In the end of Part 1, we discussed how the real point of contention in bid’ah lies in the issue of the ‘added bid’ah’. We mentioned that most scholars included added bid’ah within the scope of praiseworthy bid’ah, whereas others said they are blameworthy.
Return back to that section to read the basics of what an added bid’ah is and the views of the scholars who did not allow ‘added bid’ah’. As for this part & the next, we will focus on the majority who allowed it & their evidences.
To download the PDF version of both Parts 1 & 2, Click here.
16. Conditions Set by the Majority View on Added Bid’ah
16.01 – First condition: There must be no prohibition in the Qur’an & Sunnah on an added bid’ah e.g. praying during a disliked time for prayer, fasting on Eid, or dhikr in a place of filth.
16.02 – Second condition: It should not be believed or said that an actions that is the result of ‘restricting the unrestricted’ is a Sunnah, rather it should be considered permissible only. It can only be sought after as good if it brings about benefit or the occasion calls for it. E.g. The family of the deceased hosting a feast for mourners, which brings about harm for the family of the deceased.
16.03 – An example of ‘added bid’ah’ that violates these conditions and was hence condemned by scholars following the majority view is when the family of the deceased hosts a feast for mourners, which violates the Sunnah of bringing food to the family of the deceased, and the resulting harm it causes to them.
Examples from the Companions of the First Type of ‘Added Bid’ah’ Approved By the Majority of Scholars: Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’
17. Examples of ‘Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’ from the Sahabah During the Lifetime of the Prophet SAW
17.01 – In the end of Part 1, we also discussed how ‘added bi’dah’ can be divided into two types: restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship or unrestricting restricted acts of worship. Let us first see examples of the first type from the Companions themselves.
17.02 – Other examples from the Companions will come up in the next section also, as scholars of fiqh from the four madhhabs would quote the Companions as precedent for the ‘added bid’ah’ they introduced or endorsed in fiqh.
17.02 – For the majority view, these examples are most explicit in their demonstration of the permissibility of ‘added bid’ah’, as the implicit approval of the Prophet SAW establishes this.
17.03 – The Prophet SAW said to Bilal RAD at the Fajr prayer, “O Bilal, tell me of the action you do in Islam that makes your hopeful [for the afterlife], for indeed I heard your footsteps in front of me in Jannah.” Bilal RAD replied, “I do not do anything that makes me more hopeful than praying as many prayers as Allah has written for me any time I do wudu in the morning or evening.” [Bukhari & Muslim]
Bilal RAD here restricted the performance of nafil (optional) prayers with the performance of wudu, and the Prophet SAW did not condemn him for doing so, rather he confirmed it as praiseworthy.
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani said in Fath-ul-Bari, “From this [hadith] we learn the permissibility of ijtihad (i.e. informed determination) in setting a specific time for acts of worship, because Bilal arrived at what we mentioned [i.e. his nafil prayers after wudu] by deduction and the Prophet SAW concurred with him.”
17.04 – Anas RAD said, “There was a man from the Ansar who used to lead them in prayer in the Masjid of Quba, and every time he started reciting a surah that is normally recited in prayer, he would [first] recited Surah al-Ikhlas [first], finish it, then recite the surah after it, and would do that in every rak’at.
His companions spoke to him and said, ‘You open with this surah [i.e. al-Ikhlas] then don’t see fit except to recite another surah after it. Either recite one or the other!’
He replied, ‘I will not stop doing this even if you prefer for me to lead you in that manner. I will still do it even if you dislike it and I leave [leading] you.’ [Yet] they saw him as the best of them & disliked than anyone else lead them [in prayer].
When the Prophet SAW came to them, and the informed him of this he said, ‘O person, what stops you from doing what your Companions are asking you to, and what is making you persist in [reciting] this surah in every rak’ah?’
He said, ‘I love it.’
He [the Prophet SAW] said, ‘Your love of it has entered you into Jannah.‘ [Bukhari]
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani said in Fath-ul-Bari, “Nasir ul-Din said from the minbar, ‘In this is evidence of the permissibility of specifying some of the Qur’an due to love of it, and [reciting] a lot of it, and that is not considered abandonment of the rest.”
17.05 – Abu Hurayrah RAD said, “When they [i.e. the polytheists] set out from Makkah to execute Khubayb, he said, ‘Let me pray two rak’ats.’ So they left him [to do so], then he prayed two rak’ats, and thus a practice began that whoever was to be executed would first pray two rak’ats. Then Khubayb said, ‘O Allah gather them in numbers, seize them in punishment.’ Then Abu Saru’ah ibn al-Harith ibn A’mir ibn Nawfal ibn Abdi Manaf came out, struck him and killed him.” [Tarikh al-Tabari]
Ibn Kathir said in Al-Bidayah Wal-Nihayah, “Khubayb was the first to start the practice of praying two rak’ats before being murdered for Muslims.”
17.06 – Abu Said al-Khudri said, “The Prophet SAW sent us, 30 riders, on an expedition. We arrived at a tribe and asked them for shelter, but they did not allow us. Then their leader was stung by a scorpion, and they came to us and asked, ‘Is there any among you who does ruqyah (i.e. spiritual healing) for scorpion [stings]?’
I said, ‘Yes, me, but I will not unless you give us a goat [in payment].’
Then they said, ‘We will give you 30 sheep.‘ We accepted.
Then I read upon him [i.e. the leader of the tribe] al-Fatihah 7 times. He got better and I received the sheep. Then we felt uncomfortable [in distributing the payment] and said, ‘Don’t act in haste, [wait] until you get to the Prophet SAW.’
When we came to the Prophet SAW we mentioned everything that happened and he said, ‘How did you know that it [i.e. al-Fatihah] is [suitable] for ruqyah? Distribute the sheep among yourselves, and single out a share for me.’” [Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah, with a variation in Bukhari].*
*Translator’s Note: Here again we see an example of restricting part of the Qur’an for a specific purpose, without any precedent from the Prophet SAW in word or action, yet he witnessed or heard of it & did not condemn it. The specific determination of any other verses of the Qur’an for use in ruyqah falls under the same ruling.
17.07 – Ubayy ibn Ka’b said to the Prophet SAW, “O Messenger of Allah, I [wish to] increase in my prayers upon you, so how much of prayers should I make for you?”
The Prophet SAW replied, “However you please.”
Ubayy said, “[I think] a quarter.”
The Prophet SAW said, “However you please, if you do more then it is better for you.”
Ubayy said, “Half.”
The Prophet SAW said, “However you please, if you do more then it is better for you.”
Ubayy said, “Two thirds.”
The Prophet SAW said, “However you please, if you do more then it is better for you.”
Ubayy said, “I will make all my prayers for you.”
The Prophet SAW said, “Then it will suffice for [erasing] your worries, and your sins will be forgiven.” [Al-Tirmidhi, who said the hadith is good & authentic]
18. Examples of ‘Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’ from the Sahabah After the Lifetime of the Prophet SAW
Note: There are many examples here in Sh. Abdul-Fattah al-Yafi’is book. I have mentioned only a few for brevity. See his book for the full list. Most of these are specific personal practices of dhikr that the Companions had, and yet are not found in the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW.
18.01 – Abu Bakr RAD, whenever he was praised would say, “O Allah, you are more knowing than me of myself, and I am more knowing of myself than them. O Allah make me better than what they assume, and forgive me for what they don’t know, and do not take me to account for what they are saying.” [Kanz-ul-Ummal]
18.02 – Umar RAD, when he entered Al-Bayt ul-Maqdis said, “Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk.” [Sunan al-Bayhaqi]
18.03 – Umar RAD, when he would point towards the Black Stone during tawaf would say, “I believe in Allah, and disbelieve in falsehood.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.04 – Uthman RAD, whenever someone came to him to make the call to prayer would say, “Welcome to the speakers of moderation, welcome, welcome.” [Tabarani]
18.05 – Ali RAD used to say when going to bed, “In the name of Allah, in the way of Allah, and upon the religion of the Messenger SAW.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.06 – Abdullah ibn Umar RAD did not hear of the prayer of Duha until the Prophet SAW passed away. He asked, “Is there a prayer for Duha (i.e. that time of day)?” He was later asked about the prayer and said, “It is an innovation, a good innovation.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.07 – When Abdullah ibn Umar RAD would meet a pilgrim for Hajj he would greet them by saying, “May Allah accept your acts of devotion, magnify your reward, and return the money you spent.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.08 – Abu Hurayrah RAD said, “I seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to him 12,000 times every day.” [Hilyatul-Awliya] In another narration, the istighfar is replaced with tasbih.
18.09 – Ibn Masud RAD said, “In the book of Allah are two verses, every slave who has committed a sin, then reads these two verses, then seeks Allah’s forgiveness will be forgiven,” he then quoted verse 135 from Surah Ale-Imran & verse 110 from Surah al-Nisa. [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.10 – Ibn Masud RAD said, “A slave of Allah will not recite the following du’a except that Allah will expand his quality of life, ‘O One Who Gives, none is the giver over you….’” The dua is quite long. [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.11 – The duas that Ibn Masud RAD encouraged others to make and listed specific benefits for are many, and they are not found in the Hadith of the Prophet SAW. How do we understand these duas in light of the narration in Sunan al-Darimi of Abdullah ibn Masud reprimanding a group of people who gathered to do dhikr and counted them with pebbles? There are a number of possible ways to harmonize these duas and this narration:
- The narration in al-Darimi is weak. This was mentioned by al-Alusi in Ruh-ul-Ma’ani & Al-Munawi in Fayd-ul-Qadir.
- Ibn Masud RAD saw in this group of people some characteristics of the Khawarij, which is why he stopped them.
- In some versions of this narration it is mentioned that this group of people had cut off from normal life & society completely and only focused on ritual acts of worship. This is mentioned in Al-Tartushi’s Al-Bid’ wal-Hawadith.
- In another version of the narration, this group of people were storytellers, and Ibn Masud RAD was primarily against this practice. This is mentioned by Ibn Daqiq ul-Eid in Ihkam-ul-Ahkam.
- In a narration, it is noted that Ibn Masud RAD would always be making dhikr in gatherings. This was mentioned by Ahmad ibn Hanbal in Kitab al-Zuhd.
- His condemnation of this group was due to their counting, not because they restricted dhikr to a specific practice. Sh. Abdul-Fattah al-Yafi’i prefers this response.
- In the event that the narration is authentic & Ibn Masud RAD was actually condemning the restriction of the unrestricted, then it is understood to be his personal ijtihad on this specific issue which does not line up with the views of the other Companions.
18.12 – Mu’adh ibn Jabal RAD would say when he got up for tahajjud, “O Allah, the eyes are asleep, the stars are engaged in war, and you are Ever-Living, The Sustaining. O Allah my request for Jannah is slow, and my fleeing from the fire is weak. O Allah make for me a source of guidance that will guide to you on the Last Day, you do not fall back on your promise.” [Tabarani]
18.13 – Abdullah ibn Abbas RAD said, “If you come upon a frightening ruler who you fear the ire of, then say…” and then he proceeded to mention a long dua not found in the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW. [Tabarani & Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.14 – Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf RAD, upon entering his house, would read Ayat-ul-Kursi in its corners. [Abu Ya’la & Ibn Abi Shaybah].
18.15 – Ibn Qudamah mentions in Al-Mughni that Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf RAD would say when passing the Yemeni corner in tawaf, “My Lord, save me from the pettiness of my nafs.”
18.16 – When Anas ibn Malik RAD would finish the Qur’an, he would gather his family & children and make dua for them. [Tabarani, al-Haytami in Majma al-Zawa’id said its narrators are all strong].
18.17 – When Abu Musa al-Ash’ari RAD would say after finishing his prayers, “O Allah forgive me my sins, make easy for me my affairs, and bless me in my sustenance.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.18 – When Al-Hasan RAD, the grandson of the Prophet SAW would see the sun rise, he would say a long dua, mentioned in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah. See the book for details.
18.19 – When Al-Husayn RAD, the grandson of the Prophet SAW would see a falling star, he would say, “O Allah make it precise, make it strike true, and save us from the evil it follows.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.20 – When Umm Salamah RAD would stir in the night she would say, “My Lord forgive, have mercy, and guide to the best way.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah]
18.21 – When Aishah RAD would go to bed, she would say, “O Allah I ask you for a righteous dream, true & not false, beneficial & not harmful.” If she would say this they would know she would not speak again until she woke. [Ibn al-Sunni’s Amal-al-Yawmi wal-Laylah].
Examples from the Four Madhhabs of the First Type of ‘Added Bid’ah’ Approved By the Majority of Scholars: Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’
19. Examples of ‘Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’ mentioned by scholars of the Hanafi Madhhab
19.01 – The statements of most Hanafi scholars indicates that ‘restricted the unrestricted’ is permissible.
19.02 – Al-Kamil Ibn al-Humam (d. 861 AH) says in al-Fath ul-Qadir, “The ikhtilaf is in making the takbir loudly in Eid-ul-Fitr, not of doing the takbir itself, because it is within the general scope of making dhikr of Allah, the most High. For those two Imams it is to be done loud like in Eid ul-Adha whereas for this Imam it is not to be done loudly. Abu Hanifah said as those two Imams did. In Al-Khulasa it is mentioned that the ikhtilaf is in the takbir itself and that is not correct, as it is not forbidden to do dhikr of Allah with other wordings at any time, rather if done so, it is a [good] innovation.”
19.03 – Al-Luknawi says in Iqamatul-Hujjah, “Al-Attar said in al-Tadhkirah that Abu Hanifah used to prayer 300 rak’at every night. One day he passed by some children who said, this man prays 1000 rak’at every night and doesn’t sleep. Abu Hanifah replied, ‘I intend to pray 1000 rak’at every night and not to sleep.’”
19.04 – Al-Kasani (d. 587 AH) says in Bada’i ul-Sana’i, “When the Mu’addhin says, ‘Al-salatu khayrun min al-nawm’, the one who hears it should not repeat it due to what was mentioned, but should rather say, ‘Sadaqta wa barirta.’” This is also mentioned in Al-Fath ul-Qadir.
19.05 – In both al-Fath ul-Qadir & Al-Zayla’i’s (d. 762 AH) Tabyin ul-Haqa’iq, there are numerous duas mentioned to be done at different corners of the Ka’bah in tawaf, when descending from Marwah, and when in the middle of Sa’i (i.e. not on Safa or Marwah). None are from the Sunnah, rather from ‘restricting the unrestricted’ duas that became standard among the scholars of the Hanafi madhhab.
19.06 – Al-Tahtawi mentions in his subcommentary on Maraqi-ul-Falah that the Companions used to greet to each other on Eid by saying “May Allah accept from us and you.” as per the narration in al-Tabarani, and then quotes the greeting “Eid Mubarak to you.” as a common practice in Syria & Egypt as being acceptable also.
19.07 – There are many other examples in Hanafi works, such as special duas to be made after prayer, reciting the Fatihah after prayer, specifying a number of verses to be read in each rak’at of the Tarawih prayer, increasing in Salawat when heading to Madinah in Hajj, and Ibn Abidin mentions a special dua to be made when visiting the martyrs of Uhud.
20. Examples of ‘Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’ mentioned by scholars of the Maliki Madhhab
20.01 – As mention in Part 7, Section 10, some of the Malikis, especially the early ones, understood ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’ to be impermissible, e.g. they saw it as bid’ah to do takbir in congregation on the two Eids. As for later Malikis, they understood ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’ to be permissible. We will now mention examples from them here.
Note: Why did the later Malikis change their mind? They allowed ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’ because they realized that many good deeds were being missed out on due to the impermissibility. See Sh. Abdul-Fattah al-Yafi’is book for numerous references of Maliki scholars who indicated this.
20.02 – Al-Anbasi (d. 802 AH) mentions the following in al-Shadha al-Fiyah, “When Malik ibn Anas wanted to narrate hadith, he would first do wudu, sit at the head of his bed and comb his hair, and sit with a sense of gravitas & respect. He was asked about this and replied, ‘I love to magnify the hadith of the Messenger of Allah – and I do not narrated hadith except in a state of complete purity. He would dislike to narrate hadith on the street, or while standing or in haste, and said, ‘I love to understand deeply what I narrate from the Messenger of Allah’. It was also narrated that he would do ghusl for narrating hadith, and perfume himself for it.“
20.03 – Ibn Abdil Barr mentions in al-Kafi, “And it is to be said every time a person passes the Black Stone in the three rounds which should be jogged, ‘O Allah make it an accepted Hajj, a forgiven sin, an effort thanked.’ & in the other four, ‘O Allah forgive, have mercy, wipe away what You know for You are indeed the Most-Mighty, Most Generous.”
20.04 – Al-Qurtubi mentions in his tafsir al-Jami li Ahkam il-Qur’an, “From the sanctity of Qur’an is that when one finishes their recitation, they should pronounce the truth of their Lord, and bear witness to the fulfillment of responsibility of His Messenger SAW, like saying, ‘Sadaqa Allahu al-Adhim wa Ballagha Rasulahu al-Karim’…”
20.05 – Like the Hanafis, the Malikis discussed the greetings of Eid as well, with references to Imam Malik himself considering forms of greetings during his time as permissible.
21. Examples of ‘Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’ mentioned by scholars of the Shafi’i Madhhab
21.01 – Some Shafi’i scholars very explicitly described the rule ‘restricted the unrestricted from acts of worship’.
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani said in Fath ul-Bari, “In this hadith (i.e. the hadith of visiting Quba on Saturdays) & its many chains of narration, is evidence of the permissibility of specifying some days with specific righteous actions and persisting in that practice.”
Al-Nawawi said in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, “And within his statement ‘every Saturday’ is the [evidence of] permissibility of specifying some days with visitation and this is the correct view and the view of the majority. Ibn Maslamah al-Maliki disliked it.”
21.02 – Ibn al-Muqri (d. 837 AH) said in al-Mu’jam, “Ibn Khuzaymah narrated from al-Rabi’ (one of the most senior students of al-Shafi’i) that whenever al-Shafi’i wanted to enter into prayer he would say, ‘Bismillah, muwajjihan li baytillah, mu’addiyan li-fardhillah, Allahu akbar.’”
21.02 – Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali said in Bidayatul-Hidayah, “Before starting the prayer, face the Qiblah standing, with your feet evenly spaced and not together, stand upright, and recite Surah al-Nas as fortification against the accursed Shaytan.”
21.03 – Al-Shafi’i himself said in al-Umm, “And I prefer that if one departs from the Ka’bah to stand at the Multazam, which is between the corner & the door, to say…” And he continues to mention a long dua that is not mentioned in hadith.
21.04 – Similar to the Hanafis, al-Nawawi says in al-Majmu’, “And he should say if he hears the mu’addhin say, “Al-salatu khayrun min al-nawm’: ‘Sadaqta wa barrirta’. This is the famous view. And al-Rafi’i mentioned a view [among the scholars of the madhhab] that what should be said is, ‘The Messenger of Allah SAW has spoken the truth, prayer is better than sleep.’”
21.04 – Al-Shafi’i also said in al-Umm, “And I prefer that every time [the pilgrim] passed by [the Black Stone] that he do takbir and say in his raml (i.e. the first three rounds of tawaf)…” And he continues to mention a dua that is not mentioned in hadith.
21.05 – Al-Nawawi mentions in Al-Majmu’, “Restricted [takbir]: what is intended by it the takbir done after the prayers... As for the restricted takbir, this is legislated in Eid ul-Adha without and ikhtilaf due to the consenus of the ummah. But is it legislated for Eid ul-Fitr? There are two famous views among the scholars of the madhhab mentioned by the author & the high ranking scholars of the madhhab, the author of al-Tattimah and others mentioned them as two statements [from al-Shafi’i]. The most correct of these view according to the majority is that it is not legislated…”
21.06 – Al-Nawawi mentions in Al-Majmu’, “As for what they mentioned of the people of Madinah (i.e. their tarawih being 36 rak’at long) our scholars said, ‘the reason is because the people of Makkah would do tawaf every 4 rak’ats, then pray two rak’ats, and they would not do more tawaf after 20 rak’ats. The people of Madinah wanted to compete with them so they prayed 4 extra rak’ats in place of the tawaf, so they ended up with 36 rak’ats, with 3 after for Witr, resulting in 39 rak’ats in total.’ And Allah knows best.”
21.07 – Al-Shirbini (d. 977 AH) in Mughni-ul-Muhtaj mentions the permissibility of Eid greetings similar to those discussed in earlier in Sections 19 & 20.
21.08 – Al-Nawawi mentions in Al-Adhkar, “Know that shaking of hands is recommended at every instance of meeting someone, as for what people have become accustomed to, the shaking of hands after the Fajr & Asr prayer, then there is no basis in the Shariah for it (i.e. this specific practice), but there is no problem in it, because the default rule of shaking hands is that it is a Sunnah. And the fact that they (i.e. people) practice it at certain situations, and do it excessively in many situations does not remove from the fact that shaking hands [in an unrestricted sense] is already founded in the Shariah.”
21.09 – Al-Ghazzali in al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah, Al-Shirwani (d. 1301 AH) in his subcommentary on Tuhfatul-Muhtaj & Ibn Hajr Al-Haythami in Al-Minhaj al-Qawim all mention a dua to be recited after one cleans themselves from using the toilet. It is not mentioned in hadith.
21.10 – Al-Dimyati (d. 1300 AH) mentions in I’anat ul-Talibin mentions a du’a recommended to be made at the end of our duas, “Rabbana taqabbal minna innaka anta al-sami’ ul-a’lim wa tub alayna innaka anta al-Tawwab ul-Rahim, subhana rabbika rabbul-izzati a’mma yasifun wa salamun ala al-mursalin, wal-hamdu lillahi rabbil-alamin.”
21.11 – Al-Ramli (d. 957 AH) responds in his Fatawa to a question about the reciting of the Fatihah at the end of one’s dua’a by saying that it has a basis in the Sunnah, implying that it is a praiseworthy bid’ah as per the context of how the question was asked.
21.12 – Al-Ghazzali mentions in Ihya Ulum-ul-Din the recommendation to say ‘sadaqa Allahu al-Adhim’ after reciting the Qur’an, as well as additional dua after it, similar to what was discussed earlier in section 20.
21.13 – Al-Sayyid Alawi al-Saqqaf (d. 1335 AH), the Shafi’i mufti of Makkah during his time, discussed the permissibility of utilizing the ahzab (s. hizb) of different scholars. These are collections of dhikr & dua of a particular scholar compiled together and recited by later generations. An example is Mulla Ali Qari’s al-Hizb ul-A’dham, commonly used & found in many Deobandi Darul-Ulums in the Muslim world.
21.14 – Al-Nawawi mentions in al-Adhkar numerous duas discussed by earlier scholars which are to be done at different stages in the wudu. He describes them as not being found in the Sunnah, but still permissible.
21.15 – Al-Nawawi mentions a dua in al-Adhkar for entering a masjid without wudu & being unable to pray the prayer for greeting the masjid, the recommendation of a person to be fasting when the do their khatm of the Qur’an, a dua to be made when one witnesses a funeral procession, a dua to be made when the deceased is placed into the grave, duas to be made in tawaf, a dua to be made when headings towards Mina & Arafah, and a dua to be made when departing from the Ka’bah. None of these are found in prophetic hadith.
22. Examples of ‘Restricting the Unrestricted from Acts of Worship’ mentioned by scholars of the Hanbali Madhhab
22.01 – Ibn Taymiyyah narrated from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in al-Raddu Ala Al-Ikhna’i a very long & beautiful way of sending salams on the Prophet SAW when one visits his noble grave.
22.02 – Ibn Muflih (d. 762 AH) in Al-Furu’ & al-Mardawi (d. 885 AH) in Al-Insaf both mention the recommendation of saying ‘Sadaqta wa barirta’ in response to the mu’adhhin saying ‘Al-salatu khayrun min al-nawm’.
22.03 – Ibn Qudamah narrates from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in Al-Mughni the recommendation of doing a du’a for the khatm-ul-Qur’an in tarawih before the ruku’. He also quotes Ahmad ibn Hanbal saying that he saw the people of Makkah doing it, and that Sufyan ibn Uyaynah (d. 198 AH) used to do it in Makkah with them.
22.04 – Al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) mentions in Siyar A’lam al-Nubala that Ahmad ibn Hanbal used to pray 300 rak’ats every morning and night.
22.05 – Ibn Muflih in al-Furu said that Ahmad ibn Hanbal used to start the tarawih prayer with Surah al-Qalam, the first to revealed, then he would continue with Surah al-Baqarah. He would do the dua for the Khatm of the Qur’an in the last rak’at before the ruku, and after completing it he would give a reminder to the congregation.
22.06 – Ibn Muflih in al-Furu mentions that the salaf would relax every 4 rak’ats in tarawih.
22.07 – Ibn Qudamah in al-Mughni and Ibn Muflih in al-Furu both mention the permissibility of different forms of Eid greetings common among people in their time.
22.08 – Al-Mardawi in al-Insaf and Ibn Muflih in Al-Furu’ both mention the permissibility of observing the day of Arafah with dua & dhikr for Muslims around the world not in Hajj. Ibn Muflih mentions it as having been the practice of Abdullah ibn Abbas.
22.09 – Ibn Muflih in Al-Furu mentions the permissibility of congratulating someone with a dua’ on a worldly achievement or blessing they have obtained.
22.10 – Ibn Muflih in Al-Furu mentions the recommendation of making dua for the person leaving for Hajj when bidding them farewell, and attributes it as a practice started by Abdullah ibn Umar.
22.11 – Ibn Muflih mentions in Al-Adab al-Shar’iyyah that Ahmad ibn Hanbal once sent a written ruqyah (a collection of verses for her to recite) to a woman suffering from loneliness* and another set of verses for a person suffering from fever to recite.
*Translator’s note: I was initially surprised to find this here. But then I realized, we often think of many mental health issues as a modern phenomenon, but here we see loneliness & depression (especially among the elderly) to be much older than we think. May Allah make us good to each other, visit each other, and fill each other with happiness & blessings.
22.12 – Al-Mardawi mentions in Al-Insaf a dua that Ibn Masu’d would make after intercourse with his wife, narrated in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah.
22.13 – Ibn Rajab in Jami’ ul-Ulum wal-Hikam mentions the permissibility of setting aside a specific regular time for religious storytelling as a specific practice extracted from the unrestricted practice of the Prophet SAW of preaching to the Companions at all times, and references it as a good bid’ah.
22.14 – Ibn Rajab in Jami’ ul-Ulum wal-Hikam mentions a narration from Al-Awza’i (d. 157 AH) on the initiation of the practice of having Qur’an study groups in the masjid after Fajr during his time.
22.15 – Ibn Rajab mentions in Dhaylu-Tabaqati-Hanabilah the practice of an earlier Hanbali scholar, Rizullahi al-Tamimi (d. 488 AH), of visting the grave of Ahmad ibn Hanbal 4 times every year to set up a gathering of giving reminders: in Rajab, Sha’ban, on the Day of Arafah & the Day of Ashura.*
Translator’s note: This is the same thing that the community of scholars & the righteous often do in Tarim, Yemen, as I have seen in many photos & videos.
22.16 – Ibn Taymiyyah mentions in Sharh-ul-Umdah specific duas to be made during sa’i that are not found in Hadith.
22.17 – Ibnul-Qayyim mentions of Ibn Taymiyyah in Madarij ul-Salikin & Tariqul-Hijratayn, as saying that whoever continuously says 40 times every day between the Sunnah prayer for Fajr & the Fajr prayer, “Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum, La ilaha illa ant, bi rahmatika astaghith,” will achieve the life of the heart and his heart will never die.
22.18 – Ibnul-Qayyim says in I’lam ul-Mawqi’in, “Our Shaykh, if he found an issue [of knowledge] to be difficult would say, ‘O teacher of Ibrahim, teach me!’ and he would say that a lot to seek help with.”
22.19 – Al-Bazzar (d. 749 AH) mentions in Manaqib ibn Taymiyyah, “He would not speak to anyone unless for necessity after the Fajr prayer, and would continue to make dhikr loud enough to hear himself, and someone next to him would perhaps be able to hear. I once listened to what he was reciting and doing dhikr with. I saw recite Surah al-Fatihah and repeat it the entire time, I mean from the Fajr prayer until sunrise he was constantly reciting it.”*
22.20 – Ibn Abdil Hadi (d. 744 AH) mentions in Al-Sarim al-Munki that when Ibn Taymiyyah was visiting the Prophet SAW’s grave in Madinah stood in tranquility, with his head bowed and said a very lengthy salams to the Prophet SAW and then to Abu Bakr & Umar.
*Translator’s note: 22.016-22.020 are curious, seeing as how Ibn Taymiyyah was known for his disapproval of ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’. It is also worth highlighting that the practice of sending salams on the Prophet SAW, Abu Bakr & Umar are all acts of worship that fall under ‘added bid’ah’. He also mentions numerous examples from the early Malikis of ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’ despite their disapproval of it. Sh. Abdul Fattah al-Yafi’i demonstrates that al-Shatibi was much more consistent in his disapproval. He also mentions numerous examples from the early Malikis of ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’ despite their disapproval of it. the And Allah knows best
22.21 – This is what I was able, in my limited capacity, to summarize from Sh. Abdul Fattah al-Yafi’i’s book on examples of ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship.’ This section has been heavily redacted due to its length, and I encourage those who are able to read Arabic to read this section in full to attain proper benefit.
Examples from the Companions & Madhhabs of the Second Type of ‘Added Bid’ah’ Approved By the Majority of Scholars: Unrestricting the Restricted from Acts of Worship’
23. Unrestricting the Restricted from Acts of Worship
23.01 – One may mistakenly think from what has preceded so far that anyone can modify an act of worship to any extent they please and justify it as a praiseworthy bid’ah, like praying 5 rak’ats instead of 4 for Asr. This assumption is incorrect for two reasons:
- When we discussed praiseworthy bid’ah, we showed how scholars said they cannot contradict the Shariah. Changing something that is not changeable in the Shariah is a contradiction of it.
- As we will now see, ‘unrestricting the restricted from acts of worship’, cannot be done without additional considerations.
23.02 – Acts of worship may be divided into two categories:
- Acts of worship that are unrestricted by number, time, place or form, whether part of prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj, umrah, dhikr, recitation of the Qur’an etc. These are the acts of worship discussed in the previous two sections, which the majority of scholars said can be restricted, and some scholars said cannot.
- Acts of worship that are restricted by time, place, number etc, such as the 5 daily prayers, the fasting of Ramadan, duas specific to a time or place etc. These are the acts of worship we will discuss in this Part.
24. Types of Restricted Acts of Worship & What Scholars Said About Them
24.01 – The first type are restricted acts of worship in which the restriction is intended. It is not permissible to change this restriction, such as the number of rak’ats in the 5 daily prayers & the number of washings in wudu etc.
24.02 – Ibn Rajab said in Jami’ul-Ulum-wal-Hikam, “If a person increased in a legislated action with what is not legislated, then the increase is rejected upon him i.e. it is not considered an act of devotion and he is not rewarded for it. However, sometimes this invalidates the act of worship from its foundation and is thus rejected [entirely], like the one who increases a rak’at in prayer for example. Sometimes this does not invalidate it and is not [cause for it to be] rejected like the one who does 4 washings in wudu [instead of 3] or fasts the night together with the day and fasts continuously.”
24.03 – Al-Ghazali says in Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal, “It became necessarily clear to me that the medicine of worship with its limits and limited quantities is set by the Prophets. Its effect cannot be assessed by the intellect of the intelligent, rather it is obligatory to blindly follow the Prophets, who recognized those characteristics by the light of prophethood, not the intellect. Similarly, medicine is composed of mixtures of different types & quantities and some of them are multiples of others in weight & quantity. These differences in quantities are nothing but secret [knowledge] held by the special few [i.e. pharmacologists & doctors], like acts of worship which are the medicine of the diseases of the heart, composed of acts of different types & quantities. This is to the point that sujud is [done] twice that of ruku’, the prayer of Fajr is half of Asr in quantity, and these are nothing but secret [knowledge] held by a few, that none can arrive at except with the light of prophethood.”
24.04 – The second type are restricted acts of worship in which the restriction is not intended, whether in wording or number. This is the type of restricted act of worship in which scholars differed in whether they can be increased or changed. There are two famous views on this:
- The first view is that there is no problem in increasing or changing these with what is suitable. Despite that, it is better to perform what is in sacred text rather than changing it. This is the majority view, justified with reference to hadith and narrations of the Companions & the Salaf, some of which we will mention soon.
- The second view is that this is not permissible, and this is the view of some scholars like al-Qarafi, Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Shatibi, al-Zarruq & a view that Ibn Daqiq al-Eid leaned towards.
24.05 – Ibn Hajr al-Haytami said in Tuhfatul Mujtaj, “The ikhtilaf in this issue was extensive among later scholars in the issue of what is increased from [acts of worship] in sacred text…
Al-Qarafi said, ‘It is disliked because it is bad adab, and what justifies that is that it is like medicine, and if increased from what is legislated than it becomes a disease, and that it is like a key, and if the number of teeth are increased in it, it cannot open [its lock].
And others said, ‘the person obtains a specific reward with the increase.’ The implication of Al-Zayn ul-Iraqi’s statement is that this is the stronger view, because the original [act of worship] is rewarded, so how can increasing in it with its own type [of worship] invalidate it? Ibn ul-I’mad considered this reliable and exaggerated in it, saying, ‘it is not permissible to believe there is no reward because it is statement without evidence that is rejected by the general evidence [from the Qur’an] of ‘Whoever performs a good action then they will have 10 times its reward.’
Some said, ‘This second view is the most accurate based on sacred text & deduction [but] then critiqued it unnecessarily, rather [their arguments] support the position, which is that reduction and increase in number have been mentioned in narrations.
Some preferred the view that if observing the command is intended when stopping at a certain number, then there is increase, it is rewarded, otherwise not. Even better than this is another view which says if it is increased due to doubt [of the number completed] then that is excused, whereas for worship then no because that is as if one is correcting the Lawmaker, which is forbidden.”
25. Evidences of Scholars From the Majority Position Who Allowed Increase i.e. Unrestricting Restricted Acts of Worship
25.01 – The Prophet SAW said, “Whoever says La ilaha illa Allah Wahdahu La Sharika Lahu, Lahu al-Mulku walahu al-Hamdu wa huwa ala Kulli Shay’in Qadir in a day 100 times he will have the [reward] equivalent of [freeing] 10 slaves, and 100 rewards will be written for him, 100 sins will be erased from him, and he will have protection from Shaytan for the duration of his day until he comes upon the evening. And no one will come with better except for the one who does more than that.” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]
Al-Nawawi said on this hadith, in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, “‘Except for one who does more than that’ is evidence that if one was to say this dhikr more than 100 times in the day than he would have the mentioned reward in the hadith for the 100, and additional reward for the increase. And this is not from the limits that are forbidden to antagonize or cross the number of, [or the limits that] there is no benefit in increasing in or that invalidate [the action] like increasing in number in purification or the number of rak’ats in prayer.”
Al-Zarqani mentions in his commentary on the Muwatta, “Ibn Abdil Barr said: in this is a note that 100 is an extent in dhikr and few are those who will increase in it. And he said: Otherwise someone may believe that that increasing in that is forbidden like repeating actions in wudu.”
25.02 – The Prophet SAW said, “Whoever says in the morning and evening, ‘SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi a 100 times, will not come on the Last Day with any better [of his deeds], except for someone who says something similar or increases in it.”
25.03 – The hadith in 25.001 & 25.002 were narrated by Abu Hurayrah RAD. Similar hadith were narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr, Umm Hani’, Abu Umamah, Abul-Darda’ for different duas mentioned by the Prophet SAW.
25.04 – Bilal RAD, when he was told that people were asleep when he came to do the adhan, started the practice of saying, “Al-Salatu khayrun min al-nawm, Al-Salatu khayrun min al-nawm,” in the Fajr adhan, unprompted, and ever since then the practice has been established. [Ibn Majah & Darimi]
25.05 – Anas RAD said, “A man once came and entered into the row [in prayer] and his soul compelled him to say [after Rabbana wa lakal hamd], ‘Alhamdulillah, hamdan khayran tayyiban mubarakan feeh.’
When the Prophet SAW finished the prayer, he asked, ‘Who is the one who spoke those words?’ The people were silent, so the Prophet SAW said [again], ‘Who is the one who spoke those words? For he did not say anything bad.’
The man said, ‘I came and my soul compelled me so I said it.’ The Prophet SAW said, ‘I saw 12 angels competing to lift it up [to the heavens].’ [Muslim, the same story is narrated in Bukhari from a different Companion]
25.06 – While 25.001, 25.002, 25.003 have explicit references from the Prophet SAW allowing increase in number or wordings of specific duas, 25.004 & 25.005 are examples of Companions increasing the wordings of Sunnah dhikr or duas and the Prophet SAW not implicitly approving of it.
The following examples are after the lifetime of the Prophet SAW
25.07 – Umar RAD advised pilgrims to make 7 takbirat each time on al-Safa & al-Marwa, with praise of Allah and prayers on the Prophet SAW between very two takbirahs, followed by a du’a for oneself. This is narrated in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah, as well as in Ibn Abdil Barr’s commentary on the Muwatta, al-Istidhkar.
Al-Baji remarked in his commentary on the Muwatta, “This, [i.e. the repeating of the du’a 3 times on Safa] is the least of repetitions of dhikr, as it is recommended to repeat dhikr an odd number of times, and that is not a [strict] limit for repeating this dhikr or others, rather it is the least that is recommended of repetitions. The Prophet SAW would perform what he legislated to make [the people] aware of the [limited] extent that is recommended to make it easy on people, similar to what he did in reciting the Qur’an in congregational prayer. And whoever increases in this because of their strength or desire to do good, then that is good, and whoever does less than this in number, then there is no problem [either]. “
Ibn Qudamah narrates a report of Ibn Umar RAD in Al-Mughni where he would do takbir 7 times, each with 3 takbirat (for a total of 21), and then do the regular Sunnah dua for al-Safa and al-Marwa.
25.08 – Umar, Ibn Umar, Ibn Mas’ud, Abu Hurayrah, Jabir & Ibn Abbas RAD would all add various dhikr phrases to their talbiyah during Hajj. For example Abdullah ibn Umar RAD would say, ‘Labbayk Labbayk wa Sa’adayk wal-Khayru bi-Yadayk Labayk wal-Rughaba’u Ilayka wal-A’mal’. [Muslim]
Al-Bayhaqi narrated from al-Shafi’i in Ma’rifat al-Sunani wal-Athar, “It is not restricted on anyone to do as Ibn Umar did, [in his talbiyah] or anyone else from doing [extra] reverence of Allah or du’a to him together with the tabiyah, except that it is preferable for me to do what the Prophet SAW did in his talbiyah.
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani says in Fath-ul-Bari,“This is used as evidence to show that it is recommended to increase in [the duas] mentioned in sacred text from the Prophet SAW in that.”
Al-Tahawi said in Sharh Ma’ani al-Athar, “The Muslims are in consensus that the talbiyah in Hajj must be done this way [i.e. as in the Sunnah], except some people said: there is no problem for a man to add dhikr of Allah that he likes, and that is the view of Muhammad [ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani], al-Thawri & al-Awza’i, and they used as evidence…” and then quotes the narration of ibn Umar above.
Ibn ul-Humam in Fath-ul-Qadir mentions different variations, like Ibn Mas’ud adding ‘Labbayka Addad al-Turab’ then says, “This is the not the case for the Tashahhud, because it is from the inviolable in prayer, and in prayer we are restricted by what is in sacred text because [the increase] is not legislated, unlike the original. For that we said it is disliked to repeat the whole Tashhahud. As for the second Tashhahud*, it is not disliked to increase in it from what has been narrated because it was mentioned by The Legislator [i.e. God]…”
*Translator’s note: In the Shafi’i madhhab of fiqh, the dua of Tashahhud must be done with the exact wording(s) found in the hadith of the Prophet SAW. This is similar to the Fatihah, which as an integral part of prayer, must be performed with every single letter recited.
25.09 – Some Companions like Ibn Abbas & Uthman RAD were reported to have added additional phrases to the takbirat done in Eid.
25.10 – The Tarawih itself, when initiated by Umar RAD is an added bid’ah which involves ‘restricting the unrestricted from acts of worship’. However, this also applies to the number of rak’at prayed in tarawih.*
Al-Bayhaqi mentions in al-Sunan al-Kubra, “Al-Sa’ib ibn Yazid said, ‘In the time of Umar RAD they would pray 20 rak’ats* in the month of Ramadan. They would read in the hundreds of verses & in the time of Uthman RAD they would lean on their walking sticks because of the difficulty of the prayer.’?
In the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah, there are reports of the Muslims praying 20 rak’at in Tarawih during the times of Umar, Ali RAD, Abdul Rahman ibn al-Aswad & Umar ibn Abdil Aziz, with the narrations of Umar RAD & Ali RAD explicitly commanding Muslims to pray tarawih in 20 rak’ats.
*IMPORTANT Translator’s Note: The 20 rak’at controversy today is a very unfortunate one. Yes it is true that the Prophet SAW in the 4 or so days he prayed Qiyam with the Companions in Ramadan before he stopped, prayed 8 rak’ats with 3 rak’ats of witr. HOWEVER, this does not mean that tarawih is legislated with 20 rak’ats. Tarawih itself is a praiseworthy bid’ah started by Umar RAD, and he started it with 20 rak’ats. Although personally I have no problem with people wanting to pray tarawih with 8 rak’ats, most who endorse it are confusing Qiyam with Tarawih, and thus landing into a contradiction, trying to apply the number of rak’ats in Qiyam to a prayer that is not Qiyam and instead started by Umar RAD as a praiseworthy bid’ah with 20 rak’ats.
Additionally: I actually prefer praying a shorter tarawih, as I find squeezing 20 rak’ats into 1.5 hours or less to be contrary to the purpose of the tarawih prayer as both the Imam & the congregants become too focused on finishing a juz’ of the Qur’an in 20 rak’ats. The prayer becomes too mechanical & routine. Thus I consider praying tarawih with 8 rak’ats to be a new praiseworthy bid’ah, although another alternative is to pray 10 rak’ats after Isha, and 10 before Fajr, as I have seen in some countries & local mosques.
25.11 – The first adhan of jumu’ah is an added bid’ah introduced by Uthman RAD to stop people from engaging in business & trade so they could make it to the prayer early. Mentioned in al-Bukhari & others.
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani says in Fath-ul-Bari, “It is clear from the prior discussion that Uthman introduced the adhan to inform the people that the time for prayer has come in, in analogy to the rest of the prayer, so he made Jumuah similar to them but left the Adhan specific to Jumua’h done in front of the Khatib, and in this is a deduction from the basis [of the Shariah] and does not violate it.”
25.11 – There are many examples of added bid’ah – especially increases in wording or number of repetitions in Sunna duas – from ‘unrestricted the restricted from acts of worship’ that Sh. Abdul-Fattah al-Yafi’i quotes from the 2 generations of the salaf after the Sahabah that I have no mentioned here for the sake of brevity.
IMPORTANT: It should be clear from the examples mentioned here that those ahzab or mujarrabat collected of different scholars (also mentioned in the last Part) or Sufi Tariqahs are permissible to use. When you read those you realize that these scholars merely added additional dhikr and dua to verses from the Qur’an & duas/dhikr from the Sunnah. Their followers or students collected their ahzab as mujarrabat due to the piety of that scholar & their desire to attain a similar level with Allah. This is undoubtedly permissible, as we have seen.
Of course, this does not mean that these ahzab or mujarrabat are better than only doing the Sunnah adhkar/duas, and it is wrong to believe that they are Sunnah themselves.
Concluding Thoughts
I ask Allah to make the preceding translations of Sh. Abdul Fattah al-Yafi’is book useful and beneficial to the Muslims, and make it a means to ending the useless debates on bid’ah that have absolutely wrecked the unity of ‘religious’ Muslims in the ummah, online & offline.
If you have read all these parts, you will realize how most arguments, debates & infighting today on bid’ah or particular instances of bid’ah are disconnected from the Islamic tradition.
It is easy to point a finger and blame a particular group here, but as I have shown there is ikhtilaf on the issue of bid’ah. If you like celebrating Mawlid, and someone else doesn’t, or if you like doing a certain hizb of dhikr from your Shaykh or Tariqah, but someone else wants to stick to Prophetic hadith and is very against what you are doing, its not a big deal. Stop fighting over these things.
Similarly, if you are particularly uncomfortable with the concept of a ‘praiseworthy bid’ah’, stick to what is explicitly mentioned in Prophetic hadith. But ensure you realize that your position is the minority one, and that you do land in some contradictions when you perform some ‘good bid’ah’ yourself like the first adhan of Jumu’ah, the Tarawih prayer etc, and this was similar to how Ibn Taymiyyah ended up endorsing some added bid’ah in worship even though his position was to be against them.
Regardless of whether you agree with me on my translator notes & personal remarks here, the evidences in this 11-part series speak for themselves.
Bid’ah is a complex topic, with a lot of ikhtilaf in it. Follow the position you want to worship Allah with, but for His sake do not make it a means for internal dissension & destruction of the ummah! Do not create dividing lines where there are none. As the principle in fiqh states, It is not permissible to condemn someone for doing something in which the scholars differed in its impermissibility.
I thank Allah the most Knowledgeable & Wise who legislated nothing but pure wisdom for allowing me to finish this in a short span of time, and may prayers & blessings be on his noble Messenger Muhammad, forever in time until the Last Day. May Allah forgive all the scholars of the ummah, i.e. the inheritors of the Prophets, for their efforts in trying to arrive at the truth, and may Allah forgive us for our shortcomings and for our neglecting of their important works and writing
The Usuli 
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