How do we respond to those who say, “There is a good innovation (bid'ah)”?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: How do we respond to those who say there is a good bid'ah (religious innovation), and what is the meaning of the hadith of the ProphetMishkat al-Masabih 210? The hadith.
Answer:
Yes, we respond to the one who says there is a good bid'ah (religious innovation) based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): “Every bid'ah (religious innovation) is misguidance.” The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 4607Sahih (Al-Albani) This is a general statement from the Messenger. He said, “Every bid'ah (religious innovation),” leaving no room for exception. This person says, “No, there is a good bid'ah (religious innovation).” This is a refutation of the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so it is invalid (batil). Thus, every bid'ah (religious innovation) is misguidance, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan an-Nasa'i 3625Sahih (Darussalam)
Mishkat al-Masabih 210 He said, “sunnah (recommended practice),” and did not say “good bid'ah (religious innovation).” He said, “Whoever introduces a good sunnah (recommended practice) in Islam,” not “Whoever innovates a good bid'ah (religious innovation) in Islam,” as this malicious or ignorant person says. The good sunnah (recommended practice) is reviving a sunnah (recommended practice) that died out or was not practiced. A sunnah (recommended practice) that people forgot. People forgot it or did not act upon it, so a person came and revived it and acted upon it. This is the good sunnah (recommended practice).
The hadith has a cause, which is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged charity on the occasion of people who came to him, and poverty and destitution were evident on them. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged charity for these people. Then a man came with a bundle of gold; he came with a bundle of gold, and his hand was almost unable to carry it. He placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased with it. Then the people followed one after another when they saw it; the people followed one after another with charity. So at that time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Mishkat al-Masabih 210 This man introduced a good sunnah (recommended practice). He brought the charity, so the people followed one after another and imitated him. This is the origin of the hadith. And this is not a bid'ah (religious innovation); this is a sunnah (recommended practice). Charity for the needy is a sunnah (recommended practice), not a bid'ah (religious innovation) as this person says. The meaning of “whoever introduces a good sunnah (recommended practice)” is whoever revives a sunnah (recommended practice) that was forgotten or the practice of which was abandoned, and then he revives it. This is the one who introduced a good sunnah (recommended practice) in Islam. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: How do we respond to those who say there is a good bid'ah (religious innovation), and what is the meaning of the hadith of the Prophet
If anyone establishes a good sunna in Islam he will have a reward for it and the equivalent of the rewards of those who act upon it
صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال من سن سنة حسنة فله أجرها وأجر من عمل بهاAnswer:
Yes, we respond to the one who says there is a good bid'ah (religious innovation) based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): “Every bid'ah (religious innovation) is misguidance.” The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error.
فإن كل محدثة بدعة وكل بدعة ضلالةThe Messenger of Allah
صلى الله عليه وسلم وليس هناك بدعة حسنة.If anyone establishes a good sunna in Islam
وأما قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم من سن في الإسلام سنةThe hadith has a cause, which is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged charity on the occasion of people who came to him, and poverty and destitution were evident on them. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged charity for these people. Then a man came with a bundle of gold; he came with a bundle of gold, and his hand was almost unable to carry it. He placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased with it. Then the people followed one after another when they saw it; the people followed one after another with charity. So at that time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Jarir said that: One early morning when they were with God’s messenger some people came to him who were scantily clad, wearing striped woollen garments,* with swords over their shoulders; most, nay all of them, belonging to Mudar. God’s messenger showed signs of anger on his face because of the poverty-stricken state in which he saw them, and went in. After a little he came out and gave orders to Bilal who uttered the call to prayer and announced that the time to begin prayer had come. When the Prophet had prayed, he delivered an address in which he said, “ ‘Fear your Lord, people, who created you from one soul . . . God watches over you.’[Qur’an, iv, 1] ‘Fear God, and let a soul look to what it has sent forward for the morrow. [Ibid., lix, 18] Let a man give sadaqa from his dinars and dirhams, his clothing, his sa‘ of wheat and sa‘ of dates, even if it is only half a date.” Jarir said: One of the Ansar brought a purse which was almost too big for his hand to hold, indeed it was too big. Then people came one after the other till I saw two mounds of food and clothing, with the result that I saw the face of God’s messenger glowing as if it were golden. He then said, “If anyone establishes a good sunna in Islam he will have a reward for it and the equivalent of the rewards of those who act upon it after him, without theirs being diminished in any respect; but he who establishes a bad sunna in Islam will bear the responsibility of it and the responsibility of those who act upon it after him, without theirs being diminished in any respect.” Muslim transmitted it. *[The text has an-nimar au al-'aba , thus giving an alternative word. This is not indicated in the translation above.]
صلى الله عليه وسلم من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، كيف نرد على من يقول «إن هناك بدعة حسنة»؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
