What is bid'ah?

The questioner : What is bid'ah?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment:
The Shari'ah bid'ah, meaning the one the Shari'ah spoke about, is for a person to worship Allah the Exalted with what He has not prescribed, whether in belief, speech, or action. This is bid'ah, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) while he was delivering the sermon to the people on Friday: This indicates that every newly invented matter is whatever contradicts the Sunnah and the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
So bid'ah is for a person to worship Allah the Exalted with what He has not prescribed, whether in belief, speech, or action. An example in belief is what the people of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) adopted, who denied many of the attributes of Allah the Exalted by which He described Himself. An example is the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He: .
They said: We do not worship Allah by believing that Allah comes in His own person, nor do we hold that belief. Rather, our belief is that it is His command that comes. They interpret the saying of Allah the Exalted: to mean "the command of your Lord has come," and they believe that what comes is the command of Allah, not Allah. This is bid'ah, because when Allah the Exalted addressed us with His saying: and the Qur'an was revealed in a clear Arabic language, the implication of this phrase in clear Arabic language is that the one who comes is Allah, not anyone else. And what is prescribed for us is to believe that Allah comes in His own person. So if we believe that it is His command that comes, and that the meaning of is "the command of your Lord has come," then this is bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance.
Likewise, the saying of Allah the Exalted: means He rose above the Throne in a manner befitting His greatness and majesty. This is because the verb istawa, when followed by the preposition "ala" (on), means rising above something, as Allah the Exalted said to Noah: meaning "you boarded it," and He said: meaning "so that you may rise above their backs, then remember the favor of your Lord when you have risen above them," and Allah the Exalted said: meaning the ship of Noah, i.e., it settled upon the mountain known as al-Judi. This is the meaning of this word in the Arabic language.
And the Qur'an was revealed in the Arabic language: , meaning "We made it in the Arabic language so that you may understand it." If Allah had spoken it in the Persian language while addressing the Arabs, this would have been contrary to clarity. So Allah the Exalted said: .
So we say: means He rose above the Throne, but it is not like our rising above the backs of livestock or above a ship, or like the rising of the ship above al-Judi. It is not that it is an istawa (rising) attributed to Allah Mighty and Majestic, so that it would be a rising befitting His majesty and greatness, and it does not resemble, i.e., it does not equal, the rising of a created being above a created being, because Allah said: .
So a person comes and says: I do not believe that Allah istawa (rose) above the Throne in the sense of rising above it, but I say: istawa above the Throne means He took control of it. So I believe He is in control of the Throne, not that He is above it. We say this is bid'ah, because Allah the Exalted did not address you to believe that He is in control of the Throne; He addressed you to believe that He is above it. So you have worshipped Allah with what He has not prescribed, and you have believed about Allah what is not indicated by this noble verse. These are two examples of bid'ah in belief, and the examples of this are many. Whoever contradicts the apparent meaning of the Book and the Sunnah regarding the attributes of Allah, or regarding matters of the unseen in general, without Shari'ah evidence, is an innovator.
As for bid'ah in speech: there is no end to it. Many people innovate in speech that was not prescribed: either in divine decree, or in the type, or in the time, or in the cause. This is because an act does not become worship until it agrees with the Shari'ah in six matters: in the type of the act, in its amount, in its manner, in its cause, in its time, and in its place. Even if you mentioned Allah Mighty and Majestic in a place where dhikr (remembrance) is not prescribed, you would be an innovator. If you were to say "La ilaha illa Allah" when you wanted to eat, worshipping Allah with it as the eater worships with his saying "Bismillah," we would say to you: you are an innovator. He would say: How am I an innovator when I am remembering Allah? "La ilaha illa Allah" is the word of sincerity? We say: Yes, but this is not its place. So you have not agreed with the Shari'ah in the place of this worship, so you are an innovator.
If a person slaughtered his udhiyah (sacrifice) on the day of 'Id before the prayer, worshipping Allah with that, knowing that what is prescribed for the udhiyah is that it be after the prayer, we would say: this is an innovator, because he brought the worship at a time other than its proper time.
If a person stood at 'Arafah on a day other than the Day of 'Arafah, worshipping Allah with this standing, we would say this is an innovator, because he brought the standing at a time other than its proper time. And if a person confined himself to the obedience of Allah, but in a room of his house, intending thereby i'tikaf (spiritual retreat), we would say this is an innovator, because i'tikaf is only in the mosques, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: .
Likewise, in actions: there are many bid'ahs in them, no end to it.
For this reason, we say the general rule regarding bid'ah is that a person worships Allah the Exalted with what He has not prescribed, whether in belief, speech, or action.
So if someone asks: Are all bid'ahs blameworthy?
We say: Yes, all bid'ahs are blameworthy, based on the saying of the most knowledgeable of creation, the most truthful of creation, and the most sincere of creation, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): This is a summary of the forms of generality, which are among the strongest forms, coming from the one who is the most knowledgeable of creation about the Shari'ah of Allah, the most truthful of creation in what he says, the most sincere of creation to the servants of Allah, and the most eloquent of creation in his speech. He said: and he did not divide it into good bid'ah and bad bid'ah. And misguidance is evil without a doubt.
And I believe that if this phrase were written in a book, and in another book it were written that bid'ah is of two or three types, the one who reports the opinions would say: So-and-so said "every bid'ah is misguidance," and so-and-so divided it into categories. He would make the first opinion the opposite of the second opinion, and not make the second a division of the first, but rather a counterpart to it. So if this happens in the speech of scholars, one with another, that the one who said: is not like the one who said: bid'ah is divided into such and such. Rather, it is an opinion opposite to it, a counterpart to it.
For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said, and he is the judge over every word of humans, he said: without detail or division. For this reason, we say regarding the one who divided bid'ah into two categories: good and bad.
We say: This division is wrong, because it contradicts the text. And whatever contradicts the text is defective and rejected by its holder. For this reason, the scholars said: If qiyas (analogical reasoning) contradicts the text, it is invalid in consideration.
Then we say to this one who divided bid'ah into two or more categories: Either what you mentioned is not bid'ah, in which case the description of bid'ah is removed from it, and then it may be good or it may be bad. Or it is bid'ah, but it is not good. And your belief that it is good is a false belief, because it contradicts the text.
So if someone asks: Was it not narrated from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he unified the people in Ramadan in standing in prayer behind one imam, he went out one night and said: "What a good bid'ah this is"?
We say: Yes, that is authentic from 'Umar. But 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) called it bid'ah considering what preceded it, which was the people being scattered. Otherwise, it is Sunnah. It is established that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed with his Companions in congregation in Ramadan for three nights, then he left it and said: .
So when this danger, which is that it would become obligatory upon us, was removed, its resumption became Sunnah. So it is in reality a renewal of Sunnah, not the creation of a new Sunnah. So it is bid'ah considering what preceded it, which was that the people were praying in scattered groups.
So if someone asks: Why did Abu Bakr and 'Umar overlook it in the beginning of his caliphate?
We say: There is no wonder in that. Abu Bakr's (may Allah be pleased with him) period of caliphate was short, it was two years and four months and days. And he (may Allah be pleased with him) was occupied with the affairs of the Muslims, which are greater than this, greater than gathering in Ramadan behind one imam. Because the original standing in Ramadan is Sunnah, and then gathering for it is Sunnah. So it is Sunnah within Sunnah. And Abu Bakr was occupied with the general affairs of the Muslims inside and outside the city. So there is no wonder that this did not occur to his mind, neither in his caliphate nor in the beginning of 'Umar's caliphate. And by this, the division of bid'ah into good and bad is refuted.
So if someone asks: How do we answer the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): ?
So we say: Bid'ah (religious innovation) falls under the statement: The evidence for this is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Therefore, whoever innovates something in the religion has done wrong, and this falls under the second statement: .
As for the first statement: , it implies two things. The first is whoever hastens to perform it; here, "sunnah" means compliance, because when a person complies, he opens the way for people. This is indicated by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that when he urged the Muslims to give charity, a man from the Ansar came with a bag of money that his hand could barely hold, and he threw it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: This is clear evidence that the one who initiates an action with a prescribed matter is considered to have established a sunnah for it, meaning he has set the path for people to follow his example. It is known by nature and custom that a person imitates others, and if he sees someone doing something repeatedly, he does the same.
Or it can be understood to mean , i.e., whoever establishes a means that achieves legitimate interests. These are means, but they must achieve legitimate Shari'ah interests. This is undoubtedly a sunnah. For example, establishing the compilation of books. The compilation of books did not exist in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Qur'an itself was not written in its current form in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); it was taken from the memories of men and from what was written on palm stalks, thin stones, and the like. However, it was collected in a single mushaf in the time of Uthman. This is a good sunnah because it is a means for people to agree on a prescribed matter. Building schools did not exist in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), although there was the Soffah for the poor Muhajireen, but not in the customary form. This is from the good sunnah because it is a means, from the category of means, to achieving a prescribed matter. This is what is meant by the statement of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): .
It cannot be intended to mean whoever legislates a shari'ah that Allah and His Messenger have not legislated, because if that were the meaning, it would contradict his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explain one another.
I have lengthened my answer to this question because it is important, and because many people may be confused by some texts and how to reconcile them, so clarification was necessary.
Then, in conclusion of this answer, I say to my brothers, specifically the students of knowledge: If they encounter ambiguous texts that allow for multiple meanings, whether from the Qur'an or the Sunnah, it is obligatory to interpret them according to the clear, unambiguous text that has no ambiguity. They should interpret them according to the possibility that agrees with that clear text, and discard the other possibilities, even if the ambiguous text allows for these possibilities equally.
For the clear texts give preference to one of the possibilities, which is the one that agrees with the clear texts. This method, which I mean returning the ambiguous to the clear, is the method of the firmly grounded in knowledge who believe in Allah and His books. Allah Mighty and Majestic says: "From it" means some of it, so "min" here is for partiality. means there is no ambiguity in them. means the reference of the book to which what is ambiguous must be returned. contains possibilities. means deviation from the truth. They bring the ambiguous to strike the Qur'an with one another and make it ambiguous. and their belief in it requires them to return the ambiguous to the clear so that it becomes clear, meaning there is no contradiction in it.
So there are ambiguous verses that confuse the reader; they may confuse a student of knowledge who has not grasped them, but it is obligatory to return them to the clear. It is obligatory to return these ambiguous verses to the clear so that they become clear. I do not need to mention any examples of this, for I fear that we will take up more time than the listener should bear. And I ask Allah to let us die upon the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

The questioner : O Allah, amen. May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah thank you for this comprehensive answer in this blessed, good episode.