International

How Russians celecrate Maulid Nabi

Sel, 13 Desember 2016 | 05:05 WIB

Moscow, NU Online
Similar but not the same, Muslims in Russia and around the world have celebrated the so-called Maulid Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In the main room of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, Sunday (12/11/2016), thousands of people celebrated the birth of the prophet Muhammad in accordance with the Russian tradition.

After evening prayers, the main mosque was organized into an exhibition area with a circular stage. The event was organized by the Mufti Council of Moscow, Mufti Council of the Russian Federation and others. Those attending the event were representatives from the public, government representatives, scholars, religious leaders and others.

The Mosque leader (imam) opened the event at 18:30 local time, calling for the importance of remembering the struggle of the Prophet Muhammad.

Regarding the Maulid Nabi, the most importance principle of this event is accessibility in bringing together Muslims from various representatives of different nationalities and different age groups.

Performing in the circular stage were two people reading a poem in Russian and then followed by 2 others in Tatar language after being interspersed by the so-called Nasyid or shalawat.

Present at the occasion were the representatives from Dagestan, Chechen, Uzbek, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and others to share stories about their respective traditions.

There was a unique atmosphere when both Nasyid and sholawat were perforemed in different languages. Sometimes pilgrims on the right side were humming, and vice versa on the left were just nodding  for not understanding the spoken language.

The ambiance is such a reminiscent of the Prophet's Birthday commemorated by Saladin al-Ayubi in the 12th century, when the Muslims were losing the spirit of struggle (jihad) and brotherhood, then various community groups commemorated the Maulid Nabi in accordance with the Russian tradition.

The Maulid Nabi celebration lasted until 20:00 local time and ended with prayer led by the Mufti Council of Moscow, Ildar Hazrat Alyautdinov.

The event was then continued in the second floor of the mosque exhibiting historical, unique and valuable artifacts including the museum main collection, namely a few strands of hair of Prophet Muhammad SAW.  (Azmi Muharom/Masdar)