Sawt Al-Umma Issue no. 94
September 16th, 2002

When I felt the urge to write; I considered language as something akin to a piano recital one might enjoy for its own sake. I focused on the interplay of letters and words in an effort to maintain balance and rhythm.

But I later discarded these ideas and I began to break the boundaries between what I wrote and the language of ordinary people. Beauty should not be sought for itself; but for its benefit. If not, we will merely be worshipping idols sculpted out of words.

I thought for a long time about the Arabic word Bida’a which is often translated as ‘innovation’.  I felt this word to be like a horse bolting wildly out of control. It is a word that has opened the floodgates of argument and controversy among Muslims. Arguments about what Bida’a is and what it is not have sometimes reached such a fever pitch the participants look as though they’re engaged in a civil war. Those who accuse us of doing what is Haram which means what Allah and His Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s.] have prohibited as opposed to Halal which means what Allah and His Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s.] have not prohibited say what we do is Bida’a. Those who want to make us tip-toe our way across beds of nails, spikes and broken glass say what we do is Bida’a. And because people are very diligent about their religion they fear for themselves with respect to Bida’a so much so that anything that wasn’t known or practiced at the time of Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s.] is considered to be Bida’a ….and we fear for ourselves with respect to it.
Sayedna A’rbad Ibn Sariya [r.a.a’.] narrated that ‘Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s.] made the dawn prayer with us and then turned to us and gave a highly eloquent sermon which made our eyes tearful and our hearts tremble. We [they] said ‘ O Messenger of Allah, this sermon is like a farewell sermon so please advise us. He said ‘I advise you to be devout and to listen and obey even if your leader is an Abyssinian slave. Whoever among you lives after me will see great discord. At that time, you must hold on to my teachings and example [Sunna] and that of my rightly guided and wise successors. Hold fast to it with your teeth and beware of new things being introduced into religion because they are innovations, as every innovation is an error.’ [Ahmed Ibn Hanbal Part 28 pp 373 #17144]
In another version of this hadith Sayedna A’rbad [r.a.a’.] narrated ‘Allah’s Messenger made the dawn prayer with us and then turned to us and gave a highly eloquent sermon which made our eyes tearful and our hearts tremble. I said ‘O Messenger of Allah, this sermon is like a farewell sermon so please make a covenant with us’ He said ‘‘I have left everything clear for you so much so that night is as bright as day. Whoever strays from it will lead himself to his own destruction Whoever among you lives after me will see great discord And so you must learn from my teachings and my example [Sunna] and that of my rightly guided successors And you must obey (your leader) even if he is an Abyssinian slave. A believer is like a camel, it goes wherever it is directed [Collection of Ash-Shamiyeen, Vol 3, pp 172-173 No 2017]

It is narrated by Sayeda Aisha [r.a.a’.] that Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a.w.s.] said ‘Whoever introduces something new into our religion that is not of it, it will be rejected’ [Sahih Muslim Vol 3, pp 1343, No. 1718]

The teachings of Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s] with respect to Bida’a have been used by some to transport us from the age of space travel, the internet and computers and turn us into cavemen as if everything relating to the modern age is Bida’a. We have become embroiled in the minutest details of everything. The ignorance of a few has left us totally lost and confused.

Rarely, if ever, do any discussions include the meaning and definition of Bida’a and therefore there are no principles to govern or conduct a meaningful discussion. There is, however a very simple clear and precise definition of Bida’a which can serve as a criteria and a balance to determine what bida’a is and what it is not. Bida’a or innovation in religion means to leave open what Allah and His Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s] have limited, or to limit what Allah and His Messenger [s.a.a.w.s] have left open. Any other definitions of Bida’a should be avoided and rejected.

Acts of ritual worship are limited. They cannot be left open and to leave any of them open is innovation. The pilgrimage to Mecca is limited by a specific place and time. It takes place at Mount Arafat [place] on the 9th day of the month of Dhul Hija [time]. Ritual prayers are limited by time, direction and movement. They are carried out at specific times of the day or night, facing the Qibla [the direction of the ka’ba at Mecca] and using certain movements – standing, bowing, prostration and sitting. Fasting from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan is limited by time while obligatory charity [Zakat] in its various forms such as zakat al-fitr and zakat al-mal is limited by both time and value. The testimony of faith [ash-shahada] is the only one of the ‘five pillars’ on which Islam is built that is not limited by time, direction, value, movement or place. Limits on pilgrimage, ritual prayers, obligatory fasting and obligatory charity have been made obligatory by Allah and His Messenger [s.a.a.w.s.] and therefore any changes made to them are an innovation. The pilgrimage cannot be carried out in the month of Ramadan. Obligatory fasting is not acceptable in the month of Shawwal. The amount we pay as obligatory charity cannot be left to our own sense of generosity. The pilgrimage cannot be made to the top of Mount Everest. The evening prayer cannot be three cycles of prayer only. To make changes to these limits is innovation. As for additional acts of charity [Sadaqa] there are no limits put on them and to put limits on them is also innovation. There are certain matters that have been limited by Allah and His Messenger [s.a.a.w.s]. To leave them open is innovation because it is introducing something new into religion. This is the law and the principle which can be used as a measure or a balance to save ourselves from the accusation of Bida’a.

It is narrated by Sayedna Jarir [r.a.a’] that some needy Bedouin Arabs came to the prophet [s.a.a.w.s] who urged the people present to collect Charity (Sadaqa) for them. The people were very slow to respond and the prophet’s face showed he was unhappy with them. One of the Helpers [Ansar] brought a small piece of gold [tibr] to the prophet and others started to do the same until the prophet’s face showed he was satisfied. Then he said ‘Whoever sets a good example in Islam and others follow that example after him will be rewarded for it and the reward of those who followed without reducing in any way their rewards. But whoever sets a bad example and people after him follow that example has sinned and carries the sins of those who followed it without reducing in any way their sins’ [Collection of Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Vol 31, pp 536, No.19200]

The first part of this Hadith [‘Whoever sets a good example in Islam and others follow that example after him will be rewarded for it and the reward of those who followed without reducing in any way their reward’] refers to the effort to understand religious texts. The second part [‘But whoever sets a bad example and people after him has sinned and carries the sins of those who followed it without reducing in any way their sins’] alludes to the distortion of the religious texts by leaving open what has been limited or limiting what has been left open.

The door is then opened for Bida’a’ in matters other than ritual worship. Cake, they tell us, is Bida’a without taking a moment to consider the ingredients of cake which are flour, milk, sugar and margarine. Are any of these ingredients haram? They tell us halawat al-mulid which are sweets made in the shape of dolls or horses which are popular with young children at religious celebrations are also bida’a. The fear, they say, is that the doll or the horse will be taken by the children as an idol [wathan] !!!  A timthal or statue remains a statue if it isn’t worshipped for itself or taken as an intermediary or a means of drawing closer to Allah. If however the statue is taken as an intermediary, then the correct word is sanam which is haram. If a statue is worshipped for itself the correct word is wathan which is also haram. The children’s sweets are only a timthal or a likeness and are not haram in any way shape or form. During the caliphate of Sayedena Omar Ibn Al-Khattab [r.a.a’] the prophet’s companions entered Egypt as its new rulers. They traveled the length and breadth of the country coming upon the temples and the statues [tamathil] of the pharaohs. The companions left them as they were because they knew very well they were simply relics of a past civilization and there was no need to destroy them. Do we claim to know more than the prophet’s companions who learned directly from him?

At Mecca, before his emigration to Medina, Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s] would circle the Ka’ba while it was still surrounded by stone idols. For people other than the prophet they were objects of worship. For the prophet they were worthless pieces of stone. He nevertheless left them as they were. When he emigrated to Medina he was ordered to pray in the direction of the Ka’ba which continued to be surrounded by the stone idols. Why did Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a.w.s] not destroy them just as the prophet Ibrahim [a’.s.] had destroyed them once before? The prophet Ibrahim [a’.s.] destroyed some but left others in one piece. As a result those who worshipped them came to realize the idols were fragile. They decided this was because the idols were made of clay and so they made others of stone which would be more robust and more difficult to break. They beautified and fortified them and the trade in idols flourished just as it had been before. Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s] came to break the internal relationship between the hearts of the believers and the stone idols. The Muslims learned there is no god but Allah [la ilaha illa-Allah] and that their stone idols were not gods. The stone idols were therefore destroyed without Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s.] laying his hands on them to destroy them. When he returned to Mecca he wasn’t carrying a hatchet or an axe but a small stick. He entered the Holy Sanctuary [al-Bayt al Haram] and recited the verse ‘Say: the truth has come and falsehood has gone for surely falsehood is bound to perish’ [al-Israa:81]. Whenever he pointed to a statue with the stick it overturned on its face or its back. The idols could not find anyone to rescue or save them from those who were with Allah’s Messenger [s.a.a’.w.s] who kicked the idols away with their feet until they lay outside the Holy Sanctuary. All this was because Islam had removed the relationship between the hearts of men and stones

Sayedna Abdullah Bin Masaoud [r.a.a.] narrated that ‘when the prophet entered Mecca there were  three hundred and sixty statues around the Ka’ba. He was stabbing them with his stick saying: ‘The truth has come and falsehood has gone for surely falsehood is bound to perish.’ [Bukhari, Part 2, pp 201 #2478]

Only Allah preserves from error and gives strength to do right.

Filed under: Glimpse of Light on September 16th, 2002