scholar who appears at end of a century to restore Islam). These claims made him the most controversial person of his time. However, his fatwa may have received widespread approval and may not have provoked any conflicts. He stated that:My answer is that the legal status of the observance of the Mawlid – as long as it just consists of a meeting together by the people, a recitation of apposite parts of the Qur'an, the recounting of transmitted accounts of the beginning of (the biography of) the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – and the wonders that took place during his birth, all of which is then followed by a banquet that is served to them and from which they eat-is a good innovation (bid'a hasana), for which one is rewarded because of the esteem shown for the position of the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – that is implicit in it, and because of the expression of joy and happiness on his – may God bless him and grant him peace – noble birth.Al-Suyuti thought that the Mawlid could be based on the fact that the Prophet performed the sacrifice for his own birth after his calling to be the Prophet. He said that Abu Lahab, who he called an unbeliever, had been condemned by what was revealed in the Qu’ran but was rewarded in the fire “for the joy he showed on the night of the birth of the Prophet” by releasing from slavery Thuwayba when she had informed him of the birth of the Prophet. Therefore, he talked about what would happen to a Muslim who rejoiced in his birth and loved him. In response to al-Fakihani, al-Suyuti said a few things. He said that "because a matter is not known it does not necessarily follow that the matter does not exist nor ever has existed." He also said that a “learned and judicious ruler introduced it,” in responding to al-Fakihani's statement that "on the contrary, it is a bida that was introduced by idlers... nor the pious scholars..." Al-Suyuti also said in response to “Nor is it meritorious, because the essence of the meritorious is what the Law demands,” that “the demands of meritorious are sometimes based on a text and sometimes on reasoning by analogy.” Al-Suyuti said that bidas are not restricted to forbidden or