷺ.
In English I use (S) as an abbreviation for ﷺ. For Muslims, it’s necessary to say “Peace and blessings be upon him” every time his name is mentioned out of love an…