Question

In our country, women celebrate the birthdays of the purified Imaams. They burn incense and seek its blessing by rubbing themselves with its smoke. Is this permissible?

Fatwa

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.

Holding Mawlid celebrations is a dispraised religious innovation, whether it is held for the purified Imaams or anyone else. It is not permissible to hold them for any person, and it is a great sin for anyone to participate in them.

Also, it is not permissible to seek blessing through burning incense; rather, it is similar to what the pagans used to do with their deities and idols. However, it is permissible is  to draw closer to Allah The Almighty by means of loving, imitating and adopting the way of the righteous people from among the Companions, Taabi‘oon (successors) and those who followed them. 

And Allah knows best.