Prophet Muhammad's birthday - what is Mawlid and how do Muslims celebrate it?

Some Muslim communities will celebrate the Mawlid festival this weekend in honor of the Prophet Muhammad. People can see colorful parades and even hear public prayers to mark the occasion

Mawlid celebrations are often colorful spectacles (

Image: KHALED ELFIQI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

For many Muslims in Britain, this weekend will mark a time of celebration.

They will join other members of the Islamic faith around the world to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.

Mawlid is derived from the Arabic word, meaning to give birth or bear a child.

The holiday falls on the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar - Rabi ul Awwal - and, according to Sunni Muslims, on the 12th day of the month.

In the Gregorian calendar, this means that the celebration of 2022 will take place from the evening of Friday October 7th to Saturday October 8th.

What is the Muslim holiday of Mawlid?

Indonesian Muslim girls take a selfie photo during the Mawlid Mask Festival to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (

Picture:

2015 Robertus Pudyanto)

Mawlid, sometimes referred to as Mawlid al-Nabi, Milad, Eid Milad Un Nabi, Eid al-Mawlid and Eid-e-Milad, is a feast day that honors the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.

According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad was a righteous man born around 570 AD, whom God appointed as his last prophet.

Muslims believe that he memorized God's message and recited it.

Later the verses were written down to preserve the text, becoming what we call the Quran, the holy book of Islam.

Some Muslim mathematicians and astronomers determined Muhammad's birthday to be 12 Rabi ul Awwal.