Muhammad's Birthday Celebration Also a Time of Reflection

April 6, 2007

Author: BARBARA KARKABI

Source: Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4694492.html

As nearly 400 Shia Ismaili Muslims gathered this week to celebrate Muhammad's birthday, they heard a story from the time of the prophet.

A Bedouin once asked Muhammad to explain the religion of Islam from start to finish, said Hamid Mavani, associate professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University.

Muhammad answered in a sentence: "Obedience to God and compassion and kindness to his creation constitutes the totality of Islam," Mavini said.

Although not all Muslims celebrate Milad-an-Nabi, a holiday that commemorates the birthday of Muhammad in the year 570 of the Christian era, has long been observed in South Asia, said Karima Lalani, one of the event's organizers.