It is beyond doubt that religious innovation is prohibited; but do the unlegislated public interests fall under the category of religious innovation, or are they something else?

The questioner : He says: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited religious innovation; so what about what is called the unlegislated public interests?

The Shaykh: How so?

The questioner : Do the unlegislated public interests fall under religious innovation, or are they something else?

The Shaykh : Regarding the unlegislated public interests, first: they have no connection to the issue of religious innovation, and this is a very important point. This is because the innovator in religion intends, through his innovation, to increase his nearness to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). The innovator in religion seeks, through his innovation, to increase his nearness to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is the intent of the innovator; therefore, all the texts that prohibit religious innovation apply to him. The first of these is the noble verse: , "We have perfected for you your religion." Thus, there is no longer room for anyone to follow a form of worship that increases his nearness to Allah, how could he do so when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ? So how can one bring forth a form of worship claiming that it brings him closer to Allah, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) [did not] bring it forth? This is what applies to the innovator in religion. It is not so for the one who introduces a new matter, but not with the intent of increasing nearness to Allah, rather with the intent that this new matter leads to a matter that is prescribed by explicit text. I mentioned a few days ago the difference between bid'ah (religious innovation) and the unlegislated public interest. I mentioned this difference, not with this explicitness, but to clarify that not everything that happens after the Messenger (peace be upon him) is judged as the blameworthy bid'ah in Islam. Rather, what happens after the Messenger (peace be upon him) with the intent of increasing nearness to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is what all the aforementioned texts apply to by reference to them, including his saying (peace be upon him): .
I mentioned at that time, as an example, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's expulsion of the Jews from Khaybar. There is no doubt that this expulsion occurred after the death of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and after the death of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and after a period of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's caliphate. Is this a bid'ah in religion? The answer is: No. Because bid'ah in religion is a newly introduced matter with the intent of increasing nearness to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). As for something that happens without the intent of increasing nearness to Allah, but rather with the intent of implementing a ruling from Allah's rulings, where this ruling is explicitly stated in Allah's Book, here you will find that when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab expelled the Jews from Khaybar, he was implementing a condition from the conditions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he made a truce with the Jews that they would not leave Khaybar and would remain in it—this village—and work in it, and that they would have a share of what the earth produces, and the Messenger (peace be upon him) would have the other share. Among the conditions the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) imposed on them was: . This condition was not permanent, but rather, as it appears to us Muslims, . When it appeared to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab that the Muslims no longer needed the Jews' expertise in agriculture, planting, and livestock, he did without them and said to them: "No; go to the wide earth of Allah." Exactly as is the case in many Islamic countries today, where they are forced to hire foreign employees, who may be disbelievers, to benefit from them in managing the affairs of the country, expanding its resources, and in agricultural and economic aspects, and so on. When the people of the country themselves become knowledgeable about these matters, they do without these foreigners and are told: "Return from where you came."
The point is: when 'Umar expelled the Jews from Khaybar, this was a new matter that did not occur during the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him). But this new matter has a solid basis in the Shari'ah; it is the condition we mentioned earlier regarding what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) imposed on the Jews. So the unlegislated public interest is a valid, newly occurring cause, but it leads to achieving a public benefit that is prescribed by explicit text. However, there is a precise detail here, which is something that students of knowledge should know.
The public interest that arises and achieves a legal benefit explicitly stated in the Shari'ah, for example, the airplane and the car are things that did not exist in the previous era. If a Muslim uses them to achieve a legitimate Islamic goal, this falls under the category of unlegislated public interests; meaning, public interests left to the times. Every time has its circumstances, innovations, and inventions. If Muslims today are keen to acquire cars and airplanes, I do not say only to fulfill necessary and desirable needs, but I say to strengthen themselves so that Muslims can be able to repel the aggression of disbelievers. So, in that case, do we fight the disbelievers with the old weapons we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers, claiming that these new means are among the newly introduced matters?
The answer is: No. These new means do not fall under the newly introduced matters that are blameworthy in the Shari'ah, because the newly introduced matters that are blameworthy in the Shari'ah are those that are in religion. As for these means, they are worldly matters. But we take them, especially in the matter of being able to deal with the enemies of Allah in all of Allah's lands. And when that happens, this text is implemented to achieve one of Allah's commands, which is His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): . So, if we take these newly introduced matters and means today to strengthen ourselves against our opponents and enemies, we are taking unlegislated public interests; because they achieve a prescribed matter, which is strengthening against the enemies of Allah.
We go down a level. Now, we are—regrettably—very lagging in this field in terms of preparation for the known power today to meet and confront the enemies of Allah. It is permissible for us to take these means on the basis that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) bestowed upon His servants when He said: . The beasts were known, but He created . At that time, ships in the seas were like towering mountains moving in the seas and navigating them. And today, what Allah willed, you find the ship like a town in the middle of the sea, and you find the airplane like a palace flying in the sky, and so on. These means, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) indicated that they are from the favor of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) upon His servants with them. Therefore, He bestowed upon them by saying: . And in another verse, completing the reminder of the blessing: And what is the other verse? . So this airplane we see today, and even the car, is from what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created, which our earliest ancestors did not know.
So, among the adoption of any means—a means that is not a goal or intent to increase nearness to Allah—any means that occurs, it is permissible for us to take it and adopt it for us as a permissible matter in our Shari'ah, as long as it achieves a prescribed matter for people. But with that, these means that occurred later are not permissible to be adopted or included in the category of unlegislated public interests except with two conditions:
First: that this means was not possible to be taken during the time of the Messenger, and yet the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not take it or adopt it. An example of this: today there are taxes in all Islamic countries; regrettably, they are imposed on Muslim peoples on the basis that the interest of the state requires imposing these taxes, which are called in the language of the Shari'ah "mukus" (taxes), including customs duties. It is said: this means occurred after the Messenger (peace be upon him). And it does not justify adhering to it that the intent is to achieve a goal for the benefit of the Ummah; because we say that this means was possible for the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) to take when the Shari'ah was being revealed to him continuously. And yet, he was content with imposing zakah to grow the treasury of the Muslims, and was content with other means, including the war spoils that Muslims gain through their wars against disbelievers, and other things that are detailed in the books of hadith and books of fiqh.
Therefore, adopting a modern means to achieve the same purpose, which is the interests of the state and the growth of its treasury with money, when that means was possible to adopt in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) but he did not adopt it, makes adopting it for the same purpose an innovation in the religion.
And a closer example, and much closer than this, which perhaps many of those present have not heard of:
We all know that the obligatory zakah was collected in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by employees known as the *sua'ah* (collectors), who are known today as tax collectors. In the past, the one who collected money was called a *sa'i*, and their plural is *sua'ah*. They would go around the owners of cattle and livestock, and the owners of lands with dates, wheat, and barley, collecting everything from these types in the season, and driving them to the Bayt al-Mal (treasury) of the Muslims. This was in a very precise system, detailed in every respect in the books of the Sunnah and the books of hadith. But perhaps many of those present do not know or do not realize that these *sua'ah* did not collect the zakah of the two currencies (gold and silver). They did not collect the zakah of the two currencies from the rich, and they did not inspect the treasuries of the rich, saying, "Give, let us see what money you have? Two and a half percent, we will calculate and take from you." This was not the case in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), unlike the zakah of livestock and crops, for which there were specialized employees to collect it from those upon whom the zakah was obligatory. As for the zakah of the two currencies, the zakah of gold and silver, the Wise Lawgiver entrusted its matter to the rich Muslim. He is the one tasked with paying this zakah without there being a claimant, supervisor, or accountant over him. So if a state today wanted to collect the zakah of monetary wealth as they did previously in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when they collected the zakah of livestock and crops through the *sua'ah*, this would be an innovation in the religion. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who legislated for the Muslims to give zakah to the employed *sua'ah* who go to the owners of those assets to collect them, this Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who was legislated by Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) to collect in this manner, did not legislate for those *sua'ah* and those tax collectors to collect the zakah of the two currencies. So the One who legislated that did not legislate this. If we come and legislate from ourselves a new means, when the reason for legislating it existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and yet he did not legislate it, this would be an innovation in the religion.
And a final example—and with this, I think it is sufficient to explain the topic of *masalih mursalah* (unrestricted public interests): they are any means that leads to achieving a religious matter, but on the condition that this means occurred afterwards, and the reason for adopting it did not exist in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). A final example I mentioned on a similar occasion, but to complete the benefit, I remind you of this reason: it is the *adhan* (call to prayer) for the prayer of seeking rain or the prayer of the eclipse. This is not prescribed. Because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the prayer of the eclipse and did not call the *adhan*. The reason for gathering people by the method of the *adhan* existed in the time of the Messenger, and yet he did not legislate this means for them, even though it is prescribed for the five daily prayers. Consequently, no other means is prescribed for it, as happened to me. I was in Sharjah on the day the moon was eclipsed. Perhaps it was eclipsed in your area as well?

Another questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : We were strangers to that town, and at about midnight we heard noise and commotion around us, and we did not understand their language well. After that, one of my family members drew my attention, and we were in the room, that the moon had been eclipsed. At that time, we realized that the matter was *takbir* (saying Allahu Akbar) and *tahlil* (saying La ilaha illa Allah) from all directions. So we said to ourselves that this was certainly not in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but rather he would gather people for such a prayer with the *mu'adhdhin* saying, "The prayer is gathered, the prayer is gathered." Nevertheless, I said: This means that we saw there in the Emirates is better than the means we know in our Syrian country. There you hear a strange noise, and beating on copper vessels, the vessels they cook on, they beat them very annoyingly, so you hear noise in the whole town. This is one of the effects of purely superstitious traditions. Because it is common among us there that the cause of the eclipse is, they say, the fish opens its mouth and tries to swallow the moon. And so they frighten this alleged fish with such annoying beating. What? The annoying one.
So I said, in any case: The *adhan* is not prescribed for the prayer of the eclipse, which is not better than what comes to us. Because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it. So *maslahah mursalah* is any cause that leads to achieving a religious matter explicitly stated in the Book and the Sunnah, but this cause did not have the reason for adopting it present in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If it was present and the Messenger did not adopt it, then at that time it is not permissible for us to adopt it.