[quote]
Originally posted by Salman-:
**As-Salamun-Alaikum
Surely, bidat (innovation) is nothing but introducing something new in religion. Something that did not exist before. Now tell me is it bidat to spread the knowledge of traditions through modern media like Television, Computers and internet? If it is, we must refrain from such acts for they did not exist in the time of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.). No, my friend, such innovations are haraam only if they spread evil and sensuality. But if they are used to spread Quranic sciences we must make optimum use of them instead of considering them as ‘bidat’.
Wa-Salamun-Alaikum-Wa-Rahmatullahi-Wa-Barakatu**
[/quote]
Well said, but who's listening?!
Not only that, ask whoever opposes:
Is prayin taraweeh in cngregation = bad innovation? Haram?
I having Qur'an with the dots on it, dot for the Ba', dot for the Fa', and dots for the sheen, is that = Bad bid^ah? Haram to have?
Is using a mihrab where khateeb stands = Bid^ah, Haram?
Is Mawlid that is done by MILLIONS OF Muslims, worldwide; In India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, sudan, sweden, Libia, Algeria, Shishan, Egypt, lebanon suria.... all of these are committing shirk? = Bid^ah?
I using the internet, riding cars, watching tv.. all haram?
-.....
all of these things were not done during the time of the Prophet. But Muslims did them according to sahabah and scholars' rule: If it does not oppose the religion, it's not forbiden.
Imam Muslim related from the route of Jarir Ibn ^Abdullah (Check Muslim), that the Prophet said:
which means: <>
This hadith, which is confirmed and of the sahih classification, is a foundation for proving the validity of the good innovations in Islam. The good innovation is called the 'liked innovation'. The saying of the Prophet in the hadith refers to the good innovation as opposed to the bad innovation signifying that it includes those innovations that comply with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Every innovation innovated by the people of knowledge that complies with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet is a good innovation, as indicated by the above-mentioned hadith of the Prophet: <>
The Prophet mentioned this hadith in relation to a specific incident which occurred when a group of very poor people came to the Prophet. They were so poor that they could not afford an article of clothing for boththe upper and lower part of their bodies. Out of their poverty, they covered their bodies by wearing a sheet of material with an opening cut in it for the head. These people were not inhabitants of al-Madinah, though they had come there out of their love and desire to meet the Prophet. When the Prophet saw their state of poverty, the expression on his face changed to sadness. The Prophet urged the Muslims to contribute and pay in charity to those needy people what would be enough to lift their sadness and their need. One man stood up, came forward, and put something between the hands of the Prophet as a contribution to those people. Another came forward with a contribution, then a third, and a fourth. One brought food and another clothing--until a large quantity gathered between the hands of the Prophet. At that time, the face of the Prophet expressed happiness, and he said: <>
Although the Prophet stated this hadith at that specific incident, the meaning is general and covers the general cases. It is not permissible to claim that this hadith applies only to charity because the Prophet used a general term in this hadith. He did not specify the reward to 'He who spends in charity,' rather he said: 'He who innovates a good innovation.' The Prophet used a general term in this hadith, even though it was revealed for a specific incident. It is the rule among the scholars that if an ayah or hadith was revealed for a specific incident or a specific reason yet a general term was used in that ayah or hadith, then the criterion would be in the general meaning of the term and not by the specificity of the incident.
Any Muslim who knows of an innovation innovated by the pious Muslim scholars which complies with the Qur'an and the hadith, let him step forward and apply it. All such innovations which comply with the Qur'an and the hadith are covered and included by the hadith of the Prophet: <> Hence this hadith is a foundation to affirm and confirm the validity of the good innovation in Islam. Moreover, the practices of the Companions and what we have witnessed from the pious Muslims stand as more proof of the validity of the good innovations.
Some people falsely claim that anything that was innovated after the Prophet is an innovation of misguidance. Their statement contradicts the saying of the Prophet previously mentioned; and it contradicts the doings of the Companions and their followers. One example of a good innovation is that which was done by Yahya Ibn Ya^mar--adding the dots above and below some of the Arabic letters in the Qur'an. Those who wrote down the Revelation that came down on the Prophet wrote the ayat of the Qur'an without the dots that are present today in the Arabic letters.
For the example I mentioned above, the letter ba' was written without a dot underneath; the letter ta', was written without two dots on top; and the letter tha' was written without three dots above. The entire Qur'an was written without these dots over or under the letters. Adding the dots took place after the death of the Prophet by a certain period of time.
Yahya Ibn Ya^mar was the first to innovate the convention of using dots on the Arabic letters. He was among the pious and trustworthy tabi^in. His action of applying the dots on the letters is included in the hadith of the Prophet referring to the one who innovates a good innovation in Islam. When the Companions witnessed this innovation, they did not disagree with him; they did not blame him and say, "You have done something that the Prophet did not do." They did not tell him, "The Prophet was not explicit about doing such a thing, how dare you do it?" On the contrary, they found this to be a good action on his part, because it has a great benefit for the nation.
When the Companions wrote the Qur'an, they did so without writing the dots for a certain wisdom. This was because the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet with different methods of recitation. In some of the recitations, the word would be recited with the letter ta' and in other recitations, it would be recited with the letter ya'. The ta' and the ya' are written in the same shape or format, however, they differ in the placement of the dots on them, i.e., the ta' has two dots on top and the ya' has two dots underneath.
Writing the format of the word without the dots would allow for either the ta' or the ya' to be read. As such, one Book compiling the letters and the words (without the dots) would be sufficient for more than one recitation. However, if one applies the dots, then this is restricted. That flexibility of reading the different recitations in one Book is eliminated, and if one wanted to recite according to a different recitation, one would need to rewrite the words with the dots placed differently to suit that recitation. For that wisdom, the Companions did not innovate the dots before this time.
When the benefit of this innovation became apparent at the time of Yahya Ibn Ya^mar, the Companions kept silent. At that time, many of the non-Arabs had embraced Islam and reading the Qur'an without the dots without making errors and mistakes constituted a hardship for these Muslims. To reduce the difficulty, Yahya applied the dots to the Qur'an. The Companions found that to be a good action on his part. This innovation of Yahya Ibn Ya^mar is included and covered by the hadith of the Prophet: <>
There are some who falsely claim: "Everything that was not done at the time of the Prophet and done later on--is an innovation of misguidance." If one followed this faulty reasoning, he would have to remove all of the dots from all of the texts of the Qur'anthat are available today, before he started raising other points falsely. Had the claim of such a person been true, it would have been an obligation to remove the dots on all of the texts that are available today. Yet, the Companions did not do that, and they did not order it to be done. All those who came after them, from the scholars and the lay people--until the present day--read Qur'an in texts that include the dots.
I need answers to ever question.
Is it not bid^ah to put the letters (SAW) or (AS) after the name of the Prophet instead of putting the whole salat and salam for respect? It wasn't done by Prophet nor sahabah!
Is it not bid^ah follow the sects and leave the Ijma^ and sayings of qualified scolars?!
....... And a lot more.
I need answers to these questions with the prooves on them! otherwise, this would be another escape from the prooves.