As-Salamu Alaykum (peace be upon you),



Bid’ah – Innovation in the religion of Islam



What is Bid’ah?



Innovation in Islam is the invention, creation or addition of any religious matter which was not originally found in Islam. It is not innovation in general life….like the invention of cars, planes,

electricity etc. For aspects of worship or ritualistic behaviors in Islam there must be something in the Quran or the Hadith to explain and confirm its practice.



Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “…and the best speech is theSpeech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad(peace be upon him), and the worst of all affairs are the newlyinvented matters (in the religion)” [Sahih Muslim]



Evidence against Bid’ah



Prophet Mohammad, (peace be upon him) says in this respect: “He whoinnovates something that is not in agreement with our matter(religion), will have it rejected.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]



Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning of the Quran that“This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favorupon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” [Noble Quran5:4]



Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “…Verily he among youwho lives [long] will see great controversy, so you must keep to mySunnah and to the Sunnah of the rightly-guided Khalifahs – cling tothem stubbornly. Beware of newly invented matters, for every invented

matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going astray, andevery going astray is in Hell-fire.” [Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi]



How to identify Bid’ah



It is something that specifies doing something in a specific time,place or manner which does not have evidence to support it. Forexample fasting on the 15th of Sha’ban and the other rituals that go

along with it. Where is the evidence?



An example of evidence for other days of fasting …Messenger of Allahsaid: “Fasting on the day of ‘Arafah is an expiation for two years,the year preceding it and the year following it. Fasting the day of‘Ashura is an expiation for the year preceding it.” [Related by "thegroup," except for al-Bukhari and at-Tirmidhi]



Reasons Bid’ah exists:



1) Ignorance – The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:



“Allah does not erase knowledge (from earth) by erasing knowledge fromslaves (hearts). Rather, He erases knowledge through the death ofscholars. When He leaves (earth) without scholars, people will takethe ignorant as leaders (and scholars). They (the ignorant) will beasked and then give Fatawa without knowledge. Then, they will be lead,and will lead astray.” [Ahmad]



2) Following desires – Allah says: “But if they answer you not OMuhammad, then know that they only follow their own lusts. And who ismore astray then one who follows his own lust (desires) without theguidance from Allah” [Noble Quran 28:50]



“Have you seen him who takes his own desires as his god, and Allahknowing (him as such) left him astray, sealed his hearing and hisheart, and put a cover on his sight. Who then will guide him afterAllah.” [Noble Quran 45:23]



3) Blind Following – Allah said what translated means:



“Follow what Allah has sent down.” They say: “Nay! We shall followwhat we found our fathers following. Even though their fathers did notunderstand anything, nor were they guided.” [Noble Quran 2:170]



4) Imitating the disbelievers – Adopting their celebrations andpractices. An example in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him)when the companions asked him to give them an “Anwar Tree” and Prophet(peace be upon him) said:



“Allahu Akbar! It is the Sunan (traditions of the Mushrikun). You saidby He Who has my soul in His Hand, what the children of Israel said toMoses: “Make for us gods as they have gods. He said: ‘Verily! You area people who know not.” [7:138] and he (peace be upon him) said: You

will follow the traditions of those before you (Jews andChristians)” [at-Tirmidhi]

Dangers of Bid’ah:



1) Thinking you are getting closer to Allah – Allah accepts theactions of those who make their intentions for Him alone and accordingto His ways.Shaytan loves Bid’ah because people rarely repent from it thinkingthey are on the right path getting closer to Allah.



2) Dividing the Ummah – Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said:



“…my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of themwill be in Hell Fire except one sect. They (the Companions) said:Allah’s Messenger, which is that? Whereupon he said: It is one towhich I and my companions belong.” [At- Tirmidhi]



A Muslim of the Sunnah will be forced to stay away from the practiceof Bid’ah and will therefore be separated from other Muslims



3) Destruction of the Sunnah – Ibn Abbas said, “When Bid’ah is createdthen the Sunnah dies and this continues until that Bid’ah is livingand the Sunnah is dead.”



And also, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Islam began assomething strange, and it shall return as something strange as itbegan. So give glad tidings to the strangers.” It was asked, “Who arethe strangers?” He replied, “Those that purify and correct what thepeople have corrupted of my Sunnah” [at-Tabarani]



This corruption is Bid’ah, where people have changed the religion ofAllah until the Sunnah has become corrupted.



4) Committing Shirk – An example from one Muslim country when they laythe foundation of a new house they put up a flag pole and raise apiece of cloth like a scarf or something to protect the house from theevil eye during the time it is being built. Some even place a tire(yes a car tire) on the pole to protect them. They also dip their handin henna and make a hand print with the henna on the new walls of thehouse to protect it from the evil eye. This is Shirk!!



5) Damaging the image of Islam – For the Ummah as a whole, Bid’ahhurts the spreading of Islam and Dawah for the sake of Allah. Honourkillings (the killing of a daughter for committing fornication) is anexample. There is nothing in Islam that allows a family to execute the

Islamic Shari’ah their own way. There is a process for dealing withadultery, and for the unmarried person it is in fact 100 lashings, notdeath. People, ignorant of Islam believe that this is how our religionis and those guilty of this form of Bid’ah, in fact guilty of one ofthe worst of major sins, taking the life of a Muslim, are harming theway the non Muslims view Islam.



6) Bid’ah is the cause of Fitnah or severe punishment for this Ummah -

As Allah says: “For those people who are differing from the commandsof Prophet, there will come to them either a Fitnah (test or trialfrom Allah) or a severe punishment.” [Noble Quran 24:63]



And you can look in the Muslim countries where Bid’ah is rampant.



- Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday

- Reading Quran for the dead e.g. Chapter Yasin or celebrate 40 daysafter a person’s died

- Putting head stones or monuments over the grave

- Asking the dead to make Du’a for them or relay the message to Allah



7) Bid’ah is a stepping stone to disbelief – Allah says:



“The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose

(portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.” [Noble Quran 1:7]



This verse refers to the Christians and the Jews. They introduced newlaws into the religion and this took them away from the true messageof the Prophets Musa and Issa (peace be upon them). They took torulings of their priests and rabbis over the words of Allah and hisMessengers.

Individually, Bid’ah destroys the Hereafter of the person -

Narrated Ayshah: Allah’s Apostle said, “If somebody innovatessomething which is not in harmony with the principles of our religion,that thing is rejected.”

9) May lead to lying on Allah and His messenger – The Prophet said:



“Whoever knowingly lie upon me, then let him occupy his seat in theFire (of Hell)”. [Bukhari, Muslim & others]



People will twist or fabricate Hadiths or references from the Quran inorder to justify their actions. This is known to be one of the thingsthat can take you out of Islam!!



Conclusion



- Allah says in the Quran: “This day I have perfected your religionfor you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam asyour religion” [Noble Quran 5:4]



- Prophet (peace be upon him) said:



“I have left behind me two things, if you cling to them you will nevergo astray. They are the Book of Allah and my Sunnah” [al-Hakim]

and



“…so cling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphsafter me, even if it be with your teeth” [Bukhari]



–~–~———~–~—-~————~——-~–~—-~

Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For you are the All-Hearing, the All-knowing. (Al Qur’an 2:127)

Sahih Bukhari (Holding Fast to the Qur'an and Sunnah - 31)

Narrated Ibrahim At Taimi's father, `Ali addressed us while he was standing on a brick pulpit and carrying a sword from which was hanging a scroll He said "By Allah, we have no book to read except Allah's Book and whatever is on this scroll," And then he unrolled it, and behold, in it was written what sort of camels were to be given as blood money, and there was also written in it: 'Medina is a sanctuary form 'Air (mountain) to such and such place so whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits a sin therein, he will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people and Allah will not accept his compulsory or optional good deeds.' There was also written in it: 'The asylum (pledge of protection) granted by any Muslims is one and the same, (even a Muslim of the lowest status is to be secured and respected by all the other Muslims, and whoever betrays a Muslim in this respect (by violating the pledge) will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people, and Allah will not accept his compulsory or optional good deeds.' There was also written in it: 'Whoever (freed slave) befriends (takes as masters) other than his real masters (manumitters) without their permission will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people, and Allah will not accept his compulsory or optional good deeds. ' (See Hadith No. 94, Vol. 3)

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