📌 Did Imām al-Subkī Permit Qiyām?
👉 One of the main “arguments” that has been used to justify or defend the Qiyām is an incident from the life of Imām Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله (d. 756 AH), the great Shāfiʿī Imām of Egypt and Syria.
👉 Sometimes, the Barelwīs claim that Imām al-Subkī رحمه الله himself performed the Qiyām or encouraged it! Yet, this is of course entirely anachronistic, as the Qiyām was a practice that was introduced into the Mawlid recital sometime in the early 900s AH.
👉 Imām al-Subkī رحمه الله did not practise the Qiyām in the sense of “a formal standing at the mention of the birth during the Mawlid recital.”
👉 Rather, the incident being referred to was recorded by his son as follows.
👉 During a lesson in the Masjid Umawī in Damascus, a few powerful couplets by the poet al-Ṣarṣarī were recited, which included:
❝Even writing in gold upon silver,
In the hand of the finest scribe,
Is little praise for al-Muṣṭafā.
And when the nobles hear it,
They rise, standing in rows or kneeling on their knees.❞
👉 Upon hearing these words of praise for the Beloved Prophet ﷺ, Imām al-Subkī رحمه الله experienced a heightened state (ḥāl) and stood up. Seeing the greatest Scholar in their midst stand, everyone around him also stood up.
📚 [Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah al-Kubrā, 10/208]
👉 This was a genuine and spontaneous expression of emotion, love, and reverence for the Prophet ﷺ. It does not, in any way, relate to the formal Qiyām performed during the Mawlid recital. The obvious differences are:
1️⃣ It was not performed during a Mawlid. In fact, there is no record here of Imām al-Subkī رحمه الله even attending a Mawlid gathering.
2️⃣ It was not even connected to the recital of anything concerning the birth of the Prophet ﷺ.
3️⃣ It was a spontaneous act arising from a heightened emotional and spiritual state (ḥāl). How, then, can such an individual and spontaneous occurrence be used as evidence for a formalised standing that is deliberately and repeatedly performed at Mawlid gatherings?
👉 Therefore, there is no evidence whatsoever in this beautiful incident from the life of Imām al-Subkī رحمه الله for the mistaken and innovated practice of Qiyām that is in vogue today.
✅ Imām al-Wazzānī al-Mālikī رحمه الله while refuting Qiyām also mentions regarding this incident that there is no proof in this for Qiyām because the discussion is only about doing this deliberately.
📚 [al-Nawāzil al-Jadīdah al-Kubrā, 12/383-385]
📌 Conclusion
We sincerely request our Barelwī brothers to reflect upon the words of these recognised Scholars of the Ummah from different Madhāhib. The discussion here is not regarding standing for a person in general or spontaneous standing due to overwhelming love and emotion, but specifically the customary Qiyām performed during the Mawlid recital at the mention of the Prophet’s ﷺ birth. As demonstrated above, numerous Scholars explicitly regarded this particular practice as a reprehensible Bidʿah, or having no basis in the Sharīʿah. If true love and veneration of the Prophet ﷺ were the actual reason for this Qiyām, why is it restricted only to this particular moment in the Mawlid gathering? Why is the same standing not observed whenever his ﷺ birth, arrival, journeys, or other blessed events are mentioned elsewhere? Hence, a practice introduced in later centuries and transformed into a fixed ritual of the Mawlid cannot be justified merely in the name of love and respect.
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