There is no doubt that loving the Prophet ﷺ is obligatory upon every Muslim. It is related that the Prophet ﷺ said,
“None of you can be believers until you love me more than
your father your son and all of humankind.” (Bukhaary 15)
In the tradition of ‘Umar it says, that's when ‘Umar heard this he said, ‘Messenger of Allaah! You are indeed beloved to me more than anything except myself.’ Whereupon the Prophet ﷺ said,
“By He in whose Hands my soul is in,
you cannot be a believer until you love me more than yourself.”
‘Umar then responded, ‘Indeed now, by Allaah you are indeed beloved to me more than myself.’ To this the Prophet ﷺ responded,
“Now you have, ‘Umar!” (Bukhaary 6632)
Hence, love for the Prophet ﷺ comes before loving yourself, and before the love of the closest person to a Muslim. However, the translation of loving the Prophet ﷺ is expressed by following him. As for simply having a celebration during the night of his birth, exchanging poetry, singing songs of praise which contains exaggerated and extreme verses, and in some cases polytheistic practices which were prohibited by the Prophet ﷺ. There is no doubt that this is all rejected and absolutely not permissible. The first person to start this innovation were the ‘Ubaydiyyites, also known as the Faattimites. This was mentioned by Al-Maqreezy in his Khittatt, ‘Plans.’ Al-Qalaqshandy says in Ssubh Al-A’shaa, ‘The Morning of the Weak-sighted,’ that it started towards the end of the fourth century, 362AH. They called themselves the Faattimites but they are in reality impostors and liars. Ibn Khallikaan says in Wafiyyaat Al-A‘yaan, ‘The Deceased Notables,’ that ‘scholars have rejected their claim to be from the same lineage as Faattimah (may Allaah’s Pleasure be upon her).’ This was concurred by Ibn Al-Jawzy, Abu Shaama and others. Therefore, the first to establish this practise were the ‘Ubaydiyyites. These people were known as innovators, extreme in innovation, and no regard is paid to them because the best three centuries had passed,
“The best of people are in my generation then those who preceded them
and then those who preceded them!” (Bukhaary 2652)
and there is no mention that they celebrated the Prophet’s birthday. There is but goodness in only following the pious predecessors. Shaykh Mohammed bin Ibrahim (may Allaah’s Mercy be upon him) said in his rulings, ‘The first person to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday was a person from Arbeel known as King Muthaffar Abu Sa’eed Kawkubree ibn Abu Al-Hasan ibn Batkatee.’ Therefore, there is no doubt that this is an innovation which contains many wrong deeds and therefore it is absolutely not permissible.