Say (O Muhammad SAW to mankind): "if you (really) love Allâh then follow me , Allâh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Ali-'Imran (3) verse 31
My dear brothers and sisters,
When we say the syahadah, we testify to two things:
a) That there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah
b) That Muhammad peace be upon him is the Messenger of Allah
And why is the syahadah the first pillar of Islam? Because all the acts of worship after that are bound by the two conditions in the syahadah namely, those actions be done for the sake of Allah, and that they are done in accordance with how the Messenger SAW did/taught us to do them.
Thus the the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say, when beginning a khutbah (sermon): "… The best of speech is the Book of Allaah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst of things are those which are newly-invented, and every innovation is a going astray…" (reported by Muslim, no. 867)
And he SAW also said:
'Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not a part of it will have it rejected.' (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath al-Baari, no. 2697).
One of the last verses to be revelaed to the Messenger SAW was this:
"… This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…" [al-Maa'idah 5:3]
And in his last sermon SAW, he told us to hold on to two things lest we go astray: the Quran and the sunnah.
The term often used to refer to an act of worship that is not sunnah is 'bid'ah'. So what is 'bid'ah'? It is innovation with regards to specific acts of worship. Thus all forms of worship that were not done by the Prophet SAW would be bid'ah. Before I go further, let me just point out that the issue of bid'ah is problematic in matters of worship only! As for bid'ah in worldly affairs like food, clothing, work etc. it is encouraged so long as they adhere to the general guidelines of the syariah. Hence the axiom of the scholars: "All worldly things are permitted until there is evidence from the sacred texts to make them impermissible. Conversely, all matters pertaining to specific acts of worship are impermissible until there is evidence to support such an act of worship." For example, you could wear any type of clothes you want (and in fact it is sunnah to wear the clothes of the local area where you live) so long as it covers the awrah, but you cannot suddenly decide to pray zuhr as 5 units of prayer (raka'ah) instead of 4 as this was not done by the prophet.
I do not want to go into the quagmire of scholarly debates about good and bad bid'ah. It would suffice to say that the best acts of worship are those done by the Prophet SAW. As for those he did not do, then we should leave them be for even if we take the lighter opinion of those acts being not haraam, they are a waste of precious time. Remember, we say the 2nd part of the syahadah to remind ourselves the obligation of emulating the prophet. Some may say, " Apa salahnya zikir 'ya latif' 100 kali sehari semalam?" My response would be, there are many many more zikrs that the prophet did which we have not done yet, why then look to other sources which are not from the sunnah? Let us not be like those Allah speaks of in the Quran:
"When it is said to them: "Follow what Allâh has sent down." They say: "Nay! We shall follow what we found our fathers following." (Would they do that!) even though their fathers did not understand anything nor were they guided? " Al-baqarah (2) verse 170
When we tell them to read surah al-kahf on Friday night because it is sunnah, they insist on reading Yaseen because it is what they and their forefathers have been doing for ages. True, there is no harm in reciting Yaseen because it is Quran too, but why not follow the command of the prophet to recite al-kahf instead of Yaseen??
We tell them there is no basis for tahlil arwah especially those on certain days after the death of a person like 7 days, 40 days, 100 days, (this actually is a very reprehensible act because not only is it bid'ah, it is following the religious practice of others like the Hindus: 2 prohibitions trespassed in one act!), they say we have always done it, and it is after all something good, we are remembering Allah! Nay, if there was any good in this, the Prophet or his companions (who were the best generation), would have done it before us. If they saw no good in it, they what right do we have to invent new forms of worship?
Our forefathers did those things because they were not learned of the religion. Now that knowledge has come to you, about what is sunnah, and what is not, will you then still insist on following the footsteps of your forefathers?
Let us be of the people of the sunnah, the people who fulfill the obligations associated with the kalimah and not just pay lip service to it.
Having said all that though, i think it is important for those amongst us who wish to see change to be patient, and to use gentleness as per the advice of Sheikh Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi in his book Al Sunaah wa Al-Bid'ah, for these traditions are so deeply ingrained in society, they cannot be undone in a short time and certainly cannot be rectified with harshness. Thus it is better to teach people what is the sunnah, instead of condemning their bid'ah. Give them alternatives from the sunnah, avoid using words like bid'ah ( i usually just say something is 'not sunnah'), insya Allah people will slowly change their ways. Be not like the salafis (or rather i should say pseudo-salafis for their harshness is far from the attitude of the salaf!) who often result to name calling and consider all those outside their circle of harshness as deviants. May Allah make us of those who are on the middle path, the ummatan wasatan. And may He make us of those who follow the sunnah, so we may be loved by Him as per the ayat in the beginning of this post. Ameen.
and Allah knows best.
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