What is the meaning of the hadith: "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam"? And the response to the people of innovation?
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The Shaykh : These are matters of reality that we must be alert to and adhere to in our practice so that we may attain a reward from them that is almost incalculable, derived from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) . On this occasion, and as the saying goes, "a thing is mentioned by its counterpart," it is necessary to draw attention to the correct meaning of this authentic hadith, "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam..." because many people misunderstand it and then build upon this bad, erroneous understanding—peace be upon you—castles and towers that are on the brink of a crumbling cliff. They build upon the bad and erroneous, or at least erroneous, understanding of this hadith a door of religious innovation that they have no way of closing except by abandoning the bad understanding of this hadith. They interpret his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) Sahih Muslim 1017a as meaning "whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam," and from there they proceed to deem hundreds, or even thousands, of innovations as good, believing that they are among the good innovations that the noble Messenger (may the best of prayers and perfect peace be upon him) intended in this authentic hadith. But that is not the case. If, as is said, "opposites clarify things," what is the opposite of this erroneous understanding, namely their interpretation of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) Sahih Muslim 1017a as meaning "whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam"? This is wrong. So what is the correct answer by which we refute this error and refute the hundreds, or even thousands, of derivative innovations built upon it, as we said earlier? The answer is that "to introduce" (minna) linguistically means to open a path, and nothing more.
The questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam" means to open a path in Islam, that is, in the religion, that is, in worship, which leads to a good practice. "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam" means to open a path to a good practice. This means that this practice did not come into existence anew, but rather it was prescribed from old, brought by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), upon whom the noble Qur'an was revealed:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]. Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said before the House of Emigration: "Whoever innovates in Islam an innovation that he considers good has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) betrayed the message. He has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) betrayed the message. Read the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3]." Malik commented on this verse and his previous statement: "So whatever was not a religion at that time—that is, on the day this verse was revealed—will not be a religion today. And the end of this community will not be set right except by what set right its beginning." Therefore, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 1017a does not mean a practice that people consider good according to their differing schools, inclinations, goals, and desires, and so on. No, rather it is a known practice whose goodness is established in Islam. And on the contrary, in the rest of the hadith—peace be upon you—. What is the way to know the good practice and the bad practice, so that the Muslim has two distinct positions regarding the good practice and the bad practice? The appropriate position regarding the good practice is to open a path that people have closed before it, so that most people hardly reach it, for one reason or more, the greatest of which is ignorance of Islam; people hardly know of Islam except its name. And the second position regarding the bad practice is to close it before the people who rush to fall into the bad practice, rushing like moths to the fire. What is the way to know the good practice and the bad practice? Is it our minds? Is it our desires? Is it our customs? No, it is none of that. Rather, it is Islam, in which you heard earlier the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3]. Then our Prophet (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) clarified that with many hadiths, among them his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . If that is the case, then that is the good path, and this is the bad path. We have no room for any thought, any independent legal reasoning, or any derivation to know the good path from the bad path. We have only to proceed to the good practice and turn away from the bad practice. So the argument of those people using this hadith to approve innovations is as far from the truth as possible. This is confirmed for you by many matters, the most important of which is knowing the reason for the occurrence of this hadith, for the scholars of exegesis (may Allah have mercy on them)
The questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of Allah. The scholars of exegesis say: "When the reason for the revelation of a verse is known, half of its meaning is known, and the other half is understood from the Arabic language and its styles." Quoting from this exegetical phrase, I say: When the reason for the occurrence of a hadith is known, half of its meaning is known, and the rest is understood from the language. What is the reason for the occurrence of this hadith? On what occasion did he (peace and blessings be upon him) say:Sahih Muslim 1017a? Did he say it regarding a practice that, as we have explained, is known in Islam, prescribed in the Qur'an and in the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Or did he say it regarding an opinion or an act that a person innovated on his own without permission from his Lord or his Prophet, and then he said: Sahih Muslim 1017a? It is not this, but rather the first case, which is as it came in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a Bedouin man came to him, wearing a garment of camel hair and carrying a sword.
The questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from the hadith of Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajli (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: كنا جلوسا مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فجاءه أعراب مجتابي النمار متقلدي السيوف عامتهم من مضر ، بل كلهم من مضر فلما رآهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تمعر وجهه We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a group of Bedouins came to him, wearing leather cloaks and wearing swords, most of them from the tribe of Mudar, or rather all of them from Mudar. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw them, his face changed. His features (peace and blessings be upon him) changed out of compassion and sorrow for these Bedouin tribes, whose extreme poverty was evident in their condition and clothing. They were wearing *numar*, which is the plural of *numrah*, a garment like a blanket. Out of their poverty, they had cut a circular opening in the middle of the blanket and let its ends hang down over their legs; this is the *'abayah* that followed them. This was due to their poverty. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up when he saw them in this state, delivering a sermon to the Companions. Among what he said to them in his sermon (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) was: يا أيها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا مما رزقناكم من قبل أن يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقول ربي لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصدق وأكن من الصالحين O you who believe, spend from what We have provided for you before death comes to any of you and he says, “My Lord, why did You not delay me until a near term, so that I could give charity and be among the righteous?” Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: تصدق رجل بدرهمه بديناره بصاع بره وبصاع شعيره Give in charity, a man with his dirham, his dinar, his sa' of wheat, and his sa' of barley.. "Give in charity" is a past-tense verb, intended to mean "may one of you give in charity what is easy for him." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had barely finished his sermon when a man from among those sitting stood up and went to fetch what was easy for him, carrying food or dirhams in the corner of his garment, and placed it before the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). When the other Companions saw what their brother had done, each of them stood up to fetch what was easy for him, in the form of food, dirhams, and dinars, and these were gathered before the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). Jarir said: "Piles gathered before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) like mountains." Of course, by "mountains" is meant huge piles. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw that, his face brightened as if it were gilded, meaning that the features of his face which had previously indicated his sorrow and anger at these people changed completely when he saw his Companions (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) responding to his sermon and his call to them to give in charity to their brothers. So his face, as Jarir, the eloquent Arab, said, became "as if it were gilded." What is *mudhhabbah*? It is silver coated with gold. So his face (peace and blessings be upon him) shone, transforming into light, joy, and delight at the gathering of these charities from his Companions (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). Here, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله أجرها وأجر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أجورهم شيئا Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam, he will have its reward and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards., meaning that Allah recorded for that first man the reward of his charity, whether it was little or much, and then Allah recorded for him the reward of those who gave in charity after him, because he was the one who opened the path for them, the path of bringing charity. Now, we say to those who interpret the hadith with that incorrect interpretation: Where is the innovation in this incident? There is nothing here but charity, and charity was prescribed before. Even if it had not been prescribed before, it became prescribed at that moment when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the previous verse: أنفقوا مما رزقناكم spend from that which We have provided for you[Al-Baqarah 2:254]. This is if it is understood that the verse was revealed at that moment. And it was known before. So it is a grave error to interpret the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in a way that contradicts the context and the preceding narrative. The preceding narrative is that the people gave in charity after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged them to do so, and they followed the first man. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said this to encourage others to be an example for others in opening the path to what is prescribed and established in the Shari'ah, like this charity. من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة إلى آخره He who sets a good precedent in Islam, there is a reward for him for this (act of goodness) and reward of that also who acted according to it subsequently, without any deduction from their rewards; and he who sets in Islam an evil precedent, there is upon him the burden of that, and the burden of him also who acted upon it subsequently, without any deduction from their burden.Sahih Muslim 1017a And when I address such a topic, I say: I am shy, I who am a non-Arab Al-Albani, if there were such an occasion, an occasion of charity and bringing a prescribed matter, and I said: من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a, meaning "whoever innovates in Islam a good innovation." I would be blamed, even though I am a non-Arab and Al-Albani, but I have some knowledge of the Arabic language. I would be blamed if I said, on the occasion of a prescribed charity, "whoever innovates in Islam a good innovation." It would be said to me: Where is the innovation that applies your saying to this? If "whoever established in Islam" is interpreted to mean "whoever innovated," it is a disgrace for us, we non-Arabs, to interpret it in such a strange and odd way. How could such a thing come from the pure, authentic Arabs? There is no wonder in that, because desires do their work in people, which is worse than ignorance of the Arabic language. So, من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a means a prescribed *sunnah* (recommended practice) whose path was closed and neglected, and people did not pay attention to this *sunnah*. So a man stood up and called people to this prescribed *sunnah*, not an innovation that was not known before, which he established from himself. And this hadith is exactly like another hadith that absolutely does not allow for such an incorrect interpretation, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): من دعا إلى هدى If anyone summons other to follow right guidanceSunan Abi Dawud 4609. He did not say *sunnah* here, and the *hady* (sacrificial animal) cannot be interpreted as an innovation in any way. كان له أجره ، وأجر من عمل به إلى يوم القيامة He will have his reward, and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection. has the same meaning as the previous hadith. We do not want to prolong this, as I see the host standing, but we must conclude this discussion, even if with a final note. In fact, we can say it is a dialectical note, meaning we do not intend argument and dispute, which is forbidden, but we intend to verify a report established from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib in *Sahih al-Bukhari*. He said: "Speak to people according to the capacity of their minds. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be lied about?" I often assume that this person is not convinced at all by the previous statement, so we must descend to his level and say to him: You are not convinced that this *sunnah* is a prescribed *sunnah* originally and from the beginning. Let us assume that the intended meaning is *bid'ah* (religious innovation), but we all agree that the *bid'ah* meant by the hadith, in your claim here, is described as a good *bid'ah*, and there as a bad *bid'ah*. So what is the way to distinguish the good *bid'ah* from the bad *bid'ah*? If you say the way is the Shari'ah, then we return to the Shari'ah, either by the first path that we believe in, من سن في الإسلام سنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a meaning a Shari'ah prescribed before, or by the meaning you intend, meaning a matter of worship that we have newly introduced. But you cannot avoid proving to us from the Shari'ah that this *bid'ah* by which you want to worship Allah is good. So the source of goodness and ugliness is the Shari'ah. If you bring us evidence from the Shari'ah for the goodness of this *bid'ah*, we say "welcome" and "gladly," and at that time we have not innovated anything in Islam; rather, we have also followed the Shari'ah, by which we deduced the goodness of this new matter. And if he says "no," as some ignorant people say, he is told: "Do not do it, my brother." He says: "Why?" We say: "This was not in the time of the Prophet; it is a *bid'ah*." He says: "What is wrong with it, my brother?" Meaning that this has destroyed his mind. At that time, we alert him that he has left the rank of the people of the Sunnah and the community and entered the rank of one of the sects of misguidance, namely the Mu'tazilah, those who say what is known among scholars as "rational goodness and ugliness." The Mu'tazilah say: This is good rationally, so the Shari'ah came in agreement with reason; and this is ugly rationally, so the Shari'ah came in agreement with reason. It is not the Shari'ah that makes things good and ugly according to the Mu'tazilah. As for the people of the Sunnah and the community, they say: What the Lawgiver has made good is good, and what the Lawgiver has made ugly is ugly. But sound reason, in many cases, understands the goodness of what the Shari'ah has made good and the ugliness of what the Shari'ah has made ugly, but this is not a constant rule. Here, one must submit to the Shari'ah, as He (Mighty and Majestic) said: ويسلموا تسليما and they greet with a greeting. And this is sufficient as a comment on this hadith and to clarify that there is no basis for the people of innovation in this hadith to justify their innovations. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The previous saying of the Messenger من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a is a *sunnah* (recommended practice) of reviving the *'aqiqah* (sacrifice for a newborn). I want to say a word about the *'aqiqah*, because it seems to have been misunderstood in some of its aspects. And until the gathering is complete, there is no harm if some of our brothers present now direct these questions, so we can answer them briefly. Then we will begin, if Allah wills, to deliver a word, even if brief, about some of the rulings related to the *'aqiqah*. Please proceed.
Whoever establishes a good *sunnah* (recommended practice) in Islam, he will have the reward of it and the reward of whoever works by it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards.
من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله أجرها وأجر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أجورهم شيئاHe who sets a good precedent in Islam
من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنةHe who sets a good precedent in Islam
من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنةThe questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam" means to open a path in Islam, that is, in the religion, that is, in worship, which leads to a good practice. "Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam" means to open a path to a good practice. This means that this practice did not come into existence anew, but rather it was prescribed from old, brought by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), upon whom the noble Qur'an was revealed:
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام ديناThis day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام ديناHe who sets a good precedent in Islam
من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنةAnd whoever introduces a bad practice in Islam, he will bear its sin and the sin of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their sins.
ومن سن في الإسلام سنة سيئة فعليه وزرها ووزر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أوزارهم شيئاThis day I have perfected for you your religion
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكمI have not left anything that brings you closer to Allah except that I have commanded you to do it, and I have not left anything that distances you from Allah and brings you closer to the Fire except that I have forbidden it.
ما تركت شيئا يقربكم إلى الله ، إلا وأمرتكم به ، وما تركت شيئا يبعدكم عن الله ويقربكم إلى النار إلا ونهيتكم عنهThe questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of Allah. The scholars of exegesis say: "When the reason for the revelation of a verse is known, half of its meaning is known, and the other half is understood from the Arabic language and its styles." Quoting from this exegetical phrase, I say: When the reason for the occurrence of a hadith is known, half of its meaning is known, and the rest is understood from the language. What is the reason for the occurrence of this hadith? On what occasion did he (peace and blessings be upon him) say:
He who sets a good precedent in Islam
من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنةHe who sets a good precedent in Islam
من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنةThe questioner : Peace be upon you
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from the hadith of Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajli (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: كنا جلوسا مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فجاءه أعراب مجتابي النمار متقلدي السيوف عامتهم من مضر ، بل كلهم من مضر فلما رآهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تمعر وجهه We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a group of Bedouins came to him, wearing leather cloaks and wearing swords, most of them from the tribe of Mudar, or rather all of them from Mudar. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw them, his face changed. His features (peace and blessings be upon him) changed out of compassion and sorrow for these Bedouin tribes, whose extreme poverty was evident in their condition and clothing. They were wearing *numar*, which is the plural of *numrah*, a garment like a blanket. Out of their poverty, they had cut a circular opening in the middle of the blanket and let its ends hang down over their legs; this is the *'abayah* that followed them. This was due to their poverty. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up when he saw them in this state, delivering a sermon to the Companions. Among what he said to them in his sermon (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) was: يا أيها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا مما رزقناكم من قبل أن يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقول ربي لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصدق وأكن من الصالحين O you who believe, spend from what We have provided for you before death comes to any of you and he says, “My Lord, why did You not delay me until a near term, so that I could give charity and be among the righteous?” Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: تصدق رجل بدرهمه بديناره بصاع بره وبصاع شعيره Give in charity, a man with his dirham, his dinar, his sa' of wheat, and his sa' of barley.. "Give in charity" is a past-tense verb, intended to mean "may one of you give in charity what is easy for him." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had barely finished his sermon when a man from among those sitting stood up and went to fetch what was easy for him, carrying food or dirhams in the corner of his garment, and placed it before the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). When the other Companions saw what their brother had done, each of them stood up to fetch what was easy for him, in the form of food, dirhams, and dinars, and these were gathered before the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). Jarir said: "Piles gathered before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) like mountains." Of course, by "mountains" is meant huge piles. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw that, his face brightened as if it were gilded, meaning that the features of his face which had previously indicated his sorrow and anger at these people changed completely when he saw his Companions (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) responding to his sermon and his call to them to give in charity to their brothers. So his face, as Jarir, the eloquent Arab, said, became "as if it were gilded." What is *mudhhabbah*? It is silver coated with gold. So his face (peace and blessings be upon him) shone, transforming into light, joy, and delight at the gathering of these charities from his Companions (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). Here, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله أجرها وأجر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أجورهم شيئا Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam, he will have its reward and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards., meaning that Allah recorded for that first man the reward of his charity, whether it was little or much, and then Allah recorded for him the reward of those who gave in charity after him, because he was the one who opened the path for them, the path of bringing charity. Now, we say to those who interpret the hadith with that incorrect interpretation: Where is the innovation in this incident? There is nothing here but charity, and charity was prescribed before. Even if it had not been prescribed before, it became prescribed at that moment when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the previous verse: أنفقوا مما رزقناكم spend from that which We have provided for you[Al-Baqarah 2:254]. This is if it is understood that the verse was revealed at that moment. And it was known before. So it is a grave error to interpret the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in a way that contradicts the context and the preceding narrative. The preceding narrative is that the people gave in charity after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged them to do so, and they followed the first man. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said this to encourage others to be an example for others in opening the path to what is prescribed and established in the Shari'ah, like this charity. من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة إلى آخره He who sets a good precedent in Islam, there is a reward for him for this (act of goodness) and reward of that also who acted according to it subsequently, without any deduction from their rewards; and he who sets in Islam an evil precedent, there is upon him the burden of that, and the burden of him also who acted upon it subsequently, without any deduction from their burden.Sahih Muslim 1017a And when I address such a topic, I say: I am shy, I who am a non-Arab Al-Albani, if there were such an occasion, an occasion of charity and bringing a prescribed matter, and I said: من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a, meaning "whoever innovates in Islam a good innovation." I would be blamed, even though I am a non-Arab and Al-Albani, but I have some knowledge of the Arabic language. I would be blamed if I said, on the occasion of a prescribed charity, "whoever innovates in Islam a good innovation." It would be said to me: Where is the innovation that applies your saying to this? If "whoever established in Islam" is interpreted to mean "whoever innovated," it is a disgrace for us, we non-Arabs, to interpret it in such a strange and odd way. How could such a thing come from the pure, authentic Arabs? There is no wonder in that, because desires do their work in people, which is worse than ignorance of the Arabic language. So, من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a means a prescribed *sunnah* (recommended practice) whose path was closed and neglected, and people did not pay attention to this *sunnah*. So a man stood up and called people to this prescribed *sunnah*, not an innovation that was not known before, which he established from himself. And this hadith is exactly like another hadith that absolutely does not allow for such an incorrect interpretation, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): من دعا إلى هدى If anyone summons other to follow right guidanceSunan Abi Dawud 4609. He did not say *sunnah* here, and the *hady* (sacrificial animal) cannot be interpreted as an innovation in any way. كان له أجره ، وأجر من عمل به إلى يوم القيامة He will have his reward, and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection. has the same meaning as the previous hadith. We do not want to prolong this, as I see the host standing, but we must conclude this discussion, even if with a final note. In fact, we can say it is a dialectical note, meaning we do not intend argument and dispute, which is forbidden, but we intend to verify a report established from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib in *Sahih al-Bukhari*. He said: "Speak to people according to the capacity of their minds. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be lied about?" I often assume that this person is not convinced at all by the previous statement, so we must descend to his level and say to him: You are not convinced that this *sunnah* is a prescribed *sunnah* originally and from the beginning. Let us assume that the intended meaning is *bid'ah* (religious innovation), but we all agree that the *bid'ah* meant by the hadith, in your claim here, is described as a good *bid'ah*, and there as a bad *bid'ah*. So what is the way to distinguish the good *bid'ah* from the bad *bid'ah*? If you say the way is the Shari'ah, then we return to the Shari'ah, either by the first path that we believe in, من سن في الإسلام سنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a meaning a Shari'ah prescribed before, or by the meaning you intend, meaning a matter of worship that we have newly introduced. But you cannot avoid proving to us from the Shari'ah that this *bid'ah* by which you want to worship Allah is good. So the source of goodness and ugliness is the Shari'ah. If you bring us evidence from the Shari'ah for the goodness of this *bid'ah*, we say "welcome" and "gladly," and at that time we have not innovated anything in Islam; rather, we have also followed the Shari'ah, by which we deduced the goodness of this new matter. And if he says "no," as some ignorant people say, he is told: "Do not do it, my brother." He says: "Why?" We say: "This was not in the time of the Prophet; it is a *bid'ah*." He says: "What is wrong with it, my brother?" Meaning that this has destroyed his mind. At that time, we alert him that he has left the rank of the people of the Sunnah and the community and entered the rank of one of the sects of misguidance, namely the Mu'tazilah, those who say what is known among scholars as "rational goodness and ugliness." The Mu'tazilah say: This is good rationally, so the Shari'ah came in agreement with reason; and this is ugly rationally, so the Shari'ah came in agreement with reason. It is not the Shari'ah that makes things good and ugly according to the Mu'tazilah. As for the people of the Sunnah and the community, they say: What the Lawgiver has made good is good, and what the Lawgiver has made ugly is ugly. But sound reason, in many cases, understands the goodness of what the Shari'ah has made good and the ugliness of what the Shari'ah has made ugly, but this is not a constant rule. Here, one must submit to the Shari'ah, as He (Mighty and Majestic) said: ويسلموا تسليما and they greet with a greeting. And this is sufficient as a comment on this hadith and to clarify that there is no basis for the people of innovation in this hadith to justify their innovations. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The previous saying of the Messenger من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة He who sets a good precedent in IslamSahih Muslim 1017a is a *sunnah* (recommended practice) of reviving the *'aqiqah* (sacrifice for a newborn). I want to say a word about the *'aqiqah*, because it seems to have been misunderstood in some of its aspects. And until the gathering is complete, there is no harm if some of our brothers present now direct these questions, so we can answer them briefly. Then we will begin, if Allah wills, to deliver a word, even if brief, about some of the rulings related to the *'aqiqah*. Please proceed.
Source
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