Assalaamu alaikum brethren in islam
Indeed none deserves worship except Allah and
the prophet Mohammed, SAW, is his slave and servant.
Bidia or
innovations in religion is our topic for discussion, this topic is
actually so broud that i am not in the position to exhaust it today. As such we
will limit to some few clarifications as possible.
Our presentation will be based on the
treatise written by ibn Rajab
Al-Hambali. We pray that Allahs mercy and forgiveness find him.
In his treatise, imam Hambali defined Bidia
or innovation as defined by many of the scholars. Amongst them is the
definition given by Imaam Ash-Shaafi’i, may Allaah have mercy upon him, who
said:
“A Bid’ah is anything that has no basis in the Qur’aan,
Sunnah or sayings of any of the companions.” Situation 1
It is also reported that Ash-Shaatibi, may
Allaah have mercy upon him, said:
“(A Bid’ah)
is any matter which closely resembles the Sharee’ah and is intended to be a way
of worshipping Allaah." Situation 2
Brothers and sisters in the deen, based on
these definitions of bidia or innovation in religion that we will base our
discussion, may Allah increase us in understanding.
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stated repeatedly that:
"Every newly-invented thing is a bid'ah
(innovation), every bid'ah is a going astray, and every going astray will be in
the Fire."
(Reported by al-Nisaa'i in al-Sunan).
The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) again said:
'Whoever starts something good, and others follow
his lead, will have a complete reward and a reward like that of those who
followed him, without it detracting in the least from their reward. Whoever
starts something bad, and others follow his lead, will bear a complete burden
of sin, and a burden like that of those who followed him, without it detracting
in the least from their burden.
(Reported
by Ibn Maaajah in al-Sunan, no. 204
Many people
turn to misunderstand this hadith to mean bringing something new. The narration
above did not mean ‘whoever starts something new’ in fact, it stated that whoever
starts ‘something good’.
Imaam Ash-Shaatibi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, answered those who attempt to use this Hadeeth as evidence of the permissibility of innovating he said:
"The context of this Hadeeth is that it was said in a situation
where charity was being
given, and charity is something already legislated.
The proof of this is
actually to be found in the very same Hadeeth, if you were to read it all, as
Jareer Ibn 'Abdullaah Al-Bujali, may Allaah be pleased with him, said:
"We
were with the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (in the Masjid) just after
dawn one day when some people entered barefooted and clad in woollen matting
(or covered with sleeveless woollen blankets) with their swords hung around
their necks……………….. Then, the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “Give
in charity from (what you possess of) Deenaars (gold coins) Dirhams (silver
coins) a Saa’ (a small measure of weight) of wheat or even a Saa’ of dates.”
until he sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “Give, even if it as little as
half a date” Thereupon, a man from the Ansaar (residents of Madeenah) came with
a bag of food which was so heavy that it was difficult for him to carry.
Thereafter, people came successively until I saw two huge piles of food and
clothes, and the Prophet’s face was bright as a glittering golden coin (due to
his happiness). Then the Messenger sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “Whoever
introduces a good practice in Islaam will get the reward of performing it and
that of all those who perform it until the Day of Resurrection; Whoever
introduces a bad practice in Islaam will get the punishment of performing it
and that of all those who do it until the Day of Resurrection.”" (Muslim).
Another misunderstood
hadith is that od Umar below.
‘Umar ibn
Al-Khattaab, may Allaah be pleased with him, remarked upon seeing people
playing Taraaweeh in congregation that: "This is a good Bid’ah."
(Bukhaari).
What is the
meaning of the hadith above?
Imaam Ibn
Rajab, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: "Any words from the Salaf
considering something as a good Bid’ah were meant in the linguistic and not the
Islamic sense, such as the saying of ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him,
when he saw people praying Taraaweeh in congregation, that "This is a good
Bid’ah.
Again, Something
good is not just good at all times and at all places. In islam every place has
what is good for that place or occasion. Most often than not we see people
practicing something which do not fit the place or the occasion, this act is a
bidia based on the second definition.
Case study;
I go to the
grave yard and we recite Quran in unison as we bury the dead, though the
prophet never instructed us to do it. Infact he commanded us to pray in our
homes in order not to turn them into graves. We recite the Quran there because;
1. Though the Prophet didn’t do it but reading the Quran isn’t a
wrong thing, its an act of worship.
2. Another reason for doing this is that many people might be
discussing unnecessary things at the graveyard and so we engage them in the
recitation of the Quran so that they don’t discuss wordly affairs.
What is
wrong with this?
Lets use
this analogy, a gentleman in my area cannot recite faatiha so I told him to
replace the faatiha with ‘Laa-ilaaha illallah’.
I tell a
gentleman to pray only one rakah for Asr because he feels lazy to pray all the
four rakats.
Though the
people are too stubborn to keep qiute at the grave yard that doesn’t warrant us
to introduce something new into our religion to make them keep qiute. We need
to advice them on the importance of keeping qiute and reflecting.
In addition,many
acts of worship currently are bidia because of exagration. Because we have
either prescribed reward for it and or quantity of it required.
Case study;
Sa’eed Ibn
Al-Musayyib, may Allaah have mercy upon him, saw a man praying too many
optional prayers before the Fajr prayer and therefore he forbade him from doing
so. The man retorted: "O Abu Muhammad! Will Allaah punish me for
praying?" Sa'eed replied: "No, but He will punish you for doing other
than the Sunnah."
The actual
fear for doing something other than the sunna is that with time people wont really know the prescribed
number and his would be taken as the standard.
Another
example is that of the cracking of the fingers after salah. Today ,many people
are beginning to think its actually a part of the salah and hence right after
salah you hear many people cracking their fingers. This was someones normal act
but gradually its been introduced into the activities of our salah.
Mzy Allah
forgive us for our shortcomings and increase us in knowledge and understanding.
No comments:
Post a Comment