1- The scholars of the Permanent Committee said,

　　All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and may His peace and blessing be upon His Messenger, his family and Companions.

　　First: The word “‘Eed” [festival] is a term given to the occasion of assembly which customarily recurs annually, monthly, weekly or so on. It implies a recurring day such as the day of ‘Eed Al-Fitr, Friday, and so on, the assembly on that day and the deeds wherewith it is held, in terms of acts of worship and customs.

　　Second: Any of the days that are intended for worship, drawing closer to or honoring Allah, seeking reward, or imitating the people of the pre-Islamic days or their likes from among the disbelievers, is an invented religious innovation, that is forbidden [under Sharee‘ah], as being included in the general statement of the Prophet : “Whoever introduces anything new in our matter [i.e. religion], which does not originally belong to it, it will be rejected.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

　　A typical example is celebrating the Prophetic Mawlid (birthday), Mother's Day and National Day. The first implies a religious innovation of an act of worship, which was not ordained by Allah The Almighty on the one hand, and an imitation of the Christians and others like them from the disbelievers. The second and the third imply imitation of the disbelievers. However, if the occasion is intended to organize work in a way that serves the benefit of the Ummah (nation) and adjusts the affairs of its people, like holding a traffic week, putting a timetable at the beginning of the academic year, meeting with employees to organize work, and so on, whose aim is not to come closer to, honor or worship [Allah], it then belongs to the ordinary innovations which are not included in the statement of the Prophet . There is nothing wrong with it, and it is even valid under the Sharee‘ah.

　　With Allah The Almighty lies success; and may Allah confer blessing and peace upon our Prophet - Muhammad - and his household and Companions.

　　2- They also said,

　　It is impermissible to celebrate what is called "Mother's Day" or other such innovated days [festivals], due to the statement of the Prophet : “Whoever does something that is not supported by our matter [religion], it will be rejected.” [Muslim] The celebration of Mother's Day neither belongs to the Sunnah of the Prophet nor was it done by his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, nor the righteous predecessors of this Ummah. On the contrary, it is a religious innovation that also involves imitation of the disbelievers.

　　3- Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaan said,

　　Muslims imitate the disbelievers in many things, including matters of worship, such as polytheistic deeds like building over graves, installing tombs over them and exceeding the due limits in the matter of the graves in general. The Messenger of Allah said: “May Allah send His curse on the Jews and Christians, who took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.” He said that whenever a righteous man died among them, they used to build a place of worship over his grave and paint pictures in it and say that they would be considered (by Allah) as the worst of people on the Day of Judgment. Because of exceeding the due limits in the matter of graves, the people fell into major Shirk (polytheism), which is well-known among all people.

　　Going back to the matter at hand, such practices give rise to such deviation due to imitating the Jews and Christians in matters like the celebration of polytheistic and innovated festivals, for example the celebration of Mawlids (birthdays) on the birth-date of the Messenger of Allah and the celebration of the birthdays of presidents and kings. These kinds of polytheistic innovated events might be called certain “Days” or "Weeks", like National Day, Mother's Day, Cleanliness Week, and so on; all these have come to the Muslims via the disbelievers, as in Islam, there are no more than two ‘Eeds (festivals): ‘Eed Al-Fitr and ‘Eed Al-Adh’ha, and anything else is a religious innovation and an imitation of the disbelievers. So, it is obligatory for the Muslims to take heed of this and not be deceived by the large number of people who do it, from among those who belong to Islam but are ignorant of the real nature of Islam, which causes them to fall into these mistakes because of their ignorance, as well as those who are not ignorant of the real nature of Islam, which means that they make these mistakes intentionally. In the latter case of people who adopt such practices intentionally, the calamity is even more severe. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.} [Quran 33:21]

　　4- When Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-‘Uthaymeen was asked about the ruling on celebrating what is called Mother's Day, he gave the following answer:

　　Indeed, all festivals [and days] that conflict with the Sharee‘ah-approved festivals are but innovated festivals which were unknown among the righteous predecessors. Keeping in mind that their source might be non-Muslim, they would then imply, besides their being a religious innovation, an imitation of the enemies of Allah The Almighty.

　　The Sharee‘ah-approved festivals are known among the Muslims, i.e. ‘Eed Al-Fitr and ‘Eed Al-Adh’ha, in addition to the weekly ‘Eed, i.e. Friday; and there are no festivals in Islam other than these three. Any festivals that have been innovated other than these should be rejected because they are invalid under the Sharee‘ah of Allah The Almighty, due to the statement of the Prophet : “Whoever introduces anything new in our matter [i.e. religion], which does not originally belong to it, it will be rejected.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] i.e. it will be rejected by its originator and not accepted (by Allah). According to another version: “Whoever does something that is not supported by our matter [religion], it will be rejected.” [Muslim]

　　Being so, it is impermissible, concerning the day mentioned in the question, which is called Mother's Day, to do any rite that is characteristic of ‘Eed, like expressing delight and pleasure, presenting gifts and such things. Moreover, it is obligatory for the Muslim to cherish and be proud of his religion, and be satisfied with what has been ordained by Allah The Almighty for His slaves, without addition or reduction. The Muslim should also not be a yes-man, who is too submissive and follows whatever is called for. On the contrary, he should form his independent personality according to the principles of the Sharee‘ah of Allah The Almighty and follow that rather than follow others. He should be a good pattern [to be followed] and not an imitator [of others]. This is because the Sharee‘ah of Allah - all perfect praise be to Allah - is perfect in all respects, as confirmed by Allah The Almighty in His saying (what means): {This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.} [Quran 5:3]

　　The mother deserves to be honored every day of the year. Her children should care for her, look after her and obey her in anything that leads to no disobedience of Allah The Almighty, in every time and place.

　　Fataawa Regarding Mother's Day-II