Class 10
WHY SUNNAHS ARE ABANDONED
& DEALING WITH PEOPLE OF INNOVATION
The Strange Reality We Live In
Have we ever paused to ask ourselves:
Why is it so easy today to abandon the Sunnah?
Why is the phrase “It’s just Sunnah” used so casually?
Why is it socially acceptable to imitate non-Muslims, yet uncomfortable to visibly practice Islam?
Why is innovation defended passionately, while Sunnah is treated as optional?
These are not exaggerations — they are realities of our time.
This decline did not happen overnight. Sunnahs are not abandoned suddenly; they are slowly pushed aside until they feel strange, unnecessary, or inconvenient. Unless we address why this happens within ourselves, the list of forgotten Sunnahs will only grow longer.
WHY SUNNAHS ARE ABANDONED
The scholars explain that Sunnahs are not abandoned due to a single reason, but due to a combination of spiritual, intellectual, and social causes. We will discuss seven major reasons.
1. When the Heart Is Not Right
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed there is a piece of flesh in the body; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart.” (Sahih Bukhari)
All actions begin in the heart. If the heart is weak:
Sunnah feels heavy
Innovation feels exciting
Obedience feels negotiable
Allah does not look at appearances, but at hearts and deeds. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah does not look at your bodies nor your faces but he scans your heart and actions.” (Sahih Muslim)
a) Loving the Prophet ﷺ Less Than Required
The Prophet ﷺ said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his children, and all mankind.” (Sahih Bukhari)
We claim love, yet:
We abandon Sunnah to please family
We hide Sunnah to fit into society
We compromise Sunnah to avoid criticism
Worse of all is we leave sunnah to please the Non-Muslims
b) Forgetting the Purpose of Life
Allah states clearly: “I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (51:56)
Islam is not limited to prayer mats and Masjids. When Sunnah is followed, every action becomes worship — eating, sleeping, intimacy, cleanliness, social behaviour. Forgetting our purpose reduces Islam to rituals instead of a way of life.
c) Preferring the World Over the Hereafter
When the dunya becomes the priority:
Sunnah becomes “impractical”
Modesty becomes “old-fashioned”
Obedience becomes “inconvenient”
But when the ākhirah is the goal:
No Sunnah feels insignificant
No sacrifice feels too heavy
The Prophet ﷺ would do ask good for this Dunya and Aakhriah, but always had Aakhira as the priority.
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
Rabbana atina fiddunya hasanatan wa fil ‘akhirati hasanata waqina ‘adhaban-nar
“Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!”
2. Lack of True Knowledge
We live in an age of information overload but knowledge poverty.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Envy is permitted only in two cases: A man whom Allah gives wealth, and he disposes of it rightfully, and a man to whom Allah gives knowledge which he applies and teaches it.” (Bukhari & Muslim).
Notice what ﷺ says its not just to have knowledge but it is to APPLY it and then Teach it. Knowledge that does not change behaviour is not beneficial knowledge.
Allah says: “Only those who have knowledge truly fear Allah.” (35:28)
And fear naturally leads to obedience.
3. Company That Is Not Upon the Sunnah
Allah commands: “Fear Allah and be with those who are truthful.” (9:119)
The Prophet ﷺ said: “A person follows the religion of his close friend.” (Abu Dawood)
Righteous company:
Normalizes Sunnah
Makes obedience easy
Makes disobedience uncomfortable
Bad company:
Makes Sunnah awkward
Makes compromise attractive
Makes innovation feel normal
4. Being Content Instead of Competing in Good
Allah says: “Race towards all that is good.” (2:148)
Obligations are equal for all — competition lies in extra obedience, and that obedience must be upon the Sunnah.
A believer never says: “I’m better than him.”
He asks: “How can I be better today than yesterday?”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “A believer never satisfies doing good until he reaches Jannah.” (At-Tirmidhi).
5. Excessive Questioning Instead of Submission
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Leave me as I leave you. Those before you were destroyed because of excessive questioning.” (Sahih Bukhari)
The Sahabah said: “We hear and we obey.”
Today, Sunnah is rejected because it:
“Doesn’t suit the time”
“Doesn’t make sense to me”
“Seems unnecessary”
Authentic evidence requires submission, not negotiation.
6. Procrastination
“I’ll start after marriage.”
“After studies.”
“After settling down.”
But the Prophet ﷺ said: , “Hasten to do good deeds before you are overtaken by one of the seven afflictions.” Then (giving a warning) he said, “Are you waiting for such poverty which will make you unmindful of devotion; or prosperity which will make you corrupt, or disease as will disable you, or such senility as will make you mentally unstable, or sudden death, or Ad-Dajjal who is the worst expected absent, or the Hour, and the Hour will be most grievous and most bitter“. [At-Tirmidhi].
No one is promised later. In this Hadith the Prophet ﷺ is urging us to do good before the inevitable, one or the other test is eventually going to come our way and although we might have good and firm intentions of following the Sunnah but we might never be able to due to our procrastinations.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "There are two blessings that many people are deceived into losing: health and free time."
7. Replacing Sunnah with Bid‘ah
Ibn Taymiyyah said: “No people introduce an innovation except that they abandon a Sunnah.”
Innovation feels:
Easier
A shortcut
More rewarding (as false rewards are promised)
More emotional
More culturally supported
But Sunnah is complete. Whoever fills their life with Sunnah will have no space left for innovation.
WHY PEOPLE FALL INTO BID‘AH
Most Muslims who fall into innovations do not intend evil. They:
Want reward
Want closeness to Allah
Want to compensate for shortcomings
But good intentions do not justify incorrect worship. The Prophet ﷺ corrected people who wanted to do more then what was prescribed they said they will:
Pray all night
Fast every day
Avoid marriage
But the Prophet ﷺ warned: “…By Allah I fear Allaah the most from amongst you, but I fast and I eat. I pray and I sleep and I also marry. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
So the real love and reward is following and pattering the Sunnah, not adding for innovating.
HOW TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE OF INNOVATION
The Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever among you sees an evil action, then let him change it with his hand [by taking action]; if he cannot, then with his tongue [by speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart – and that is the weakest of faith.” (Sahih Muslim)
Guidelines for Dealing with Innovators
Call to truth without hostility
Explain, do not humiliate
Distinguish between:
Innovation that is kufr
Innovation that is misguidance
If something may be achieved by boycotting the person, then we do it; if no purpose will be served by it, or if it will only make him more disobedient and arrogant, then we should avoid doing that, because whatever serves no purpose, it is better not to do it. Because Boycotting believers beyond three days is generally forbidden and if it is not benefitting then we do not do it.
Do not boycott if it increases arrogance or fitnah
How to Advise Effectively
Do not overwhelm people
Speak at their level
Be gradual
Focus on Sunnah before attacking bid‘ah
Build relationships
Lead by example
Honour elders
Avoid public embarrassment
Pick your fights wisely – see what the major issues are and talk about that, a lot of times people advise on too many small things and forget the major issues.
Read details about Etiquette of Forbidding Evil : https://learn-islam.org/class-4-etiquette-of-forbidding-evil
FAQs about Dealing with Innovators
Q. Should We Expel The Innovators From The Masjid?
No, innovators cannot be expelled from the masjid, prevent the bid‘ah, not the worshipper. Read detail Fatwa : https://islamqa.info/en/112062/
Q. Marrying them?
The scholars stated that religious compatibility between the man and woman is one of the matters which must be taken into consideration. A faasiq (rebellious evildoer) is not compatible with a righteous, religiously-committed Muslims, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Is then he who is a believer like him who is a Faasiq (disbeliever and disobedient to Allaah)? Not equal are they” (al-Sajdah 32:18)
Undoubtedly, following innovation in religion is one of the most serious forms of fisq (rebellion, evildoing). Although the marriage will be valid but it can cause many problems either religiously as one partner would be compromising or in compatibily as they will have differences of opinions and it becomes more and more difficult when raising children. And so marrying innovators is strongly discouraged
Q. Giving Charity to people of innovation?
Charity is allowed unless it supports innovation directly. With regard to innovation that constitutes fisq (evildoing), or for which a person may have a justifiable excuse, the fact that they follow bid’ah does not mean that we are not allowed to help them.
But they should be prevented from spending this money on establishing or propagating their bid’ahs. If it is known or it is thought most likely that they will use that money to support their bid’ahs, and they cannot be stopped from doing so, and they will not spend it on permissible things that they need, then they should not be given any of this money, because that entails helping them in their sin. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Help you one another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allaah. Verily, Allaah is Severe in punishment” (al-Maa'idah 5:2)
Q. What to do If You Are Forced to Participate in an innovation?
Advise respectfully
Avoid direct confrontation
Do not participate personally as much as possible
Sit away, leave early
Increase knowledge and du‘ā’
Be patient and kind
Never compromise Tawḥeed, in this case stand your ground and say No.
To conclude remember, Sunnah is not abandoned because it is weak it is abandoned because hearts are weak.
May Allah:
Revive the Sunnah in our hearts
Make obedience beloved to us
Protect us from innovation
Grant us wisdom in calling others
May we all meet at al Kauthar and be given a cistern by the Prophet ﷺ himself to drink from Al Kauthar. May Allah by His Mercy make us all Inhabitants of Jannah.
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TIPS OF TEST
Do not have to memorise the ayahs or hadeeths word for word and their references, but remember their meanings and the msg being given.
There will be no questions from the extra links provided, they are for those who want more details.
Remember the why Sunnahs are abandoned.
ASSIGNMENT
There will be an Assignment Question asked in the Test. Marks will be given based on the following: -
Implement any 3 of the sunnahs taught in the last 5 classes. 5 Marks
Talk about any 3 topics/Sunnahs/deeds and their great rewards covered in this week’s classes with atleast 3 people. 5 Marks.
Pray for the Ummah, pray for the ease of all the poor & oppressed Muslims and pray that Allah make us all strong in imaan and give us the hidayah to work for the aakhirah and to help each other. - 1 Mark
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