Author: Shoaib Ahmad Ghaznavi
Bid’ah and its precise meaning (Part 6)
Not doing actions that is not evidence or legitimate by the Prophet (PBUH) and his Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them)!
Question: If it is not proven that the Prophet (PBUH) or one of his Sahaba did something and someone wants to do it, is such an act a Bid’ah (innovation)?
Answer: Believing in such a thing is invalid for two reasons:
First: The failure to do something by the Prophet (PBUH) is neither evidence that it is legitimate to do it, nor evidence that it is legitimate to leave it, but rather evidence that it is permissible (doing it and not doing it are the same). So, just as the failure to do something is not evidence that it is legitimate; it is also not evidence that someone who wants to do it is prohibited as long as it is not forbidden. Therefore, if it falls under one of the rules of Islam or with respect to an act whose ruling is known; We were able to make an analogy and say that it is permissible, and if it is not subject to a rule or is contrary to the explicit provisions (the clear rulings of the Quran and Sunnah), we say that it is Bid’ah.
Second: The argument that if such and such a thing were good and permissible, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) or the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them), who were better and more knowledgeable than us, would have done it, is an opinion that the Islamic law is rigid and inflexible and that its comprehensiveness is limited to the early days of Islam; which is certainly contrary to reality; and claiming that the law is not incapable of determining the ruling on new and novel matters; Sharia relies on general and comprehensive principles and rules, whether in transactions or in some acts of worship for which no limits have been set by the lawgiver.
The application of Bid’ah to matters about which scholars disagree, or which have been proven by weak hadith:
Question: Is it permissible to attribute Bid’ah to something that has been proven by a weak hadith or about which scholars disagree?
Answer: Among the obvious mistakes is to attribute Bid’ah to something that jurists disagree about proving or rejecting, or about its weakness or preference; or for a jurist to believe that it is permissible based on a hadith that is weak according to hadith scholars. Because the result of assigning innovation to such matters is to say that all jurists, from the Sahaba to others, have been innovators, because each mujtahid considers his own opinion to be strong and the opinions of others to be weak. For example, if Ayesha (MABH) disagrees with Ibn Abbas (MABH) in a ruling, in such a way that Ibn Abbas confirms it and Ayesha (MABH) denies it, it is necessary that both of them are innovators in the eyes of each other, and as a result, this statement will lead to some jurists considering others as misguided; whereas there has never been such a thing among jurists, and it is not recorded in history that a mujtahid called another mujtahid an innovator; on the contrary, if a mujtahid did not oblige people to accept a ruling, he would prefer to act on it and say: It is permissible to act on it because he does not disagree with someone who considers it obligatory. This is evidence of the respect that mujtahids have for opinions. Although they did not accept the implementation of a ruling based on personal Ijtihad, they considered it permissible to implement it to resolve differences. For example, according to Imam Abu Hanifa (MABH), touching a non-Mahram woman does not invalidate wudu. However, he said that performing wudu after touching is Sunnah, because he does not disagree with someone who considers it obligatory. It is also not permissible to attribute innovation to a ruling that has been proven by a weak hadith, since such a ruling has been proven in general, because the weakness of the hadith is related to its chain of transmission, such as one of its narrators having a weakness or defect, or there is a defect in the text of the hadith that has led to its weakness, while the hadith may actually be Sahih (because the aforementioned weaknesses are temporary). If some have called it an innovation, they do not mean innovation from the perspective of Sharia, but innovation in the terminology of the people of language.
Weak hadiths are followed in moral virtues!
Most jurists believe that it is permissible to rely on and follow weak hadiths in relation to moral virtues and honors, whether it is doing something or leaving something out, because the hadith may be authentic in principle and because we may deprive Muslims of the reward and virtue of doing something or leaving something out due to weakness in the chain of transmission.
An example of doing an action: It was narrated from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) that he said: “Whenever a great man of a people comes to you, honor him.” Al-Qarafi narrated in “Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din” that Abu Dawud said this hadith is weak. However, honoring someone who is of status is one of the moral virtues.
An example of not doing an action: It was narrated from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) that he said: “Do not occupy your hearts with worldly matters.” Suyuti in his “Jami’ al-Sagheer” considered it weak. However, it is better for a believer not to let his heart be occupied and eager with worldly matters.
Of course, those who consider acting on weak hadiths permissible in terms of moral virtues have not considered it absolute, and it is necessary to consider the following conditions in it:
1. The hadith should not be very weak, in such a way that there is no one in its chain of transmission who is accused of lying, because the narration of someone who has been proven to be lying is fake.
2. The hadith should be subject to the general principles and rules common in the science of hadith and jurisprudence.
3. The one who acts on a weak hadith should not believe that the hadith is definitely the saying of the Prophet (PBUH); rather, he should act on it out of caution. Therefore, it is better not to do sometimes, if it is something that is done openly so that people do not think that it has been proven to be from the Prophet (PBUH). However, if it is something that is done away from the sight of people, there is nothing wrong with continuing to do it.
Therefore, if one of the above conditions is not present, it is not permissible to act on weak hadith. Also, rulings that are obligatory and binding are not proven based on weak hadiths, unless that weak hadith is strong and confirmed by a witness or a Motabehi and the like.
Continues…
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