الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينة ونستغفره، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا، ومن سيئات أعمالنا ، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ، وأشهد أن سيدنا محمداً عبده ورسوله ، اللهم صلِّ وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه  ومن تبعه إلى يوم الدين.

You often hear the khateeb in the beginning of Friday Khutba making a declaration that the Prophet (PBUH) used to say in the beginning of his Friday sermons and this is:

إن أصدق الحديث كتاب الله، وأحسن الهدي هدي محمد، وشر الامر محدثاتها ، وكل محدثة بدعة، وكل بدعة ضلالة، وكل ضلالة في النار. ) سنن ابن ماجه-  سنن النسائي   – مسند أحمد-صحيح مسلم(

“The most truthful speech is the book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Mohammad (PBUH) and the worst of matters is novelty and every novelty is an innovation (Biddah) and every innovation (Biddah) is misguidance and every misguidance leads to the Hell fire”. 

This Hadeath presents one of the strongest condemnations of innovation (بدعة), but what does this term Biddah” mean?   Understanding what this term innovation (بدعة) means is very important because it is unfortunate that some people use this word (Biddah) loosely and go around attacking other Muslims as innovators and thus creating division within the community in violation of the most fundamental principle in our religion which is unity. 

What is the Biddah (innovation)?   

Linguistically, biddah (innovation) is bringing something original that did not exist before and extracted from it the word ‘Ibdaa”  (إبداع)  “Creativity” that you use to describe the work of poets, artists and scientists.  Allah describes Himself as the Innovator of the Heavens and Earth:

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ

“The Innovator (Originator, Creator) of the heavens and the earth: when He decrees a matter, He said to it: “Be,” and so it becomes. “  (Al-Baqara 2:117) 

Since the definition of Biddah is creating and originating something that did not exist before, it is logical that religious Biddah be condemned.   But we need to realize that

 While the Prophet (PBUH) condemned making a Biddah, he encouraged making new Sunnah (practice) as he (PBUH) said:

‏‏‏ ‏‏عن ‏ ‏المنذر بن جرير ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏أبيه -‏ عن النبي ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏قال ‏ ‏من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة كان له أجرها وأجر من عمل بها من بعده من غير أن ينتقص من أجورهم شيء ومن سن في الإسلام سنة سيئة كان عليه ‏ ‏وزرها ‏ ‏ووزر ‏ ‏من عمل بها من بعده من غير أن ينتقص من ‏ ‏أوزارهم ‏ ‏شيء)  مسند أحمد -سنن ابن ماجه-  سنن الدارمي (

‏عن ‏ ‏جرير بن عبد الله ‏ ‏قال ‏ قال رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة فعمل بها بعده كتب له مثل أجر من عمل بها ولا ينقص من أجورهم شيء ومن سن في الإسلام سنة سيئة فعمل بها بعده كتب عليه مثل وزر من عمل بها ولا ينقص من أوزارهم شيء)  صحيح مسلم(

“Whoever establishes (institutes) a good sunnah (good practice) in Islam will have its reward and the rewards of everyone who follows it without reducing any of the reward of the followers and whoever establishes (institutes) a bad sunnah (bad practice) in Islam will have its penalty and the penalties of everyone who follows it without reducing any of the penalty of the followers.” 

This hadith suggests that there are good sunnah and bad sunnah and this obviously refers to a practice that the person originates and has nothing to do with the sunnah of the prophet (PBUH) that are always good.  Can we extend this definition to suggest that a good sunnah is equivalent to good Biddah and a bad sunnah is equivalent to bad Biddah.  This definition was used Khalifa Omar ibn Al-Khattab (RA) when he classified his ruling of having the Tarawweh prayers performed following one Imam in the Masjid. Some companions accused him of making Biddah and he responded to them saying that is a good Biddah (بدعة حسنة).

While some scholars still consider that a Biddah can never be good, others such as Imam Al-Izz Ibn Abdul Salam and Imam Al-Qurafi (ra) accept Khalifa Omar’s classification that a Biddah (innovation) can be good and acceptable.   Those who do not accept classifying a Biddah as good argue that Khalifa Omar was using the term good innovation (good Biddah) as a mere linguistic use of the term. 

Whether one uses the term Good Biddah or use the term good Sunnah, it is critical that we seek the definition of the Prophet (PBUH) of the Biddah (innovation) that is prohibited.   We can derive this definition form a hadith that is reported by Bukhari and Muslim and others.    Sayeda Aisha (‏عائشة) said that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

عن ‏ ‏عائشة‏  : أن رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏قال ‏ ‏من ‏ ‏أحدث ‏ ‏في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد ‏ )رواه البخاري ومسلمٌ وابن ماجه وأحمد (

“Whoever introduces something new in our matter (i.e. Islam) that is not of it, it is rejected”. 

In this hadith, there is a proposition that is very important, and this is the proposition (من) which is translated as “of or from”.  This haditih would have a completely different meaning if the Prophet (PBUH) used the proposition (فى) that means “in” instead of (من) that mean “of”. Let me clarify this issue by stating the hadith with the correct proposition and with the wrong proposition.:

Let us look at this figure to illustrate the differences.  

If you have two boxes of Jewelries:

For one box I told you that you cannot add anything that is not in it.  This means that you cannot add anything that is not already in the box and if you take something out to use, you have to put it the same thing back gain.

For the second box: I tell you, you cannot add anything that is not of what is in it.  This means, if the box has gold jewelry, I can add gold rings since they are of the type that is in the box, but I cannot add plastic necklaces because plastic accessories are not of the type in the box.

Hope this point is clear because it can resolve most of the issues related to what is Biddah and what is not.

This issue of Biddah was a cause for dispute among the companions but it was never a cause of conflicts. However, you note that those who added some practices that were not done by the Prophet (PBUH) but were of the nature of what the Prophet (PBUH) did, prevailed.  Here are some examples:

The first is what we discussed regarding the objection of some companions objected to Khalifa Omar as making Biddah when he considered holding the Tarweeh prayers in the Masjid under a single Imam.  In spite of the objection, this new practice prevailed. Note that praying Taraweeh is part of the religion, and all Khalifa Omar did was to institute a system to promote unity and encourage people to pray.  

Second: When Sayedna Omar proposed to Khalifa Abu Bakr to assemble the Quran in one book, Abu Bakr originally objected because the Prophet (PBUH) did not do it. But  Omar’s proposal prevailed. Note that documenting a written version of the Quran was part of the religion and all Sayedna Omar proposed was to collect all the written text in one master text.

A third example is the addition of a second call for the prayer for the Jummah prayer by Sayedna Othman and this is what we do now. Obviously calling for the prayer and giving people sufficient time to come to the Masjid is of the religion. 

A fourth example is placing dots on the words of the Quran on the instructions of Khalifa Ali and the grammatical marking, tashkeel, on the words of the Quran was done on the order of Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad caliph.

The fifth example is praying the Duhaa (الضحى) in the Masjid, Abduallah ibn Omar objected to people praying the Duhaa in the Masjid considering it Biddah. The time of Duha prayer is 15-20 minutes after sunrise until Dhuhr prayer. His objection was not for the prayer itself, which is Sunanh, but for instituting doing it in the Masjid.  Now no one consider praying the Duhaa in the Masjid as Biddah,

The six example is related to a companion who made what some will consider Biddah in the prayer and in the presence of the Prophet (PBUH) by saying something that the Prophet (PBUH) did not say.  The Prophet (PBUH) did not reprimand him but rather he (PBUH) complimented him.  It is reported in Bukhari that Rifa`a bin Rafi` said:

عن رفاعة بن رافع قال: كُنَّا يَوْمًا نُصَلِّي ورَاءَ النبيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّمَ، فَلَمَّا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ مِنَ الرَّكْعَةِ قالَ: سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَن حَمِدَهُ، قالَ رَجُلٌ ورَاءَهُ: رَبَّنَا ولَكَ الحَمْدُ حَمْدًا كَثِيرًا طَيِّبًا مُبَارَكًا فِيهِ، فَلَمَّا انْصَرَفَ، قالَ: مَنِ المُتَكَلِّمُ قالَ: أنَا، قالَ: رَأَيْتُ بضْعَةً وثَلَاثِينَ مَلَكًا يَبْتَدِرُونَهَا أيُّهُمْ يَكْتُبُهَا أوَّلُ)) صحيح. صحيح البخاري.

One day we were praying behind the Prophet. When he raised his head from bowing, he said, “Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah.” A man behind him said, “Rabbana wa laka l-hamdu, hamdan kathiran taiyiban mubarakan fihi” (O our Lord! All the praises are for You, many good and blessed praises). When the Prophet completed the prayer, he asked, “Who has said these words?” The man replied, “I.” The Prophet said, “I saw over thirty angels competing to write it first.”

One major reason for the sensitivity of some scholars to any things that was not done by the Prophet (PBUH) as being Biddah is their classification of certain clear violations to the instructions of the Prophet (PBUH) as being Biddah.    This is a wrong application to the term Biddah because any practice that is in clear violation of the instructions of the Prophet should be called prohibition, pure and simple, but classifying it as Biddah clouds the issue that is clear.  An example of a practice that should not be classified as Biddah because it is a clear prohibition to the Prophet’s command is building a Masjid on a grave:

The Prophet (PBUH) clearly prohibited in several hadeath, building Masjid on the grave of anyone including himself; he (PBUH) said:  

عبد الله بن الحارث النجراني ‏ ‏قال حدثني ‏ ‏جندب ‏ ‏قال ‏ سمعت النبي ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏قبل أن يموت بخمس وهو يقول ‏ ‏ ‏ ‏ألا وإن من كان قبلكم كانوا يتخذون قبور أنبيائهم وصالحيهم مساجد ألا فلا تتخذوا القبور مساجد إني ‏ ‏أنهاكم عن ذلك)     صحيح مسلم(

“People before you used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous people as mosques and I prohibit you from doing the same.” 

He also said:

عن ‏ ‏عائشة ‏ ‏رضي الله عنها ‏ ‏قالت ‏ قال النبي ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏في مرضه الذي لم يقم منه ‏ ‏لعن الله ‏ ‏اليهود ‏ ‏ اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجد قالت ‏ ‏عائشة ‏ ‏لولا ذلك لأبرز قبره خشي أن يتخذ مسجدا  )صحيح البخاري(

“Allah has cursed the Jews because they took the graves of their Prophets as places for worship.” 

He also said:

‏ ‏عبد الله بن مسعود ‏ ‏قال ‏ سمعت رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏يقول ‏ ‏إن من ‏ ‏البيان ‏ ‏سحرا وشرار الناس الذين تدركهم الساعة أحياء والذين يتخذون قبورهم مساجد ‏ )مسند أحمد(

 “The worst people are those who will be alive when the hour comes and those who take their graves as Mosques.” 

‏This is why Muslims were very careful when expanding the Prophet’s Masjid from including his grave in it and they built a high wall around the grave to avoid incorporating it into the Masjid.

‏There are some activities that create controversy and division among Muslims because some consider them as good sunnah while others consider them as bad Biddah.   

Examples of these practices that often create controversy include:

• Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday (PBUH).
• Saying a special Dua on the 27^th of Raajab and the mid of Shaabban.
• Performing group dhikr.

Since these activities do not violate clear prohibitions and are not considered obligatory and that they are done by some out of sincere love for the Prophet (PBUH) and the desires to seek the blessings of Allah thru Dua and dhikr, they should not be a cause for any dispute or conflict.   It is important that differing opinions should be respected.

Our attention should always be focused on uniting the Muslims and curbing these differences.   Unity among Muslims is obligatory command of Allah that is clearly stated in several verses in the Quran.  As example, Allah says:

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِۦ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسۡلِمُونَ (١٠٢) وَٱعۡتَصِمُواْ بِحَبۡلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعً۬ا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُواْ‌ۚ (١٠٣)

 “O you who believe! Have Taqwa of Allah as He should be feared and die not except Muslims. (102) And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah and do not be divided.”  (Al-Imran 3:102-103)

وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلا تَنَازَعُوا فَتَفْشَلُوا وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ وَاصْبِرُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ  )الأنفال(

“Obey Allah and His Messenger; and do not fall into disputes, lest you lose heart and lose your power; and be patient and persevering: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.” (Al-Anfal 8:46) 

If someone insists on objecting to certain activities that have good motives and related to religious activities and do not violate any clear prohibition, challenge them to explain why they are not following the sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) that are based on clear commands before placing themselves as Mufti on what is Biddah and what is good Sunnah.   Here are few commands that will surely not be following:

Wearing Shoes in Masjid:  The Prophet (PBUH) said:

روى أبو داود أيضا عن يعلى بن شداد بن أوس عن أبيه قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

خالفوا اليهود فإنهم لا يصلون في نعالهم ولا خفافهم 

“Be different from the Jews, who do not pray in their shoes or in their leather slippers (khufoof).” (Abu Dawood)

This hadeath is reinforced by another hadith in which the Prophet (PBUH) said:

فروى أبو داود في سننه بسنده عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ( إذا جاء أحدكم إلى المسجد فلينظر ، فإن رأى في نعليه قذراً أو أذى فليمسحه وليصل فيهما )

’ When any one of you comes to the mosque, let him look and if he sees anything dirty on his shoes, let him wipe them and then pray in them.” (Abu Dawood).

Eye Liner (kuhl) for Men: Ibnn Abbas said that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

عن عبد الله بن عباس رضي الله عنهما أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: ” إنّ مِنْ خَيْرِ أَكْحَالِكُمُ الاِثْمِدَ إنّهُ يَجُلُو الْبَصَرَ وَيُنْبِتُ الشّعَرَ “

“The best of your kohl is ithmid (antimony), for it makes the vision clear and makes the eyelashes grow.”

Ibn ‘Abbas also said:

قال: وكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا اكتحل يكتحل في اليمنى ثلاثة يبتدئ بها ويختم بها وفي اليسرى ثنتين [رواه الترمذي والنسائي وابن ماجة والإمام أحمد[

“The Prophet (PBUH) used to apply kohl to his right eye three times, and to his left eye twice.

Abdulallah ibn Omar narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

روى ابن ماجة رحمه الله: عن عبدالله بن عمر رضي الله عنه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:” عليكم بالإثمد, فإنه يجلو البصر, وينبت الشعر”

Stick to applying the antimony, as it clarifies the sight and grows the eyelashes“. [Reported by Ibn Majah]

Obviously, no one applies these Ahdaeth these days and for good reasons. Therefore, making a decision regarding the obligation of practices that the Prophet (PBUH) did and the prohibition on practices that he did not do requires serious study and intelligence and not superficial views.  This is a religion of Allah and thus no one can speak regarding what is Halal and what is haram unless is he is qualified as a jurist (مفتى) and not just scholar (فقيه) .

The Jurist (مفتى) is a Muslim who knows the Quran and the Sunnah and their sciences as well as the opinions of all the previous Jurists and the basis for the opinions.   In addition to all this knowledge, he is very intelligent that he would be qualified to speak on behalf of Allah to declare that a matter is prohibited or obligatory or allowed or something in between meaning dislike or preferred. When asked about an issue, the Jurist (مفتى) gives one opinion and therefore, he is one who is qualified to serve as Supreme Court judge in a Muslim nation.  

On the other hand, the scholar (فقيه) is a person who studied all the rules of Fiqh and understand the opinions of the different jurists and when asked about a matter he would be able explain to the people the opinions and the basis for them. The scholar (فقيه) may show preference to a specific opinion, but he should not give a definitive opinion; because if he does, he would be elevating his status to a jurist (مفتى) who is qualified to speak on behalf of Allah and thus give one opinion as the ultimate truth. 

This is the fundamental difference between the Jurist (مفتى) and the scholar (فقيه); when the Jurist (مفتى) is asked about a matter in religion, he will give one opinion while the scholar (فقيه) will give you the multiple opinions and their basis and make you pick the opinion that your heart is comfortable with.  In one of the Prophet’s hadith, the (PBUH) said to Wabisah bin Ma’bad d (وابصة بن معبد) , as the Prophet (PBUH) said:

عن وابصة بن معبد – رضي الله عنه – قال: رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأنا أريد أن لا أدع شيئًا من البر والإثم إلا سألت عنه, فقال لي: ادن يا وابصة، فدنوت منه؛ حتى مست ركبتي ركبته, فقال لي: يا وابصة, أخبرك عما جئت تسأل عنه؟ قلت: يا رسول الله, أخبرني, قال: جئت تسأل عن البر والإثم, قلت نعم, فجمع أصابعه الثلاث, فجعل ينكت بها في صدري, ويقول: يا وابصة, استفت قلبك, والبر ما اطمأنت إليه النفس, واطمأن إليه القلب, والإثم ما حاك في القلب, وتردد في الصدر, وإن أفتاك الناس وأفتوك

“Have Fatwa from you heart no matter how much Fatwa you get from others”.

When I make this statement about giving people the different opinions and their basis and let them follow the opinion that their heart is comfortable with, someone will come to me and say but people will not be able to understand, and they will just pick the easy opinion that will suit them.  So, I ask him, are one of those people who will just follow the opinion because it suites you? And he will say: No.    The question is why everyone who raises this objection thinks that he is the only one who is smart one righteous and everyone else is corrupt and stupid.  

DUA