What is the custom of self-introduction in gatherings, where a person says, "Your brother in Allah, so-and-so"; what is the ruling on that?

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: Your brother in Allah.

The Shaykh: What is "your brother in Allah"?

Another questioner: The acquaintance that is merely verbal.

The questioner: ... The acquaintance, he says: So-and-so, or your brother in Allah ... .

The Shaykh: Yes, may Allah forgive you, this is something else, my brother. You must say: It is customary in gatherings for people to name themselves, so each one says: "Your brother in Allah, so-and-so ibn so-and-so, he is Egyptian, he is from the Levant, he is such-and-such," and so on. This is a religious innovation (bid'ah). As for a Muslim saying to someone—whom you mentioned, or whom you were about to mention—who holds a high status in his heart: "I love you for the sake of Allah"; this is undoubtedly from the Sunnah. But for it to be said and become a tradition that every person sitting here now introduces himself by prefixing "Your brother in Allah, so-and-so ibn so-and-so" before his name, and so on; this is undoubtedly, as we say, a religious innovation (bid'ah). In fact, I say more than that. Let us now remove the phrase "your brother in Allah." We remove this, and it is rejected. Is it from the Sunnah if a group sits down—not with this large number, may Allah bless them—but a reasonable number, five or ten, and they say: "Let us proceed with an introduction," and one starts by saying, "I am so-and-so ibn so-and-so, I live in such-and-such, I study such-and-such, I work in such-and-such," and so on?
This is also one of the religious innovations (bid'ah) in the present age; that is, it is a modern, fresh, new innovation that the Salaf (earliest generations) did not know at all. In fact, it came to us from the West, and some Islamic groups adopted it as a Sunnah (recommended practice) to be followed among them. This, in reality, indicates the poverty of these people in their following of the Muhammadan Sunnah.
And I am pleased to say on this occasion: It is a great wisdom what was narrated as marfu' (traced to the Prophet) but did not become authentic, and came as mawquf (stopping at a Companion) and became authentic: "No religious innovation (bid'ah) is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." Innovations are the enemies of the Sunnah; whenever a person commits an innovation, it kills a Sunnah. This is a matter fully witnessed and tangible, as if touched by hand, for researchers, critics, and observers of the conditions of Muslims.
Who is it that makes this custom of acquaintance a habit just because they sit down? They also say a word I just remembered, which is a straw on a camel's back—as it is said. O brothers, from the Sunnah is acquaintance, and they start naming each one himself. This is, by Allah, a religious innovation (bid'ah) with no basis in the Sunnah. First, this phrase "from the Sunnah is acquaintance" has no basis in the Sunnah. Our righteous Salaf did not have this kind of acquaintance. And why did this acquaintance become customary? Because they abandoned Sunnahs.
And speech leads to speech, and the matter has many branches. Be patient:
The acquaintance mentioned in the Noble Qur'an: This acquaintance is not verbal or linguistic acquaintance in the manner I mentioned earlier that has no basis in the Sunnah. Rather, acquaintance is practical acquaintance. Islam legislated many ways to achieve this practical acquaintance and cooperation among Muslims. For example, it made obligatory upon Muslims five prayers every day. And He (Blessed and Exalted is He), when He made them obligatory, did not make them obligatory on the basis that each individual among these Muslims prays in his home, or in his shops, or in his companies. Rather, He commanded them to pray together in the houses of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Therefore, we hear His saying (Mighty and Majestic) in the Noble Qur'an: After commanding the first pillar, which is establishing the prayer and perfecting its performance, He commanded the second pillar, which is zakah (the obligatory alms), and He said: Then He returned to clarify that the first command——is not an absolute command where a person prays however he wishes and in whatever place he wishes. Rather, he must pray it with the congregation of Muslims who are bowing in the mosques. So He said: , . So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) legislated this gathering five times a day so that the people of the neighborhood would get to know one another, check on each other's affairs, and cooperate in righteousness and piety, and not cooperate in sin and transgression.
Then—be patient, O our brothers, may Allah bless you—then came the second legislation; which is that He commanded them to pray the Zuhr (midday) prayer, which was where the people of each neighborhood would gather in their specific mosque. He commanded those who pray Zuhr on Friday to pray it in the congregational mosque on Friday. He commanded them to gather in the congregational mosque; that is, to leave the gathering in the mosques of the streets and neighborhoods to gather in the large mosque on Friday. This is a greater acquaintance where the people of the eastern neighborhood meet and get to know the people of the western neighborhood, and so on. You can express this however you wish.
Then came the third and greatest gathering, which is the prayer of the festival in the prayer ground. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) did not legislate, through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the prayer of the two festivals in the congregational mosques. Rather, these congregational mosques are specific for the Friday prayer. As for the prayer of the two festivals; He made a wider place for it, one that accommodates all those who pray Friday in the congregational mosques; which are the prayer grounds (musalla). This is a third practical acquaintance legislated by our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Then came the most comprehensive and final acquaintance, which is for Muslims to gather in the sacred sites, in Mina, in 'Arafah, in Makkah, on the occasion of Hajj (the major pilgrimage) or 'Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage), which is the lesser Hajj. This is the acquaintance intended by the noble verse, and it is not intended that a person utter his name and his father's name and the like of what has become customary among some people today.
This is what I intended to clarify: that the religious innovation (bid'ah) is not limited only to saying "your brother in Allah, so-and-so ibn so-and-so." If we remove and eliminate the phrase "your brother, so-and-so," the aforementioned acquaintance remains, having no basis in Islam.