Mawlid al-Nabi is celebrated on the 12th day of the third month of the Muslim calendar. It is based on the lunar calendar, which consists of 354 days a year. Therefore, the dates of Muslim holidays are shifted each year relative to the Gregorian calendar. In 2023, the birth of the Prophet will be celebrated on September 29.
In the UAE, the birth of the Prophet Muhammad is a day off. This year, Mawlid al-Nabi falls on a Friday, so residents of the UAE can expect three days off in a row, from September 29 to October 1.
The birth of the Prophet Muhammad was celebrated only 300 years after the founding of Islam. The exact date of birth of the Prophet is unknown, so Mawlid al-Nabi is timed to coincide with the day of his death. This affects the nature of the celebration. Birthdays in Islam tend to be celebrated modestly or not at all. Death is seen as the beginning of eternal life, so the day of death is celebrated more solemnly.
Among Muslims, Mawlid al-Nabi ranks third in importance, just behind Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr. This holiday is celebrated by approximately 1.6 billion people, or 23% of the world's population.
On the 11th and 12th days of the month of Rabbi-ul-Awwal, believers turn to Allah in prayer, asking for various blessings, reading chapters of the Quran, singing religious songs, participating in spiritual discussions and helping the poor by distributing alms. In honour of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, many Muslims also visit his tomb in the city of Medina, where the famous Masjid al-Nabawi mosque is located.