A poet once said:
Too slight for the praise of the Chosen One is gold calligraphy,
Written on a silver page with the finest script,
And the elite stand when they hear of him;
Standing in rows or crawling on their knees.1
All over the world, when the faithful celebrate the birth of the Messenger of God (saw), known in Arabic as the mawlid, those gathered will often, at the mention of his birth, or to conclude the recitation, stand to give salam, or send salutations to he whose very name means ‘the praised one’.
The Prophet is reported to have said, “Whoever invokes blessings on me at my grave, I hear him, and whoever invokes blessings on me from afar, I am informed about it.”2
And so out of love, respect and honour, people stand to offer their salaams to him, wherever they are, as they would at his grave or in his blessed presence.
Another poet said, addressing the Prophet with his words,
“Can anyone possessed of a mind and a heart and knowledge, upon seeing you, not stand up?”3
Footnotes
1 Ode of Imam al-Sarsari
2 Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayra, quoted in Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Concerning the Standing of the People Upon the Conclusion of the Mawlid .
3 Hafiz Abu Musa al-Asbahani (quoted by Imam al-Nawawi), quoted in Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Concerning the Standing of the People Upon the Conclusion of the Mawlid .
Sources
Imam Ahmed Rida Khan, Iqāmat Al-Qiyāmah ‘Alā Tā’in Al-Qiyām Li-Nabīyy Al-Tihāmah (The Elite Stand In Honor Of The Chosen One ﷺ), transl. by Muhammad Husain al-Qādirī, published by Maryam Qadri; c/o Al-Mukhtar Books, United States.
Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Concerning the Standing of the People Upon the Conclusion of the Mawlid
