Ahmed Tamim and Khadzhy Ridvan Veliev

Ukraine’s mufti Ahmed Tamim, left, and Crimea's mufti Khadzhy Ridvan Veliev during Islamic Festival of Mawlid an-Nabi celebrations in Kiev, on Tuesday, February 15, 2011. The Islamic Festival of Milad un-Nabi (or Milad-an-Nabi), often called Mawlid in colloquial Arabic, celebrates the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic Festival of Milad un-Nabi (Mawlid), which marks the observance of the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, is celebrated in Rabi' al-Awwal (Rabi I), the third month of the Islamic calendar. Public celebrations of the Prophet's birth first occurred 400 years after his death. Milad un-Nabi started as a festival for the Shia ruling class, without the involvement of ordinary people, near the end of the 11th century in Egypt. The celebrations emphasised the Ahl al-Bayt, that family of the Prophet Muhammad, with sermons and recitation of the Qu'ran. Photo by Aleksandr Sinitsa / UNIAN