Bismillah hir Rehman nir Rahim
A Detailed discussion on BidÂ’ah
This issue may be divided into three topics:
- Definition of bidÂ’ah
- Categories of bidÂ’ah
- Rulings on one who commits bid’ah – does that make him a kaafir or not?
1. Definition of BidÂ’ah.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
“According to sharee’ah, the definition is ‘Worshipping Allaah in ways that Allaah has not prescribed.’
If you wish you may say, ‘Worshipping Allaah in ways that are not those of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or his rightly guided successors (al-khulafaa’ al-raashidoon).’”
The first definition is taken from the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“Or have they partners with Allaah (false gods) who have instituted for them a religion which Allaah has not ordained?” [al-Shooraa 42:21]
The second definition is taken from the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who said:
“I urge you to adhere to my way (Sunnah) and the way of the rightly-guided successors (al-khulafa’ al-raashidoon) who come after me. Hold fast to it and bite onto it with your eyeteeth [i.e., cling firmly to it], and beware of newly-invented matters.”
So everyone who worships Allaah in a manner that Allaah has not prescribed or in a manner that is not in accordance with the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or his rightly-guided successors (al-khulafaÂ’ al-raashidoon), is an innovator, whether that innovated worship has to do with the names and attributes of Allaah, or to do with His rulings and laws.
With regard to ordinary matters of habit and custom, these are not called bidÂ’ah (innovation) in Islam, even though they may be described as such in linguistic terms. But they are not innovations in the religious sense, and these are not the things that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was warning us against.
And there is no such thing in Islam as bid’ah hasanah (good innovation).”
(Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, vol. 2, p. 291)
2. Categories of BidÂ’ah
BidÂ’ah may be divided into two categories:
(i) BidÂ’ah which constitutes kufr
(ii) BidÂ’ah which does not constitute kufr
If you ask, what is the definition of bidÂ’ah which constitutes kufr and that which does not constitute kufr?
The answer is: Shaykh Haafiz al-Hukami (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The kind of bid’ah which constitutes kufr is when one denies a matter on which there is scholarly consensus, which widely-known, and which no Muslim can have any excuse for not knowing, such as denying something that is obligatory, making something obligatory that is not obligatory, or making something haraam halaal, or making something halaal haraam; or believing some notion about Allaah, His Messenger and His Book when they are far above that, whether in terms of denial of affirmation – because that means disbelieving in the Qur’aan and in the message with which Allaah sent His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Examples include the bidÂ’ah of the Jahamiyyah, who denied the attributes of Allaah; or the notion that the QurÂ’aan was created; or the notion that some of the attributes of Allaah were created; or the bidÂ’ah of the Qadariyyah who denied the knowledge and actions of Allaah; or the bidÂ’ah of the Mujassimah who likened Allaah to His creationÂ… etc.
The second category, bidÂ’ah which does not constitute kufr, is defined as that which does not imply rejection of the QurÂ’aan or of anything with which Allaah sent His Messengers.
Examples include the Marwaani bidÂ’ahs (which were denounced by the greatest Sahaabah who did not approve of them, although they did not denounce them as kaafirs or refuse to give them bayÂ’ah because of that), such as delaying some of the prayers until the end of the due times, doing the Eid khutbah before the Eid prayer, delivering the khutbah whilst sitting down on Fridays, etc.
(MaÂ’aarij al-Qubool, 2/503-504)
3- The ruling on one who commits bid’ah – is he regarded as a kaafir or not?
The answer is that it depends.
If the bidÂ’ah constitutes kufr, then the person is one of the following two types:
(i) Either it is known that his intention is to destroy the foundations of Islam and make the Muslims doubt it. Such a person is definitely a kaafir; indeed, he is a stranger to Islam and is one of the enemies of the faith.
(ii) Or he is deceived and confused; he cannot be denounced as a kaafir until proof is established against him, fair and square.
If the bidÂ’ah does not constitute kufr, then he should not be denounced as a kaafir. Rather, he remains a Muslim, but he has done a gravely evil action.
If you ask, how should we deal with those who commit bidÂ’ah?
The answer is: Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “In both cases, we have to call these people – who claim to be Muslim but who commit acts of bid’ah which may constitute kufr or may be less than that – to the truth, by explaining the truth without being hostile or condemning what they are doing.
But once we know that they are too arrogant to accept the truth – for Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning), ‘And insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allaah, lest they insult Allaah wrongfully without knowledge.’ [al-An’aam 6:108] – if we find out that they are stubborn and arrogant, then we should point out their falsehood, because then pointing out their falsehood becomes an obligation upon us.
With regard to boycotting them, that depends upon the bid’ah. If it is a bid’ah which constitutes kufr, then it is obligatory to boycott the person who does it. If it is of a lesser degree than that, then it is essential to examine the situation further. If something may be achieved by boycotting the person, then we do it; if no purpose will be served by it, or if it will only make him more disobedient and arrogant, then we should avoid doing that, because whatever serves no purpose, it is better not to do it. And also in principle it is haraam to boycott a believer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘It is not permissible for a man to forsake [not speak to] his
brother for more than three [days].’”
(Adapted from Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, vol. 2, p. 293)
Warning on involving in Innovations:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with this matters of ours will have it rejected.” Narrated by Muslim, 1718.
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Beware of newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a going astray.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4607; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
What the Muslim should do is to avoid innovations and beware of them; he should strive to follow the QurÂ’aan and Sunnah, without adding anything or taking anything away, for Allaah has perfected this religion:
“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” [al-Maa'idah 5:3]
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not die until he had conveyed the message from his Lord in full. He did not leave anything good but he enjoined it upon us, and he did not leave anything bad but he forbade it to us and warned us against it. May the blessings and peace of my Lord be upon him.
SAHÂBAH ATTITUDE TOWARDS INNOVATIONS
An outstanding characteristic of the Sahâbah is their absolute Adherence to the Sunnah of the Prophet, Muhammad (sallalahu alaiyhi wassalam) and their absolute disapproval of BID'AH (Innovation) Some Sahâbah narrated the following Ahaadeeth
Amr ibn salmah said: We used to sit in front of Abdullah Ibn Masoud's house before the Fajr prayer, so that when he came out we would go with him to the Masjid. one day Abu Moosa al-Ash'aaree came and asked us: 'Did Abu Abdur Rahmaan (i.e. Ibn Masoud) leave yet? '
We answered: 'No.'
So Abu Moosa al-Ash'aaree sat with us waiting for him. When he came out, we all stood up.
Abu Moosa told him: "Oh, Abu Abdur Rahmaan! I recently saw something in the Masjid which I deemed to be evil, but all praise is for Allah, I did see anything except good "
Ibn Masoud then asked: "then What was it?"
Abu Moosa said: "You will see it if you stay alive. In the Masjid, I saw a group of people sitting in circles waiting for the Salââh. Each circle is led by a person. And every person in these circles carries small stones (pebbles).
The leader of a circle would say: "Say 'Allah-u Akbar' a hundred times" so they would repeat Allah-u Akbar a hundred times; then he says "Say 'Laa ilaaha illallaah', a hundred times" so they would say Laa ilaaha illallaah a hundred times; then he would say: "Say 'Subhaanallah', a hundred times", they will say Subhana Allah a hundred times.
Then Ibn Masoud said: "What did you tell them?"
He said: 'I didn't say anything, I waited to hear your opinion."
Abdullah Ibn Masoud said: "Could you not order them to count their evil deeds, and assured them of getting their rewards."
Then Abdullah Ibn Masoud went ahead and we accompanied him. As he approached one of the circles, he said: "What is this that you are doing?"
They said: "Oh! Abu Abdur Rahmaan, these are pebbles to count the number of times we say Allah-u Akbar, La ilaaha Illallah, and Subhaanallah."
He said: "Count your evil deeds, and I assure you that you are not going to lose anything of your rewards (Hasanat). Woe unto you, people of Muhammad, how quickly you go to destruction! Those are your Prophet's companions available, these are his clothes not worn out yet, and his pots are not broken yet. I swear by Whom my soul is in His Hands that you are either following a religion that is better than the Prophet's religion or you are opening a door of misguidance."
They said: "We swear by Allah Almighty, oh, Abu Abdur Rahmaan, that we had no intention other than doing good deeds."
He said: "So what? How many people wanted to do good deeds but never got to do them? The Prophet of Allah has told us about people who recited the Qur'ân with no effect on them other than the Qur'ân passing through their throats. I swear by Allah, I am almost sure that most of you are from that type of people."
Then he left them.umar Ibn Salamah (the sub narrator) said: "We saw most of the people of those circles fighting against us with the Khawaarij in the battle of An-Nahrawan."
-- Related by Ad-Daarimee and Abu Na'eim with an Authentic chain of narrations. Authenticated by saleem al-hilaalee in al-BID'AH (pp. 26-29)
This was the case with every innovation introduced in the UMMAH it began as something small, bearing resemblance to the truth which is why those who entered it were mislead and then were unable to leave it. so it grew and became the religion which they followed and thus deviated from the straight path and left Islam.
Source: http://www.allaahuakbar.net/ahaadeeth/towards_innovations.htm
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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