via amaana.org
A Turkish dervish of the seventeenth century sings:
The night in which the Messenger was born is
Without doubt similar to the Night of Might,
…that is, to the night in which the Koran was revealed for the first time, which is called in Sura 97 “better than a thousand months.”
A century later, the Malikite mufti of Algiers, Ibn ‘Ammar, brought forth three scholarly proofs for this idea:
(I) the birthday, maulid, has given the Prophet to the whole world, but the Night of Might, lailat al-qadr, was meant especially for him;
(2) Muhammad’s appearance was more important for the community, umma, than the “coming down of the angels” of which Sura 97 speaks, for Muhammad is superior to the angels; and
(3) the maulid is a most important day for the entire universe, whereas the first revelation of the Koran is meant for the Muslims in particular. These two statements clearly indicate the degree to which veneration of the Prophet had increased during the late Middle Ages, and how much it permeated the piety of the masses and the elite.
Read more here: http://www.amaana.org/ismaili/prophet-muhammads-birthday-maulid-by-annemarie-schimmel/
Read review of this book here: http://www.guernicus.com/academics/pdf/brmuhammed.pdf
Find this book in your local library through WorldCat.org: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11091421
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