Continuation of the Explanation of the Issues of the Chapter: The Fifth: That the cause of all of this is mixing the truth with falsehood, so the first is: loving the righteous
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The Shaykh : Loving the righteous, and the second, what did some people do?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : ... some people from among the scholars and people of religion did something intending good by it, but those who came after them thought they intended something else by it.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : From among the scholars and people of religion.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : In my view... Well, the author intended to clarify mixing the truth with falsehood, and he said that it occurred through two things:
The first is: loving the righteous, and for this reason they made statues of them out of love for them and desire for them.
And the second is: that the scholars and people of religion intended good with these statues at first, which was to encourage people to worship and to desire it. But those who came after them intended evil with them, other than what these people intended. From this it is understood that whoever intends to strengthen the religion through a religious innovation, then its harm will be greater than its benefit. If a person intends to strengthen the religion through a religious innovation, its harm becomes more than its benefit.
An example of this is: those who exaggerate regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and establish birthdays for him. They intend good by this, but they sought good through a religious innovation, so its harm became more than its benefit, because in reality it gives a person unlegitimate activity at a specific time, and then this activity is followed by unlegitimate lethargy for the rest of the year. For this reason, you find these people who exaggerate in these religious innovations to be lazy in the clear, prescribed matters; they are not as active as others. This indicates the effect of religious innovations on hearts, and that no matter how their owners adorn them, they do not increase a person except in misguidance. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: - O Husayn, what is he saying, and what is the Messenger saying about religious innovations? - Yes.
The student: Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: There are people who hold birthdays for their children, is this permissible?
The Shaykh : This is from religious innovations, it is not permissible.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Perhaps they do not know anything about this; they took it by following others without knowledge and do not know it. Anything that is adopted as a festival that repeats every year, or every week, or every month, is from religious innovations.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : The evidence that this, if it were good, the Shari'ah would have established a specific thing for the newborn, which is the 'aqiqah sacrifice. It did not establish anything after that. And your adopting this matter as a day of joy and happiness that repeats every day, or rather every year, means that you have likened it to the Islamic festivals. And this is forbidden, it is not permissible. There is nothing in Islam of festivals except the three legitimate festivals: the Festival of Breaking the Fast, the Festival of Sacrifice, and the weekly festival. And this is not from the category of customs because it repeats. For this reason, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived and found that the Ansar had two festivals they celebrated, he said: even though this was from the customary matters among them.
The student: Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Look, I... but he was asked about fasting on Monday, and he said:Bulugh al-Maram 5:31 meaning that if a person fasts on this day, it is a blessed day, a blessed day on which this thing occurred. It does not mean that we celebrate this day. And we also say that celebrating it must be restricted to what came in the Shari'ah, which is fasting. If anything else that is celebrated were prescribed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have clarified it, either by his saying, or his doing, or his approval.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : And they also do not celebrate with the Muslims; they celebrate the day on which he was born. And it is not established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was born on the ninth of Rabi' al-Awwal, nor on the twelfth. What is known is that the closest thing said about it is that it was on the ninth day. This is the closest thing said about it.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : ... some people from among the scholars and people of religion did something intending good by it, but those who came after them thought they intended something else by it.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : From among the scholars and people of religion.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : In my view... Well, the author intended to clarify mixing the truth with falsehood, and he said that it occurred through two things:
The first is: loving the righteous, and for this reason they made statues of them out of love for them and desire for them.
And the second is: that the scholars and people of religion intended good with these statues at first, which was to encourage people to worship and to desire it. But those who came after them intended evil with them, other than what these people intended. From this it is understood that whoever intends to strengthen the religion through a religious innovation, then its harm will be greater than its benefit. If a person intends to strengthen the religion through a religious innovation, its harm becomes more than its benefit.
An example of this is: those who exaggerate regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and establish birthdays for him. They intend good by this, but they sought good through a religious innovation, so its harm became more than its benefit, because in reality it gives a person unlegitimate activity at a specific time, and then this activity is followed by unlegitimate lethargy for the rest of the year. For this reason, you find these people who exaggerate in these religious innovations to be lazy in the clear, prescribed matters; they are not as active as others. This indicates the effect of religious innovations on hearts, and that no matter how their owners adorn them, they do not increase a person except in misguidance. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: - O Husayn, what is he saying, and what is the Messenger saying about religious innovations? -
Every innovation is misguidance.
كل بدعة ضلالةThe student: Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: There are people who hold birthdays for their children, is this permissible?
The Shaykh : This is from religious innovations, it is not permissible.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Perhaps they do not know anything about this; they took it by following others without knowledge and do not know it. Anything that is adopted as a festival that repeats every year, or every week, or every month, is from religious innovations.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : The evidence that this, if it were good, the Shari'ah would have established a specific thing for the newborn, which is the 'aqiqah sacrifice. It did not establish anything after that. And your adopting this matter as a day of joy and happiness that repeats every day, or rather every year, means that you have likened it to the Islamic festivals. And this is forbidden, it is not permissible. There is nothing in Islam of festivals except the three legitimate festivals: the Festival of Breaking the Fast, the Festival of Sacrifice, and the weekly festival. And this is not from the category of customs because it repeats. For this reason, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived and found that the Ansar had two festivals they celebrated, he said:
Indeed, Allah the Exalted has replaced for you with something better than them: the Festival of Sacrifice and the Festival of Breaking the Fast
إن الله تعالى أبدلكما بخير منهما : عيد الأضحى وعيد الفطرThe student: Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Look, I... but he was asked about fasting on Monday, and he said:
This is the day on which I was born and the day on which I was sent (with the Message of Islam) and the day on which I received revelation.
ذاك يوم ولدت فيه وبعثت فيه أو أنزل علي فيهThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : And they also do not celebrate with the Muslims; they celebrate the day on which he was born. And it is not established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was born on the ninth of Rabi' al-Awwal, nor on the twelfth. What is known is that the closest thing said about it is that it was on the ninth day. This is the closest thing said about it.