Cultural Samvaad| Indian Culture and Heritage
Cultural Samvaad| Indian Culture and Heritage

Eid-Milad-un-Nabi

Garima Chaudhry - Founder and Editor - CulturalSamvaad.com Garima Chaudhry

Eid Milad un Nabi Cultural Samvaad Muslim India

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‘There is no god, but God and Muhammad is His Prophet’.

Eid-Milad-un-Nabi or Mawlid commemorates the birth of Hazrat Muhammad Saheb or Prophet Muhammad. He is regarded as the last Nabi (Prophet) in Islam and is also referred to as the Rasul Allah (the Messenger of God).

The Prophet was born in 570 CE in the third month of the Islamic calendar (Rabi-ul-Awwal) in the holy town of Mecca. At the age of 40 in 610 CE,he received his first revelation through the angel Jibrail (Gabriel) while deep in thought and prayer in a cave at Mt. Hira .

One of the cornerstones of his teachings is considered to be the assertion that there is One, Indivisible God who is the Good Creator. Surah 112 (Al Ikhlas or the Purity of Faith) of the Holy Quran states:

Say: He is Allah, the one and only;

Allah, the eternal, absolute;

He sires no offspring, nor is he anyone’s offspring,

And there is none like him.

The Prophet is considered to be an epitome of virtue – humility, magnanimity, nobility, sincerity and truthfulness were the hallmarks of his character. He taught all to greet each other by saying —asalaamu alaykum (may peace be upon you) and lived a simple life. The ‘Farewell Sermon’ or his Last Sermon has been translated by various scholars and is said to contain the essence of his teachings.              

Eid-Milad-un-Nabi is a festival that affirms love, faith and reverence towards Allah and the Prophet. However, it is marked differently by Shias and Sunnis. Sunnis celebrate it as their beloved Prophet’s birthday. The Shias believe that this was the day when Prophet Mohammad appointed Ali as his successor. Mosques, streets and houses are decorated and lit up. Processions, sermons and songs reminisce the life and conduct and teachings of the Prophet and alms are distributed to the poor. It is a day to meditate upon his message of love for all creation and for all humankind and to emulate the righteous path of compassion and peace that he advocated.

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi Greetings

References:

  1. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad/The-ethical-and-spiritual-character-of-Muhammad
  2. Masih Y. (1990),A Comparative Study of Religions, Delhi: MLBD.
  3. http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_html.shtml

 Acknowledgements:

The Cultural Samvaad team would like to thank Ms. Ayesha Syed for her inputs to this note.

 

Garima Chaudhry - Founder and Editor - CulturalSamvaad.com

Garima Chaudhry

Garima Chaudhry is the Founder and Editor of Cultural Samvaad and Founder and Managing Partner of Hiranya Growth Partners LLP, a boutique consulting and content advisory firm based in Mumbai.

A scholar-practitioner with deep roots in Indic Studies, Garima has been a visiting faculty member for over a decade at Mumbai University and KJ Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies, among other institutions. She has taught diploma, graduate and post-graduate courses in Development of Religious Thought in India, Hindu Thought, Bhartiya Purakatha, Buddhism and Comparative Mythology. She regularly conducts immersive workshops on India's dharmic traditions, civilisational heritage, enduring values, stories and symbols for diverse cohorts across institutions and organisations.

Garima brings over 25 years of leadership experience across financial services, digital payments, eCommerce, education and media. She began her career as a TAS Officer with the Tata Group, working across functions and sectors including FMCG and Power. At Citibank, she held progressive leadership roles culminating as Head of Strategy, Citi South Asia — working with the CEO, South Asia and Asia Pacific office on near and long-term strategic initiatives. Garima earlier led the business team for Digital Marketing, ePayments and eCommerce across India, building one of the country's early digital payment platforms. As Director at Capital18 (Network18), she led investment transactions and managed portfolio companies across focus sectors. She also served as CEO of GreyCells18 (Topperlearning and Topper TV), where she turned around and scaled the company to a 150-member team and built one of India's foremost supplementary education platforms.

Garima holds an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur and a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Statistics from DAV College, Kanpur.Her scholarly interest in India's ancient संस्कृति — culture — and her conviction that a native idiom rooted in India's own ethos is essential to equitable growth and sustainable change, is the founding impulse behind Cultural Samvaad.

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