what is innovation?

Bid’ah

(innovation):

The root of the word bid’ah in Arabic means initiating something without any precedent.
Bid’ah, literally means innovation. In special terms it means carrying out actions which displease Allah ta`ala and his messenger.

In the Quran, Allah describes himself as the “Badi us-Samawaat wa al-Ardh”, meaning the creator if the skies and earth. ‘Badi” here means a creator who brings something into existence from no previous material.On this basis, Bid’a, which comes from the same root word as Badi, means to initiate or create something upon an unprecedented example.

Example:

the innovated adhkaar (dhikr) such as saying the name of Allah on its own Allah | Allah | Allah) or the pronoun (Hu | Hu | Hu),meaning (He | He | He). This is a new thing that has been innovated in the religion, intended as worship of Allah,but there is no evidence for this, either specific or general so it is bid’ah.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave the best definition and criteria for deciding what innovation is commendable and what isn’t.

He(peace be upon him) said,”Whoever innovates [something] which is not from our matter [of Islam] then it is rejected”

(Bukhari and Muslim)

What this saying clearly indicates is that not all Bid’ah is rejected; rather those innovated practices are which are alien to Islam.
The Prophet in another saying- outlined the fact that there are some innovations that are actually good, and will lead to a reward.

Imam Muslim narrates a Hadith through the chain of Jarir ibn Abd Allah, who reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,”Whoever initiates a good practice in Islam then he will attain the reward for it and the reward of whoever acts upon it thereafter, without any shortcomings. And whoever initiates an evil practice, then he will carry the burden as well as the burden of whoever acts upon it thereafter, without any shortcomings”

Allah Ta’ala says in the Holy Qur’an:”And we ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the Monasticism which they innovated for themselves which we did not prescribe for them”Surah Al Hadeed, verse 27″

On the basis of above hadith and ayah scholars described two categories of biddah
1. Bid’ah sayyiah
2. Bid’ah hassanah.

Biddah Sayyiah:

Bid’ah sayyiah is a new thing, introduced to and made part of the Deen (Islam) that has no origin what so ever from the Qur’an or the Sunnah of Rasoolallah [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace]

Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim write that there was some companions talking and the Prophet was listening. One of them said: ‘I will make prayers (Salaah) all night long.’ The second said: ‘I will fast (sawm) all the time.’ The third said: ‘I will never marry.’ When our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace]heard them say this he said: ‘I am the most God conscious of Allah (Ta`ala) than anyof you. I pray (Salaah,) I fast (sawm) as well, and I do marry woman too. And who so turns his face from my Sunnah, cannot be of my Ummah’.[Mishkat Muslim, Bukhari chapter Ihtisam]

Bid’ah hasanah:

Bidah Hasanah is a Bid’ah that is not against the Qur’an or Sunnah.

For example:To invent the usool (principle) of Hadeeth

usool of Fiqh

usool of Tafsir.

Our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] asked Bilal radiAllahu unho “Whatdo you practice that from which you look forward to a lot of reward from Allah Subha Nahu Wata’ala. The reason being I heard yourfootsteps in Paradise. (junnaah”) Bilal radiAllahu unho replaid: “Whenever I do Ablution (Wudhu,) after it I always say a Prayer (Nafil Salaah”)[“Bukhari, Kitab Tahajud”]

Some examples of Bid’ah Hasana:

Punctuation in the Qur’anNames of Surahs written in the Qur’an Mihrabs in the Masjid Minarets of Masjid Taqleed of the four schools of Fiqh Fixing congregational prayer times with the clock times.

Categories of bid’ah hasanah:

In regards to the classification of bid’ah, some ‘Ulama state that there is only one type of bid‘ah, namely such innovations that fall under the juristic denotation of bid’ah These Ulama do not consider the innovations that merely fall under the linguistic meaning as being included in the ambit of bid’ah. They state that as long as there is some Shari substantiation for the innovation from juristic principles of substantiation, the innovation will not be considered as a bid‘ah. Other Ulama have classified bid’ah into two categories, namely, bid‘ah hasanah (good innovation) and bid‘ah sayyiah(evil innovation). They state that good innovations are such innovations in accordance with juristic principles and evil innovations are those in opposition to them. Another famous classification of innovations mentioned by Ulama such as Allamah al-Qarafī and Hafiz Ibn Hajr categorizes bid’ah into five different classifications, namely wājib, harām, mandūb, makrūh and mubāh.

wajib (compulsory innovations):

Those innovations which the principles of the Sharī‘ah necessitate and indicate towards being compulsory such as compiling the Qur’ān in one book, codifying the Sharī‘ah through juristic compilations and studying and teaching linguistic sciences such as Sarf (Arabic morphology) and Nahw (grammar and syntax) etc. for the sake of preserving and disseminating the Sharī‘ah etc.

harām (impermissible innovations):

Those innovations which the principle of the Sharī‘ah necessitate and indicate towards being impermissible such as innovated taxes levied on Muslims from oppressive leaders, inheriting a position by a person not fit for it by the mere fact that he is a offspring of the previous ruler, attributing to a Nabī or Walī some of the same attributes of Allah which would constitute shirk etc.

mandūb (praiseworthy innovations):

Those innovations which the principles of the Sharī‘ah necessitate and indicate towards being praiseworthy such as performing Tarāwīh Salāh in congregation behind one Imām, establishing Madāris for the dissemination of Islamic knowledge and discussing the in depth subtleties of Tasawwuf etc.

makrūh (reprehensible innovations):

Those innovations which the principles of the Sharī‘ah necessitate and indicate towards being reprehensible such as specifying a specific day or time for a specific type of worship and attaching importance to that time where as the Sharī‘ah did not do so, such as the prohibition of Rasūlullah for specifying the day of Friday for fasting and performing other types of worship like Tahajjud Salāh etc. Another example of this is celebrating the birthday of Rasūlullahصلى الله عليه و سلم and attaching specific importance to that day or night for specific types of worship whereas it was not practiced by Rasūlullah صلى الله عليه و سلم himself or his Sahābah رضى الله عنهم .

mubāh (permissible innovations):

Those innovations which the principles of the Sharī‘ah necessitate and indicate towards being permissible such as using a sieve for flour and eating delicacies and luxurious food. Certain narrations state that the first innovation to crop up into the Ummah is using the sieve for flour whereas using refined flour was not the custom during the era of Rasūlullah صلى الله عليه و سلم . However, it is known that increasing one’s comfort in life by eating good food and wearing comfortable clothing etc. is from among the mubāhāt (permissible actions).

And Allah knows best