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"Actually, celebrating the Prophet's birthday means celebrating the birth of Islam..."
So such celebrations were held as a means of reviving great events and the values that we can learn from them. Unfortunately, such celebrations include some innovations when they should actually be made to remind people of the Prophet's life and his call.
Actually, celebrating the Prophet's birthday means celebrating the
birth of Islam. Such an occasion is meant to remind people of how the
Prophet lived. Allah Almighty says: "Verily in the Messenger of
Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the last
Day, and remembereth Allah much." (Al-Ahzab: 21)
We need all these lessons and such celebrations are a revival of
these lessons and values. I think that these celebrations, if done in the
proper way, will serve a great purpose, getting Muslims closer to the
teachings of Islam and to the Prophet's Sunnah and life.
As for
celebrating `Ashooraa', the Prophet ﷺ,
celebrated this day by fasting only. He asked the Jews why they fasted on
that day and they told him that it was the day that Allah saved Moses and
the people of Israel. The Prophet ﷺ replied saying: "We have more of a
right to Moses than you." So he fasted on that day and ordered the people
to fast on that day. He also said near the end of his life: "By Allah, if I
lived longer I would fast on the 9th of Muharram." That is, that he would
fast on the 9th and the 10th in order to be different from the Jews who
fast on the 10th only. However, some of the Sunnis celebrate `Ashura
as if it were a feast. The Shi`ah consider it a day of sadness and
mourning, but all such things are innovations and are
completely un-Islamic.
As for the second part of the question [what
is exact birth date of the Prophet ﷺ], the exact date of the Prophet's
birth is disputed , but it is most likely to be on Monday, 9th
Rabee`Al-Awwal (20th or 22nd of April, 571 AC), the same year in which the
invasion of the Elephants took place against the Ka`bah. And he,
ﷺ, passed away on Monday 12, Rabee` Al-Awwal
in the eleventh year of Hijrah (8 June 632 AC.) Allah Almighty knows
best.
vs.2.3