A Question on Biddat and Haraam

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

Help me understand.

I always thought that biddat is something you do which was not done by the Prophet Muhammad (Sallaho Alaihai Wassalam) or his companions and you expect to earn rewards for that activity. Like you can not have 3 sajdas in a rakaat, expecting to get more rewards for that. Its not permitted. “Biddat” is bad.

Also, I think the word “biddat” is heavily mis-used to exclude muslims from any activity where they can enjoy or have fun, even if it is not prohibited by the Prophet.

Now, what about activities which basically have no religious implications? Like you use computers and the internet. It was never done in Islam’s early days, because it was not there. And so if you use them, no harm, no foul.

Now move on to various festivals. There are a lot of people who say celebrating birthdays is haraam. The reason: it was not celebrated by the Prophet. Fine. However, does it meet the criteria of “biddat”? No one expects to earn any rewards for celebrating birthdays. Why is it “biddat”?

What about honoring your collegues in a Farewell Party? A religious friend of mine was exhorting us that these are all haraam, because the Prophet never had such farewell parties and we should only have two festivals in an year.. Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha.

I just can’t figure out how does the reasoning go from point A to point B? Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha is fine, but how do these exclude participating in other festivals and how does it all loop back to “bidaat”?

Thanks in advance.

2

Faisal I dont think anyone would suggest that celebrating any festivals is biddah. We have melas etc and none of those are biddah. However the specific matter of birthdays falls under copying non-muslims. This is an 'identity' issue more than anything else.

Things like birthdays, anniversaries are so interwoven in our life that we just cant seem to give them up.

Anyhow since I seem to understand this to be an identity issue then i'm sure you are very well aware that there are enough warnings for us not to copy the non-muslims. (.. and i know someone here is going to raise the point "so should we not do anything good if the non-muslims do it?? isn't that copying them too?!" however things specific to a non-muslim nation.. things such as valentines or birthdays are part of the non-muslim identity and this is what we should try to avoid).

Anyhow just my take on this subject.. and Allah knows best.

3

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ammarr: *
Anyhow since I seem to understand this to be an identity issue then i'm sure you are very well aware that there are enough warnings for us not to copy the non-muslims.
[/QUOTE]

Again, I think some folks use the "do not copy non-believers" ruling too widely. In my view, it makes sense to abstain from non-believer's festivals if they relate to their religion. Like muslims should not go and attend Easter mass or Passover prayers or Ganga Ma ki Yatra. These are all festivals which are part of their religious activities. Just as we do not expect non-muslims to attend our Eid ki namaaz.

However, to expand the rule to include everything under the sun, by calling it "copying the non-believers" seem incorrect to me. Birthdays are not celebrated by christians only. Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, whatnot.. so many cultures have this personal festival once a year.

This is just an example. I think there should be more discussion as to what is the correct definition of "biddat".

4

Faisal i dont think copying non-muslims is taken too widely. I dont remember the exact words but the Prophet said something to the affect that muslims would follow non-muslims to such an extent that if they were to enter a lizard's hole, the muslims would enter it too. i.e. muslims would follow them in the most stupid of things, even if that thing was of no benefit at all.

Anyhow thats my take on it maybe someone else can explain it better.

5

On the specific issue of birthday, it must be noted that this practice is very old. During the time of many prophets birthdays & anniversaries (of marriages or otherwise) of Kings & rulers of that time were celebrated as public events. Yet there is no evidence at all that any of the prophets, let alone AnHazoor (saw), celebrated or even participated in such events.

IMPO, celebrating birthdays is somewhat arrogant proclamation of a year spent of one's life. My boss used to protest that I should celebrate my birthday because I spent another year in good health & happiness. I argue that I should be humbled by those facts, not boastful.

Further more, often celebrating birthdays become a burden on parents, especially poor parents, just like many rasaams of marriage.

6

Ahmadjee.. with due respect, you are going off in several different tangents. Whatever your personal views about celebrating or moaning birthdays are, what are your views about how to define "biddat"?

Does it include every activity under the sun, or only those where someone mistakenly assumes he/she is carrying out religious good deeds and will be getting rewards, whereas the life and times of the Prophet (Sallalah O Allaihay Wassalam) and his companions suggest thats not the case?

7

Bid'a means originating something,or an innovation (of a 'new thing').
From what i've learnt; 2 general rules of Usul ul-Fiqh(Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence) apply to new things and practices:

  1. "mu'amalaat (social affairs), what is not prohibited is in fact permissible". That is everything is pemissible exept that which is at variance with a stipulated or known prescription from the Quran or Sunnah.
  2. ibaadaat (prescribed or codified worship)), what is not persmissible is in fact prohibited. That is everything execpt that which is a stipulated or known prescription from the Quran or Sunnah.

Bida can be either good or bad. example, using microphones in mosques is a good bida.
We should be careful in hastily regarding something bida in mu'amalaat, bcoz they were not practised in the Prophet's time.

8

MyStiCaL_MisS: Your post is very helpful. Do you have any source for the information you provided? A book? A website?

9

On your question on Haraam...
according to some scholars, there are 5 categories of legal valuation;
-Obligatory (Fard)
-Recommendable/Encouraged (Mustahab)
-Merely permissable/Indifferent (Mubaah)
-Reprehensible/Discouraged (Makruh)
-Prohibited/Forbidden (Haraam)

In other words some bida are are good and permissible, while others are bad and prohibited.

10

Faisal thats a well known rule, i.e. in matters of aqeedah, ibadaah etc NOTHING except whats in the book of Allah or the sunnah is allowed, and in matters of daily life not pertaining to religion, EVERYTHING is allowed except for what has been explicity disallowed. hmmm let me see if i can find a link for you.

11

Yes it is from a dawa course but you can look up books on islamic jurisprudence on laws regarding bid'a.

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Re: A Question on Biddat and Haraam

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Help me understand.

I always thought that biddat is something you do which was not done by the Prophet Muhammad (Sallaho Alaihai Wassalam) or his companions and you expect to earn rewards for that activity. Like you can not have 3 sajdas in a rakaat, expecting to get more rewards for that. Its not permitted. "Biddat" is bad.

[/QUOTE]

There is few essential things that are usually dismissed by some people/scholars which leads them to give invalid fatwa

  • The term Bida needs a tradition or activity be established in either The Quran or Prophetic traditions. If there is no tradition or practice from Sunna then it cannot be consider bida

for eg..internet, computer

  • Secondly, you need to evaluate the impact of this changes. If it brings you to munkar things then it is haram and if it brings you closer to god then it is tajadud not bida.
13

assalamoalikum :jhanda:

the thing to remember is there are 2 types of bida’h

  1. bidah e hasena (good bidah) & 2) bidah e dalalah (bad biddah)

rite fais’ good point on how prophet mohammed (s.a.w) never celebrated his own birthday and we muslims well some of us celebrate milad-e-mustapha (s.a.w) some ppl say its bidah, yes its bidah but its good bidah (bidah e hasana) an act being commited to gain sawab (good deeds) i don’t think there is any thing wrong with that.

some ppl before realising and understanding a situation say it oh this is bidah thats bidah but they don’t understand the significance of bidah and how it can be rite and wrong

14

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MyStiCaL_MisS: *
We should be careful in hastily regarding something bida in mu'amalaat, bcoz they were not practised in the Prophet's time.
[/QUOTE]

This is the crux of the argument. Thats my point. There are plenty of people in real life as well as in this forum, who barge into any discussion with a half-baked fatwa that this function is haraam and that is a biddat.. whereas the function-in-question is typically a social event anyway.

My point was that biddat (good or bad) is a term which should be used for actions which are deemed to provide rewards and good deeds. Not for everyday activities which are essentially social events.

15

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
This is the crux of the argument. Thats my point. There are plenty of people in real life as well as in this forum, who barge into any discussion with a half-baked fatwa that this function is haraam and that is a biddat.. whereas the function-in-question is typically a social event anyway.
....
[/QUOTE]

Those "half-baked" fatawa originate from scholars who take into consideration the side-effects of an event. For example, celebrating birthday, by itself it may not be as bad but when you look at its implications in society I have seen news people committing suicide for not being able to bring a birthday cake. Its the unseen/unforced pressure that builds up to celebrate it.

16

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Changez_like: *
I have seen news people committing suicide for not being able to bring a birthday cake. Its the unseen/unforced pressure that builds up to celebrate it.
[/QUOTE]

This is not really a convincing argument. Crazy people can commit suicide for any number of reasons. Isolated instances do not form basis of good law. I once heard a dude committed suicide because he couldn't catch a fish while fishing all day. That doesn't mean, we rule all fishing as haraam or biddat. It just means, the guy who died had some problems.

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Re: A Question on Biddat and Haraam

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Help me understand.

I always thought that biddat is something you do which was not done by the Prophet Muhammad (Sallaho Alaihai Wassalam) or his companions you expect to earn rewards for that activity.

[/QUOTE]

And what if the teaching of companions don't reflect the true islam... shall they still be followed?????

What if some of the companions disobyed the command of Prophet in the battle of Uhad and went after maal - e - ganeemat....

so would it be alright to obey companions... even though their deeds implying disobeying the Prophet Mohammad?????

or what if to someso called companions their life was so important that they ran for their lives in mountains.. leaving the Prophet Mohammad and Hazrat Ali in the battle field.....

would be alright for us to regard our lives more important then Prophet MOhammad and islam... based on the deeds of companions?

What are the rewards for these kinda teachings of companions?????

Is it arlight to follow the companions even though Quran has the following verse to say :

."Whenthey meet those who believe, they say: We Believe;' but
when they are alone with their evil ones, they say:We are really
with you, we (were) only jesting [2:14]."

Now lets see what one of the companions has to say about himself:

Ibn Sa`d in his al-Tabaqat (Leiden, 1322), iii, part 1, p.129 reports that in asermon that Abu Bakr delivered after taking charge of the caliphate, hedeclared, "I am only a man, and I am not better than any of you. So obeyme when I go straight and correct me when you see me deviate. You should knowthat (at times) I am overwhelmed by a devil, so when you see me in a state ofrage keep away from me." Similar statements by him have been reported by:

al-Tabari in his Ta'rikh (Cairo, 1357), ii, 440;
Ibn Qutaybah in al-'Imamah wa al-siyasah (Matbaat al-Futuh al-'Adabiyyah,1331), 6;
al-Haythami in Majma al-zawa'id (1352), v, 183;
al_Muttaqi in Kanz al-`ummal (Hyderabad, 1312), ii, 136;

and others.

So what do you think about following the people who claims that they can be over whelmed by devils.

.Al-Bukhari narrates similar traditions onthe authority of Hudhayfah (no 1435), Abd Allah (no.1435), Sahl ibn Sad (no.1442), Abu Said alÂ_Khudri (no 1442), IbnAbbas (no.1442), Abu Hurayrah (no1443), and Asma' bint Abi Bakr (no. 1449) in "Kitab al-ruqaq", aswell as elsewhere in "Kitab al tafsir" and "Kitab bad'al-khalq". The same tradition with various wordings is also recorded byMuslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, alÂ_Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal intheir books (as well as Imam Malik in alÂ_Muwatta', "Kitab alÂ_taharah",hadith no.28) from several Companions. Imam Malik reports the followingtradition in his alÂ_Muwatta', "Kitab alÂ_jihad", hadith no.32:

"TheProphet (S) said concerning the martyrs of Uhud, "I shall bear witness forthem (i.e. their faith)." Thereupon Abu Bakr said, "O Messenger ofAllah, aren't we their brethren, who embraced Islam like them and did jihad likethem?" The Prophet (S) replied, "Yes, but I don't know what you willdo after me ..."

AI-Bukhari in his Sahih (Kitab al-ruqaq, hadithno. 1441) narrates the following mutawatir tradition of the Prophet (S)from Anas ibn Malik:

AI-Bukhari reports from Muslim ibn Ibrahim, from Wuhayb from Abd alAziz, from Anas thatthe Prophet (S) said: "A group of my Companions will be brought to me onthe Pond (of alÂ_Kawthar) and as soon as I recognize them they shall bedragged away. I would say, ('God! Aren't they) my Companions?' (God) would say,'You don't know what they did after you.

Now on what bases can we follow the teachings of the companions?

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal:

Like you can not have 3 sajdas in a rakaat, expecting to get more rewards for that. Its not permitted. "Biddat" is bad.

*
[/QUOTE]

And what is this hadith implying:

*. Theevidence which proves that Umar (radiallahu anhu) ordered the practise of 20 rak'ahshas been recorded by Shaykh Ali al-Muttaqi al-Hindi[10] in the largest collection ofHadith available today: Kanz al-Ummal fi Sunan al-aqwal wal Af'al[11], as follows from Ubayy ibn Ka'b(radiallahu anhu): *

18

What do you mean over whelmed by the devils. Devil is not restricted to go to anybody. We are all human beings and devil comes to all of us.

One thing I understand from this forum. I never knew shias have this problem of defaming sahabas. They were the companions of the Prophet (saw). You have no right to say anything against them. First let us look at ourselves. What are we? We cannot even reach the muqam of suhabas.and look at you discussing those great personalities who have promised paradise.

The Sahaabah Radhiyallahu Anhum are those that transmitted the Deen to us. If we had to cast aspirations at the integrity of the Sahaabah, it will imply the destruction of the Deen.

You should realise that your abuse is in fact an abuse of Rasulullah Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Hadhrat Abu Bakr and Umar Radhiyallahu anhuma are the father-in-laws of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi wa sallam. They were his close confidants during his lifetime, and are his close neighbours after his demise. Who can achieve this honour? Who can achieve this honour? They took part in Jihaad with Rasulullah alayhi wa sallam in all the Jihaad campaigns.

Hadhrat Uthmaan Radhiyallahu anhu was husband to two of the daughters of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Allah Ta' ala will not choose for his beloved Rasool except the best of men, and the best of companions. This was the relationship between Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the three Khulafaa ur Raahideen. He never said that these three are the enemies of Islam, and never warned against these three, as the shiahs claim.

If fact swearing at these three is an attack against Hadhrat Ali Radhiyallahu anhu. Hadhrat Ali Radhiyallahu anhu gave Hadhrat Abu Bakr Radhiyallahu anhu the Bait (oath f allegiance) in the Musjid (openly), and he (Hadhrat Ali Radhiyallahu anhu) got his daughter Ummu Kulthoom married to Hadhrat Umar Radhiyallahu unhu, he took the bait at the hands of Hadhrat Uthmaan Radhiyallahu anhu, was his minister, close friend and beloved one.

Would Hadhrat Ali Radhiyallahu anhu give his daughter to a kaafir, or would he give the ba'it to a kaafir?

No matter what you discuss you have no right to speak against the Sahabas! I have been seeing this for long now and it is intolerable! Please restrain yourself to other aspects instead of discussing Sahabas.

19

Thats the point I am trying to make… they are people like us.. who can be overwhelmed by devil… so how can their actions be trustworthy to follow… they dont get wahi’s nor are they masoom… so can they be source of our teachings… when they claim themselves to be overwhelmed by devils…

I didnt mention anything against them… All i mentioned were the true facts… And thats the best excuse you can come up with to defend them…

Scroll back and read the hadith’s i posted… where does it say Prophet promised paradise to all the sahabas… did you even bother to read the ayat of the quran or the hadith’s.

And where were they after the death of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H.
was khilafat more important issue to them then the funeral services of the Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H.

Oh didnt some of the sahabas ran in moutains to save their lives…when it was time for jehad at the battle oh Uhud… Wernt some of them quite at the battle of khandaq when Umar ibne abduwad crossed the khandaq. Didnt some sahabas disobyed Prophet and left the place prophet MOhammad asked them to say in the greed of wealth from maal-e- ganeemat… so based on their deeds can we disobey Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H.

And when did i say it was a figure of three. I just mentioned some hadith of Prophet… some instances in history of islam.. and an ayaaat of quran and you claim they were t the three khulfaa ur rasheeden they are referring too… thanks for the enlightment.

Didnt quran warned againt some people…didnt the hadith mentioned above say that prophet denied Abu Bakr that he will not be a witness for him… because he didnt know what they will do after him…didnt i say the hadith where prophet mentioned about Prophet will be told the don’t know what will some of his sahabas do after him.

Scroll up and keeping all your believes aside read the hadith’s i posted

You’ll find the answer to your questions in the link below:

http://al-islam.org/nahjul/5.htm
http://al-islam.org/nahjul/66.htm

and then read the incident of ghadeer
www.al-islam.org/ghadir/

Excuse me… All i did was rasied some questions based on the hadith’s of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H., an ayat of Quran and some facts from the history… And is that the answer you have to give me… All i asked was in the light of these facts, hadith and ayat from Quran. Is it alright to follow the sahabas… why dont you answer to the questions i asked rather then ignoring it… Where does it say following sahabas is not a bidat … all i pointed out if following wateva these non masoom sahabas do .. we should do it.. then would it be alright for us to do those actions?

Hope you have an answer for that.

20

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Insaniyat: *

And where were they after the death of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H.
was khilafat more important issue to them then the funeral services of the Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H.

[/QUOTE]

yaar iss baat per ek shayer ka bohut acha shair yaad aa raha hai..arz hai:

kyon uthatay nahi janaza Nabi (pbuh) ka
kidher marr gaye thay betia dainay waalay