Do those who say that there is a good innovation in Islam say that if we say there is a good innovation in Islam, we will say that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab

The questioner : Do those who say that there is a good innovation in Islam say that if we say there is a good innovation in Islam, we will say that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), when he said: , he has innovated in the religion? How do we respond to them? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : The response is known, and we ask Allah to teach us. First, we must draw attention to this: Is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab one to whom revelation is sent and who conveys the Shari'ah to us, or is he the Messenger of Allah? The answer, by consensus, is that he is the Messenger of Allah. If that is the case, do we begin by receiving the religion from 'Umar in this matter, or from the Prophet of 'Umar? The answer is also self-evident: from the Prophet of 'Umar. And we have done so; we spoke of this issue based on His saying in the previous verse: , then the sermon of necessity, then, then, then, etc. So what is the position of this person about whom I spoke? If we do not affirm the good innovation, what are we doing? We are contradicting 'Umar. If we affirm the good innovation, we are contradicting the Messenger, contradicting the Qur'an, and contradicting the statements of those Companions. I say this as answer number one, and it is in the category of drawing attention to the fact that he is not the one, my brother, from whom we begin to take knowledge. We begin as we concluded our speech just now: knowledge. Allah said, the Messenger said, the Companions said. And we just said: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said, the Companions said. So whoever is not convinced by all these pieces of evidence will not be convinced by a piece of evidence that comes through a Companion, whether it is 'Umar or someone other than 'Umar. This is answer number one. The principle is that we return to the Book and the Sunnah and the statements of the Companions so that we may be on the path of the believers, as we mentioned just now. But the second answer is precise and scholarly, and I only resorted to the first answer because the concept in the mind of every Muslim is that 'Umar was a polytheist, one of the most stubborn enemies of Islam, until Allah guided him by whom? By his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So we follow his guidance, not 'Umar's. But far be it from 'Umar to say something contrary to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. However, people, due to their distance from knowledge, misinterpret the hadiths of the Messenger and say, "The Messenger said such and such." So it is even more likely that they misinterpret the statement of 'Umar. And now, since this question has come, it is necessary to clarify the answer to it. We said just now that it is not permissible for a Muslim to commit an innovation that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do and the Companions did not do. Do you see whether what 'Umar called an innovation fits what we said just now? The answer is no. When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "This is a good innovation," in what did he say it? He said it regarding the prayer of standing, the prayer of tarawih, which is called today the prayer of tarawih, and which was formerly known as the prayer of standing in Ramadan, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Now we ask thisThe questioner : Is standing in prayer during Ramadan an innovation in the sense we mentioned earlier, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come with it, nor does it bring one closer to Allah, nor did the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) do it? Far from it, far from it! This act of worship, standing in prayer during Ramadan, the previous hadith is sufficient for you regarding its virtue. In addition to that, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood in prayer during Ramadan for three nights. Here we must pause briefly. Standing in prayer during Ramadan is no different from standing in prayer on the other nights of the year. Just as it is prescribed to stand in prayer on the nights of Ramadan, it is also prescribed to stand in prayer on the nights of all the months, from Sha'ban, from Rajab, from Jumada al-Akhirah, from Jumada al-Ula, and so on, with one difference. The single difference is that standing in prayer during Ramadan is distinguished from standing in prayer on the other nights of the year by the fact that it is prescribed to gather for it, as is the case with the obligatory prayers. As for standing in prayer in the other months, it is not prescribed to gather or assemble for the prayer of standing in congregation. This is the difference. So, the prayer of standing was performed by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on all days or on all nights of the year, and he also did so in Ramadan. He used to pray in his home, just as he used to pray in all the months of the year. But due to the legislation, by the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), to prescribe for His servants this gathering in the standing prayer of the night in Ramadan only, He inspired His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to go out and pray in the mosque, contrary to his custom in the beginning of Ramadan and on all nights other than Ramadan. So when the Companions saw him on the first night, they followed him. The news spread the next day that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed the night prayer in congregation in the mosque the previous night. So the people increased on the second night, and on the third night the mosque was crowded with worshippers. So these are three nights on which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) established for the Muslims the congregational prayer in the standing prayer of Ramadan. Is this an innovation? Far be it from that! Then the people gathered on the fourth night and waited and waited, but the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come out. Some of them, who had not yet acquired the morals of Islam because they had not accompanied the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in that long, blessed companionship, were fed up with waiting for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to come out to them. So they took some pebbles and began throwing them at the door of his chamber (peace and blessings be upon him). There is no doubt that this is a breach of etiquette with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but their excuse is that they had not yet learned the Islamic etiquettes as they should have. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) came out angry and said: And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come out after that to pray in congregation with the people. Then the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not reach the following Ramadan in his blessed life, for his term came in Rabi' al-Awwal. And Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was pledged allegiance, as you know, and he lived in his caliphate for about two and a half years, and the people were praying in the mosque in groups and individually. And so it was for a portion of the caliphate of 'Umar. And as you know, of the concern of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) for the governance of the nation and the seeking and searching for its interests, he went out to check one night and saw them praying like this, in groups and individually. So he said, "If we were to gather them behind one imam." Then he reconsidered that, so he ordered Ubayy ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) to lead the men, and he ordered another man to lead the women. Then he also went out, as was his custom, to follow up on the news, and he saw them praying as one congregation behind one imam. So he was pleased with that and said the word that some people misunderstood and used it as those pillars and those decisive proofs in condemning every innovation in the religion. He said: "What a good innovation this is, and the one from which they sleep is better." To understand this last phrase, then we return to the first phrase, we must pause briefly. He said: "What a good innovation this is, and the one from which they sleep is better." What does he intend? He (may Allah be pleased with him) indicates that the standing prayer of the night has two times: a time of permissibility and a time of superiority. The time of permissibility is after the 'Isha' prayer. The superiority is at the end of the night. At the end of the night, the people are sleeping. And therefore he said, "and the one from which they sleep is better." After this clarification, what does 'Umar ibn al-Khattab mean by "What a good innovation this is"? I say now, either he means what these people think, and I say it openly: first, they are ignorant, ignorant of the evidence we have presented, and second, they are ignorant of the Arabic language. Because the word "innovation" (bid'ah) is divided into two categories: a legal innovation and a linguistic innovation. So the legal innovation, by the previous division, if it is in the religion, then all of it is misguidance, as you have heard. And if it is in worldly matters, it is measured by the general evidences. If it is permissible, falling under the evidences of permissibility, then it is permissible. If it is in prohibition, then it is forbidden, and so on. For example, radio and television, these are undoubtedly a linguistic innovation, but they are forbidden because of the harms in them, and so on. But for example, the bread we eat today and the ovens they use to make this thin bread, and in the past they gave the example of the permissible innovation: the sieve. Because the sieve, this thing that separates the fine flour, semolina, and the like, this is what they did not know. Even when Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked how you used to sieve the barley? She said: "By blowing." And this is a primitive method found in some villages of farmers, and so on. So this means a linguistic innovation. They are all innovations, but not everything called by the word "innovation" linguistically is forbidden, or is misguidance, or is permissible. It is necessary to apply the legal scales. So if the innovation is a worship in the religion, then it is misguidance, and this was our previous topic. And if it is not in the religion, it is measured by the legal rulings, as we gave the example earlier: permissible, permissible, forbidden because of its contradiction with the Shari'ah. So now here, it is not possible for a person who understands something of Arabic, especially after we have known that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) established for the people the prayer of standing in general in Ramadan and other than Ramadan, to say that the prayer of standing at night is an innovation. Then he established for them specifically the gathering to pray in congregation in Ramadan. We do not say that it is an innovation. So 'Umar, who lived with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), is it conceivable that he would call this worship an innovation? Far be it from Allah. I say a word, but I am not in need of it now, for fear of straying too much. And the point is, if it is impossible for 'Umar to call a worship that Allah legislated on the tongue of His Prophet, and which he practiced by his action, an innovation, then what is the meaning of his saying: "What a good innovation this is"? Here remains the answer. We know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) left this congregation, and we know that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, throughout his caliphate, they did not pray this congregation. So this was a matter that was left. So when 'Umar revived this Sunnah, it became a new matter relative to what came before. So he called it an innovation, because the innovation in language is the new thing. And therefore, among the names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), attributed to Him, is "Badi' al-Samawati" (The Originator of the heavens), meaning He created them after they were not. So this is the innovation in language: the new matter. But not every new matter is necessarily a misguiding innovation, nor is every new matter necessarily a forbidden innovation. Rather, as we said, the legal rulings are applied to it. What was an innovation in worship, Allah has completed for us the blessing, as you have heard. And what was an innovation in other than worship in worldly matters, then it is measured by one of the known rulings of the Shari'ah, which are the five. So this person who said what was reported from him, first, did not understand the meaning of innovation in language, and second, did not appreciate 'Umar ibn al-Khattab in his knowledge and in his companionship with his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) his due worth. And therefore he thought that 'Umar innovated a misguiding innovation in Islam. And therefore, in his opinion, it is not permissible to say that every innovation is misguidance. Far be it from Allah! 'Umar did not innovate anything at all, but he revived a Sunnah. And here comes the previous hadith that I mentioned to you with the first hadith: Excuse me, "What the Muslims see as good." This first hadith, "What the Muslims see as good is good in the sight of Allah," and we explained to you that it is not a hadith traced to the Messenger, and we clarified to you its meaning: it has no connection to the topic of a good innovation.