The Sunnah And Bid'ah

If someone argues that even though I have praised the Sunnah and criticized Bid'ah, it seems that every deviant innovator in our times claims to be a follower of the Sunnah, I would reply that the word Sunnah literally means a path and there is no doubt that the companions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him),   those who follow in their foot­ steps, and those who narrated the Prophet's sayings are followers of the Sunnah, because they were on the path where no innovations occurred.

Bid'ah, on the other hand, refers to something which did not exist and was then invented. And, in most cases, innovations conflict with divine law by implying a need for human additions or deletions. Even an invented practice which did not contradict the Sharee'ah or imply any change was disliked by the majority of early scholars. They used to avoid any innovation, even though certain types were allowable, in order to protect the basic principle of lttibaa', adherence (to the path). For example, when Caliph Abu Bakr and 'Umar asked the Sahaabee, Zaid ibn Thaabit, to collect the Qur'an in one book, he replied, "How can the two of you do something in the religion which Allah's Messenger did not do?" 'Abdullah ibn Abee Salamah reported that when the Sahaabee,Sa'd  ibn Maalik, heard two men on Hajj saying, "Labbayk Thal-Ma'aarij (We hear and are coming Oh Owner of the routes of ascent)", Sa'd said, "We never used to say that during the Prophet's time."

Once a man informed the Sahaabee,'Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood, that a group of people were sitting in the masjid after maghrib and one of them would say, "Say: Allahu Akbar" and the rest would repeat it in unison, than he would say, "Say: SubhaanAllah",   and they would do likewise, then he would say, "Say: Al-hamdullillah" and they would do so. Ibn Mas'ood told the man to inform him of their whereabouts if he found them doing that again. When he went back to where they were, he sat until he heard them, and he returned to inform Ibn Mas'ood lbn  Mas'ood went to them and said, "I am 'Abdullaah   ibn Mas'ood.   By Allah  besides  who there  is no God, you have  wrongfully  brought  an innovation   and considered  your­ selves  more  knowledgeable than  the companions of Muhammad (Peace be upon him)."    'Amr ibn 'Utbah[1] said, "I seek forgiveness Allah!"   Ibn Mas'ood   said, "Adhere closely to the Prophet's path, for if you go to the right of it or to the left, you will go far astray."

Ibn  'Auf  said,  "Once  when  we  were  with  Ibraheem   an­Nakha'ee,[2] a man  came  to him  and  said,  "Abu  'Imran,  pray  to Allah  that He makes  me well."  I saw his extreme disgust for that written on his face. Ibraheem then mentioned the Sunnah and his love for it and mentioned what people had innovated and his dislike for it."

Muhammad  ibn  Bakr  reported   that  he  heard   Fudail  ibn 'Iyaad[3] say, "Be  cautious  whoever   sits  with  one  who  innovates (Bid'ah)  in religion."  'Abdus-Samad ibn Yazeed reported Fudail as saying, "Allah will cause the deeds of whoever likes one who innovates in religion to be of no value and remove the light of Islam from his heart." And on one other occasion, he reported him as saying, "If you see one who innovates coming on the road, take an­ other road. The good deeds of one who innovates are not taken up to Allah. And whoever helps one who innovates has helped to destroy Islam."

It is thus, clear that the early generation  of Muslims  cautiously avoided  all innovations  which even had the remotest  connection  to the religion  for fear  of actually  changing  the religion  to even  the slightest  degree.  However,  there  were  some  new  practices  which did not contradict  the Sharee'ah   or change  it; these practices  were allowed.  For example, it was reported that people used to pray separately of in small groups during the nights of Ramadan and Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab joined them together in a single congregation behind the Sahaabee, Ubayy ibn Ka'b. When  'Umar  left the masjid and  saw  them  in one  group,  he  said,  "This  is a good  innovation (Bid'ah)."   It was good because congregational   Salah was a legal practice in the religion.[4] Whenever a new matter is firmly based on a principle in Sharee'ah   it is acceptable.  However,  any innovation which  attempts  to complete  some  aspect  of the religion,  is wrong because  it implies  deficiency  in the Sharee' ah. And, if the innovation is one which is contradictory to the Sharee'ah,   it is even worse.

Thus, it is followers of the Sunnah who adhere to and follow the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and the followers of Bid'ah are those who invent things in the religion without having any real basis or support.  Because of the extreme deviance of their opinions, they hide behind their innovations, while followers of the Sunnah do not hide their opinions.  Their positions are obvious, their ideology well known and a good they will have. The two Sahaabees, - al-Mugheerah   ibn Shu 'bah and Thawbaan,  reported  that Allah's  Messenger  said, "A group  of my  followers  will  remain  dominant  until Allah's   command for the beginning  of the final hour reaches  them.”[5]