Is it allowed to celebrate one's own or others birthday by say giving a party, cutting a cake etc but involving all halal items.
Many orthodox Islamic groups forbid the celebration of the Prophets birthday because it is indeed a fact that at that time nobody celebrated birthdays , hence it is a Bidah.
So is it OK to celebrate our birthday when we are not celebrating the prophet's birthday?
Assalamu'alaikum,
The majority of the scholars are of the views that celebrating one's birthday is considered bid'ah in the religion and immitation of the non-muslims.
The Prophet peace be upon him said in a saheeh hadith:
“You would follow the ways of those who came before you step by step, to such an extent that if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would enter it too.” They said, “O Messenger of Allaah, (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?” He said, “Who else?” (Reported by al-Bukhaari and Muslim). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”
Please refer to this fatwa for a detailed explanation
http://islamqa.org/hanafi/daruliftaa/7909
Also there's a refutation for that "fatwa rahimiyyah" argument that you can watch here,
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a messenger of God. Everything that relates to him, is automatically treated as part of religion. This is not the case of individual muslims. If you celebrate your birthday, then noone will take it as some religious activity. So its OK to celebrate your birthday if you want to.
