Every Innovation is Misguidance? Understanding the Hadith on Bid’ah

 

 Every Innovation is Misguidance? Understanding the Hadith on Bid’ah

1.   Introduction: Why Bid’ah is debated

One of the most debated questions in Islamic thought is what Prophet Muhammad ﷺ meant when he said: ‘Every innovation is misguidance.’.  The Arabic word used is “kullun”. This is generally translated as “all”. However, there are those who interpret this differently. They say that there are exceptions and “kullun” here does not mean “all” absolutely. We examine this in light of the evidences.

2.   What did the Prophet ﷺ mean by “every innovation”?

The hadith in question is as follows:

Jabir ibn ‘Abdillah reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would praise Allah in his sermon, as He deserves to be praised, and then say,

“Whomever Allah guides, no one can lead him astray. Whomever Allah sends astray, no one can guide him. The truest word is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The most evil matters in religion are those that are newly invented, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire.”

Source: Sunan al-Nasā’ī 1578 - Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani

Then there is another hadith:

On the authority of Abu Najeeh al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. So we said, “O Messenger of Allah! It is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I counsel you to have taqwa (fear) of Allah, and to listen and obey [your leader], even if a slave were to become your ameer. Verily he among you who lives long will see great controversy, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Khulafa ar-Rashideen (the rightly guided caliphs), those who guide to the right way. Cling to it stubbornly [literally: with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly invented matters [in the religion], for verily every bidah (innovation) is misguidance.” [Abu Dawud]

It was related by at-Tirmidhi, who said that it was a good and sound hadeeth.

These two ahadith exhort Muslims to follow the sunnah. In understanding the sunnah, it is understood that it is of three parts:

1.      Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ actions

2.     Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ speech, what he said

3.     What his companions did during his lifetime or what they said and he did not contradict them in any way. He either commended them or remained silent.

Thus, the sunnah is established. The Prophet’s ﷺ Sunnah was completed during his lifetime. What was transmitted after his death was not new guidance, but preservation and transmission of what he taught. Therefore, contradicting the sunnah can be seen as anything, in religion, which he did not say or do or encouraged others to do.

3.   The importance of completing the religion

This then brings us to yet another hadith:

A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), reports that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces into this matter of ours anything that is not part of it, it will be rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 2697, and Muslim, 1718) – This hadith is agreed upon by the two sahih’s.

This hadith talks about “the matter of ours”, meaning Islam. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ delivered the message as commanded by Allah. In his farewell sermon on ‘Arafah, he asked whether to companions present would attest to him as having delivered the message. They affirmed in unison. Was he not then the best in worshipping Allah? Can any matter innovated after him be better?

The idea that this hadith allows exceptions in matters of worship raises a difficult question. It seems to signify that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was not thorough enough in delivering the message and there are more ways to worship Allah.

 

4.   The three men hadith (excellent proof)

An important example is the narration of the three men who came to the house of the Prophet ﷺ asking about his worship. When they were informed about it, they considered their own worship insufficient. One of them said: “I will not marry women.” Another said: “I will fast continuously and never break my fast.” The third said: “I will pray throughout the night and never sleep.”

When the Prophet ﷺ heard this, he corrected them and said:

“By Allah, I am the one among you who fears Allah the most and I am the most dutiful to Him, yet I fast and break my fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not from me.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 5063; Sahih Muslim, 1401)

This narration is significant because the three men were not trying to disobey Allah. Their intention was worship. However, the Prophet ﷺ corrected the method, showing that sincerity alone is not enough; worship must also conform to the Sunnah.

 

5.   Definition of Bid’ah

Before discussing whether all innovations are blameworthy, it is important to understand what scholars mean by bid’ah.

From the Islamic perspective, bid`ah is defined by three unique characteristics, and a thing cannot be regarded as bid`ah according to the teachings of Islam unless it has the three characteristics, which are:

1. It is newly introduced.
2. This newly introduced thing is attributed to the religion of Islam.
3. This newly introduced thing has no basis in the religious texts, whether in a specific sense or in general terms.
4.  

6.   Statements of scholars

Ibn Al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “A Bid’ah is any form of worship that did not exist (at the time of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions) then later it was innovated.”

Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “A Bid’ah is any form of worship which has no basis in the Sharee’ah which would warrant its legislation.”

Using the following statement as support for innovation:

Al-‘Izz Ibn ‘Abdus-Salaam, may Allah have mercy upon him, divided Bid’ah into five categories: obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked and prohibited.

Refutation:

Ash-Shaatibi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: "This categorisation of Bid’ah is something new which has no supportive evidence to it, moreover, it contradicts the definition of Bid’ah, because any deed which has an evidence which legislates it to be obligatory, recommended or allowed is by definition not an innovation, and it would have been included in the general recommendation of good deeds. Therefore, considering a matter to be a Bid’ah yet claiming the existence of an evidence to recommend it is a contradiction in terms."

 

Abu Ad-Dardaa’, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “I swear by Allah that I have left you with it (i.e., the religion) so clear that it is as clear at night as it is during the day (i.e., patently obvious) and only a doomed person will stray away from it.” (Ibn Maajah)

Hudhayfah Ibn Al-Yamaan, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Do not perform any act of worship which was not practiced by the companions of the Prophet ﷺ because the early people (i.e. his companions) did not leave anything unaddressed…so follow the way of those who were before you."

Al-Awzaa’i, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: "Persevere on adherence to the Sunnah; stop where they (the companions of the Prophet ﷺ) stopped; refrain from what they refrained from and follow the way of the Salaf because what sufficed them will suffice you."

Sa’eed Ibn Al-Musayyib, may Allah have mercy upon him, saw a man praying too many optional prayers before the Fajr prayer and therefore he forbade him from doing so. The man retorted: "O Abu Muhammad! Will Allah punish me for praying?" Sa'eed replied: "No, but He will punish you for doing other than the Sunnah.

A man asked Imaam Maalik, may Allah have mercy upon him: "At which point do I initiate my state of Ihraam?" he replied: "From Thul Hulayfah - where the Prophet ﷺ did so" the man retorted: "I wish to do it from the area beside the grave of the Prophet ﷺ" Imaam Maalik said: "Do not do that, for I fear that if you do so, you will be afflicted with trials" the man replied: "Why would I be afflicted with trials? All I wanted was to do it from a place which is only a few miles away from where you told me!" Imaam Maalik said upon hearing this: "What can be more serious than feeling that you performed a righteous deed that the Prophet ﷺ failed to do? I heard the saying of Allah (which translates as): “So let those beware who dissent from his [i.e., the Prophet's ﷺ] order lest trials strike them or a painful punishment.”"(An-Noor: 63)

 

7.   Difference between worldly innovation and religious innovation

Religious innovation and worldly innovation are not the same. There may be those who wish to equate these two to justify innovation in religion. However, the evidence does clearly indicate that the subject matter is in fact “the matter of ours”, meaning the religion of Islam.

 

8.   Conclusion

Some scholars have argued that the word ‘kullun’ can sometimes be used in Arabic with exceptions depending on context. However, the question is whether such an exception applies here, especially when considered alongside other narrations regarding adherence to the Sunnah.

Those who claim that the word “kullun” in the hadith on “every innovation” is not absolute, do so while ignoring evidences from other hadith. Furthermore, the companions gave their views on innovation as illustrated above. Clearly, they forbade it. Scholars, including Imam Malik and Imam Aw-Zaa’i were very clear in their rejection of any innovation in the religion.

The hadith reported by Ayeshah (Allah be pleased with her) states innovation in the matters of ours, i.e. the religion of Islam. Therefore, innovation in other matters, such as technology, is not included and is therefore permissible.