Bid’ah

What is a bid’ah? What is the consequence of bid’ah?

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In many ahaadeeth the Prophet ﷺ warned people against bid’ah.
In the Arabic language, bid’ah means ‘something brought into existence for the first time’ or ‘anything new that is produced or invented that did not exist before”.
This meaning is general and applies to things related to religion as well as to those unrelated to it, such as technological advances.
The Islamic meaning of the word bid’ah is very different. Imaam ash-Shaatibee defines bid’ah using the Qur’aan and Sunnah. He says:

A bid’ah is any invented act or way that is made to resemble some part of the Sharee’ah and is followed as an act of the worship of Allah ﷻ . It only relates to acts of worship. (ash-Shaatibee)

Therefore, based on this definition, any act that is not associated with religion should not be thought of as a bid’ah. This means that using planes, microphones, plastic toothbrushes and any other forms of technology that did not exist at the time of the Prophet ﷺ must not be considered as being forms of bid’ah.

In order for an act to be classed as a bid’ah, the following three conditions have to be met:

(i) It is an act of worship that is not based on the Qur’aan and Sunnah of the Prophets ﷺ .

(ii) It is something that is done to worship Allah ﷻ .

(iii) It is an act that is done with the intention of pleasing Allah ﷻ .

People who are involved in bid’ah are in fact trying to add things to the religion. By doing this, they have implied that Islam is incomplete. However, it is known that the Prophet ﷺ passed on the message of Allah ﷻ without any mistakes. The hadeeth of the Farewell Hajj clarifies this. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Have I not conveyed Allah’s ﷻ Message to you?” They replied, “Yes.” The Prophet said three times, “Allah! Be witness for it.” (Narrated by ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, in Al-Bukhaari, and by Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah, in Muslim with a different wording.)

Being involved in bid’ah also goes against the teachings of the Qur’aan. This is because Allah ﷻ says,

ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًۭا ۚ ( سورة المائدة :٣)

This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. (Soorat al-Maaidah: 3).

People who are involved in bid’ah do not follow the path of Allah ﷻ . ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood said:

The Prophet ﷺ drew a line for us and then said, “This is the path of Allah.” Then he drew some lines on the right and left of the first one, and said, “These are other paths and at the end of each one of them, there is a shaytaan calling to it.” Then he recited the aayah, “This is my straight path, so follow it. And follow no other paths as they will lead you astray from His path.” (Ahmad)

From this, it is clear that there is only one path in Islam. This is following the Qur’aan and the authentic Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with the understanding of the Companions. This path is the straight path which leads to an everlasting life in Paradise. This path is the opposite way to those who follow bid’ah. As the hadeeth narrated by ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood states, every path of bid’ah has a shaytaan calling the people to it. A shaytaan will never call the people to Paradise, but instead will call them to Hell. Therefore, being involved in bid’ah is a path leading to the punishment of Hellfire.

What we learn from the lesson: