What is the ruling on increasing the steps of the minbar beyond three?

Al-Halabi : You mentioned in the description of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer that increasing the minbar beyond three steps is a religious innovation. We ask for clarification on this.

The Shaykh : The matter does not need clarification, for the minbar of the Messenger (peace be upon him) had only three steps, and increasing beyond what the Messenger (peace be upon him) did in such matters falls under the category of . Furthermore, adding to the three steps falls under another category prohibited in the Shari'ah, which is the squandering of wealth. It is reported in the two Sahihs from the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: . Therefore, constructing a minbar with more than three steps: first, it involves the squandering of wealth; second, it involves elevating oneself by position; and third, as we mentioned first, it contradicts his (peace and blessings be upon him) guidance. It is reported in the authentic hadith: . Additionally, it cuts off the first row, and if the steps are increased, it may also cut off the second row. It is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . Thus, whoever adopts a means that cuts off a row is encompassed by this warning: . Therefore, it is not permissible to increase the minbar beyond three steps. I must remind you on this occasion that, glory be to Allah, people today are at two extremes: some build a long minbar, very long, so that it cuts off more than one row as we mentioned, and some realized the error of this long minbar but were not satisfied with the humble minbar of the Messenger (peace be upon him) with its three steps, so they devised a way around it by building a balcony and a long staircase inside the wall to ascend... this minbar to that balcony. All of this is a matter of excessive effort and imitating the construction of mosques. It is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , narrated by Ibn 'Abbas from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he said, quoting or attributing to him (peace be upon him): . The minbars built today involve affectation and excessive effort with no justification whatsoever. Every mosque intended to be built according to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) should have its qibla wall as a plain, straight line without a niche (mihrab), and without a long minbar, but rather with three steps as we mentioned, and the imam stands beside this Sunnah minbar. This suffices for everything from innovations. You all know that all innovations are misguidance, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against them in the well-known hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Mas'ud: . And in the other hadith: . Yes.