Bid’ah Hasanah

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In the Name of Allaah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Proof Given For Bid’ah Hasanah

A classical evidence used by a mubtadee (deviant innovator) to prove the validity of innovating “religious” practices into the complete and perfect religion of Allaah azza wa jall is the following hadeeth:

Jareer ibn ‘Abdullaah al-Bajali (ra) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: ‘Whoever starts a good thing and is followed by others, will have his own reward and a reward equal to that of those who follow him, without it detracting from their reward in any way. Whoever starts a bad thing and is followed by others, will bear the burden of his own sin and a burden equal to that of those who follow him, without it detracting from their burden in any way.’”
[at-Tirmidhi - Graded Saheeh Hasan by at-Trimidhi]

Firstly, the fact that the mubtadee wants to prove that there is such thing as a bid’ah hasanah (good innovation) exposes the fact that he himself acknowledges that he is bringing a new practice into Islaam - that has no basis in it -, even though Allaah azza wa jall made Islaam complete and perfect.

Of course shaytaan has a firm grasp on his neck and just like the mujahideen and the Muslims will take people into Jannaah in chains along with them, Iblees will take the deviant innovators into Hellfire in chains along with him. We seek refuge with Allaah from the Fire and the mischief of the shayateen.

Know that the mubtadee acknowledges the fact that he can never prove his evil cult with anything authentic from the prophet (saw), so he will twist the ahadeeth of the prophet (saw) and lie about it, to delude you into joining his cult. This is how low the mubtadee stoops, to LYING about the prophet (saw). And we all know that the prophet (saw) said,

“Whoever tells lies about me deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.”
[Bukhari and Muslim]

And he (saw) said about the one who passes on a fabricated hadeeth:

“Whoever narrated a hadeeth from me which he thinks is false, then he is one of the liars.”
[Muslim]

A Bid’ah is any invented way in religion that is aimed at worshipping or drawing closer to Allaah. This means anything that is not referred to specifically in Sharee’ah, and for which there is no evidence (daleel) in the Qur’aan or Sunnah, and which was not known at the time of the Prophet (saw) and his Companions. At the same time, it is quite obvious that this definition of religious inventions or innovations, which are condemned, does not include worldly inventions [such as cars and washing machines, etc.].

Truth Exposed - Hadeeth in True Context

Jareer ibn ‘Abdullaah (ra) said: “Some people from the Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allaah (saw), wearing woollen garments. He saw that they were in bad shape and in desperate need, so he urged the people to give them charity. They people were very slow to respond, and it could be seen in his face (that he was upset). Then a man of the Ansaar brought a package of silver, then another came, and another and another, and his face was filled with joy. The Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: ‘Whoever starts a good thing in Islaam, and others do likewise after him, there will be written for him a reward like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their reward. Whoever starts a bad thing in Islaam, and others do likewise after him, there will be written for him a burden of sin like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their burden.’”
[Muslim]

“Fear Allaah, and keep your duty to Him. And let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow…” [Al Qur'aan - Soorah al-Hashr (059:018)].

Let a man give charity from his dinars, his dirhams, his clothing, his wheat or his dates - even if it is only half a date.’ A man from the Ansaar brought a package which he could hardly carry in his hand, then another and another came, until there were two piles, of food and clothing, and I saw the face of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) beaming with joy. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever starts a good thing in Islam will have his own reward and a reward equal to that of those who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward, and whoever starts a bad thing in Islam will have to bear the burden of his own sin and a burden equal to that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their burden.
[al-Nisaa'i in al-Mujtaba]

Abu Hurayrah (ra) said: “A man came to the Prophet (saw), and he urged the people to give him charity. A man said: ‘I have such-and-such,’ and there was no person left in the gathering who did not give something in charity to him, whether it was a large amount or a little. The Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: ‘Whoever starts something good, and others follow his lead, will have a complete reward and a reward like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their reward. Whoever starts something bad, and others follow his lead, will bear a complete burden of sin, and a burden like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their burden.
[Ibn Maajah]

Now that we have seen the full context of the hadeeth, it is clear that what is meant by the words “whoever starts a good thing (sunnah hasanah) in Islaam” :

Whoever revives a part of the Sunnaah of the Prophet (saw), or teaches it to others, or commands others to follow it, or acts according to it so that others see him or hear about it and follow his example. In this case it was the giving of charity, not chanting like loonies in a circle or dancing and singing as part of worship! This is nothing but imitating the disbelievers - i.e. Hindus and Christians. The Prophet (saw) said:

“Whoever imitates a people is one of them”.
[Aboo Dawood]

Detailed Exposition of the Mubtadee

When a person innovates something and adds to the deen something that does not belong to it, he is implying a number of bad things, each worse than the last.

1. That the religion is lacking, that Allaah did not complete and perfect it, and that there is room for improvement.
2. That the religion remained imperfect from the time of the Prophet (saw) until the time when this innovator came along and completed it with his own ideas.
3. That the Prophet (saw) was “guilty” of either of two things: either he was ignorant of this “good innovation,” or he knew about it but concealed it, thus letting his ummah down by not conveying it.
4. That the Prophet (saw), his Companions and the righteous salaf (early generations) missed out on the reward of this “good innovation” - until this innovator came along and earned it for himself, despite the fact that he should say to himself, “If it was truly good, they would have been the first to do it.”
5. Opening the door to bid’ah leads to changing the deen (religion) and opens the way for personal whims and opinions, because every innovator implies that what he is introducing is something good, so whose opinion are we supposed to follow, and which of them should we take as a leader?
6. Following bid’ah leads to the cancelling out of sunnaah practices and the ways of the salaf. Real life bears witness that whenever a bid’ah is followed, a sunnaah practice dies out; the reverse is also true.

What to do if you encounter this mubtadee?

 So next time a mubtadee tells you that there is such thing as bid’ah hasanah, do the following:

1. Ask for proof - he will quote the abridged version of the aforementioned hadeeth.
2. Mention to him the hadeeth of liars and fabricators.
3. (If he does not admit his twisting and repent) Remind him of his place in Hell.

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