Universal Principal of Islam

In the name of Allah,

AsSalamuAlaykum,

         You asked about one of the most misunderstood topics in Islam. Innovating in deen. Everyone agrees that innovating in deen is prohibited, and a minor shirk. Following verse made it clear that the deen was completed and there will be no need for additions or modifications in deen. Only disagreement is how do we determine if something is an innovation in deen.

"Today, I have completed your deen, perfected My blessing upon you, and I have decreed Islam as the religion for you."

Quran 5:3

Following ahadith clearly prohibit us from innovating in deen.

'A'isha reported Allaah's Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) as saying: He who innovates things in our affairs for which there is no valid (reason) (commits sin) and these are to be rejected. (Sahih Muslim #4266)

If anyone introduces an innovation, he will be responsible for it. If anyone introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation (in deen), he is cursed by Allah, by His angels, and by all the people.(Abu Dawood Book 39, Number 4515)

You must then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid novelties, for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error. (Abu Dawood Book 40, Number 4590)

        If you pay attention, the above verse of the Quran was not the last verse to be revealed, but there were others that revealed after that verse. So what does it mean that Islam is completed?  

        

       

       There are two types of beliefs human beings have, one is a belief on things that can be seen, perceived, touched, tasted, heard, smelled, and proven. This type of belief is easy to communicate to other human beings, and can be universally accepted as it is easy to verify. Innovating in this belief is allowed and encouraged in Islam.

       Second type is the belief on unseen like belief in horoscope, bad omen, blessings, life after death, superstition, existence of God, and benefit from statues. This type of belief is impossible to communicate to other human beings, and cannot be universally accepted.

      Islam came to eliminate all unseen beliefs that did not come from God, and  establish a deen (set of unseen beliefs) which is authentic. This is the reason to send prophets and to send holy books. Any unseen belief has to come from Allah, otherwise it is invalid and innovation.

      If you pay attention, you put your face on the ground several times a day. If a person asks you why do you do that. You will say this will protect me from disease here and after death. He will asks you,  can you prove that. You will say, we learn this in the Quran and Sunnah, so that is our proof.

     Now, if I pass by a tree everyday and touch it before moving forward, and someone asks me what am I doing. I could say that this is the tree where an Awliya of Allah used to take rest, and I belief it is blessed. He will asks me, can you prove that. I will not be able to prove it from Quran and Sunnah. What I have done now is innovated in deen, because I am doing this act believing in unseen which I cannot prove.

  This is the universal principal that we can use to determine if something is “Bidah” in deen. Anything that is belief in seen can be proven and is accepted by us. Anything that is belief in unseen and was told by the Prophet (PBUH) is accepted. Anything that is belief in unseen, but not told by the Prophet (PBUH) is rejected.

   Now let’s run this test on everything you listed.

1)      Celebrating Prophet(PBUH) birthday by cutting a cake and clapping and saying happy birthday to you is NOT BIDDAH but disliked. Celebrating his birthday by reading Quran, singing his stories, having a gathering with a belief that this act will honor him and be a source of blessings for us is BIDDAH, and minor shirk, because there is no evidence in Quran and Sunnah for any benefit of celebrating his birthday. If there was, AbuBakr would have been the first one to do that. Every celebration I have seen is based on an unseen belief that cannot be proven and hence rejected.

2)      Punctuation in the Quran is NOT BIDDAH because it is a seen belief that punctuation will help non-Arab read Arabic. There is no unseen belief attached to it.

3)      Names of Surrah written in Quran  is NOT BIDDAH because it is a seen belief that it helps people organize and remember Quran. There is no unseen belief.

4)      Mihrabs and Minarets in the Masjid is NOT BIDDAH because it beautifies and served a purpose and is not based on an unseen belief.

5)       Taqleed of Four Schools of Fiqh is BIDDAH, because there is an unseen belief that one has to follow one of them to follow Islam, which is not proven from Quran and Sunnah. If we remove the unseen belief, and say that one should follow a scholar and that scholar can follow a method of deducing Islam, it becomes acceptable, as there is no unseen belief any longer, which is called “Ittiba” (reasoned following of four school). Taqleed of Muhammad ibn Abdullah is NOT BIDDAH because Allah gave us permission for that so that unseen belief is accepted. What it means is that if we find that hanafi school of thought is wrong on something, and we can see it clearly because it is very simple, and the scholar also accept it, then we cannot follow it unless we have an unseen belief on that school which is not proven. For example, Shafii school says that merely touching a woman breaks the wudu, but we know that is not true, and following that will be BIDDAH.

6)      Renaming Arabia to Saudi Arabic is NOT BIDDAH, because it is not based on unseen belief, and it is just a matter of naming things.

Hadith you mentioned about “good thing in Islam” is not translated correctly from the Arabic. If I remember correctly the word he used was “Sunnah”. In this context Sunnah means habbit or a method or a tradition. For example, If I start a tradition of dinner every month in our community, and people follow it. I will get the reward for it. It is NOT BIDDAH, because the benefit is seen and proven.

       What Bilal did was NOT BIDDAH, because he did not seek any special reward for the two rakah except of a nafil Salah. 


        Taraveh was established by the Prophet (PBUH), so the unseen belief on reward was there. What Umar did was NOT BIDDAH in deen, because his intention was to remove the small groups in the Masjid praying and competing each other. 

    Islam is very easy, and people have make it difficult. I hope this helps you and others avoid innovation in deen.

    When a person logically deduce an unseen belief, what he is saying is that this unseen reward Allah did not stated because the situation did not arise. This statement contradicts the verse of the Quran above. We are allowed to deduce seen beliefs, but not unseen beliefs. They are enumerated by the Prophet (PBUH) and sealed by Allah.

   Let us not prove Allah wrong. And Allah knows best.

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman Jumani

From:********* [mailto:******@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 5:13 PM
To: Adnan Jumani
Cc: ***************************
Subject: Re: Should we follow Saudi Arabia in Eid-ul-Adha?

Brother Adnan:

What do you think about Celebrating Holly Prophet's birthday? Because of indepth knowledge and research - I need a big picture. Will you define for me "Bidha" in universal text?

------------In all definitions I heard so far - it does not prove universal and worth carrying. We are so liberal in saying word "Bidha" although we  comine ourself in its grip in our definition.

Bid'ah, literally means innovation. In special terms it means carrying out actions which displease Allah ta`ala and his messenger.

[Tirmizi chapter Il]

Qadi Shawkani writes "In Islam there are two kinds of Bid'ah: Bid'ah Say'iah and Bid'ah Hasana. If a new thing opposes the Qur’an and Sunnah then it is Say'iah, but if it is not against the Shari'ah then it is Hasanah.

(Nayl-ul-Autaar, Qadi Shawkani chapter Salaah Al Taravee).

RasoolAllah [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] stated: "The person who introduced a good thing in Islam, shall obtain the reward for it and also the reward for those who adopt it. As for the one who introduces a bad thing (Bid'ah Sayyi ah) he will obtain the punishment for introducing it and also for those who adopt it, will also be punished."

(Sahih Muslim in Kitaab-uz-Zakaat Tirmidhee chapter Eleleven).

Some examples of Bid'ah Hasana.

Punctuation in the Qur'an

Names of Surahs written in the Qur'an

Mihrabs in the Masjid

Minarets of Masjid

Taqleed of the four schools of Fiqh

Fixing congregational prayer times with the clock times

------------------------------------Please help me. I want to learn more about it reflecting Eid-Milad un-Nabi. Is it Bidha? What Type? How is this a bidha? ------------------Our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] and his Companions used to call Saudi Arabia “Jaziratul Arab” but the present Government has taken that name out and changed it to Saudi Arabia.

Is Bidha per our convenience or by our stamp being from different region? Is Islam that weak in this perpective?

To invent the usool (principle) of Hadeeth, usool of Fiqh, usool of Tafsir etc.

[Tahzeeb al Asma wal lughaat word Bid’ah by Imam Nawawi]

Please don't over react and reply impulsively!! I love my prophet as any msulim can love! Degree may be different --------

Jazak Allah Khair