According to the Islamic calender, based on lunar movement. Today (Feb 16, 2011), is 12th of Rabi'-ul-Awwal, it is widely celebrated as Eid-Milad-dun-nabi also known as Mawlid in colloquiol arabic marking the birth of Prophet Mohammad. There are two interesting facts about this celebrated day.
First, he was born and he died on the same day of the Islamic calender, 12th of Rabi'-ul-Awwal.
The second interesting fact is, celebration on the 12th of Rabi'-ul-Awwal started only 400 years after his death.
The topic is covered well in Wikipedia. It is inevitable to conclude that the only reason why the then government encouraged the celebration was to boost the rulers power base, or perhaps it was done to divert public attention.
Whatever, be the cause, it goes without saying that the birth of Prophet Muhammad was the significant event. But the point is that the companions of Muhammad did not observe this event. Also, Muhammad did not observe the birth or death anniversaries of anyone, nor did he advise his followers to observe his birthday. There is not a single instance in any of the biographies where such a celebration is noted.
Considering all of these together, perhaps its best to treat 12th of Rabi'-ul-Awwal as another normal day.
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