The question/claim: "Are the mawlid, the Raghāʾib/Miʿrāj/Barāʾa nights and their special worship/celebration a command of the religion? Or a later-added custom?"
What does the Qur'an say? — the one night singled out
The only night the Qur'an explicitly singles out for special worship is Laylat al-Qadr:
"The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months." (97:3)
And the religion is held to be completed by revelation:
"…This day I have perfected your religion for you…" (5:3)
For the mawlid, Raghāʾib, Miʿrāj and Barāʾa, no specific celebration is commanded in the Qur'an or in the practice of the first generation.
Two views (multi-vocal)
- Those who permit / see it as good (a good innovation): scholars such as Imām al-Suyūṭī ("Ḥusn al-maqṣid fī ʿamal al-mawlid") and Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī saw it as a fine commemoration — reciting Qur'an, sending blessings, doing charity, reviving love of the Prophet; they tie it to "honouring the symbols (shaʿāʾir) of God is from the piety of hearts" (22:32).
- Those who reject it: Ibn Taymiyya and the Salafī line — the Prophet, the Companions and the first generation did not celebrate these nights; a worship newly introduced afterward is an innovation (bidʿa).
An honest limit
- Agreed: loving the Prophet, sending blessings upon him, reciting the Qur'an are good and religious.
- Contested: the legitimacy of making a specific night an "occasion of worship/celebration" — the two views above.
- Cultural: the "kandil bagel," set rituals, and ascribing a special reward-amount to the night are formal customs with no religious basis.
Conclusion: on this item we impose no single verdict: the celebration itself is contested between schools (good innovation ↔ innovation). Love of the Prophet is agreed to be good; the formal customs attached to the night are largely cultural.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Accepting and rejecting views are given by scholar name, multi-vocally; no verdict is imposed. Not a fiqh fatwa.