If the lines on the carpets in the mosques are a type of religious innovation or are an innovation, is it by analogy that the prayer niches are an innovation?

The questioner : , O Shaykh. I say: If the lines on the carpets in the mosques are a type of religious innovation or are an innovation, is it by analogy that the prayer niches are an innovation, the minarets are an innovation, and so on?

The Shaykh : I have no doubt about that, especially regarding the prayer niches. Al-Suyuti, or rather the Hafiz Al-Suyuti (may Allah have mercy on him), authored a precise treatise titled "Tanzih al-Adib fi Bid'at al-Maharib" (Alerting the Scholar to the Innovation of the Prayer Niche). He mentioned there narrations indicating that this matter—that is, the adoption of the prayer niche—occurred in the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque, as I recall, on the day the Prophet's chamber was incorporated into the mosque and the grave was located in the Prophet's Mosque. At that time, the prayer niche was adopted. It is well known that prayer niches are still seen today in the churches of the Christians. Therefore, it appears, and Allah knows best, that this innovation—the innovation of the prayer niche—crept into the Muslims from the Christians, just as other things crept into them from them. For example, the prayer beads. The Christians' prayer beads are still seen today hanging in..., and naturally, their crosses are on them. That is why we do not find any mention of the prayer niche in any authentic hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). There is only an old hadith cited by some, perhaps... or Al-Tabarani—I no longer remember now—through the route of Wa'il ibn Hujr. It mentions that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood in the prayer niche, said the takbir, and raised his hands. It describes the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer in some detail. The text of the chain of this hadith is...—and Allah, I no longer remember—Ibn Juhdah, and he is... as the Hafiz Al-Heithami says in his book "Majma' al-Zawa'id wa Manba' al-Fawa'id"... This abandoned hadith does not mention the prayer niche at all in any other hadith. The hadith of al-Bukhari through the route of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), in which he said: "While I was praying behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the 'Asr prayer, he said the taslim after two rak'ahs. I was gasping for breath... and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to a side of the mosque and placed his right hand over his left, as if (peace and blessings be upon him) were resting. There was a man among the people called Dhu al-Yadayn (the one with two hands), who said: 'O Messenger of Allah, did the prayer become shorter or did you forget?' He said: . He said: 'Yes, O Messenger of Allah.' He turned to his companions and said to them: . They said: 'Yes.' So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to his place—and he did not say to his prayer niche—and prayed two rak'ahs, then prostrated two prostrations, then said the taslim."
In such a hadith and its like, we do not find any mention of the prayer niche at all. In addition, the books of history mention that the prayer niche was introduced into the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque during the caliphate of Al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik; for he was the one who ordered the addition of the Noble Chamber to the Prophet's Mosque. This is what concerns the prayer niche.
As for the adoption of the line today in some mosques, and the development of some meanings in response to the desire of some mosques or those who built the mosques at their own expense; they began printing the white or exposed line on the carpets. The carpet is laid, and the line comes printed without any cost. I do not see, or I have no doubt, that this line is not only an innovation; for it is well known that every matter that occurred after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is a new occurrence linguistically, a new occurrence and an innovation linguistically. However, the new matter may have a sound perspective; it may not be an innovation; it may be from the unlegislated public benefits. And this issue, in fact, I have spoken about it a lot, sometimes briefly and sometimes at length. I said: For a thing to be an unlegislated public benefit, it is not so unless the motive for it was not present in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) first, and then the motive for it was not the Muslims' shortcoming in performing some of their religious obligations. And an example of that is:
The non-legislation of the adhan for the two 'Id prayers. Every person knows that in introducing the adhan for the two 'Id prayers, there is a benefit for the people so that they know when... to the 'Id prayer and the adhan for the five prayers. On the contrary, the one who is purely without following says that the adhan for the 'Id prayer is more deserving than the adhan for the Zuhr prayer—for example—or the 'Asr; because the time of the 'Id prayer is a bit critical. But despite that, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not legislate this adhan. So if someone said: There is a benefit in legislating this adhan, he said... on that is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do that. Therefore, some of the precise scholars from the later generations mentioned a new division of the Sunnah. We know that some scholars divide the Sunnah into confirmed and recommended, usually and... worship. So the latest and new detail came from another type but it is sound. He divided the Sunnah into two parts: actual Sunnah and Sunnah of leaving; that is: what the Messenger (peace be upon him) did of acts of worship, its doing is recommended, and what he (peace and blessings be upon him) left of acts of worship, its leaving is recommended. And the example is the Messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) not doing or legislating the adhan in the 'Id prayers, and the prayer for rain, and the prayer for the eclipse of the sun and moon, and so on.
So when we come to the line; what carries people today to such a line in the mosques; whether it is a thread as is the case in Jordan and Syria, or it is printed as is the case in the carpets we see today with you in some mosques? It may be said in this that there is a text... but... adopting this line, in my belief, is the shortcoming of the scholars on one hand in their following of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which indicates that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had... specifically in his command to the people to straighten the rows, until he sometimes exaggerated in that and said: . So the imams of the mosques turned away from such... which is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in various expressions, all of which converge on the fact that it is necessary for the imam to have special care in directing the worshippers and their attention to straightening their rows. So when the imams of the mosques—except what Allah wills of them—neglected this Sunnah of caring for straightening the row, the result of that was... and the lack of training of the worshippers in straightening the rows. So they found the solution in that to... with the thread. This is undoubtedly that it will be... the continuation of turning away from the old Sunnah, and it increases that the worshippers, if they go out to the open space on the occasion of some of the occasions as we were today—for example—there in the camp, they cannot straighten their rows; because there is no thread there. And from what... just now we remember the prayer in the musalla, the 'Id musalla; there is no thread there. So the imam will find, if he wants to straighten the rows, a great difficulty; because these people have trained and accustomed themselves to praying on the thread. And this thread is not available in every place. So the meaning of this innovation is overturning the Sunnah. The scholars agreed, even those who said of the good innovation, that the bad innovation is that which opposes the Sunnah. And this... opposes the Sunnah, it should be an innovation by the agreement of the scholars; even those who divide the innovation into five parts as is well known. So a fortiori, those who do not say except the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him): .
... it was possible that ... the view ... it can be said: it is a general public interest (maslahah mursalah); because it achieves a legitimate objective; unlike the thread, for the thread eliminates the Sunnah of the command ... to straighten the rows and the care of the worshippers in straightening the rows as we mentioned earlier, as for the minaret, there was no other means to convey the voice to the farthest possible place, so this minaret was established specifically when buildings began to multiply in some cities or capitals, and then they became taller, so the voice of the mu'adhdhin ... behind the mosque; no longer reached where it should reach, so this means was found, but today it has become, as it is said ... because no one climbs it to call the prayer from it to convey to the people, but it has become ... for the mosque, so I see that as long as a loudspeaker exists, it is not permissible to abolish the minaret for two reasons; the first reason: that the minaret originally has no basis, and we said its adoption was permissible at that time because it achieves a general public interest (maslahah mursalah), now the loudspeaker achieves a general public interest (maslahah mursalah), so what is permissible here is a minaret, especially on the roads that are followed in many mosques where they boast of it by the way of its construction and raising its structure and the like of what is not permissible absolutely ... , and especially if these funds are endowment funds or people who donated on the basis that these funds are to be used to build the mosque, and in that is a known virtue in some hadiths, such as his saying - peace and blessings be upon him - : , otherwise much of these funds goes to waste without benefit, so ... we can say to achieve a general public interest (maslahah mursalah), but with this much height, there is no benefit at all in that at that time, rather he would stand in a place according to the building that surrounds the mosque, but today ... absolutely in building a minaret except for the prevailing custom, so the stranger thinks that this is a mosque, this is the meaning of adopting the minaret being justified very much and at the least cost because we said that the loudspeaker suffices for those minarets.
I have words connected to this topic, but I want to go out now to relieve myself.