Good/bad bidaah
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:
Burhan, A-o-A:
I have a question, for you, and if you could shed some light on it in the light of;
1/ Quran & Sunnah
2/ Historical
aspect
An elderly person
(whom I respect), recently argued on the subject of Biddah, that there is such
a thing as "good biddah" and "bad biddah".
He then narrated,
that the wordings, of Fajar's Adhan is a Biddah, as in the days of Rasool,
Fajr's azan did not used to have the line "as salat-o-khair-an-minal
nom". He claimed that this is an addition introduced by after the
passage of Rasool. Another example he quoted, was that the praying of
Taraveeh in Jamah, is also a biddah, introduced by Hadrath Umer, and he called
it a "good biddah".
question #1/ Can
you affirm with the above examples, and tell me the authenticity of the claims?
question#2/ If
there is such a thing as "good biddah" in religion, who has the right
to invoke and bless it, after the passage of the last
messenger?
JAK
(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:
Good/bad bidaah
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.
Q-1: An elderly person (whom I
respect), recently argued on the subject of Biddah, that there is such a thing
as "good biddah" and "bad biddah".
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.”
A bida or innovation is
something which is not a part of the deen of Islam, but is an addition or innovation in the deen endorsed by someone
other than the Messenger of Allah (saws),
or his Rightly Guided Khalifahs.
Bida is any innovated deed which one does and believes that by doing
this innovated deed, he is eligible to
earn more reward from Allah Subhanah.
There is no such thing as a good
‘bida’ or good innovation in the deen of Islam! Each and every type or kind of ‘bida’ or innovation is an
error, and a grave sin in the sight of
Allah Subhanah.
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.”
Unfortunately, many types of ‘bidas’ or innovations have
crept their way into the deen today which have absolutely no basis or evidence
from the Quran and Sunnah; and each of
them must be immediately rejected by those who sincerely believe in Allah and
the Last Day.
A few examples of the
innovations which have crept into the deen and practiced by ignorant people
today:
The concept and ritual of ‘Quran
Khaani’.
The celebration of the Prophet’s
birthday.
The celebration and remembrance
of Imam Hussain and the events of Karbala on the 10th of Muharram or
the rituals of Aashoora.
The mourning ceremonies and rituals
of the 3rd, 7th, 9th, 10th, 30th,
or 40th day of the deceased.
The celebrations and rituals of
‘urs’ at the graves of the deceased pious slaves of Allah Subhanah. Etc.
The above are just a few
examples of the rites, rituals, and ceremonies which are nothing but
innovations and have absolutely no basis and place in the deen of Islam.
The Prophet Mohamed
(saws) said:
The most evil
affairs are the innovations,
and every innovation is an error.”
Q-2: He then narrated, that the
wordings, of Fajar's Adhan is a Biddah, as in the days of Rasool, Fajr's azan
did not used to have the line "as salat-o-khair-an-minal nom".
He claimed that this is an addition introduced by after the passage of Rasool.
There is an authentic narration
related from Hadrat Bilaal that this sentence of ‘The Prayer is better than
sleep’ was added and pronounced during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah
(saws). If this narration is taken as
authentic, then obviously, it is following the Sunnah of the Prophet
(saws), and not an innovation.
There is also another narration
which states that this sentence was added during the lifetime of Hadrat Umar
(r.a.). Even if this is believed, it cannot be considered a bida, as the Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded
that it is incumbent upon the believers to follow his (saws) Sunnah, and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided
Khalifas; and they are Abu Baqr,
Umar, Uthmaan, Ali, and Hasan ibn Ali.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4590 Narrated by Irbad ibn Sariyah
The Messenger of
Allah (saws) said: “You must follow my
Sunnah and that of the Rightly-Guided Khalifas.”
Besides, even if we accept the narration that Hadrat
Umar (r.a.) introduced this phrase in the adhaan, it cannot be considered a ‘bida’ or innovation, as it is not something which is not from the
deen. Besides there were literally
thousands of the noble companions of the Prophet (saws) alive at that time and
none of them objected to it. Among
them were Uthmaan, Ali, Ammar bin Yasir, Salman al Farsi, etc. And also,
when Hadrat Uthmaan and Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Taalib (r.a.) became the
Khalifahs, they did not change the
adhaan that was pronounced for the fajr prayer, and the phrase of ‘As
Salaato Khairun minan naum’ was declared even in their times.
Q-3: Another example he quoted,
was that the praying of Taraveeh in Jamah, is also a biddah, introduced by
Hadrath Umer, and he called it a "good biddah".
The Prophet (saws) himself led
the congregation of the voluntary Taraweeh prayers one Ramadan for three nights
in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. On
the fourth night he did not come to lead the prayers and when asked why, he (saws) replied that he feared lest Allah
would make the Taraweeh prayers obligatory on the believers. Thus, because the Prophet (saws) prayed the
Taraweeh prayers, the Sunnah was
established. After this, the Prophet (saws) and the believers used to
offer these voluntary Taraweeh prayers individually. After the Prophet’s (saws)
death, the second Khalifah, Hadrat Umar (r.a.) saw the people praying the
Taraweeh prayers individually, and counseled with the other noble companions of
the Messenger of Allah (saws), that
since there was no issue of these voluntary prayers being made obligatory now, it would be better that they restarted the
Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) and prayed the Taraweeh prayers in
congregation; and subsequently Hadrat
Ubbay ibn Kaab (r.a.) was appointed to lead the Taraweeh prayers in
congregation.
The Taraweeh prayers are ‘nafl’
(voluntary) prayers. And whatever
‘nafl’ the Prophet (saws) did, is what
becomes his Sunnah for the believers.
Thus if one prays the Taraweeh
prayers, he will earn extra ‘ajr’ and
reward from Allah; and if one does not
pray them, there is no sin. There is also no harm if some prefer to pray these extra prayers at home
or individually, as that too is the
Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
It is reported by
Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (saws)
would encourage people to perform the special prayers during Ramadan without
commanding them as obligatory and he said: "Whoever prays during the
nights of Ramadan [tarawih] with a firm belief and hoping for reward, all of
his previous sins would be forgiven."
Related by
Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi,
and Ibn Maajah.
It is reported from
Hadrat Aisha (r.a.) that: "The Prophet (saws) offered salah in the mosque
and many people prayed with him. The next day he (saws) did the same and more
people prayed with him. Then the people gathered on the third night but, the
Prophet (saws) did not come out to them.
In the morning, he (saws) said
to them: 'Surely I saw what you did, and nothing prevented me from coming out
to you, save that I feared that [that prayer] would be made obligatory upon
you.' And that was during Ramadan."
Related by Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi.
Reported Hadrat
Zaid bin Thabit that the Prophet (saws)
took a room made of date palm leaves mats in the mosque. The Prophet (saws) prayed in it for a few nights till the
people gathered (to pray the night prayer (Tarawih) (behind him.) Then on the 4th night the people did not
hear his voice and they thought he had slept,
so some of them started humming in order that he might come out. The Prophet (saws) then said, "You
continued doing what I saw you doing till I was afraid that this (Tarawih
prayer) might be enjoined on you, and
if it were enjoined on you, you would not continue performing it. Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at
your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home
except the compulsory (congregational) prayer.”
Related by
Bukhari.
Thus, there is enough evidence that it was the Messenger of Allah
(saws) himself who started the concept of Tarawih prayers in Ramadan; and thus it cannot be considered a ‘bida’ or
innovation.
There is indeed a narration
whereby Hadrat Umar (r.a.) when he was the Khalifah, re-introduced the Sunnah of praying the Tarawih in
congregation; and when he saw the
believers praying, he did mention the
term “good bida”. But this term must
be taken in the colloquial sense of the Arabic language, and cannot be used as a license to start the
concept of innovations in Islam!
'Umar was the one
who convoked the Muslims to pray tarawih behind one imam. Abdurahman ibn
Abdulqari reports: "One night during Ramadan, I went with 'Umar to the
mosque and the people were praying in different groups. Some were praying by themselves and others
were praying in small groups. 'Umar said:
'I think it would be better if I gathered them under one imam .' Then he did so and appointed Ubayy ibn Ka'b
as the leader of the prayer. Then I went out with him on another night and all
the people were praying behind one imam and 'Umar said: 'What a good
innovation (bid'ah) this is,' but, it is better to sleep and delay it
until the latter portion of the night."
The people (however) prayed it at the beginning of the night. This is
related by al-Bukhari, Ibn Khuzaimah, alBaihaqi, and others.
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