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"What is Sunnah & Biddah (innovation) ?”

Read the following Ahadiths (or atleast find the time to read
the highlighted text)
Abu Dawud.

Book 35. Model Behavior of the Prophet.

Book 035, Hadith Number 4590.

Chapter : Not known.

Narrated By Irbad ibn Sariyah : AbdurRahman ibn Amr as-Sulami and Hujr
ibn Hujr said: We came to Irbad ibn Sariyah who was among those about
whom the following verse was revealed: "Nor (is there blame) on those who
come to thee to be provided with mounts, and when thou saidst: "I can find
no mounts for you."

We greeted him and said: We have come to see you to give healing and
obtain benefit from you.

Al-Irbad said: One day the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) led us in prayer, then
faced us and gave us a lengthy exhortation at which the eyes shed tears
and the hearts were afraid.

A man said: Apostle of Allah! It seems as if it were a farewell exhortation, so

what injunction do you give us?

He then said: I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and

obey even if it be an Abyssinian slave, for those of you
who live after me will see great disagreement. You must
then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided
caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid novelties,
for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation
is an error.
Book 034, Hadith Number 4515.
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Chapter: Should a Muslim be killed for an infidel.

Narrated By Ali ibn Abu Talib : Qays ibn Abbad and Ashtar went to Ali and
said to him: Did the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) give you any instruction about
anything for which he did not give any instruction to the people in general?

He said: No, except what is contained in this document of mine. Musaddad

said: He then took out a document. Ahmad said: A document from the
sheath of his sword.

It contained: The lives of all Muslims are equal;

they are one hand against others; the lowliest
of them can guarantee their protection. Beware,
a Muslim must not be killed for an infidel, nor
must one who has been given a covenant be
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killed while his covenant holds. If anyone
introduces an innovation, he will be responsible
for it. If anyone introduces an innovation or
gives shelter to a man who introduces an
innovation (in religion), he is cursed by Allah, by
His angels, and by all the people.
Musaddad said: Ibn AbuUrubah's version has: He took out a document.

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Hadith Number 028 : The Authority Of Abu Najih Al-Erbadh bin Sariah
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The messenger of Allah gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled
with fear and tears came to our eyes. We said: "O Messenger of Allah, it is
as though this is a farewell sermon, so councel us." He said: "I councel you
to fear Allah and to give absolute obedience even if a slave becomes your
Verily he among you who lives [long] will see
leader.
great controversy, so you must keep to my sunnah
and to the sunnah of the rightly-guided Khalifahs -
cling to them stubbornly. Beware of newly invented
matters, for every invented matter is an innovation
and every innovation is a going astray, and every
going astray is in Hell-fire."
Reporters.

Related by Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmithi, who said that it was a fine and true
Hadith.

The above mentioned Ahadiths may be helpful to make it clear

to you that it is necessary for a Muslim to beware of every
novel act, every act of innovation in the religion in order to
save himself from Hell-fire.

How can one save himself from innovation? The answer is clear.
If you know the Sunnah, you will know that a particular act is
against the Sunnah and therefore it is a Biddah (an innovation).
Here are some examples of the innovations.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah.(Plz. Check this one)

Book 7. Azhan, Call To Prayer.
Volume 001 : Purification and Prayer. Fiqh 1.107A.
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Section : Zhikr and azhan.

Making zhikr, supplications, and practices of a similar nature before the

morning azhan are innovations to the sunnah. In al-Iqna and its
commentary, a book of Hanbali fiqh, it is stated, "What some callers do
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before the morning azhan (i.e. zhikr, chanting, loud supplications and so
on) are not part of the sunnah. No scholar has said that it is preferred to do
such acts. In fact, they are hateful innovations introduced after the time of
the Prophet and his companions. No one is to order such acts, and no one is
to blame one who avoids such acts. If one has left money for such acts, it is
not permissible to use it for those acts, as they contradict the sunnah. In
Talbis Iblis by Ibn al-Jauzi, it states, "I have seen people staying up a part of
the night on the minaret admonishing the people, making zhikr and reciting
the Qur'an in a loud voice. They keep people from sleeping and disturb
those who are making late-night prayers. These are rejected and evil
actions." Ibn Hajr says in Fath al-Bari, "What is done in the way of zhikr
before the morning azhan, the Friday prayers and the prayers for the
Prophet is derived neither from the azhan nor from the Islamic law.

(My notes: Zikr(in the form of Tasbeeh and recitation of the Qur’an) can be
made at anytime but to specifically fix the time before the fajr thinking it to
be Sunnah is nothing but innovation.)

Volume 001 : Purification and Prayer. Fiqh 1.107B.(Plz. Check this one)
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Section : To say aloud "Peace and blessings upon the Messenger" after the
azhan.

This is a hated innovation. Ibn Hajr says in al-Fatawa al-Kubra, "Our shaikhs
and others have given a legal verdict about the prayers and salutations for
the Prophet after the azhan and how the callers to prayer do it. Their verdict
is that (the prayers for the Prophet) has its root in the sunnah, but the
manner in which they perform it is an innovation." Muhammad 'Abduh was
asked about saying the prayers and salutation for the Prophet subsequent to
the azhan and he said, "The azhan, as mentioned in al-Khaniyyah, is only for
the prescribed prayers. It consists of fifteen phrases, the last being La ilaha
illal-lah. Whatever is mentioned before or after it is an innovation. It has
been introduced for rhythm, and nothing else. There is hardly a scholar who
has allowed it, nor does it make any sense to say that it is a good
innovation, for every innovation in matters of worship is evil. Whoever
claims that it is not for melody is lying."

(My notes: What I understand from this is :-

Reciting the Darood after the Adhaan is prescribed in the Hadees, also the
the duas to be recited after the Adhaan are mentioned in the Hadeeth, but
those has to be recited individually, to recite them in the Mike by the
Mua’ddhin is Bida’ah(innovation)

Volume 002 : Supererogatory Prayer. Fiqh 2.066.

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Section : Repeating imam's words for others in the back rows.

If some people cannot hear the imam, it is preferred for one to repeat in a
loud voice the imam's words for the others to hear. There is consensus
among scholars that repeating aloud after the imam’s without there being
any real need for it is an abhorrent innovation.

Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.056A.

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Section : .
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Recite or raise one's voice or any similar activity. Ibn Al-Munzhir related that
Qais ibn 'Abbad said: "The Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
disliked raising one's voice on three occasions, namely, funeral processions,
when remembering Allah, and on the battlefield."

Sa'id ibn Al-Musaib, Sa'id ibn Jubair, Al-Hasan, An-Nakh'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq
did not like it when anyone from the rear of the funeral procession exhorted
others to pray for forgiveness of the deceased. Al-Awza'i said: This is a bid'a
(innovation in religion). Fuzhail ibn 'Amr said: "Once, while Ibn 'Umar was
present at a funeral, he heard someone from behind saying: 'Pray for Allah's
forgiveness for the deceased. May Allah forgive him.' Ibn 'Umar said: 'May
Allah not forgive you'."

An-Nawawi said: "You should know that the right manner of accompanying a
funeral procession is to remain quiet, as the pious among the previous
generations of Muslims did. One should not raise one's voice for recitation or
for the remembrance of Allah, or for anything else. Keeping quiet is better
and is helpful in concentrating one's attention on the funeral rites, which is
needed at that time. This is the correct position, and the fact that a large
number of people do otherwise does not change it. There is a consensus
among scholars that the way ignorant people recite in the funeral
processions, artificially prolonging sounds of various words and mixing them
up, is forbidden.

Mohammad 'Abduh issued a verdict concerning raising one's voice for the
remembrance of Allah while following the funeral procession, in which he
said: "In reference to the raising of one's voice in a funeral procession for
remembrance of Allah, we find in Al-Fath, under the chapter on "Funerals,"
that it is disliked for a person walking in front of a funeral procession to
make such remembrance loudly. If one wants to make any remembrance,
one may do it in one's heart. Loud remembrance is something quite new,
and there is no precedent for it from the days of the Prophet, peace be upon
him, and his Companions, or from the generation following them or their
Successors. Such a practice must be discouraged and stopped."

Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.082.

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Section : Sitting for Condolences.

The sunnah concerning this is that one should offer condolences to the
bereaved family and leave. Neither the consoler nor the consoled should sit
down. This is the lesson we learn from the example of our righteous
predecessors. Ash-Shafi'i in his Al-Umm said, "I dislike gathering in groups
together to give condolences even if those gathered do not cry. Such a
gathering revives sorrow and adds to the grief and burden of the bereaved
family. An-Nawawi said, "Ash-Shafi'i and his companions disliked sitting for
condolences, whereby members of the family stay in their homes to receive
anyone coming to give their condolences. Instead, they should go about
their usual tasks and needs. This applies both to men and women. Al-
Muhamili states this explicitly and transmits it in reference to a text from
Ash-Shafi'i. This is makruh tanzihi (Makruh tanzihl signifies something which
is undesirable yet is closer to the lawful) unless it is coupled with some
other innovation. If it is accompanied with another forbidden innovation
(bid'ah), as is generally the case, then it is regarded as one of the strongly
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forbidden acts. All such acts are an innovation, and as a sound hadith says,
"All novel acts are an innovation and every innovation is error."

Ahmad and many other Hanafi scholars also hold this opinion. Early Hanafi
scholars, however, held the view that there is nothing wrong in holding a
gathering at places other than mosques for three days of condolence, so
long as one does nothing prohibited. The practices of some people
nowadays, such as gathering for condolences, setting up tents, spreading
carpets, and incurring a lot of expenses out of arrogance and show off are
all despicable innovations that are forbidden and must be avoided,
especially when most of these acts are contradictory to the teachings of the
Qur'an and sunnah and are vestiges of pre-Islamic customs of jahiliyyah.
Some of these innovations are reciting the Qur'an in a melodic fashion and
disregarding the rules of proper recitation, or not keeping silent when
listening to the Qur'an or indulging in smoking or such other activities. And
this is not all. Some of these slaves of their desires indulge in extreme
innovation. They are not satisfied with the days originally prescribed by
Islam, but designate Wednesday as the day to renew these abominations
and to indulge in these innovations. They celebrate the anniversary of death
on the first day and observe remembrance on the second day, and do other
such other things without any justification by either text or reason.

Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.083A.

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Section : Etiquette of Visiting Graves.

Whoever pays a visit to a grave should face the deceased, greet him, and
supplicate for him. On this subject we find the following: Buraidah reported:
"The Prophet, peace be upon him, taught us that when we visited graves we
should say, 'Peace be upon you, O believing men and women, O dwellers of
this place. Certainly, Allah willing, we will join you. You have preceded us
and we are to follow you. We supplicate to Allah to grant us and you
security'.'' (Reported by Muslim, Ahmad, and others)

Ibn 'Abbas reported: "Once the Prophet, peace be upon him, passed by
graves in Madinah. He turned his face toward them saying: 'Peace be upon
you, O dwellers of these graves. May Allah forgive us and you. You have
preceded us, and we are following your trail'." (Tirmizhi)

'Aishah said: "Every time it was my turn to be with the Prophet, peace be
upon him, toward the end of the night, he would go out to the cemetery of
al-Baqi' and would say,

'Peace be upon you, O abode of believers. What you were promised will
come to pass tomorrow at a fixed time. We shall, Allah willing, soon join you.
O Allah! Grant forgiveness to the people who are buried in al-Baqi' al-
Gharqad',' (Muslim)

'Aishah also reported: "I asked: 'What should I say when I pass by a
graveyard, O Messenger of Allah?' He replied, 'Say, "Peace be upon the
believing men and women dwelling here. May Allah grant mercy to those
who have preceded us and those who are to follow them. Certainly, Allah
willing, we will join you"'."

What some people do, like wiping hands over the graves and tombs, kissing
them, and circumambulating around them are abominable innovations.
Such things should not be done, for they are unlawful. These things are
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permissible, however, if performed in relation with the House of Allah, the
Ka'abah, for Allah has so honored it. The grave of the Prophet, peace be
upon him, cannot be considered a similar case, nor the tomb of a saint. All
good comes from adherence to his example whereas all evil flows from
innovating new things in religion.

"The Prophet, peace be upon him, visited the graves to supplicate for their
inhabitants, and to seek mercy and forgiveness of Allah for them. Contrary
to this, the pagans supplicated to the dead, swearing by them, asking them
for their needs, and seeking their support and help. Such pagan practices
are in conflict with the guidance of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his
teachings about the Oneness of Allah and about the manner of supplicating
for Allah's mercy for the dead. The people who do such things are guilty of
polytheism; For anyone who looks to the guidance of the Messenger of
Allah, peace be upon him, and his Companions, the distinction between the
two cited positions is fairly obvious."

Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.089.

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Section : Presenting a Reward to Allah's Messenger (pbuh).

Ibn al-Qayyim said, "Some of the latter jurists hold it desirable while others
do not agree because they regard it as an innovation (bid'ah). The
Companions never did it. The Prophet, peace be upon him, shall receive a
reward for every good done by anyone from among his community
(Ummah) without in the least diminishing the reward of the doer. This is
because he is the one who invited his community to every good, and led
them to it, and because the one who calls others to truth always has a
reward similar to that of those who follow it without in any way diminishing
their reward. Whatever guidance or knowledge his community gained, they
gained it only through him, so he shall have a reward equal to that of his
followers whether they formally dedicate it to him or not.