TERM 3 - TAwheed - CLASS 7
BIDAH
The definition of Bid'ah
The definition of Bid'ah (linguistically): an innovation, novelty: anything originated, invented, or innovated which did not exist before, and not after the similitude of anything pre existing, of this are the words of Allah, describing Himself:
"He is the originator of the heavens and the earth." (2:117)
That is, He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth, for the first time without pre existing model, and as Allah says: "Say, 'I am no new Messenger." (46:9)
Meaning, I am not the first who came with a message from Allah to mankind, rather I am preceded by many Messengers. And when it is said: "So and so innovated a Bid'ah", means that he has initiated a method preceded by none before.
Ibtida' (innovation) is of two categories:
a. Ibtida' in terms of customs, such as innovating modem invention, and this is lawful because originally all customs are lawful.
b. Ibtida' in terms of religion which is unlawful because religious rights are originally prohibited except for those legitimized by the Law maker: Allah, the Exalted, or His Messenger. The Prophet ﷺ said: "He who introduces any ritual which is not substantiated, it shall be rejected." [Bukhari and Muslim]
In another version he ﷺ said: "He who performs an act of worship which is not substantiated by our deen, it shall be rejected." (Muslim)
The levels of Bid'ah
Religious Bid'ah is of two levels: -
The first, Verbal Bid'ah, which is related to creed (Aqqdah), such as the assertions of the Jahmites [1], the Mu'tazilites [2] and the Rafidah, and the rest of the beliefs of the deviant sects.
The second, the Bid'ah in acts of worship, such as worshipping Allah by rituals which He does not sanction.
[1] Jahmites, the followers of Jahm bin Safwan (d. 128 745), a radical heretic. Among other things, they deny that Allah, the Exalted, is above 1 its 'Arsh, and they allege that He is everywhere
[2] Mutazilites, the secedes, a deviant sect which believes that a committer or a major sin is neither a believer nor a non believer, but in between the two conditions
This level of Bid'ah is of four kinds:
Which is relevant to the basic acts of worship, that is, to innovate an act of worship which has no base in Islam, such as innovating a prayer which is not legitimate, or observing fasting which is not originally legitimate, or illegal festivals or feasts such as the celebration of birthdays or the like.
To introduce an extra act of worship to a legitimate one such as adding a fifth Rakah in Zuhr or Asr prayer, for instance.
A Bid'ah which is related to the format of legitimate acts of worship; to perform it, for instance in a different manner, such as reciting the legitimate formulas of the remembrance of Allah, chanting it in congregation or by over burdening one's own self and performing acts of worship to the extent of exceeding the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ.
Which is related to timing of a legitimate act of worship which the Prophet ﷺ did not designate; such as dedicating the day and night of the middle of Sha'ban for praying and fasting. In this case, fasting and night prayer are legitimate acts of worship, but to do so at certain times for observing them without a textual proof, is Bid'ah.
The Ruling of Bid'ah in Islam and Its Kinds
Every Bid'ah in religion is unlawful, and a means of misguidance, because the Prophet ﷺ said: "Beware of the innovated religious rites, for every innovated rite is Bid'ah, and every Bid'ah is a means of misguidance." (Abu Dawood and others)
And he ﷺ said: "He who innovates a thing in our deen, it shall be rejected" (Muslim)
In another version, he ﷺ said: "He who performs an act of worship which is not substantiated by our deen, it shall be rejected." (Muslim)
These two traditions signify that every innovated practice in Islam is Bid'ah, and every Bid'ah is a rejected means of deviation. This means that innovations in worships and beliefs are prohibited. But prohibition varies according to the nature of Bid'ah, some constitutes clear infidelity such as; circumambulating graves as a means of gaining access to those buried in them, and making offerings to them, and calling on their dead people seeking their help.
Of such innovations the assertions of the extremists of Jahmites and the Mu'tazilites and some of them are conducive to Shirk, such as erecting constructions on graves, performing Salat, and supplicating by them.
Some of such innovations too, constitute violation to the Aqidah, like the innovations of the Kharijites, the Qadariyat, and Murji'ites in their castrations and beliefs that contradict the legal textual proofs.
Other such innovations are those that constitute an act of disobedience, such as the Bid'ah of abstinence, or staying under the sun while fasting, or castration for the purpose of eliminating the desire for intercourse.
Caution: He who divides the Bid'ah into good and bad Bid'ah, is mistaken, and he contradicts the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ: "Every Bid'ah is a means of deviation."
Because the Messenger ﷺ ruled that all innovations with no exception are means of deviation, while those who divide the Bid'ah by saying "No, not every Bid'ah is a means of deviation, rather, there are some of them that are good", they oppose the Prophet saying.
Al Hafidh Ibn Rajab commented in his book al-Arba'ieen, on this saying:
"The Prophet's words 'every Bid'ah is a means of deviation. Are concise words that exclude nothing, and this is one of the great fundamentals of Islam. It resembles the Prophet's warning: "He who performs an act of worship which is not substantiated by our deen, it shall be rejected." (Muslim)
So anyone who introduces a religious ritual and claims it to be part of Islam without having an origin in Islam, it is a means of deviation and Islam has nothing to do with it, whether in the issues of belief, utterances, the apparent and hidden thereof." (Jami'al Uloom wal-Hikam, pp.233).
Such people have no proof of the claim, there is good Bid'ah other than the statement of Umar bin al-Khattab when he described the Taraweeh prayer: "What a good Bid'ah is this."
They also said that new things took place during the time of the Pious Predecessors who did not object to them, such as collating the Qur'an in one codex, and, compiling the collection of the Hadith. The answer to this is that those actions have a base in the Shari'ah, they are not innovated, while the statement of Umar: "What a good Bid'ah is this," he meant by the Bid'ah' only the linguistic meaning of this term, not its legal meaning. The Bid'ah in terms of Shari'ah is an act of worship, or a ritual which has no base in Shar'iah to which it is referred.
Hence, collating the Qur'an in one codex has a base in Shari'ah. The Prophet ﷺ used to command his Companions to write down the Qur'an. Besides, the Qur'an was written down but was not collated in a codex. Later on, the Companions, with whom Allah is pleased, collated it one codex, in order to preserve it.
Likewise, Taraweeh prayer was initiated by the Prophet ﷺ when he performed it along with his Companions for three nights. But in the forth night, he did not perform it for fear of it being imposed on the Muslims as an obligatory prayer. The Companions resumed performing it individually during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ and after his death, until Umar ibn al-Khattab, with whom Allah is pleased, made them perform it in congregation as they used to perform it with the Prophet ﷺ.
This is not considered as Bid'ah in the deen, nor was writing down the Hadith, because the Prophet ﷺ commanded some of his Companions to write down the Hadith. Writing down the Hadith, generally speaking, was not encouraged during his lifetime for fear of confusing it with the Qur'an. When the Prophet ﷺ died the fear vanished, because the Qur'an then was completed, and preserved before his death. So the Muslims wrote down the Hadith afterwards, to preserve it against loss. May Allah reward them on behalf of Islam and the Muslims, the best of rewards, because they preserved the Book of their Rubb and the Sunnah of their Prophet ﷺ against loss and against tampering.
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