Is there such a thing as a good innovation in the religion?
ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “Every innovation is misguidance, even if the people see it as good.” (Reported by al-Lalikaʾi (126), Ibn Battah (205), al-Bayhaqi in al-Madkhal ila al-Sunan (191), and Ibn Nasr in as-Sunnah (70) with a sound chain of narration)
Whoever divides innovation into a good innovation and an evil one is mistaken and contradicts the statement of The Messenger ﷺ: “Every innovation is misguidance.” (Reported by Imam Abu Dawud (4607) and authenticated by Shaykh al-Albani) (footnote).
Because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared all innovations to be misguidance, while this person claims not all innovations are misguidance, but rather some are good innovations.
Imam Malik (d. 179 AH) said: “Whoever innovates in Islam something he sees as good has claimed that Muhammad ﷺ betrayed the message, because Allah said: ‘This day I have perfected for you your religion’ (al-Maʾidah: 3). So whatever was not part of the religion that day is not part of the religion today.” (al-Iʿtiṣām, by Ash-Shāṭibī 1/64-65).
Imam al-Shatibi (d. 790 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The condemnation of innovations and newly introduced matters is general, not limited to specific cases.” Then he said: “The evidences prove the general condemnation from several angles:
First: The texts came in absolute and general form, frequently and repeatedly, without any exceptions at all. Nothing has come to indicate that some of them are guidance, nor has it been said: ‘Every innovation is misguidance except such and such,’ or anything of that meaning.
If there were among them anything that the Sharia would approve of or join to the legislated acts, that would have been mentioned in a verse or hadith. But there is nothing of that sort.
Second: It is established in the principles of knowledge that any universal rule or comprehensive Sharia evidence, if repeated in many places and applied to various foundational or subsidiary issues, without any restrictions or exceptions, and with its ruling affirmed repeatedly, then this proves that it remains upon its general wording.
Like His saying: ‘No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another, and that man will have nothing except what he strove for’ (al-Najm: 38–39).
What we are dealing with here is of that type. Multiple ahadith were narrated at various times and in various circumstances that every innovation is misguidance, and every newly introduced matter is an innovation, and similar phrases indicating that all innovations are blameworthy. Not a single verse or hadith came with any restriction, specification, or anything indicating otherwise.
This clearly proves that the texts remain upon their generality and unrestricted wording.
Third: The consensus of the righteous Salaf from the Sahabah, the Tabiʿin, and those who followed them, all condemned innovations, regarded them as repugnant, and kept away from those associated with them. There is no report that any of them hesitated in doing so. By way of survey, this constitutes a fixed consensus. This proves that every innovation is falsehood, not part of the truth.
Fourth: The very concept of innovation entails opposing the Sharia and discarding it.
And everything that falls under such a category cannot be divided into good and bad, nor can any part of it be praiseworthy.
There is no proof, neither from intellect nor transmission, that supports praising something that opposes the Lawgiver.” (Al-Iʿtiṣām, 1/187-188).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The so-called ‘good innovation’—according to those who divide innovations into good and bad—must be something that was considered mustaḥabb (recommended) by some of the scholars to be followed, and for which a Sharia proof exists to support its recommendation. Likewise, those who say that every Sharia innovation is blameworthy base it on the saying of the Prophet ﷺ in the authentic hadith: ‘Every innovation is misguidance.’ (Reported by Imam Abu Dawud (4607)
They interpret ʿUmar’s statement about tarawih: ‘What a good innovation this is’ (Reported by Imam al-Bukhari, 2010) as being based on linguistic usage only. According to them, a Sharia innovation is what lacks any proof for its recommendation. The end result of both opinions is the same. They agree that whatever is not made obligatory or recommended by the Sharia is neither obligatory nor recommended. So whoever takes any act as worship or religion that the Sharia did not make obligatory or recommended is misguided by consensus of the Muslims.
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, (27/152)
Saying that there are good innovations leads to very serious consequences:
First: According to their claim, these recommended innovations would be part of the religion that Allah perfected for His slaves and was pleased with for them. But this is clearly false, because Allah never commanded His slaves with these innovations, nor did His Messenger ﷺ, nor did he act upon them.
Nor did any of the Rightly Guided Caliphs or the rest of the Sahabah, nor the Tabiʿin and their followers in excellence. So anyone who claims that there are good innovations in the religion has spoken about Allah, His Book, and His Messenger ﷺ without knowledge.
Second: It would mean that the Prophet ﷺ and his companions left out righteous, blessed, and praiseworthy practices. And this is something far removed from the noble character of the Messenger ﷺ and his companions.
Third: It would mean that those who established these so-called good innovations achieved acts of righteous, blessed, and praiseworthy Sunnah that neither the Prophet ﷺ nor his companions attained.
The narration of Abu Nuʿaym in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ (9/113) from Harmalah ibn Yahya, who said: I heard Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafiʿi say: “Bidʿah (innovation) is of two kinds: A praiseworthy bidʿah, and a blameworthy bidʿah. What agrees with the Sunnah is praiseworthy. What contradicts the Sunnah is blameworthy.” He used as proof the statement of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb regarding qiyam (night prayer) in Ramadan: “What a good bidʿah this is.”
Since Imam Ash-Shafi’i used the hadith of Umar Ibn Al Khattab, this backfires on the mubtadi that use this quote because, Taraweeh is a revived sunnah, it is not something that Umar Ibn Al Khattab introduced into the deen, so the bidah hasanah here just refers to revived sunan of the prophet ﷺ. Not that there is good innovations in the deen and that mawlid is an example of such.
Ibn Taymiyyah attributed this also to al-Bayhaqi in al-Madkhal with a sound chain of narration, as found in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (20/163).
Al-Bayhaqi also narrated in Manāqib al-Shāfiʿī (1/469) from al-Shafiʿi: “Newly introduced matters are of two types:
- One is what is introduced in contradiction to the Book, the Sunnah, an Athar (narration), or Ijmaʿ (consensus); this is the misguided bidʿah.
- The second is what is introduced of goodness, without contradicting any of these; this is a new matter that is not blameworthy. ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, said about the qiyam of Ramadan: ‘What a good bidʿah this is.’ He meant it was something new, not previously done, but that it contained no rejection of what had come before.”
Al Bayhaqi says: Likewise, debating the people of bidʿah, when they publicise their beliefs, present their doubts, and speak about their arguments, along with replying to them, and exposing the falsehood in their positions.
This is a division based on the linguistic meaning of bidʿah, which refers to anything newly introduced. Some of it may be blameworthy, and some praiseworthy. As ʿUmar said about gathering the people for tarawih, he called it a bidʿah and praised it, even though the Prophet ﷺ had already prayed tarawih and encouraged it, but did not continue out of fear that it would be made obligatory on his ummah.
So if an act has a valid foundation in the Sharia, it is praiseworthy, and calling it a bidʿah (in the linguistic sense) does not harm.
Imam Abu Shāmah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “Newly introduced matters are of two types:
Some are bidʿahs that are approved, and some are bidʿahs that are disapproved.
Harmalah ibn Yahya said: I heard al-Shafiʿi say: Bidʿah is of two types, a praiseworthy bidʿah and a blameworthy bidʿah. What agrees with the Sunnah is praiseworthy. What contradicts the Sunnah is blameworthy.
He used as proof the saying of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, about the night prayer in Ramadan: ‘What a good bidʿah this is.’”
Abu Shāmah said: This was because the Prophet ﷺ encouraged praying during the nights of Ramadan, and he prayed in the masjid and some companions followed him for a few nights. Then he left it out of fear that it would become obligatory. After the Prophet ﷺ passed away, that fear no longer remained. So the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, agreed to perform the qiyam of Ramadan in congregation, to revive this symbol which the Sharia commanded, practiced, encouraged, and praised.
Some scholars held that the qiyam of Ramadan, about which ʿUmar said “What a good bidʿah,” is not actually a Sharia-based bidʿah at all, even if the Prophet ﷺ did not perform it in congregation regularly. Rather, what ʿUmar united the companions upon was a Sunnah, and the people were commanded to follow it. This is far removed from the invented bidʿahs that came later, and no one has the special status of the rightly guided caliphs.
Imam Abu Musa al-Madīni, may Allah have mercy on him, (d.581AH) said: “In the hadith of ʿUmar regarding the night prayer in Ramadan: ‘What a good bidʿah this is,’ he only called it a bidʿah because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not established it for them in that exact way, nor had it existed during the time of Abu Bakr.
In reality, the night prayer of Ramadan in congregation is a Sunnah, not a bidʿah. The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘You must follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs after me. Follow closely the two after me: Abu Bakr and ʿUmar.’
Al-Shafiʿi said: Bidʿah is of two types, a good one like the saying of ʿUmar: ‘What a good bidʿah this is,’ and a second that is a bidʿah of misguidance.”
Al-Majmūʿ al-Mughīth fī Gharīb al-Qurʾān wa al-Ḥadīth, (1/137)
Anything without a valid foundation is a blameworthy bidʿah, a Sharia bidʿah.
Many scholars said: Bidʿah in the terminology of the Sharia is always blameworthy, unlike the broader linguistic meaning.
“As for what appears in the words of some of the Salaf about approving certain bidʿahs, they only meant bidʿahs in the linguistic sense, not the Sharia sense.
One example is the saying of ʿUmar when he gathered the people for tarawih in congregation: ‘What a good bidʿah this is.’ It is also narrated that he said: ‘If this is a bidʿah, then what a good bidʿah.’ What he meant is that this form of practice had not been done like that before, but it had Sharia roots to refer to.
The Prophet ﷺ used to encourage qiyam in Ramadan and praise it. During his time, people prayed in small groups and alone. He led them in congregation for a few nights, then stopped out of fear that it would be made obligatory. That fear ended after his passing.” (Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa al-Ḥikam, 2/128)
Ibn Hajar said in Fatḥ al-Bārī (13/253): “The term ‘newly introduced matters’ refers to anything newly invented that has no basis in the Sharia. This is called a bidʿah in the terminology of the Sharia. If it has a valid Sharia basis, it is not a bidʿah. In Sharia terms, bidʿah is blameworthy.
Linguistically, anything newly created without precedent is called bidʿah, whether good or bad.
This also applies to ‘muhdathah’ and the phrase in the hadith of ʿAʾishah: ‘Whoever introduces something in this affair of ours which is not from it, it is rejected.”
Likewise, compiling the Quran into one mushaf, and gathering for night prayer in Ramadan.
ʿUmar’s statement: ‘What a good bidʿah,’ refers to the linguistic usage, which is anything done without precedent, as in the verse: ‘Say, I am not a new thing among the messengers’ (al-Aḥqāf: 9).
What the Prophet ﷺ left out, while the reason for doing it existed, his leaving it becomes a Sunnah, and doing it becomes a blameworthy bidʿah.” (al-Fatāwā al-Ḥadīthiyyah, p. 200)
The title of that section in the book is: “The point that Sharia bidʿah is always misguidance, unlike the linguistic meaning.” It is unclear if the title was given by the author, the compiler, or a copyist.
So the statement of al-Shafiʿi about a praiseworthy bidʿah means: that which agrees with the Sunnah, meaning it has a Sharia basis. It is only called bidʿah in the linguistic sense, because it was newly done at that time, like gathering the people behind one imam for tarawih. In Ḥaqīqat al-Bidʿah wa Aḥkāmuhā (1/432 and onwards), during the refutation of those who use the words of al-Shafiʿi to approve of bidʿah:
“Justice demands that we not take the words of this imam out of context, and not isolate one statement from his other views. If some of his words are general and others detailed, we must interpret the general in light of the detailed.
Al-Shafiʿi also said in al-Risālah regarding istihsān (personal preference), which many use to justify bidʿah:
‘No one besides the Messenger of Allah may speak in religion except through evidence. One cannot say what he prefers, for that is inventing something without precedent.’
He also said: ‘It is prohibited for anyone to follow istihsān when it contradicts the report, and the report is from the Book and the Sunnah.’
He also said: ‘Istihsān is a personal pleasure.’
And he said: ‘Whoever speaks without a binding report or analogy is closer to sin than to ignorance. No one has the right to speak except with knowledge from the past. That knowledge is the Book, the Sunnah, consensus, and what is derived from analogy upon them.’
Can it be said after all this that al-Shafiʿi approved of bidʿah or encouraged it? Could he have meant by his definition that people should pursue what their tastes and minds deem good?
Comparing his statements on bidʿah and on istihsān shows the stature of this imam. No one should slander him or attribute to him what he is innocent of.
Al-Dhahabi narrated that ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Dāwud say: “In all his life, al-Shafiʿi was never associated with any of the people of desires, nor was he known for it, nor accused of it, and he hated the people of kalam and bidʿah.”
He also narrated that Imam Aḥmad said: “I never saw anyone more committed to the athar (traditions) than al-Shafiʿi.” Ibn Sahnun’s son said: “There was no bidʿah in al-Shafiʿi.” If he had approved of bidʿah, he would not have earned such praise.
In summary:
Any act that has no valid basis in the Sharia is a blameworthy bidʿah and a misguidance.
In conclusion: Imam Ash-Shafiʿi’s division of bidʿah into praiseworthy and blameworthy refers to the linguistic sense.
In the terminology of the Sharia, all bidʿah is blameworthy.
What has a basis in the Sharia is not called bidʿah in the Sharia, even if it is linguistically new.
Shayk Bin Baz was asked: Some used as evidence the saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, “Whoever initiates a good sunnah…” and so on from the noble hadith. They also often repeat the statement of Umar ibn al-Khattab when he gathered the people to pray tarawih behind one imam and said, “Niʿmat al-bidʿah hādhihi (What a good bidah this is),” which is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari. Is this a valid proof for my colleagues or not?
The Shayk’s Answer: This is an error and a deception. It is not permissible to use this authentic hadith, “Whoever initiates a good sunnah in Islam…” as evidence for bringing about bidah or approving of it. What is meant by “initiates a good sunnah in Islam” is reviving, manifesting, and calling to a sunnah from the Sharia that had been neglected or unknown to the people.
It does not mean inventing something new in the religion, because this contradicts the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, “Whoever introduces into this matter of ours that which is not from it, it is rejected,” and his saying, “Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with our command, it is rejected,” and also his saying, “Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is a bidah, and every bidah is misguidance.”
The authentic ahadith are clear and explicit in forbidding bidah, warning against it, and describing it as evil. No one is allowed to claim that a bidah is hasanah (good) based on a false understanding of the Prophet’s ﷺ words, “Whoever initiates a good sunnah in Islam.”
This is a mistake in understanding the Sunnah and a distortion of its meanings. What is meant is that a person revives and brings out the established sunan, makes them known, and calls others to follow them, after people had forgotten them or become heedless of them.
As for inventing new acts of worship, that is not permissible. The people must adhere to what Allah has legislated in His Book and what His Messenger ﷺ has established in his Sunnah. They are not allowed to introduce into the religion what Allah has not permitted. Allah the Exalted said, “Or do they have partners who have legislated for them in the religion that which Allah has not permitted” (al-Shura: 21).
The Prophet ﷺ said, “The worst of matters are the newly invented ones, and every bidah is misguidance,” and he said, “Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is a bidah, and every bidah is misguidance.” (Bulugh Al Maram Book 2 Hadith 368, Also In Sahih Muslim) He also said, “Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with our affair, it is rejected,” meaning it will not be accepted. (Sunan Ibn Majah 14)
As for the statement of Umar, “Niʿmat al-bidʿah hādhihi,” the scholars have explained that what he meant was from the aspect of Arabic language. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, gathered the people behind one imam for Salat al-Tarawih during his khilafah, whereas during the time of the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, they were praying separately in small groups or individually.
So when Umar saw them in that state, he said, “If we gathered them behind one imam, it would be better.” So he did that, and when he later saw them all praying together in congregation, he said, “Niʿmat al-bidʿah hādhihi,” meaning, what a good arrangement and organisation this is.
This was said from the angle of language only, because a bidah in Arabic can mean something that was not previously done in that exact form, even if its root is from the Sunnah. The foundation of Salat al-Tarawih is a Sunnah. The Prophet ﷺ prayed it with the people for several nights, encouraged it, and praised those who perform qiyam in Ramadan. However, he stopped leading them in congregation out of fear that it would become obligatory on them. So the prayer itself is a Sunnah, well established in the Sharia.
The Messenger ﷺ left off the congregational performance of it only out of concern for the ummah, not because it was not legislated. So when that fear was no longer present during the khilafah of Umar, he revived what the Prophet ﷺ had initiated.
The people at that time had become scattered in their prayer. One man would pray alone, another would have two or three praying with him. So Umar saw that gathering them behind one imam was better, and this is what he referred to with the word bidah, from the aspect that it had not been done in that continuous and organised form before. It was not a bidah in the Sharia sense, because Umar would never introduce a bidah nor approve of it while knowing that the Prophet ﷺ had forbidden bidah. (Click here to see fatwa from his website)
