Aslam

Praise be to Allah.Firstly: ‘Eid (festival) is the

name given to something

which returns ya’ood , and is used to describe gatherings which happen

repeatedly, on a yearly,

monthly or weekly basis, etc. So an ‘eid includes a number of things,

such as a day which comes regularly, e.g., ‘Eid al-Fitr and Friday;

gatherings on that day; and actions such as acts of worship and customs

which are done on that day.

Secondly: any of these things which are intended as rituals

or acts of worship aimed at drawing closer to Allaah or glorifying Him

in order to earn reward, or which involve imitating the people of

Jaahiliyyah

or any other groups of kaafirs, is a prohibited bid’ah, an innovation

which comes under the general meaning of the hadeeth: “Whoever innovates

something in this matter of ours (Islam) that is not part of it, will

have it rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim).

Examples of that include Mawlid al-Nabi (the Prophet’s birthday),

Mother’s Day and national holidays, because in the first case there

are innovated acts of worship which Allaah has not prescribed, and because

it involves imitation of the Christians and other kaafirs. And in the

second and third cases there is imitation of the kuffaar. But in cases

where the intention is to organize work to serve the interests of the

ummah and to put its affairs straight, or to organize programs of study,

or to bring employees together for work purposes etc., which in and

of themselves do not involve acts of worship and glorification, then

these are a kind of benign innovation which do not come under the meaning

of the hadeeth, “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours

(Islam) that is not a part of it will have it rejected.” So there is

nothing wrong with such things, indeed they are allowed by sharee’ah.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.