The Prophet’s Birthday (Mawlid al-Nabi) is one of the most prominent religious occasions that Moroccans have celebrated for centuries. It has acquired a unique social and cultural character that combines expressing love for the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his pure family, with preserving the distinct Moroccan identity within the framework of inclusive Islamic traditions.

Throughout the successive Islamic states in Morocco, this celebration has taken various forms. However, the Azfi family in Ceuta, especially Judge Abu al-Abbas al-Azfi (d. 633 AH/1236 AD), was the pioneer in establishing regular rituals to commemorate this occasion. Al-Azfi authored a book titled “The Organized Pearl in the Birth of the Great Prophet,” in which he called for commemorating the Mawlid as an educational and cultural alternative for Muslims who witnessed Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus, peace be upon him. Since then, the Mawlid celebration became a means to consolidate religious and cultural identity and renew the expression of attachment to the noble prophetic biography.

This occasion is deeply linked in the Moroccan popular memory with symbolic and social representations. For example, in childhood memories preserved in some regions, especially in the Rif area, Moroccans welcomed the Mawlid as if they were greeting a newborn in the household. Women would raise flags made from the finest fabrics such as “foulard” or “sabniya” atop rooftops and prepare special foods usually given to postpartum women, symbolizing the arrival of the greatest newborn. Families would slaughter a rooster or prepare couscous dishes, and children would wear new clothes, reflecting the integration of religion into daily Moroccan life in a spontaneous and impactful way.

The celebration extended beyond household rituals, as Moroccans created diverse cultural and spiritual forms to express love for the Prophet, whether through prophetic praises, popular festivals, or proverbs and the Moroccan Arabic and Amazigh languages, rich with religious expressions of moral and spiritual content. This cultural accumulation made the Mawlid a natural social event, not seen as an additional religious holiday, but as part of the civilizational memory and a pillar of social cohesion for the Moroccan people.

Although some jurisprudential currents consider celebrating the Mawlid a kind of innovation (bid’ah), such a stance overlooks the historical and social context that gave rise to this practice. Moroccans have never regarded the Mawlid as a new religious holiday equivalent to Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha; rather, they see it as an occasion to revive Islamic values and reinforce love for the noble Prophet and his pure family. Therefore, any jurisprudential ruling that does not consider these historical and cultural dimensions remains inadequate to fully understand the phenomenon.

The celebration of the Mawlid in Morocco is not an isolated ritual practice but a civilizational manifestation reflecting the Moroccan society’s interaction with its religion, history, and culture. It expresses sincere love for the Prophet, peace be upon him, and highlights Moroccans’ ability to transform religious occasions into spaces for social cohesion and cultural expression. Hence, understanding this phenomenon requires moving beyond narrow normative judgments and recognizing the particularities of the Moroccan identity, which has uniquely integrated religion into daily life, blending authenticity and renewal, making love for the Prophet a moral and cultural pillar within society.