MEANING OF BID'A AND IT'S APPLICATION TO RELIGION REFOERMERS

61 - The following passage is translated from an-Nabulusi's Al-Hadiqat an-nadiyya:

"1) The hadith ash-Sharif recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim declares, 'If something that does not exist in this religion, which I have revealed, is brought forth with the hope of thawab, this thing will be refused.' This hadith points out that it is not a bidat to bring forth something that does not concern the religion or worship. The improvements, changes made in eating, drinking, dressing, building houses and in transportation are not bidat.

"2) A hadith recorded by at-Tabarani says, 'If Muslims, after their Prophet ('alaihi 's-salam), make a bidat, an innovation in the religion, which he revealed, a sunnat which is similar to it dissappears from among them.' This hadith points out that it is not bidat to make an improvement or a change in wordly affairs and customs, which is done without expecting thawab.

"3) It is declared in a hadith recorded by at-Tabarani, 'Until a man of bidat gives up his bidat, Allahu ta'ala does not accept his repentance.' It is necessary to repent after every sin. There are three conditions for the repentance to be correct: to put an end to sinning, to repent what one has done and to resolve upon never to do it again. If he has any debt or duty to other people, he has to pay it back and have himself forgiven. By 'man of bidat' is meant one who brings forth a bidat or who commits a bidat that has already been brought forth. 'Bidat' means 'inventing a belief, a deed, a word or a moral habit that does not exist in the religion, or spreading such an innovation, and expecting reward for it in the next world'. If a person who commits a sin continuously repents for another kind of sin, his repentance will be accepted. Man of bidat expects thawab from his bidat and thinks that he is doing something good. Therefore, he does not think of repenting.

"4) It is declared in a hadith recorded by Ibn Maja, 'Unless the man of bidat gives up his bidat, Allahu ta'ala does not accept any of his worship.' Even the correct worship of an innovator in the religion, who changes a belief, worship, word or a habit in the religion, will not be accepted. That is, he will be deprived of reward for worship in the next world. He has to give up his bidat.

"5) It is declared in a hadith recorded by Ibn Maja, 'Even if a bidat does not cause unbelief, its inventor's fast, hajj, 'umra, jihad, repentance or any goodness will not be accepted. It is as easy for this person to go out of the religion as pulling out hairs from the butter.' [For the originals and explanation of these five hadiths, see an-Nabulusi's Arabic book Al-hadiqat an-nadiyya published by Hakikat Kitabevi.] Though his fard and supererogatory kinds of worship which he does suitably with the rules will be valid (sahih) and he will get rid of debt of worship, his worshiping will not be accepted (maqbul), that is, he will not be rewarded in the next world. If his bidat gives way to unbelief, that is, if he utters a word, uses something or does something which cause unbelief, his iman will disappear and his worshiping will not be valid. A man of bidat considers his bidat good and thawab-deserving. Therefore, he gets out of the religion easily. The person who commits a bidat supposes that it is of worship and expects reward for it in the next world. As for the person who commits a sin, he knows that his sin is a guilt, and he feels ashamed towards his Allahu ta'ala and fears His punishment. Bidats are great sins, but not every sin is a bidat.

"Bidat is an Arabic word. It means something which did not exist formerly and which has been brought forth later. In this respect, the changes, reformations done both in customs and in worshiping are bidat. 'Adat (custom) is an action which is done for its worldly use alone without expecting any reward as a recompense in the next world. In contrast, 'ibada (worship) is the action as a recompense of which reward is expected in the next world. Since everything which had not existed in the times of the Sahabat al-kiram and the Tabiin and appeared later is a bidat, scholars have divided bidat' into such groups as mubah, wajib, mustahab and haram. They have called that which is mustahab or wajib a bidat hasana.

"In view of the religion, however, bidat means an addition or reduction that has been made in the religion and against the Prophet's ('alaihi 's-salam) consent after as-Sahabat al-kiram and the Tabiin, that is, it is a change made as worship and presumed to be thawab-deserving. And reform in the religion means bidat in the religion. Changes that are made in customs are outside this kind of bidat. The ones that are declared to be evil in the Hadith ash-Sharif are the bidat' in the religion. These reforms do not help worship. They all spoil worship.

"The reforms in the religion part into two groups: the bidat' in belief and those in 'ibada. The reforms in belief are either made with ijtihad, that is, they are derived from the Qur'an and the Hadith, or out of choice by reasoning or deducing. Ijtihad requires to be done by a profound scholar, that is, a mujtahid. If a mujtahid makes a mistake in doing ijtihad in belief, he will not be pardoned. He will be guilty. If the thing concerning belief, which he has misunderstood, is declared clearly in the religion and is so widespread that even the ignorant have heard about it and know it, this mujtahid and those who believe him will become unbelievers. A person who is understood to be an unbeliever cannot escape unbelief unless he repents this misbelief of his, even if he says he is a Muslim and spends all his life worshiping. If the thing concerning belief had been declared openly but is not the kind everybody has heard of, or if it had not been declared openly, he will become not an unbeliever but a man of bidat or a heretic. This wrong belief of his is a sin which is greater even than the great sins such as murder and fornication. It has been declared in hadiths that there would be seventy-two groups of bidat and that they will all go to Hell.

"If something related to belief is put forth in a wrong form by non-mujtahid men who think of themselves as mujtahids and attempt to interpret ayats and hadiths or speak according to their own points of view, those who believe it will become unbelievers even if it is not a clearly declared or widespread teaching. For example, a mujtahid who disbelieves, as a result of his ijtihad, in Rasulullah's ('alaihi 's-salam) Ascension (Miraj) or in the questioning in grave becomes a man of bidat, that is, a heretic, while a non-mujtahid man of religious post who, as a result of his own reasoning or opinion, disbelieves in them becomes a non-Muslim because of having slighted the teachings of the religion.

"Islamic scholars who have not gone wrong in their ijtihad in the belief and the Muslims who believe the truth like them are called Ahl as-Sunnat or Sunni.

"The worship of the seventy-two groups of bidat is not acceptable even if they worship correctly. Their bidat in their worshiping is an additional guilt, even if they call it ijtihad.

"The ijtihads deduced by the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars in the knowledge concerning 'ibadat are not bidat'. Their mistakes in finding out this knowledge will not cause them to be guilty.

Leaders of the four madhhabs derived this knowledge, with the permission of the Prophet ('alaihi 's-salam) who revealed Islam, from the sources which Islam declares. This knowledge has not changed Islam, but it has helped Islam. Ijtihad cannot be employed on the things that are declared clearly in the Qur'an and the Hadith. They should be admitted as they are. It is not a guilt to go wrong in searching for the proof of something that has not been declared openly. But, if the proof stating the right way is clear and if the mujtahid goes wrong in finding out the proof, or by following his own mind without deriving from a proof, an 'ibada based on this deduction is a bidat and heresy. If such a reform causes a sunnat muakkada to disappear, it will be a greater sin.

"The action Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) used to perform as an 'ibada and omitted from time to time is called sunnat huda or sunnat muakkada. It has not been declared that those who sometimes omit them will be punished. An action which he never neglected and he said that those who would neglect it would be punished is called wajib. That which he performed at times is called mustahab. An action which he used to do not as an 'ibada but as custom is called sunnat zawaid or adab. It is adab to begin with good things on the right and with bad things on the left and to use the right and left hands.

"It is not a bidat to make changes in customs. It is better for men of wara' not to do it. It is declared in the Hadith, 'Hold fast to my sunnat and, after me, to the sunnas of al-Khulafa' ar-

Rashidin.' The word sunnat, when used alone, means everything that Islam declares. Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) who revealed Islam, did not declare anything on customs, for he came in order to preach the religion, not to teach people how to do the things they needed in the world. It is declared in the Hadith, 'You know better how to do your worldly affairs,' meaning that there was no need to tell them how to find and do the things that were useful for their world and that they should learn from him the religion and worship which they could not know. For this reason, customs remain outside Islam. Changes that are done in the things outside Islam are not bidat'.

"Minarets, schools, books and the like which have been produced later are not bidat' or reforms in the religion. These are things which help the religion. Islam has permitted and even commanded them. Things of this sort are called sunnat hasana. It is called sunnat sayyia to bring forth the things which Islam has prohibited. Bidat' are sunnat sayyia. The reason why the sunnat hasana were not done in the time of as-Sahaba and Tabiin was because they did not need these useful things. They were performing the jihad against unbelievers, conquering lands and spreading Islam over the world. In their time, men of bidat had not appeared or increased. It is permissible and thawab to bring forth sunnat hasana until the end of the world.

"In 'ibadat it is worse to commit a bidat than to neglect a sunnat. It is haram to commit a bidat while it is makruh to neglect a sunnat without excuse. If one supposes that it is thawab to neglect a sunnat without any excuse, it will be bidat for him to neglect a sunnat. When it is unknown if a belief, a deed or a word is a sunnat or bidat, it is necessary not to perform it, for it is necessary not to do the bidat, and it is not obligatory to perform the sunnat. If something not obligatory is omitted, it will not be performed afterwards. Therefore, the omitted sunnas of salat will not be performed afterwards. It is more thawab than all the worship of human beings and genies not to commit the smallest of what Allahu ta'ala has prohibited. For this reason, a wajib also can be omitted where there is difficulty. But it has been said by scholars that haram cannot be committed. For example, one cannot clean, near others, the parts of his body that, have to be covered.

"Unanimity of the mujtahids who have lived in the same century is called ijma'. Ijma' has to be based on a proof, a document. This proof is an ayat or a hadith even if only one person has reported it, or it is a qiyas based upon them. Qiyas is the explanation of something that has been declared indistinctly in the ayat and in the Hadith. Hadrat al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa performed ijtihad through qiyas.

"A person may become an 'arif or a wali without reading any book. He might interpret ayats but cannot be a guide. One cannot set his heart on him. A perfect guide has to have reached the degree of ijtihad in knowledge and the grade of Wilayat khassa al-Muhammadiyya in marifa. A perfect guide's every behavior, every manner, every word is compatible with Islam. This means to say that he follows Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) in every respect. For this reason, Allahu ta'ala loves him. Muslims, since they love Allahu ta'ala, love also the person whom Allahu ta'ala loves. Loving the perfect guide arises from loving Allahu ta'ala and Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam). This love is called al-hubbu fi'llah. It has been declared in the Hadith that the most valuable worship is al-hubbu fi'llah. To perform the commands of a perfect guide means to obey Islam, for a perfect guide's every word and every deed communicates Islam. The real person who presents knowledge on the earth is the perfect guide. Hence it can be understood that the words of the enemies of religion, 'Instead of Allahu ta'ala, they love a human being. Abandoning Islam, they worship a human being,' about Muslims, are ignorant and base slanders.

"Following as-Sahabat al-kiram is wajib. It is not permissible to make qiyas on something which they explained. Yet, it is not permissible for us the muqallids, that is, the persons who have not reached the grade of ijtihad, to follow their words. Their words and action indicate the Nass (the Qur'an and the Hadith) and their own ijtihads. Only the profound scholars who have attained the grade of ijtihad can understand them. Our madhhab leaders have understood them and communicated them to us as far as we could comprehend. This means to say that those who want to adapt themselves to the Sahabat al-kiram have to follow the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars.

"It is declared in a hadith recorded by al-Bukhari, 'Allahu ta'ala declared, "My human creature cannot approach to Me with anything else as close as he approaches by performing the fard actions. I love My human creature who approaches to Me through supererogatory worship." This hadith indicates that the kind of worship which Allahu ta'ala likes best consists of the fard actions. The supererogatory worship mentioned in the hadith is the worship done together with the fard. It means that Allahu ta'ala loves those who perform the fard and also the supererogatory worship.

"Allahu ta'ala says in surat al-Ma'ida as ma'al, 'look for a wasila (cause) to approach Me.' 'Ma'al' means 'according to what the scholars of Islam understood'. The Wahhabis say, ' 'Ibadat are the causes. In order to attain to Allahu ta'ala's consent and love, the 'ibadat that are fard and nafila should be performed. Entering a Tariqa, following a shaikh or entreating dead or living persons does not make one approach Allahu ta'ala; in fact, he gets far away.' The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, however, say, 'It is true that 'ibadat are the causes. Yet, the 'ibadat that are sahih, correct and khalis can be causes. 'Ibadat are sahih if one has correct iman and pure morals and performs them according to their conditions. For the salat to be sahih, for example, ablution, using clean water, performing it in due time and towards the qibla, reciting the ayats, tasbihs and prayers in salat correctly and knowing many other conditions and causes are necessary. Every 'ibada has such conditions and causes. These are learnt by working for years, not by thinking or dreaming of them. They are learnt by hearing them from the 'ulama' who believe, know and practice them or by reading their books, as scientific knowledge is learnt through professors in a long time. Such real scholars of Islam with pure iman and heart are called 'mudarris' (professor), 'mu'allim' (trainer) or 'murshid' (guide). 'Murshid' does not mean 'one who walks on the water surface, flies in the air, knows where a lost thing is and cures sick people by praying and blowing' but it means 'the scholar of Ahl as-Sunnat who knows, practices and teaches to others the Sharia, that is, the 'ibadat performed through the heart, soul and body'. To carry out the order in surat al-Ma'ida, every Muslim should look for such a murshid or for his books and should learn all fard and nafila 'ibadat from him.'

"We should not fall for the wrong words of the ignorant men of religion, who do not know Islam and for the impetuosities of the evil-minded people, who have not read the books of the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars and for the deceitful, false article of those who follow the unsound minds of the deviated people who have gone astray and who lead everybody astray. Scholars of Islam have derived their knowledge from the Qur'an and the Hadith. As for those deviated people, they write and speak following their own short sight. Shame on these reformers and those who fall for their words and books supposing them to be scholars! They are the thieves of faith and belief. They change the halal and the haram. They spoil Islam." [An-Nabulusi, al-hadiqa.]

In the section on the things that invalidate salat, Ibn 'Abidin wrote: "It is makruh tahrimi to accept the blameworthy, loathsome ones of the bidats in customs, such as eating, drinking, dressing, from the disbelievers, and to accept and to use, in order to resemble them, the ones that are not bad. It is not makruh to do and to use the ones that are not bad or harmful without trying to be like them. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) had a pair of shoes, which priests wore, made and he wore them."

Is it bidat or not to recite the surat al-Fatiha after salat and praying? Hadrat Hadimi writes its answer detailedly on the hundred and thirty-seventh page of the book Barika. Let's explain briefly: there have been those who considered it bidat and those who said the opposite. According to many of them, it is better to recite the Fatiha at places where it was declared to recite prayers. Moreover, it has been declared in the Hadith to recite prayers after salat. 'Bidat' means 'the 'ibada that is performed without Muhammad's ('alaihi 's-salam) permitting it.' The surat al-Fatiha descended in order to reveal the best of prayers. No one has said it would be a bidat to recite it after salat or prayers. It is forbidden for all the people to recite it laud altogether. When the imam says "Fatiha", it is good that everybody recite it silently. For it is mustahab to do hamd after prayers. And the best hamd is to recite the Fatiha. It is makruh to recite it between fard and sunnat and in order to attain what one desires.