| How did the companions and pious predecessors understand sunnah and bidda? |
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Habib Umar answers some FAQS - this is a transcript of the Lecture delivered at Melbourne University in 2009.
How did the companions and pious predecessors understand sunnah and bidda? Sunna and bidda have a linguistic and shariah meaning. If we take prayer as an example, it has a Shariah definition in terms of action and words that begin with takbir which in turn has its conditions, and has a linguistic meaning which is praying/supplication. An example is the command from Allah to rasul Allah that if someone gives him charity that he makes salat upon him. So rasul Allah would take charity but wouldn’t stand up to pray two rakat, but would supplicate if they bought their zakat to him. Alalh says take from their wealth sadaqah that will purify them and pray upon them as your salat is a means for serenity for them. Sunna has a Shariah meaning, and scholars of Islamic legal theory, usool, say that all that it is of the statements and actions of the Prophet ,and the things that he confirmed 'takreerat'. The scholars of seerah include his physical description and description of his character. The jurists of sacred law say it is that which he encouraged us to do -so that if one does it they get reward and no punishment if it is left. So in this meaning it is always good; but in a linguistic meaning it can be a good or bad sunnah. In sahih muslim we find a hadith that states that whoever initiates into islam a sunna hasanah- good practice- will have the reward of it and the reward of those who do it. And whoever initiates into islam a bad practice- sunnah sayiah- the sin of it will be upon him and the sin of those who do it after him. Here in the Hadith the prophet divided sunnah into a good sunnah and a bad sunnah. This is the linguistic meaning- ie, its a path- that He took a path. Juxtaposing this is bidaa or innovation. So in sacred law innovation is all that goes against the prophet Mohammad or the sacred law that he bought (from leaving an obligation or doing something forbidden) or belittling a sunnah or finding something offensive pleasurable. These innovation would be something terrible in this definition- in this is the Hadith that all new invented acts are innovation and every innovation is a form of misguidance and that every misguidance is in the fire. The meaning of this innovation is that is goes against the nusoos (the book and sunnah). As for the linguistic meaning of innovation: sayidna umar said when he gathered people to pray taraweeh in the mosque that what a great bidaa innovation this was. Umar is one of the four rightly guided caliphs that we have been ordered to follow. When saydna abu bakr gathered the Koran, which was something not done at the time of rasul Allah, at first sayidna umar said how can you do something the prophet didn’t do?, until Allah expanded the heart of umar and he called sayidna ubay ibn kaab to help in gathering the Koran into one compiled book. It was written at time of the prophet but in many parchments and was preserved. sayiddna umar said how can u do something rasul Allah didn’t do?, but abu bakr said it is something good. So this clarifies that their understanding of bidaa was not that it was something rasul Allah didn’t do. This is the understanding of abu bakr and umar. So who’s understanding is it that anything the prophet did not do is innovation??. The ummah didn’t hear this till the last century. All the centuries passed and this understanding didn’t exist. Even though they realised this was a great affair sayidna abu bakr said that this action was good and Allah expanded his heart to do it. He said that were they to force me to move a mountain, it would be easier for me to do than the book of Allah. Imam shafieh says in al umm, that there are 2 types of innovation: praiseworthy and blameworthy- as for praiseworthy its anything that agrees with the tradition and sunnah and the blameworthy type is anything that goes against the tradition and sunnah. The understanding of all those that came in the previous centuries is an understanding that is in perfect agreement with the sacred law/scripture. Its muslims and others that find a good way of interacting with it. The understanding that people have come to have in these times, makes the person who believe it be in a state of contradiction. That which his lower desire dislikes he will say this is innovation, that the prophet and his companions didn’t do. The same person will do all sort of things that the prophet didn’t do and when asked why he does these things he wont have a response and will say that is something different not done at the time of the prophet but is something permissible. So the same proof can be used for both things but they use it for one thing but the other they don’t. May Allah protect us from this. Allah's deen is greater than it to be taken as play or as the way people think about it- its about following and respecting and leaving ones desires and having humility and sincerity and in this the deen of Allah stands. Rasul Allah, his sunna and the companions are not narrated to have got a classroom together so that they can convey the Shariah and to learn the deen- but they had land in their time and they had buildings and chairs, but they didn’t do this. But we see ourselves tonight in a classroom but we haven’t gone against their way nor have we turned away from the deen and we have used a microphone and that none of the sahabah used a microphone and that the non muslims invented it- in the haram they use it for adaan and adaan is a form of worship and a sacred symbol of islam and there is now a new way of doing it- but you don’t say this is an innovation. If it comes to something else they will say it wasn’t done like that at the time of rasul Allah and its haram!. Why are people playing with the proofs- the deen of Allah is not a game!. There was a person who had a misunderstanding of what a innovation was. He came to one of the common people as he didn’t have enough knowledge to argue with one with knowledge. He said to this common muslim every time he would say or do something, that that is a innovation. Finally when he got frustrated with this person he turned to him and asked why are you always saying that my actions are innovation? And he said that you are an innovation as you weren’t alive at the time of rasul Allah. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 April 2011 10:15 |