Muhammad's Birthday Festival: Early History in the Central Muslim Lands and Development in the Muslim West Until the 10th/16th Century

Seri INIS #22

by Nico Kaptein

This is the first monograph in Western Orientalism entirely devoted to the history of the birthday festival of the Prophet Muḥammad (Arab. mawlid al-nabī ). On the basis of historical sources, Chapters 1 and 2 examine what is known on the history of this festival in the Middle East until the beginning of the 7th/13th century. In Chapter 3 the existence of different views on the origin of the mawlid within Islam itself is examined. It is shown that these different opinions on the origin of the mawlid follows from discussions on the permissibility of its celebration. The rest of the book (Chapters 4 - 8) deals with the mawlid in the Western Muslim world up to the beginning of the 10th/16th century. The following dynasties are treated the 'Azafids of Ceuta, the Marīnids and the Waṭṭāsids, the Nasrids, the 'Abd al-Wādids and the ḥafsids.

Genres: Islam

196 pages, Leather Bound

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

Nico J.G. Kaptein

Reviews

[Wayfarer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dissertation was originally written in Dutch in 1989 and later translated into English and published. The thesis is dated, as better works have come about since then which deal with the topic of Mawlid al-Nabi (Birth of the Prophet) with a much better coverage in terms of scope and depth. This work is well-written, reads well and the format is very helpful; the author summarises the main arguments at the end of each chapter. This work is only useful as a source for area (Maghreb - Islamic Western Countries) and time specific (7th-10th century) details for interested researchers and historians.

[Pr · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Budi Mulyono]

oke oke