Sayings of Scholars Concerning Types of Innovation in Islam

As for the claim that there is no such thing in religion as good innovation, here are some sayings of the brilliant scholars of Islam belying this claim.

Imam Nawawi said in Sahih Muslim (6-21), "The Prophet’s (saws) saying ‘every innovation’ is a general-particular and it is a reference to most innovations. The linguists say, ‘Innovation is any act done without a previous pattern, and it is of five different kinds.’" Imam Nawawi also said in Tahzeeb al Asma’ wal Sifaat, "Innovation in religious law is to originate anything which did not exist during the time of the Prophet (saws), and it is divided into good and bad." He also said, "al-muhdathat (pl. for muhdatha) is to originate something that has no roots in religious law. In the tradition of religious law it is called innovation, and if it has an origin within the religious law, then it is not innovation. Innovation in religious law is disagreeable, unlike in the language where everything that has been originated without a previous pattern is called innovation regardless of whether it is good or bad."

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, the commentator on al-Bukhari, said, "Anything that did not exist during the Prophet’s (saws) time is called innovation, but some are good while others are not."

Abu Na’eem, narrated from Ibrahim al-Junaid, said, "I heard Ash-Shafi`i saying, ‘Innovation is of two types: praiseworthy innovation and blameworthy innovation, and anything that disagrees with the Sunnah is blameworthy.’"

Imam al Bayhaqi narrated in Manaqib Ash-Shafi`i that he said, "Innovations are of two types: that which contradicts the Qur’an, the Sunnah, or unanimous agreement of the Muslims is an innovation of deception, while a good innovation does not contradict any of these things."

Sultan al-`ulama, Al `Izz bin Abdus Salam said, at the end of his book, Al Qawa’id, "Innovation is divided into obligatory, forbidden, recommended, disagreeable and permissible, and the way to know which is which is to match it against the religious law."

Clearly we see from the opinions of these righteous scholars, that to define innovations in worship as wholly negative without exception is ignorant. For these pious knowers, among them Imam Nawawi and Ash-Shafi`i, declared that innovations could be divided into good and bad, based on their compliance with or deviance from religious law.

Moreover, the following Prophetic saying as stated in Sahih Muslim is known even to common Muslims, let alone scholars: "He who inaugurates a good practice (sanna fil-Islam sunnatun hasana) in Islam earns the reward of it, and of all who perform it after him, without diminishing their own rewards in the least." Therefore, it is permissible for a Muslim to originate a good practice, even if the Prophet (saws) didn’t do it, for the sake of doing good and cultivating the reward. The meaning of inaugurate a good practice is to establish a practice through personal reasoning (ijtihad) and derivation (istinbat) from the rules of religious law or its general texts. The actions of the Prophet’s (saws) Companions and the generation following them which we have stated above is the strongest evidence.

Those prejudiced against celebrating the Prophet’s (saws) birthday have paved the way for their falsehood by deceiving the less-learned among the Muslims. The prejudiced ones claim that Ibn Kathir writes in his Al Bidaya wal Nihaya (11-172) that the Fatimide-Obaidite state, which descends from the Jew, Obaidillah Bin Maimoon al Kaddah, ruler of Egypt from 357-567 A.H innovated the celebration of a number of days, among them, the celebration of the Prophet’s (saws) birthday. This treacherous lie is a grave insult to the scholarship of Ibn Kathir and the scholarship of all Islam. For in truth, Ibn Kathir writes about the Prophet’s (saws) birthday in al bidaya wal nihaya [13-136], "The victorious king Abu Said Kawkaburi was one of the generous, distinguished masters, and the glorious kings; he left good impressions and used to observe the honorable Mawlid by having a great celebration. Moreover, he was chivalrous, brave, wise, a scholar, and just." Ibn Kathir continues, "And he used to spend three hundred thousand Dinars on the Mawlid." In support, Imam al Dhahabi writes of Abu Said Kawkaburi, in Siyar A’laam al nubala’ [22-336], "He was humble, righteous, and loved religious learned men and scholars of Prophetic saying."


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