Shadee Elmasry – Understanding Bidah- Not EVERY Innovation is Misguidance
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The speakers discuss the definition of innovation and how it can be either good or bad, using the hadith of the Sun- Messala to explain the definition of innovation, including the definition of death and praiseworthy innovation. They also discuss the definition of new and current innovations, including the definition of a bidah and the definition of a new or current innovation. The importance of documenting new issues and cautioning against discussing them at the moment is emphasized, along with the need for researching the Sharia and learning about the language. The speakers emphasize the need to be cautious and consider clarifying situations, while also acknowledging the importance of documenting new issues and clarifying situation expectations.
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Today, we are gonna talk about, and
we're gonna talk about
the hadith
of
Every innovation
is a misguidance.
Alright. That's what we're gonna talk about. And
we're gonna read from ibn Hajjar al Asqalani,
imam al Nawawi, ibn Abdulbar,
ibn Hajjar al Haytami. There's 2 ibn Hajjrs
here.
And We're gonna read from 6 books. When
you hear always hear, that's an innovation.
This is a bidah. So you gotta pay
attention because, well, are all bidah as 1?
So for example, if you go to a
community and every single person after a,
immediately they shake your hand,
to. Every single.
Well, that's an innovation.
Is that an innovation at the same level
of
believing that Adam evolved?
Or are there a gradation of innovations?
That's the question we're gonna answer.
Alright. First one. First reading. Let's read the
first from Ibn Hajjar al Asqalani.
In this hadith, the worst of affairs or
newly invented
affairs.
First condition.
Does not have
any
basis in the. So the first thing is
let's def define
death and even Hajar says here,
death that which is considered brand new, and
we call that thing that has no
origin in the Sharia.
The technical term for that in Sharia is
and that which does have an origin
in the Sharia,
it has a a a root
that the Sharia points to would not be
considered
a bidah. So the word bidah in Sharia
is blameworthy,
unlike bidah in language, which could be good.
Right? In language. When we say in language,
for example, someone innovated a piece of technology.
That's fine.
Benefited people with it. So in language, linguistically,
not a problem.
Anything that is totally brand new that there's
no
connection to it in the past,
linguistically,
we call it
a whether it's good or bad. So someone
invents a nuclear bomb, he innovated something. Someone,
created this assembly line, that's an also another
innovation or inventing a car or inventing a
phone, whatever. So
linguistic innovation is, that can anything that's new.
So he points to another hadith. He says
the definition of this bidah is found in
said Aisha's hadith.
Whoever innovates something in this affair of ours,
meaning in religion, not in technology, not in
medicine, not in anything else in religion,
that which is not from it, for it's
rejected.
And he says that he went over this
in other books and in other chapters
and beware of newly invented matters. Every innovation
is a misguidance.
These hadith are all similar to one another.
He quotes now his imam, because I've been
Hajjar is a chef. He quotes a chef.
That which is in line with the sunnah
is
praiseworthy.
Mahmoud.
That which contradicts the sunnah is blameworthy.
So here, the great imam, Asha Fa'id, is
dividing innovations
into 2 categories,
that which is blameworthy
and that which is,
praiseworthy. And how do you judge it? You
you compare it against the sharia.
A very simple example opening up a Quran
school, right, and saying, from 9 to 10,
you guys review. From 10 to 11, you
memorize the new chapters. From 10 to 11,
you
maybe learn some language so that you can
memorize the Quran easier. From 12 to 1,
you go and study the Quran again. Who's
telling where did that come from? Things like
that. So he says now let's re keep
reading.
New matters. New matters. Things you could say
the Sahaba never did it. The prophet never
did it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be.
New matters are of 2 types. That which
is a newly invented matter, but it contradicts
the book, the sunnah, the athar, meaning the
sayings of the early salaf and the early,
Muslims.
It contradicts it or Ijma of the Muslims.
That is the bidah that leads astray.
That which is invented of good. You came
up with something new. Like, what's his example
in lifetime that he approved of?
The addition
additional words to the of
Eid. However, they he went to Egypt, and
he found the Egyptians had added to it.
So Imam, that is an invention. They added
words to the takbeer that the prophet
gave when
approved of it. So a chef himself
is saying now that newly invented matter
that does not contradict
the book, the sunnah, the other, and the
each mark,
then that is something that is an invention
in the deen that is not blameworthy.
And some of the
have divided up the bid out in action
into 5 categories.
That which is permitted, that which is recommended,
that which is obligatory, could be obligatory.
That like, using a mic for salah.
They're gathering the Quran in the time of
the Sahaba.
That bidah, that is
discouraged and that bidah, that is forbidden.
We're reading Ibn Hajar an bida. So the
first
bida is ibn Hajar is saying here. The
first bida was tadween al hadith
through my tafsir Quran, get writing down hadith,
writing down the tafsir of the Quran, and
these are and then writing down issues of
fiqh and chapterizing them.
And then and then having opinion
in matters in which the text is not
clear. All these are innovations that came, and
you have to, in each time,
assess what is guided from this and what
is not.
And then
he's saying, basically,
the matters of the heart, to write that
down. That was not not something the Sahaba
did. So what is envy? How do we
define envy? What are the states of the
heart, etcetera?
So as for the first one,
Omar and Abu Musa had issues
with much writing down of Hadith because they've
why? In in itself, no. They feared
error,
and they feared Tasahul,
taking it too lightly.
And but most of the companions,
they recognize his values.
So here in every new matter, there is
an ish there is some debate happening here.
So when Hadith was documented,
even
began was hesitant
because he saw that this thing could go
astray.
There could be errors here, and there were.
We do see that. So now that we're
documenting, hadith, give it some time, and a
whole group of people
began lying about the prophet peace upon him.
And that's why document or or they were
very sloppy about
transmitting from the prophet peace upon him. So
means you have to be extremely cautious about
these new matters.
And what he's gonna say here is take
only what is absolutely necessary.
Of course, you have to write hadith. It's
an absolute necessity as you have to document
the Quran and write that into a book.
These things are absolutely necessary. There's no discussion.
So what's in it? What are examples of
the categories of innovations? Where recite here from
Al Aizib Nabd Salaam
being cited by Ibn Hajj Al Askalani in
Fatihl Bari.
Aksam will bidati Khamsa, the categories of innovations.
Remember, we're talking about innovations of actions, not
innovations of.
Innovations of can render you out of Islam
altogether
or an a heretic and a sect and
an an innovator where you're a Muslim, but
your good deeds don't count or simply wrong,
but but you're still within and your good
deeds count for you or even permitted. So
their bidah and that we're not discussing right
now. He's talking about bidah in actions,
and we're citing from.
And he gives an example of
an obligatory
innovation, something the prophet
never did. And he says, getting busy learning
grammar.
Studying grammar. Because only by studying language, vocabulary,
and grammar, and,
syntax and morphology.
Can you understand the words of Allah and
his prophet
and the Sharia and upholding the Sharia as
an obligation?
Preserving the Sharia as an obligation.
So you can't understand the Sharia without understanding
Arabic. So the study of Arabic is a
on
the ummah.
It's a communal obligation. Every generation, some people
have to preserve the Arabic language and and
study it and teach it. So that is
an example of an obligatory innovation.
You explaining
words that are in hadith that are unknown
or that are,
unique or that are not well known
and also
documenting the methodology
of deriving rulings.
And likewise, it's an obligation,
to separate
sound hadiths
from unsound hadiths.
Got reading here from Al Aizib Nabdas Salam's
5 categories of innovations.
And an example of the forbidden innovation.
Beliefs, and he actually
is now bringing up.
What is forbidden?
And this would even be more than forbidden.
It would be put you out of at
his sunnah,
completely.
The beliefs of the, the beliefs of the,
the beliefs of the,
anthropomorphists,
or
other sects in the history of Islam. And
there are some innovations, so he went to
the edges, the obligatory and the forbidden because
those are the important ones. Now let's go
to the recommended innovation. Well, Manduba,
every good deed that didn't happen in the
time of the prophet, peace be upon him.
Gathering for prayer,
building schools,
and having,
citadels
and and citadels the citadels where you used
to guard
the land and there's been no no no,
invading army for
years years years, they ended up becoming schools.
Right? They just become schools because the guards
have nothing else to do.
Speaking about the matters of the heart.
What is envy, how to get rid of
envy, how to draw near to Allah with
your heart, etcetera, etcetera.
And debates the the gatherings where you debate
heretics, debate the shia, debate the qadari, debate
the
debate the Christians
if this,
reward of Allah
is sought. In other words, not just for
the sake of argumentation.
What about a that which is?
Innovations that are simply permitted.
Musa shaking hands and Musa
That's what happens in Tareem and now you
know where they
how how far back their Usul are in
Tareem,
Darul Mustafa, they have al Musafaha
where everybody shakes everyone's hands after and after
Asr. They do that in an organized fashion.
So he's saying this permitted.
Having a big home, having a nice car,
having nice clothes. It's an innovation. The Sahaba
never did this.
They didn't go out buying,
building nice homes for themselves and eating nice
foods. They never went out trying to go.
There's a new restaurant. Let's go check it
out. They never did this.
So he says, hello. It's permitted.
Yeah.
And what about the discouraged innovations?
Some of this that he's talking about that
is what's considered either recommended or permitted,
another person may have a perspective that is.
So most of our brothers
who would object to certain things like the
gatherings of the,
the,
All of that is within the differed upon
matters of discouraged, permitted, or even recommended innovations.
So that's where you you
will start to realize that a lot of
times when we put a stake you know,
what's the phrase? Put our,
flag down or, you know, draw a line
in the sand, there is some
opinion about that.
Right? There is an opinion about that and
so it's not all
and it and it could be multiple valid
opinions.
Depending on the situation,
it could deem them
to both have different perspectives just like there
are different opinions in fiqh.