Innovations Of Guidance Are Rewardable
Praise be to Allah. I humbly ask Allah
to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad, his Al and Companions, and to protect his
nation from that which he fears for it. I ask Allah to teach us that which we
have forgotten, to add to our knowledge, and to grant us the sincere
intentions. I humbly ask Allah to facilitate for us the routes of goodness and
to protect us from the routes that lead to Hellfire. Thereafter:
Imam Muslim related from the route of Jarir
Ibn ^Abdullah, that the
Prophet said:
«من سنَّ في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله
أجرها وأجر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة، لا ينقص من أجورهم شىء ومن سنَّ فِى
الإسلام سنة سيئة فعليه وزرها ووزر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة لا ينقص من
أوزارهم شىء»
This hadith of the Prophet
means: <<The one who innovates a good innovation in Islam has its reward and a reward similar to those who
follow him in it--until the Day of Judgment--without lessening their reward.
The one who innovates an innovation of misguidance would be sinful for it and
has sins similar to those who follow him in it--until the Day of
Judgment--without lessening their sins.>>
This hadith,
which is confirmed and of the sahih classification,
is a foundation for proving the validity of the good innovations in Islam. The good innovation is called the
'liked innovation'. The saying of the Prophet in the hadith
refers to the good innovation as opposed to the bad innovation signifying that
it includes those innovations that comply with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Every innovation innovated by the
people of knowledge that complies with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet is a good innovation, as indicated by
the above-mentioned hadith of the Prophet: <<The
one who innovates a good innovation in Islam has its reward and the reward of
those who practice it until the Day of Judgement, without
lessening the rewards of those who practice it>>.
The Prophet mentioned this hadith in
relation to a specific incident which occurred when a group of very poor people
came to the Prophet. They were so poor that they could not afford an article of
clothing for both the upper and lower part of their bodies. Out of their
poverty, they covered their bodies by wearing a sheet of material with an
opening cut in it for the head. These people were not inhabitants of al-Madinah, though they had come there out of their love and
desire to meet the Prophet. When the Prophet saw their state of poverty, the
expression on his face changed to sadness. The Prophet urged the Muslims to
contribute and pay in charity to those needy people what would be enough to
lift their sadness and their need. One man stood up, came forward, and put
something between the hands of the Prophet as a contribution to those people.
Another came forward with a contribution, then a third, and a fourth. One
brought food and another clothing--until a large quantity gathered between the
hands of the Prophet. At that time, the face of the Prophet expressed
happiness, and he said: <<The one who innovates
a good innovation in Islam has its reward and the reward of those who practice
it until the Day of Judgement, without lessening the
rewards of those who practice it>>.
Although the Prophet stated this hadith
at that specific incident, the meaning is general and covers the general cases.
It is not permissible to claim that this hadith
applies only to charity because the Prophet used a general term in this hadith. He did not specify the reward to 'He who spends in charity,' rather he said: 'He who innovates
a good innovation.' The Prophet used a general term in this hadith,
even though it was revealed for a specific incident. It is the rule among the
scholars that if an ayah or hadith was revealed for a
specific incident or a specific reason yet a general term was used in that ayah
or hadith, then the criterion would be in the general
meaning of the term and not by the specificity of the incident.
Any Muslim who knows of an innovation innovated by the pious Muslim
scholars which complies with the Qur'an and the hadith,
let him step forward and apply it. All such innovations which comply with the
Qur'an and the hadith are covered and included by the
aforementioned hadith of the Prophet. Hence this hadith is a foundation to affirm and confirm the validity
of the good innovation in Islam. Moreover, the practices of the Companions and
what we have witnessed from the pious Muslims stand as more proof of the
validity of the good innovations.
Some people falsely claim that anything that was innovated after
the Prophet is an innovation of misguidance. Their statement contradicts the
saying of the Prophet previously mentioned; and it contradicts the doings of
the Companions and their followers. One example of a good innovation is that
which was done by Yahya Ibn
Ya^mar--adding the dots above and below some of the
Arabic letters in the Qur'an. Those who wrote down the Revelation that came
down on the Prophet wrote the ayat of the Qur'an
without the dots that are present today in the Arabic letters. For example, the
letter
ba' (ب) was written without a dot
underneath;
the letter ta’
(ت) was written
without two dots on top;
and the letter tha'
(ث) was written
without three dots above.
The entire Qur'an was written without these dots over or under
the letters. Adding the dots took place after the death of the Prophet by a
certain period of time.
Yahya Ibn Ya^mar was the first to innovate
the convention of using dots on the Arabic letters. He was among the pious and
trustworthy tabi^in. His action of applying the dots
on the letters is included in the hadith of the
Prophet referring to the one who innovates a good
innovation in Islam. When the Companions witnessed this innovation, they did
not disagree with him; they did not blame him and say, "You have done
something that the Prophet did not do." They did not tell him, "The
Prophet was not explicit about doing such a thing, how
dare you do it?" On the contrary, they found this to be a good action on
his part, because it has a great benefit for the nation.
When the Companions wrote the Qur'an, they did so without
writing the dots for a certain wisdom. This was
because the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet with different methods of
recitation. In some of the recitations, the word would be recited with the
letter ta'
and in other recitations, it would be
recited with the letter ya'.
The ta' (تـ) and the ya'
(يـ) are written in
the same shape or format, however, they differ in the placement of the dots on
them, i.e., the ta' (تـ)
has two dots on top and the ya' (تـ) has two dots
underneath.
Writing the format of the word without the dots would allow for
either the ta' or the ya' to be read. As such, one Book compiling the letters and
the words (without the dots) would be sufficient for more than one recitation.
However, if one applies the dots, then this is restricted. That flexibility of
reading the different recitations in one Book is eliminated, and if one wanted
to recite according to a different recitation, one would need to rewrite the
words with the dots placed differently to suit that recitation. For that
wisdom, the Companions did not innovate the dots
before this time.
When the benefit of this innovation became apparent at the time
of Yahya Ibn Ya^mar, the Companions kept silent. At that time, many of
the non-Arabs had embraced Islam and reading the Qur'an without the dots
without making errors and mistakes constituted a hardship for these Muslims. To
reduce the difficulty, Yahya applied the dots to the
Qur'an. The Companions found that to be a good action on his part. This
innovation of Yahya Ibn Ya^mar is included and covered
by the hadith of the Prophet: <<The one who innovatesa good innovation in Islam has its reward...>>
There are some who falsely claim: "Everything that was not done
at the time of the Prophet and done later on--is an innovation of
misguidance." If one followed this faulty reasoning, he would have to
remove all of the dots from all of the texts of the Qur'anthat
are available today, before he started raising other points falsely. Had the
claim of such a person been true, it would have been an obligation to remove
the dots on all of the texts that are available today. Yet, the Companions did
not do that, and they did not order it to be done. All those who came after
them, from the scholars and the lay people--until the present day--read Qur'an
in texts that include the dots.
Those who denied the good innovation--namely the Wahhabis--originated in the location of Najd in
<<منها الفتن والزلازل>>. رواه
البخاري
This hadith means: <<From this
spot, [which is called
There are other examples of innovations unanimously agreed upon
among all the scholars of the hadith. The scholars of
hadith innovated something not done by the Prophet or
by the Companions. The practice that the scholars of hadith
did together was to have a session where they would relate the hadith of the Prophet with a continuous chain of narration
back to the Prophet for the people to attend and listen. This particular
session has specific rules that the scholars of hadith
know. They said that it is liked for the session to commence with saying "Bismillah," then "alHamdulillah,"
then "as-Salatu ^ala an-Nabiyy",
and then someone with good recitation would recite from the Qur'an. The one who
conveys to the people from the speaker addresses the scholar of hadith by asking, "What do you have to say? May Allah
endow mercy on you." At that point, the scholar
of hadith would start narrating his chain, i.e., for
example: X narrated to us from the route of Y, from the route of Z, and so on,
all the way back to the Prophet. Such a session used to include thousands of
people. In some sessions more than 30,000 people gathered. The scholar of hadith would not be able to make everyone in such a large
session hear his voice so there were 'conveyers,' people who would convey that
which they heard to those around them.
This methodology did not prevail at the time of the Prophet, nor
at the time of the Sahabah;Abu
Bakr did not do that, nor ^Umar,
nor ^Uthman, nor ^Abdullah Ibn
Abbas, nor Abu Sa^id al-Khudriyy, nor ^Abdullah Ibn Mas^ud, nor Abu Hurayrah, nor
^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar, nor
other than those mentioned among the Companions. Despite this, all the scholars
of thehadith unanimously agreed their practice was a
good innovation, and they mentioned that in their books. Abu ^Amr Ibn as-Salah
mentioned this in his book, AlMuqaddimah, (The
Introduction to the Knowledge of Hadith) as well as
al-Hafidh as-Suyutiyy in
his book, Tadrib ar-Rawi.
Others mentioned this as well.
Those who falsely claim that this is an innovation of
misguidance claim they are followers of the scholars of hadith.
Yet, the scholars of hadith unanimously agree on that
matter, and as such, considered it a good innovation. This clearly signifies
that the scholars of Islam are on one path and those false claimers are in a
totally different direction.
Those perverters, the Wahhabis, commit many innovations that are ugly and
disliked. Some of their leaders, after writing the name of the Prophet in their
books, write the letter sad (ص)
alone to signify, in their minds, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. Yet, it is documented
in the books of the scholars of hadith that this is a
disliked practice.
Furthermore, some of those Wahhabis
claim that it is haram for the mu'adhdhin
to say as-salatu ^ala anNabiyy
in a loud voice after finishing the adhan. One of
them, in the past, mentioned that this practice is so haram
that it is similar to the one who fornicates with his own mother. This is an
indication of the illness in his heart--otherwise such words would not come out
of him. Saying as-salatu ^ala an-Nabiyy
is a good practice--whether said before or after the adhan,
with a loud or soft voice--because the Prophet said:
"من ذكرني فليصلِّ عليّ "
Which means: <<He who mentions me, let him say as-Salah for
In the adhan the mu'adhdhin
mentions the name of the Prophet. When he utters the Two Professions, he
mentions the name of the Prophet. Hence, it is sunnah for him to say as-salat
on the Prophet. In doing so, he is complying with the hadith
of the Prophet. The Prophet did not say, "Let him say as-salat for me in a whisper or softly." Nor did the
Prophet say, "Let him say as-salat on me in a
loud voice." The Prophet said--in a general term: <<Let him say as-Salah for
If those people think that this is a valid rule, than anything
which was not done at the time of the Prophet would be an innovation of
misguidance. Proceeding with this faulty reasoning would render haram the celebration of the birth of the Prophet and the mu'adhdhin saying assalat on the
Prophet after the adhan, and would require those perverters to remove those dots from all the copies of the masahif. However, their rule has no foundation in the
Religion and they are left with false claims. Those people themselves fell in
the trap of committing unliked or disliked
innovations--including writing the sad (ص)
or sal^am (صلعم)
after the name of the Prophet--among other things which are classified as
disliked practices. Those people are committing these things and then try to
deny the Muslims the right and the reward of innovating innovations that are
good in Islam.
In summary, all which is innovated and is in compliance with the
Qur'an,hadith, and 'ijma^ of the nation is classified as a good innovation.
Imam ashShafi^iyy
classified and said that the innovation is of two kinds: "Bid^atu Huda and Bid^atu Dalalah", which is an innovation
of guidance, and the other is an innovation of misguidance. He said what
complies with the Qur'an, thehadith, the ijma^, and the sayings of the Companions is an innovation
of guidance, and that which contradicts the Qur'an, thehadith,
the ijma^, and the sayings of the Companions is an
innovation of misguidance.
He who knows that would understand the meaning of the innovation
that the Prophet mentioned in another hadith:
"وكل بدعة ضلالة"
Which some people might translate it by saying: "Every
innovation is misguidance."
The Prophet was referring to those innovations that contradict
the Qur'an, contradict the hadith, contradict the ijma^, and contradict the sayings of the Companions. The
true meaning of the hadith is: <<Most of the
innovations are innovations of misguidance.>> This is the correct meaning of this hadith, because the Prophet himself said in a sahih hadith:
"من سنَّ في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله أجرها"
<<He who innovates a good innovation in Islam has its
reward.>>
Both of the hadith mentioned are of
the sahih classification. One was related by at-Tirmidhiyy, and the second was related by Muslim. It is not
permissible to eliminate one of these two hadith.
Rather, the correct methodology is to conform one meaning of the hadith to the other. Conforming between the meanings of
these two hadith, one would know the proper
definition of the innovation of guidance and the innovation of misguidance that
has been stated.
Adhere and hold tightly to the definition of the good innovation
and the innovation of misguidance from Imam ash-Shafi^iyy.
It is known that Imam ashShafi^iyy
is one of the great leaders of this honorable nation. This definition was
followed by the scholars before Imam ash-Shafi^iyy
and those who came after him. Many scholars mentioned this specific definition,
including: Imam al-Bayhaqiyy and Imam an-Nawawiyy and ^Izzuddin Ibn ^Abdus-Salam, and Hafidh Ibn Hajar
al-^Asqalaniyy, among others.
Supporting that classification of Imam ashShafi^iyy are two hadith
among the hadith of the Prophet. The first is a hadith that was related by alBukhariyy
and Muslim:
وهذا
التقسيم مفهوم من حديث البخاري ومسلم عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: قال رسول الله
صلى الله عليه وسلم: "مَن أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد".
The hadith means: <<If anyone
innovates in our Religion a matter which does not belong to it, then it is
rejected.>> This means the innovation must
conform to the Religion of Islam or else it must be rejected. The second hadith:
ورواه
مسلم بلفظ ءاخر وهو: "من عمل عملا ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد". فأفهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بقوله:"ما ليس منه"
أن المحدَث إنما يكون ردًّا أي مردوداً إذا كان على خلاف الشريعة، وأن المحدَث
الموافق للشريعة ليس مردودًا.
In meaning, both of the hadith are the
same, yet the second hadith has a specific
terminology that is used, and an understanding pertaining to that terminology.
This terminology pertains to dispraising what is innovated in the
Religion--specifically what contradicts the Religion. This clearly denotes that
the things innovated which comply with the Religion are
not dispraised, because the Prophet specifically said: "The one who
innovates something that does not conform to the rules of our Religion."
Hence, he who innovates an innovation which complies with the Qur'an, the hadith, the ijma^, and the
sayings of the Companions belongs to the innovations of guidance. One should
not be scared upon hearing one of their false claims, i.e., "Everything
which the Prophet did not do is an innovation of misguidance," because,
again, what was meant by the Prophet when he said: <> was every
innovation that pertains to misguidance is misguidance. This is so because the
other hadith of the Prophet confirms that any
innovation which is innovated in compliance with the Qur'an, the hadith, the ijma^, and the
sayings of the Companions is praised and rewardable.
Praise be to Allah and Allah knows
best.
Allah knows best.