'Thum washeq an Innovation
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
In the Name of Allah
Subhanahu, I praise Allah and bear witness that it is
only Allah Subhanahu Who is
worthy of worship. I further bear
witness that Muhammad
(SAWS) is Allah's true Prophet and Messenger. The noble Ahle Bayt, Aimmat
Tahereen and Doat Mutlaqeen
are the Recipients of
the true knowledge of Deen-e-Islam.
Assalaamalikum Burhan!
Some time back one
of our brothers/sisters asked a question on Shabe-Baraat.
I read with interest your response which in a nutshell
was based on the
premise that our beloved Prophet (SAWS) did not observe this night in any
special way. Yet it is common knowledge that in the Bohra
calendar the Shabe-Baraat, which falls on the eve of
15th of Shabaan every year, has a remarkable
significance in that special prayers, otherwise called the "thambyo washek", are held.
Let us put aside your view of "innovation" and look at the matter
from prayer point of view. You agree with the fact that Allah Subhanahu made the five daily prayers 'fardh'
on the Muslim Ummah. And in this connection the
Glorious Qur'an is replete with the command to
Muslims to establish regular prayers.
However, you will also agree that Allah Subhanahu in
his immeasurable magnanimity has bestowed the bounty of additional prayers (Tahajud) on his Muslim slaves. This is evident Surah 17 - Bani
Taking cue from these two enlightening verses I should like to pose these 2
questions:
What better way is there to celebrate Allah Suhanahu's
praises and magnify his glory than prayers?
What do we invoke of and beseech from Allah Taala
while reciting the Shabe -Baraat
and other additional prayers that you term as 'innovations?
Fourteen times in each of the surah's
of the washek rakats we
thank the All Wise, All Knowing Allah Subhanahu,
praise Him and seek His help and blessings.
While it may have been narrated that Rasulullah
(SAWS) did not celebrate the occasion of Shabe-Baraat
with any special deeds it is authentically narrated that the Holy Prophet (SAWS) always prayed Tahajud and at times for whole nights. A mukhlis therefore, once asked
him, "O' Rasulullah (SAWS), why do you pray so
hard yet Allah Subhanahu has forgiven you all your
sins?" And he replied, "Why shouldn't I pray?"
"Shouldn't I thank my Creator always for bestowing His gracious bounties
on me?"
It is highly unlikely that Allah Subhanahu, the Most
Merciful, will consider these tahajud prayers as
innovations on the day of
Judgement.
Over to you with kind regards.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
‘Thum washeq’ an Innovation
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
My beloved brother, you are
absolutely right that one of the best ways to worship and praise our Merciful
Lord is through the act of Islamic prayers.
But we must also understand that no person who ever walked on this
planet earth worshipped Allah Subhnah better than the
person of the Last Messenger of Allah, Mohamed ar-Rasool
Allah (saws). The All Knowing, All
Wise, Allah appointed Prophet Mohamed (saws) as His Last and Final Messenger,
and guided him to do, and teach the believers how to worship their Lord, how to
pray, how to fast, how to perform the pilgrimage, and how to live a life acceptable to their
Creator. If there was a better way to
worship Allah Subhanah, the noble Prophet of Allah
(saws) would have done it and taught it to the believers!
Man was not given the permission
by Allah that he himself create his own rites and
rituals, for the worship and Praise of Allah Subhanah. No man has a right to change, create, add, or subtract from
the rites of worship that were taught to the believers by the Messenger of
Allah (saws).
One cannot add to the two rakahs of the obligatory ‘fajr’
prayers, and say that praying four rakahs is better
than praying just two! Or say that
praying fourteen obligatory prayers is better than praying just five! Or say that fasting 24 hours is better than
fasting from dawn to dusk! Similarly, it
is not correct to say that praying Surah Fateha seven times in each rakah
(as is done is the thumm-washeq) is better than
praying it once in each rakah!! Just as one cannot change the format of any
of the above forms of worship, similarly one cannot create or invent a new way
to pray in the actual rites of prayer.
A believer is not allowed to invent his own form of worship and praise
his Lord in a manner which was never done by the Prophet (saws), otherwise it
would imply that one is more God-fearing, or has more knowledge than the
Prophet himself!!!
The time, way and format of all
the five obligatory prayers were fixed, prayed, and taught to the believers by
the Messenger of Allah (saws).
For all the non-obligatory or
voluntary prayers, wherever the Messenger of Allah (saws) fixed the number of rakahs and the time, we may follow his Sunnah
and pray like he did. And wherever the
Messenger of Allah (saws) did not fix the time and number, we have absolutely
no right to fix the time, number of rakahs, or fix a
particular date to these prayers. If one
does so, he would be inventing or following an innovation or bidah, rather than following the Sunnah
or Way of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
There is absolutely no evidence
in the authentic traditions that the Messenger of Allah (saws) ever prayed the
‘thumm-washeq’ in the manner prayed by one of the
sects of Islam today! The way it is
prayed has absolutely no basis from the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah (saws); thus it has to be termed as an innovation.
What if one starts praying the ‘thumm-washeq’ every 15th Rajab, or 15th
Muharram, or 15th
Ramadan, or maybe the 15th or
17th or 19th of every month as he pleases? Would that be right, more righteous and more
acceptable to the Creator?
If everyone starts inventing his
own ways to worship his Creator in the deen of Islam,
then the deen of Islam will not be the obedience and
the following of the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws); but would
become a deen beyond recognition where everyone just
does whatever he wants!!!! One may pray
in the manner the Prophet (saws) prayed all night if he wills, on any of the
nights of the year… and Allah will reward the believer for worshipping and
praising Him in the manner taught to the believers by the Messenger of Allah
(saws).
But to choose one particular
night at will, and invent a particular number of rakahs
at will, and to repeat each surah
for a particular number of times in each rakah at
will…. Without having any basis for any of the above innovations from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), would make it a
clear and manifest innovation or bidah, which is
absolutely hated and abhorred by Allah Subhanah in
the deen of Islam!
It has been
reported in an authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “Whoever introduces a ‘bida’
(innovation) in this deen brought by me (saws), it
will be rejected.”
It has been
reported by Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib
(r.a.) that the Prophet of
Allah (saws) said: “If anyone introduces an innovation (in religion), he will
be responsible for it. If anyone
introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation
(in religion), he is cursed by Allah, by His angels, and by all the people.”
It has been
reported by Jabir ibn
Abdullah (r.a.) in another
authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied in
the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best
guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the innovations,
and every innovation is an error.”
Your Statement: While it may have been narrated that Rasulullah (SAWS) did not celebrate the occasion of Shabe-Baraat with any special deeds
Thus brother, if you yourself
are convinced that the Prophet of Allah (saws) did not celebrate the occasion
of Shabe-e-Baraat with any special deeds or prayers; then it does not behove the believers to innovate and start celebrating this
night with any special deeds or prayers of their own invention! That would make it a manifest bidah or innovation in the deen
of Islam.
Your Statement: it is authentically narrated that the Holy
Prophet (SAWS) always prayed Tahajud and at times for
whole nights. A mukhlis therefore, once asked
him, "O' Rasulullah (SAWS), why do you pray so
hard yet Allah Subhanahu has forgiven you all your
sins?" And he replied, "Why shouldn't I pray?"
"Shouldn't I thank my Creator always for bestowing His gracious bounties
on me?"
The above hadith
is indeed accurate and authentic, and recorded by almost all the recorders of ahadiths. And just
for information sake, the ‘mukhlis’ who narrated the
above hadith and recorded by the recorders of hadith, is none
other than one of the chaste wives of the Messenger of Allah (saws), Hadrat Aisha binte Siddiq.
Your Statement: It
is highly unlikely that Allah Subhanahu, the Most
Merciful, will consider these tahajud prayers as
innovations on the day of Judgement.
If the ‘tahajjud’
or night prayers are prayed in the manner prayed by the Messenger of Allah
(saws),then indeed the believer who prays them, will
be rewarded handsomely by the Lord of the Worlds on the Day of Judgment. But if one invents his own way of
worshipping Allah, without any guidance or basis from the acts or Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), then they will be
answerable to the Creator for inventing or following an innovation in the deen of Islam.
Our choice is to either follow
the Sunnah, or follow an innovation in Islam…. And it
is expected that a believer, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day
would opt to follow the Sunnah, and abstain from the
innovations in the deen of Islam.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
Wister