Bid'ah (religious innovation) and its categories
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you with good for his second question. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, explain to us the danger of bid'ah (religious innovations) in the religion. Do these bid'ah take the Muslim out of the religion? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Bid'ah in the religion is dangerous, and for this reason the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against them in his saying: "Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 7277 And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So bid'ah are all evil.
And they are a danger to the Muslim's religion and his creed, because the Sunnah and bid'ah do not coexist. When bid'ah come, they take the place of the Sunnahs, and no people invent a bid'ah without something similar being removed from the religion. So they destroy the correct religion. Also, they lead to, or serve as a means to, kufr (disbelief), may Allah protect us from it. Bid'ah are divided into categories, some more severe than others. Some reach the level of kufr, such as calling for aid from the dead, calling upon the dead, and making du'a' (supplication) to the dead; this is kufr against Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Or it may be a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and kufr, such as building on graves, circumambulating shrines, singing in them, praying at them, and making them into mosques; this is among the means of shirk. Bid'ah may also be kufr if they relate to belief, such as the statements of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah, like the claim that the Qur'an is created, and the denial of seeing Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Hereafter for the people of Paradise, and other denials of the attributes established in the Book and the Sunnah, or the denial of the names and attributes; this is kufr against Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that takes one out of the religion. Bid'ah may also entail fisq (open sinfulness) in the religion and a deficiency in faith, such as the innovations in acts of worship for which Allah has not sent down any authority.
So they vary in degree, and all of them are evil, and all of them are harmful to the religion and the creed, and to a person's conduct in his life toward his religion and his rights to his Lord. No one is safe except the one whom Allah makes safe, who adheres to the Sunnah, strives for it, and warns against bid'ah.
May Allah reward you with good for his second question. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, explain to us the danger of bid'ah (religious innovations) in the religion. Do these bid'ah take the Muslim out of the religion? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Bid'ah in the religion is dangerous, and for this reason the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against them in his saying: "Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The best talk (speech) is Allah's Book 'Qur'an), and the best way is the way of Muhammad, and the worst matters are the heresies (those new things which are introduced into the religion);
إن خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، وشر الأمور محدثاتها،Whoever does an action for which there is no command from us, it is rejected, and in another narration: Whoever introduces into our matter something that is not part of it, it is rejected.
من عمل عملا ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد، وفي رواية من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد،And they are a danger to the Muslim's religion and his creed, because the Sunnah and bid'ah do not coexist. When bid'ah come, they take the place of the Sunnahs, and no people invent a bid'ah without something similar being removed from the religion. So they destroy the correct religion. Also, they lead to, or serve as a means to, kufr (disbelief), may Allah protect us from it. Bid'ah are divided into categories, some more severe than others. Some reach the level of kufr, such as calling for aid from the dead, calling upon the dead, and making du'a' (supplication) to the dead; this is kufr against Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Or it may be a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and kufr, such as building on graves, circumambulating shrines, singing in them, praying at them, and making them into mosques; this is among the means of shirk. Bid'ah may also be kufr if they relate to belief, such as the statements of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah, like the claim that the Qur'an is created, and the denial of seeing Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Hereafter for the people of Paradise, and other denials of the attributes established in the Book and the Sunnah, or the denial of the names and attributes; this is kufr against Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that takes one out of the religion. Bid'ah may also entail fisq (open sinfulness) in the religion and a deficiency in faith, such as the innovations in acts of worship for which Allah has not sent down any authority.
So they vary in degree, and all of them are evil, and all of them are harmful to the religion and the creed, and to a person's conduct in his life toward his religion and his rights to his Lord. No one is safe except the one whom Allah makes safe, who adheres to the Sunnah, strives for it, and warns against bid'ah.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، البدعة، وأقسامها – الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.