Discussion on religious innovation and worship, and discussion on raising the hands in supplication.

The questioner : It is all religious innovation. What is the definition of religious innovation, and how can I judge that my action is a religious innovation or that it is not? Please expand on the discussion.

The Shaykh : In truth, judging something to be a religious innovation or not is a matter that not every student of knowledge can do; in fact, not even a scholar can always do it. In reality, I happened to answer this question yesterday in passing, without it being directed to me, and I spoke with some detail. Since the question has now been directed to me, I must answer. First, we must know what religious innovation is...
...Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), and explicit statements to this effect came from some of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), such as the statement of Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him): "Any act of worship that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform, do not perform it." And such as the statement of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "Follow and do not innovate, for you have been sufficed with the old matter." There are many reports in this meaning. After this brief, short definition, I enter into the core of the answer to your question: How can one know what is a religious innovation? The answer is that this is not known except by one who has extensive knowledge of the Sunnah, because a necessary condition for judging something to be a religious innovation is that the judge who wants to rule knows the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) life of worship, which he lived throughout his life in his prophethood and his message. I gave two examples recently, one of which was asked of us and we answered, and the other I added for further clarification on how we can know that something is a religious innovation. The first example: Raising the hands after the closing salam of the prayer when the supplicant makes du'a. This issue was addressed by many of the early and later scholars, and the majority of them lean toward its being prescribed, but they have no proof except citing some general hadiths, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): So we said: This hadith is general, and its generality indicates that raising the hands is recommended in every du'a, but this generality is not intended to specify the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) practice in this regard. Here is the point: One who tracks the description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer and what is connected to it, from its beginning to its end, does not find a single hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands when he was making du'a after the prayer, following the salam, andThe questioner : ...the one who asked me this question and I answered him with this answer was, first of all, not convinced at first, except after I reminded him of other places where the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) du'a is established, and he knows by nature of that, because he is a student of knowledge. So I said to him, for example: Do you not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make du'a before the salam, and even ordered some of that? He said: Yes. I said: Do you know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his hands in this du'a? He said: I do not know. I said: And if you do not know, and this is also an important point, if you do not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his hands when he was making du'a, do you say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his hands, or what? He said at first: I do not say anything. I said: So from a practical standpoint, when you make du'a in this place, and I mentioned to him other known places, such as the du'a when rising from bowing, or such as the du'a between the two prostrations, "O Allah, forgive me and have mercy on me," and so on, do you raise your hands? He said: No. I said: Do you know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade raising the hands in these places? He said: No. I said: So does the previous hadith, which is , include these places or not? He said: It includes them. So why do we not raise our hands in these places where we make du'a? He stopped here, because the point in this issue is here. The answer is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come to us with a prohibition of raising the hands in these places, but we can say: He forbade it, but in another way. This other way is understood by the people of knowledge, and it is the hadiths that we all know, but we often do not notice their implication for what we are discussing, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): So if the man raised his hands between the two prostrations in du'a, this is a newly invented matter, and since it is a newly invented matter, it falls under his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Also, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This hadith and that one, and what is of their meaning, indicate that every newly invented matter in the religion is rejected by its owner and is misguidance. Now, how do we know that raising the hands between the two prostrations, for example, or in the other places previously mentioned, is a newly invented matter in the religion? Here is the crux of the matter, as they say, for the answer to the question. It is known by knowing the description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer and comprehending it from all its aspects. So who is able to say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raise his hands between the two prostrations? There is no doubt that this is only possible for one who has comprehensive knowledge... that this... alone is the one who can say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raise his hands in these places. And here come two rules that many people, and even students of knowledge, and perhaps some scholars, imagine there is a connection between. The first rule is: That not knowing something does not imply knowing its non-existence. This is a rational rule before it is a rule of the principles of jurisprudence.
I think the intended meaning of this is clear to you, but there is no harm in bringing this rule closer to our minds. If someone were to say, "I do not know that so-and-so is here, for example, in Jeddah," that does not negate the existence of so-and-so in Jeddah, because not knowing a thing does not necessitate knowing its non-existence. This is an example of this rule, which is an established rule. However, this rule does not apply to what concerns the worship that Allah the Exalted legislated through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whether by his saying, his doing, or his approval. And what comes to mind first regarding the explanation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of what Allah legislated through him for the Muslims are the acts of worship by which Muslims draw near to Allah, about which Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Therefore, the acts of worship by which it is the nature of Muslims to draw near to Allah the Exalted are limited and do not accept addition. And for that reason, Allah the Exalted said in the well-known verse: I am greatly pleased with what came in Sahih al-Bukhari, that a man from the Jewish scholars, and perhaps he had become a Muslim, or perhaps he was Ka'b al-Ahbar, came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) during his caliphate and said, "O Commander of the Faithful, there is a verse in the Book of Allah that, had it been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have taken the day of its revelation as a festival." He said, "What is it?" He said, and he mentioned the previous verse: Then 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "It was indeed revealed on a day of festival, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was at 'Arafah on a Friday," meaning during the Farewell Pilgrimage. So this verse was revealed on a great day of festival, on a Friday, and on Mount 'Arafah. Why did this Jew say this, "we would have taken the day of its revelation as a festival"? Because he felt the greatness of this favor that Allah bestowed upon the Muslims when He completed their religion and closed upon them the paths of independent legal reasoning in acts of worship. These are the paths that the Jews and Christians had previously followed, as He the Exalted said: Therefore, that Jew was amazed by this verse because of its limitation of acts of worship and obedience, and its leaving the Muslims the path of independent legal reasoning, innovation, and religious innovation in matters other than acts of worship. To confirm this meaning that that Jewish scholar noticed, the Imam of the City of Migration, Malik ibn Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), said, "Whoever innovates in Islam an innovation that he sees as good has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) betrayed the message." Read the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He: He said that, and this is a very important matter from his words: "So whatever was not a religion at that time will not be a religion today, and the end of this community will not be set right except by what set right its beginning." "So whatever was not a religion at that time will not be a religion today." Why? Because Allah says: "So whatever was not a religion at that time will not be a religion today." So what is the way to know that a thing is a religious innovation in the religion? I think the answer has become clear. Whoever has encompassed the religious life of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and has encompassed the acts of worship that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon, meaning a complete act of worship including some of its parts in the prayer, and this is only said regarding Hajj and fasting and the like of acts of worship, all these acts of worship are limited. But their limitation is only possible for the scholar, if I may say so, the graduate who gathered and comprehended. As for the one who has encompassed some of the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and much or most of it has escaped him, he cannot say about a thing that it is an innovation, because it is possible that its legitimacy was established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), either by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) as we mentioned, or by his doing, or by his approval. So the one who is able to say that this thing itself, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it, is the one who is obligated to say: This is an innovation. And its example is raising the hands between the two prostrations, raising the hands after raising the head from the bowing, raising the hands, raising the hands in the tashahhud, and all of it is supplication: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad," then seeking refuge from the four, and then asking for whatever he needs. Now, is there a established Sunnah regarding raising the hands in the qunut in the witr, whether this qunut is in the witr of Ramadan or otherwise? And this is a supplication: Is raising the hands with this supplication in the qunut a Sunnah or an innovation? The one who does not know that it was established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he raised his hands in this supplication has no choice but to say: It is not prescribed, rather it is an innovation, for what we mentioned earlier. But the one who knows that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands in the qunut, in the qunut of Fajr, and the one who knows that some of the righteous Salaf raised their hands in the qunut of witr, such as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, does not say that raising the hands in the qunut is an innovation, rather it is a recommended practice. This is the scale and this is the criterion in distinguishing what is an innovation in the religion and what is not. And perhaps I have answered your question.

The questioner: O Shaykh, if you permit, what is the ruling on raising... Raising, we can consider the supplication after the prayer as being outside the essence of the prayer, and consequently a person can raise his hands in it because it is not part of the prayer. Between the two prostrations and after the bowing, this is considered part of the essence of the prayer, so raising the hands in them is considered an innovation, but after the prayer.

The Shaykh: There is no difference, my sister, because...

The questioner: Because the original rule is that we can raise our hands in supplication at any time. At any time we want to make supplication, we can raise our hands. So after the prayer, it is considered outside the essence of the prayer.

The Shaykh: But outside the prayer, is it not part of the religion? What follows the prayer in terms of obedience.

The questioner: The original rule is that we can raise our hands in supplication. We raise the hands in supplication.

The Shaykh : I understood you, but now it is your turn to understand me. Outside of the prayer, this is part of the religion, and we have previously cited some evidence and texts showing that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has perfected the religion. So when you speak in this manner, you must consider the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Do you imagine that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who used to supplicate inside the prayer without raising his hands, and who used to supplicate after the prayer, meaning after the closing salam, did he raise his hands or not? What do you imagine? If we say that raising the hands in supplication after the prayer is a recommended practice, do you think that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform this recommended practice and did not explain it to the people? And that the Companions, who received the religion from the mouth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fresh and pure, did not know that raising the hands after the prayer was among the recommended practices? As you say generally, this is a specific place. We know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate, and I return to my previous point, and we know that he did not supplicate [in a certain way]. How dare a Muslim, with this knowledge, say: "I raise my hands, even though the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raise his hands?" In truth, the general texts that encompass parts of acts of obedience and worship are permissible to act upon when there is no indication that a part of these components included in the general text was not performed by the Messenger. If the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) performed it, then we do it. If it is established that he did not perform a part of those components, then that part falls under the blame mentioned earlier in some Prophetic hadiths. It may be useful to give an example that is exactly like what we are currently discussing. You currently have no evidence for what you want to say about the recommendation of raising the hands after the prayer, except for the hadith I mentioned earlier in the course of my speech, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This example is exactly like the following example, which I think is very clear. The reason is that the practice has not been carried out, whereas the practice of raising the hands in supplication after the prayer has been carried out by many people, it has become customary, and it is thought to be prescribed, whereas it is not from the Shari'ah at all, unlike the example I will bring now. We know from the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): This is an authentic hadith. The second hadith: And so on. And more famous and more authentic than these two hadiths is his saying: Now let us imagine the following scenario: We entered the mosque for the midday prayer, for example, and the call to prayer had been made. One person started praying the pre-prayer sunnah here, and another there, and they started scattered. One of them had a thought and said: "O people, instead of praying this sunnah scattered, let us pray it in congregation." And focus on these hadiths: What do we say to this person? Did he follow or did he innovate? Now, you who raised that question, answer this question. What do you see?

The questioner : He innovated in the religion of Allah.

The Shaykh : He innovated. Well, but he acted upon many hadiths. He acted...
The Jews from the Arabian Peninsula, so this expulsion, in that it is an event that occurred, is new; it is an innovation in terms of language. However, in that it is a ruling explicitly stated in the Shari'ah, it is a legal ruling and not a misguided innovation. Likewise, the statement of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), "What a good innovation this is," is only an innovation in terms of language, not in terms of the Shari'ah, because the lawfulness of the tarawih prayer in congregation is established by his action (peace and blessings be upon him) in those three nights and by his saying: Therefore, there is no proof in the argument of some people using this authentic report from 'Umar that there is a good innovation in Islam. For this reason, much of the discussion is such that it is perhaps best for me to return to it. Let us proceed to the answer regarding the third piece of evidence that you resorted to, which I believe was confusing to you when you said that 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar fasted the entire year after his death (peace and blessings be upon him) and that he regretted it afterwards. This is a clear error, and I think you will remember that if we mention the story that occurred between 'Amr and Ibn 'Amr and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is narrated in the two Sahihs from various routes. 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with them both) was married by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to a young woman from Quraysh. And as is the custom of an uncle with his niece, he visited her one day and said to her, "How are you and 'Abdullah?" She said a very nice phrase containing a soft allusion. She said, "He has not yet lain with us on a bed. He stands in prayer at night and fasts during the day." Meaning, we got married and we did not consummate the marriage, and this is clear, if Allah wills. So her father, 'Amr, became angry and complained to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr says: So either the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent for me or he met me and said: He said, "That has happened, O Messenger of Allah." He said: regarding the guest who visits you, i.e., your guest. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) set out a methodology for him in worship. He used to stand in prayer the whole night and complete the recitation of the Qur'an in every night. After he clarified for him these obligatory rights regarding himself, his body, his wife, and his guest, he said: And he was reading the Qur'an once every night. He (peace be upon him) said: He said, "O Messenger of Allah, I am young and I have strength; I am able to do more than that." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept increasing it and conceding with him to fulfill his desire until he said to him: And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) stopped with him at this limit, prescribing for him to complete the recitation of the Qur'an once every three nights. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to organize his position regarding fasting and said: He returned to his previous statement: "O Messenger of Allah, I am young and I have strength; I am able to do more than that." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also kept responding to him and increasing his fasting until he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Meaning that this fasting is the best of fasting, and in another narration, the most just of fasting, because it combines mental discipline and physical discipline, unlike what he was doing before, which was fasting the entire year. This fasting takes away his strength, so if he met the enemy, he would not be able to stand firm against him, unlike if he fasted this just fasting. He fasts one day, which involves training the soul and educating it to follow desires, and he breaks the fast one day, which strengthens his body and physique. This is what the Messenger meant in his description of Dawud, who used to fast one day and break the fast one day, and he did not flee when he met [the enemy] because he had the physical strength that enabled him to stand firm against the enemy. Ibn 'Amr said here, as the point of interest: "O Messenger of Allah, I want something better than that." He said: In some narrations, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Meaning he did not fast according to the Shari'ah and did not break the fast in reality, so he lost both this world and the Hereafter. And for this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) stopped with him at this final limit, which is to fast one day and break the fast one day. And when he asked for an increase and something better than that, he said: Ibn 'Amr parted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on this methodology, and regarding fasting, he did not fast the entire year, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade him from doing so, because one who fasts the entire year neither fasts nor breaks the fast, but rather he fasts one day and breaks the fast one day. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) settled on this with him, and he was young, because when he got married, he was only fifteen years old. And for this reason, the people of history say that the difference between his father and him was only fifteen years, because his father also married at a young age. The days passed, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) died, and 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr lived a long time after him. It is not hidden from everyone that a person's strength weakens as his age advances. Tomorrow I will be in the grave, so be patient. So he began to feel that he found it difficult to continue with what he had parted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) upon, which was to complete the recitation of the Qur'an in three nights and to fast one day and break the fast one day. So he used to say what you mentioned earlier regarding fasting the entire year, and it was not about fasting the entire year. He used to say, "I wish I had accepted the dispensation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." What is the dispensation? That he fasts three days of every month, so it is as if he fasted the entire year, and that he stands in prayer at night in every month to complete the recitation of the Qur'an. He was not satisfied with that, relying on his youth and his strength, but he did not look far ahead regarding when his age advanced. So he used to say, "I wish I had accepted the dispensation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." If we know this story, which is in the two Sahihs, then it becomes clear to you that it has absolutely no relation to the topic of innovation in religion. And the known evidence remains in its generality and comprehensiveness, denying every addition to the religion, as mentioned previously, from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Meaning it is rejected upon its owner. Perhaps we have finished discussing innovation so that we may come to a new issue.

The questioner : Excuse me, but there are some... We used to hear that 'Uthman ibn 'Affan used to stand in prayer at night and read the Qur'an in it. And we also knew about some of the Salaf that when they committed a sin, they tried to expiate for it by saying, "I will fast a year to expiate it for me," or they would discipline themselves that they committed this sin. Can a person originally punish himself with this action? Or how do we interpret this action of his?

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. It is time for you to know how you should proceed in your religion and in your worship. We are all in agreement on something like the saying of Allah the Exalted: If you know that 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to read the Qur'an in less than three [nights] and he did not allow him to do so and said: And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), in his practice, did not read the Qur'an in one night, as Lady 'Aishah said, and it is in Sahih Muslim. So if you know this, what concerns you afterwards are those reports that you read to me in one book or more, which contradict this Prophetic methodology that he established for Ibn 'Amr (may Allah be pleased with him). So those reports either are not authentic from their owners, or they are authentic but they contradict the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the methodology that he established for this companion of his. So in that case, we leave those reports to their owners and refer their matter to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). As for us, we hold fast to the principle that the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Please.