Bid'ah


Definition of bid’ah.
The word "Bid'ah" means "innovation". In Islamic context it is defined as: "Any invented way in religion that is aimed at worshipping or drawing closer to Allaah". This means anything that is not referred to specifically in Sharee'ah and for which there is no evidence in the Qur'an or Sunnah, and which was not known at the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Companions. At the same time, it is quite obvious that this definition of religious inventions or innovations, which are condemned, does not include worldly inventions such as cars and washing machines, etc.


Bid'ah hasanah/Good inovations?
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) clearly said: "Every newly invented thing is a bid'ah, every bid'ah is a going astray, and every going astray will be in the Fire."
(Reported by al-Nisaa'i in al-Sunan, Salaat al-'Eedayn, Baab kayfa al-Khutbah)

Reports with the same meaning were narrated via Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) by Ahmad, via al-'Irbaad ibn Saariyah by Abu Dawud and via Ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) by Ibn Maajah.

Some people say that there is such a thing in Islam as "bid'ah hasanah", which is nothing but an obvious contradiction of the statement and warning of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) stated that whoever innovates something new in the deen (religion) will have his deed rejected, and Allaah will not accept it, as is stated in the hadith narrated by 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), who said: "The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: 'Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not a part of it will have it rejected.'"
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath al-Baari, no. 2697).
How can anybody then say that bid'ah is acceptable and it is permitted to follow it?

When a person innovates something and adds to the deen something that does not belong to it, he is implying a number of bad things, each worse than the last, for example: that the religion is lacking, that Allaah did not complete and perfect it, and that there is room for improvement. This clearly contradicts the statement in the Qur'an, where Allaah said:
"… This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…"
[Al Qur'an 5:3]

That the religion remained imperfect from the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) until the time when this innovator came along and completed it with his own ideas. That the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was "guilty" of either of two things: either he was ignorant of this "good innovation," or he knew about it but concealed it, thus letting his Ummah down by not conveying it. That the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), his Companions and the righteous salaf (early generations) missed out on the reward of this "good innovation" - until this innovator came along and earned it for himself, Nauzubillaah.

Opening the door to bid'ah leads to changing the deen (religion) and opens the way for personal whims and opinions, because every innovator implies that what he is introducing is something good, so whose opinion are we supposed to follow, and which of them should we take as a leader? Following bid'ah leads to the cancelling out of Sunnah practices and the ways of the salaf. Real life bears witness that whenever a bid'ah is followed, a Sunnah practice dies out; the reverse is also true.



Understanding of the Companions
Let us see how the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) reacted when they saw Bid'ah being practised.

This is indicated by the report narrated by Al-Tirmidhi (204) from ‘Amr ibn Salamah who said: "We were sitting at the door of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood before Fajr prayer, when he came out. We walked with him to the mosque, then Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari came to us and said: Has Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan come out to you yet? We said: No. So he sat with us until he came out, and when he came out we all stood up. Abu Moosa said to him: O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, just now I saw something in the mosque that I have never seen before, but I do not think it was anything but good. He said: What was it? He said: If you live, you will see it. He said: In the mosque I saw some people sitting in circles waiting for the prayer. In every circle there was a man, and in their hands they had pebbles. He would say: Say Allaahu akbar (Allaah is Most Great) one hundred times, and they would say Allaahu akbar one hundred times. He would say: Say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah (there is no god but Allaah) one hundred times, and they would say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times. He would say: Say Subhaan-Allaah (Glory be to Allaah) one hundred times, and they would say Subhaan-Allaah one hundred times. He said: What did you say to them? He said: I did not say anything to them; I was waiting to see what you think and I waited for your command. He said: Why did you not tell them to count their bad deeds and guarantee to them that their good deeds would not be wasted? Then he moved on and we moved on with him until he came to one of those circles, and he stood over them and said: What is this that I see you doing? They said: O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, these are stones with which we count the takbeers (‘Allaahu akbar’), tahleel (‘Laa ilaaha illa-Allaah’) and tasbeeh (‘Subhaan-Allaah’). He said: Count your bad deeds, for I guarantee to you that none of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you, O Ummah of Muhammad! How quickly you have become doomed! His companions are still alive and his cloak has not worn out, and his vessel is not yet broken. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you are either following a way that is more guided that the way of Muhammad or you are opening the door to misguidance. They said: By Allaah, O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, we intended nothing but good. He said: How many of those who intended good did not achieve it. The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us that some people would recite the Qur’aan and it would not go any further than their collarbones. By Allaah, I do not know, perhaps most of them are from among you. Then he turned away from them and ‘Amr ibn Salamah said: I saw most of those circles on the side of the Khawaarij fighting us on the day of al-Nahrawaan."

Think about this attitude of Abu Moosa and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood, and how they denounced this method which was not done by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) or his companions, although dhikr is basically prescribed, praiseworthy and encouraged.


Dangers of Bid'ah:
(1) Bid'ah causes Sunnah to die
(2) Bid'ah may also lead to Kufr
(3) Bid'ah causes disunity in the Ummah.
(4) Individually, Bid'ah destroys the Akhira of the person.
(5) Bid'ah is the source of fasaad (evils) in the Ummah
(6) For the Ummah as a whole, Bid'ah hurts the spreading of Islam and Da'wah for the sake of Allaah.
(7) Bid'ah is the cause of Fitnah (test or trials) or severe punishment for this Ummah.


Thus, it is very important that we educate ourselves about the 'real' Sunnah of Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and find out what is Bid'ah and what is not. We have to look at the tafseer (explanation) of the Qur'ân as well as the hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). When understanding the verses of the Qur'ân and the hadith of Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) we have to take into consideration the context and the time of the revelation of the verse or the hadith of Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).


May Allaah protect us from committing Bid'ah and guide us all to the His Path and help us in strengthening our faith.


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