Mawlid Al-Kabir organized by Darul Masri of Kuala Lumpur

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah we were able to attend the mawlid at Masjid Al-Khairiyah in KL tonight. The event was organized by Darul Masri, headed by Shaykh Razak al-Masri. We had the privilege of interviewing Shaykh Razak at a mawlid event in Penang several weeks ago and was impressed by his warmth and humility.

Shaykh Razak al-Masri (leftmost)
flanked by honorable guests including
Shaykh Hafiz bin Selamat al-Jenderami, Ustaz Ahar Hashim,
Kiyai Jalil and Shaykh Rohimuddin Nawawi al-Bantani

The majlis was unique because Shaykh Razak al-Masri -- an Egyptian who chose to live in Malaysia -- was able to moderate the event in the Malay language in entirety. He has assimilated very well and Malaysians should be honored to have him among us. He is doing a great deal for our community through Darul Masri Tahfiz and Qur'an schools. One notable teacher at Darul Masri Quran school is Shaykh Ibrahim al-Banna, the grandson of Shaykh Hassan al-Banna (1906 - 1949). Shaykh Ibrahim al-Banna made a beautiful Quran recital at the majlis.

Shaykh Razak al-Masri said: "The majlis is called Mawlid Al-Kabir and not Mawlid Al-Akbar because only Allah, the prophets and the angels could do Mawlid al-Akbar as they did during Mikraj where Prophet Muhammad was greeted by each Prophet occupying each level of the heavenly skies beginning with Prophet Adam. On the seventh level, Prophet Ibrahim said to Rasulullah 'Marhaban, marhaban, marhaban.' Anyone who questions the appropriateness of saying marhaban and celebrating mawlid should read the kitab by Imam Baihaqi." 

According to Shaykh Razak, there is a big difference between Akbar and Kabir, as such the majlis that ordinary people like us could afford is not so big (kabir) and not grand as in Akbar.

One of the key speakers, Shaykh Rohimuddin Nawawi al-Bantani mentioned a few salient points:

No one is going to heaven based on their amal but mercy of Allah. That mercy is Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, we must be with rahmatan lil alamin. It is about loving the Prophet. Having said that, it's not that we don't need to do amal, although the key point is not amal. The key point is love. We must understand that the foundation of amal is love. An amal that is not carried out with love, will not result in good akhlak. He who performs an amal with love will not be tired. All lethargy will be gone and that which would manifest from an amal that is done with love, is akhlak. Sunnah is akhlak. Sunnah is all about akhlak. 

"He who does not make salawat upon the Prophet 

when his name is mentioned is bakhil. 

I don't want to be branded bakhil 

for turning down an invite to a mawlid. " 

- Ustaz Azhar Hashim.