Explanation of the Hadith: (Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam…)

The Shaykh : The second hadith here, which applies to 'Umar, is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): So 'Umar revived a good practice. From here, we say that using this hadith as evidence to strike down those pillars of decisive proofs in condemning every religious innovation in the religion is ignorance, just like the ignorance of the one who attributed to 'Umar the innovation of performing the tarawih prayer in congregation. Why? For many reasons, and very many indeed. I do not wish to lengthen this either, but a general summary suffices for now. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We stop here. In the second part of the hadith of we ask now: what is the way, what is the path, to know the good practice from the bad practice? This is a question that, as they say, poses itself. The answer must be on one of two bases, and there is no third. Either the intellect is the criterion for what is good and what is bad, which is the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah, as is well known among the people of the Sunnah. They say that goodness and badness are determined by the intellect, and this is misguidance. The people of the Sunnah say that what is good is what Allah has made good, and what is bad is what Allah has made bad. So, whoever introduces a good practice in Islam, and whoever introduces a bad practice in Islam, we know this through the Shari'ah. The result is that what the Shari'ah has made good is good, and what the Shari'ah has made bad is bad. So, using this hadith to argue for innovating, for creating an innovation in Islam for which Allah has not sent down any authority, is imposing on the hadith what it cannot bear. And that which indicates this to you, and perhaps I will conclude my speech, is that the hadith, as they say, has many threads. It indicates this to you with decisive proof when we mention to you, on the occasion of the hadith's arrival, the reason for the arrival of the hadith "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam." It came in Sahih Muslim with the text of this hadith in the following context, and I mean the hadith narrated by Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a group of Bedouins came to him, wearing patched cloaks and carrying swords on their shoulders. Most of them were from Muzri, or rather all of them were from Muzri. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw them, his face became stern, meaning his features changed out of sadness and grief at what he saw of the signs of poverty among these Arabs from Muzri. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) stood before the Companions as a preacher, encouraging them to give charity. And among what he said was the saying of Allah the Exalted: يا أيها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا مما رزقناكم من قبل أن يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقول ربي لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصدق وأكن من الصالحين O you who believe, spend from what We have provided for you before death comes to any of you and he says, “My Lord, why did You not delay me until a near term, so that I could give charity and be among the righteous?” Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: تصدق رجل بدرهمه بديناره بصاع بره بصاع شعيره A man gave charity with his dirham, his dinar, his sa’ of barley, or his sa’ of wheat. "Give charity." That is, let this man give charity. This is from the beauty of the Arabic language, using the present tense verb in place of the imperative to realize this command, as if it has become a realized fact. "A man gives charity with his dirham." So, what did the group present do but that a man among them stood up and went to his house to return, carrying in the corner of his garment whatever charity he could manage. He placed it before the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And then the rope became a stream, as they say. The people, each one went to his house and came with whatever charity he could manage. Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: So piles of food and charity gathered before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) like mountains. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw that, his face brightened, as if it were gilded. At first, when he saw their poverty, his face became stern with sadness. When he saw the Companions' response to his command to them to give charity and help these poor and needy people, his face lit up, as if it were gilded. What does this phrase mean? "Gilded" is silver coated with gold, so it retains a light that sparkles. So the complexion or the good news in the face of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was with joy at the response of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to his command to them to give charity. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said here: من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a …etc. of the hadith. Now we ask: where is the innovation in this event, so that we say "whoever introduces a good practice in Islam," meaning whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam, as they claim? This is a refutation of this hadith linguistically and contextually. The Companions did not do an innovation. The first Companion did not do an innovation; rather, he obeyed the command of the Prophet, or rather the command of the Lord of the Prophet: يا أيها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا مما رزقناكم من قبل أن يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقول ربي لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصدق وأكن من الصالحين O you who believe, spend from what We have provided for you before death comes to any of you and he says, “My Lord, why did You not delay me until a near term, so that I could give charity and be among the righteous?” Allah commanded them in this verse, so the first to respond was the first man, and then the others followed him. So the first man was written the reward of his deed and the reward of those who followed him. How is it permissible, O Muslims, O Muslims, O Arabs, that it is not yet time for you to forget your language? من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a You interpret it as "whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam," and there is no innovation in this event, but rather it is charity. So the meaning of the hadith, as we want to apply it now to 'Umar: 'Umar revived the practice of standing in prayer in Ramadan in congregation, so he was written the reward of this revival and the deed of every Muslim who follows him until the Hour stands and until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it. For this hadith and its like, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): من دعا إلى هدى كان له أجره وأجر من عمل به إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أجورهم شيء Whoever calls to guidance will have the reward of that person and the reward of whoever acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards. For this, the scholars say that the Prophet with the greatest reward is our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), because he is the cause, by the grace of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, that millions and billions of humans who came after him (peace and blessings be upon him) until the Hour stands, and there is no one on the face of the earth who says "There is no god but Allah." So the Sunnah is known by the Shari'ah. What the Shari'ah has witnessed to be a Sunnah is a Sunnah. Then we look: if it has witnessed that it is a good Sunnah, it is good. If it has witnessed that it is a bad Sunnah, it is bad. So this hadith has no connection to opposing his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): كل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة في النار every innovation is going astray, and every going astray is in the FireSunan an-Nasa'i 1578 I have now finished answering this question, so let us hear what comes after. Hurry with the good. Please.