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The First Introduction of the Celebration
The historical evidence suggests that the practice of celebrating Mawlid began approximately 600 years after the Hijrah. It was first initiated by King Muzaffar al-Din Ibn Arbal (died 630 AH), a ruler in the Muslim area of Mosul, Iraq, in the year 604 AH. This act was seen as an innovation (bid'ah) as it was not based on the teachings of the Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet, or the practice of his immediate followers.
King Muzaffar al-Din was supported in this endeavor by a scholar named Ibn Wahiyah Abul Khattab (died 633 AH). According to Imam Ahmad bin Muhammad Misri Maliki, the king would instruct scholars to adopt his personal interpretations and views. He managed to gather a group of worldly-inclined scholars to support his view, and in this way, he became the first Muslim king to introduce this innovation.
Extravagant Spending and Disputed Character
To popularize this newly introduced practice, King Muzaffar al-Din spared no expense. Historian Allamah Dhahabi (died 748 AH) noted that the king would spend an enormous sum of 300,000 dinars every year on the event. He also commissioned Ibn Wahiyah to write a book to justify the celebration, for which he paid him 1,000 dinars.
The character of Ibn Wahiyah, the scholar who helped institutionalize this practice, has also been a subject of historical scrutiny. Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani described him in his work Lisaanul Meezan as a person who disrespected and dishonored the pious predecessors and scholars of the past. He was described as foul-tongued, extremely proud, and neglectful in religious matters.
In conclusion, the practice of celebrating Mawlid al-Nabi has a clear historical starting point, initiated by a specific ruler and a scholar in the 7th century AH, and was not a part of the religious practices of the earliest and most learned generations of Muslims.