Türkiye’s top religious authority said Monday that the Prophet Muhammad’s morals should serve as a guide for Muslims today, announcing that his birthday will be marked with a yearlong program of events under the theme “Our Prophet and Family Ethics.”
Ali Erbaş, head of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), spoke at the launch event for Mawlid al-Nabi Week, which commemorates the birth of the Prophet.
“What falls upon us is to internalize the morals of the Messenger of Allah and represent them in the best way in our own lives,” Erbaş said. “The greatest need of our time is to turn Islam’s moral principles into a shared code of conduct that dominates life.”
Erbaş said the Quran and the Prophet’s mission aimed to enable people to live a life adorned with universal law and good morals. He stressed that the world was witnessing wars, occupations and moral crises, which he described as symptoms of “a modern ignorance.”
He added that the way out was to embrace the Prophet Muhammad’s message of balance between the material and spiritual, between this world and the hereafter.
“This year, we will not celebrate Mawlid al-Nabi for just a week but revive it as a yearlong commemoration,” Erbaş said. “With the approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we will hold nationwide and international events under the auspices of the Presidency.”
He said the programs, carried out in cooperation with ministries, universities, civil society groups and media organizations, would include educational seminars, competitions, cultural exhibitions, blood donation campaigns and memorial forests. Special focus, he added, will be given to children, youth and families.
“Family has a special place in our services,” Erbaş said. “It is humanity’s most vital institution and the first school where faith, culture and values are taught.” He warned that rapid social change and harmful trends spread through new media posed threats to the family structure, calling for greater effort to safeguard it.
He concluded by extending his greetings to the Muslim world on the occasion of Mawlid al-Nabi.
The Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, known as Mawlid al-Nabi, falls on the 12th day of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal, which this year will be marked on Tuesday.
Mawlid, meaning “time and place of birth,” has been celebrated for centuries in the Muslim world through recitations, ceremonies, and works of literature that praise the Prophet. The Ottoman, Mamluk, Ayyubid and Fatimid dynasties all held official ceremonies, while Turkish and Arab poets composed works expressing their love for the Prophet.
One of the best-known texts is Süleyman Çelebi’s “Vesiletü’n Necat” (“Means of Salvation”), a 15th-century Turkish poem that remains widely recited in commemorations today.
