Today we teach our children that learn this and that so you'll become successful in this or that field and your future will be secured. Why don't we teach our children that learn Quran and hadith, and always 'Tawakal allal- Allah' so that our both future will be secured. P.S. there is absolutely nothing wrong if one learn something that related to only this world.
So are you saying that we're thinking learning trades or skills for jobs in different fields is seen by people as a way to gain hasana? And that people who instruct their children to learn Qur'an and hadith are seen as extreme? I'm still not clear on what exactly is being discussed here.
Peace lethal kamikaze no it is not wrong to counter check … But the correct way to counter check is 2 ways:
Study their characters
Check to see if they have ijaza from their peers and their scholars.
Trying to cross-examine a scholar using knowledge is impossible for a layperson … Because they would first have to learn themselves … When a person tries to say that such and such is wrong and that he is right is to lay claim that he has more knowledge and by saying is implicitly saying that he is more qualified.
However, through the Mercy of Allah (SWT) we can truly all see the fruits of the right path coming from a good strong authentic lineage and that is to look upon him for good character. You don’t have to be a scholar to recognise good character, but you do have to be a scholar to recognise good knowledge. Secondly, you don’t need to be scholar to see that someone has many ijazaat … And you know in what subject they have received it too.
I think there is lot of misunderstanding regarding Bidah (in Islam) … in other words … considering something as addition to Islam. I would like to clarify this misunderstanding from what I know about Islam.
We should know that ‘bidah’ is starting something anew. ‘Bidah in Islam’ is starting something anew in Islam (adding something in Islam or subtracting something from Islam).
It is very important to understand bidah (in Islam) and why it is sin that would lead a person to hell.
I think, once understood, questions raised in this thread would become clear (but condition is that one wants to understand, without pre-conceived biased ideas).
Bidah: Allah has made certain acts ‘fard’ in Islam. Most fards are mentioned in Quran; though there are some fard acts we got from Prophet (SAW). ‘Fards’ are commands of Allah for Muslims to perform, and these commands are very clear.
Salaat, number of rikah in Salaat, Zakat, Haj, Saum (Fasting), recitation of Kalma-e-Shahadah … all these are commands of Allah and it is fard for Muslims to perform all of them.
There are other commands of Allah too that ask people to act or restrict people’s act, that are mentioned in Quran. Some are vague and others are clear. Few of them are: Max 4 wives at one time, calculation of inheritance, not to join two sisters in marriage at one time, consider pork haram, etc.
All what Allah has commanded or restricted, are part of Islam. Any addition or subtraction to what Allah has commanded or restricted, is ‘Bidah in Islam’ (that is making changes in Islam).
Important thing about Allah’s command (fard) is that, not performing or not abiding with them is sin … but performing or abiding them is not deed of reward but obligation (though we can hope that Allah would give us rewards because we performed or abided with what Allah commanded or restricted).
Why Bidah is big Sin?
Bidah is big sin, because people doing bidah (performing something considering it fard) either disobey/reject Allah’s command intentionally or claim (consider) something as command of Allah that Allah has not commanded, and that means, rejecting command of Allah or associating lies to Allah. It is this rejection command of Allah … or associating lies to Allah that would take a person to hell.
[Not doing something what is command of Allah is sin, but doing anything with belief that it is command of Allah, when that is not command of Allah, is Bidah (bigger and unpardonable sin)]
Question raised in this thread: If one starts doing 3 rikah in fard fajar Salaat instead of 2 rikah, then what?
One should ask that, is 2 rikah fard in fajar command of Allah … (Answer would be yes as to pray 2 rikah in fajar is command of Allah). So, if answer is yes then adding 1 rikah to fajar (fard) salaat would be disobeying/rejecting Allah’s command or claiming that Allah has commanded us to pray 3 rikah fard in fajar (that would be associating lies to Allah). Thus, such act would be bidah and would take a person to hell.
On the other hand, if a person prays 100s of rikah before Fajar Salah every day, though that is not command of Allah neither sunnah of prophet (SAW), that is not Bidah nor sin.
Note: Performing something as Sunnah that Prophet (SAW) did not do, is also sin … as that would be associating lies to Prophet (SAW).
Important to remember:
1: Whatever a person does, related to day to day life or Ibadah, without considering them as Fard (command of Allah) is not Bidah.
2: Whatever a person does with good intention and for sake of Allah, considering them as good deeds, that does not harm anyone, could earn a person reward. (Reward would be there, if not for the deed then at least for the intention of doing something good)
^^^
Bidah is to do with actions related to fard (or action done with belief that they are fard).
Kufr is to do with belief.
Performing action considering that as fard, what is not fard ... that is … adding or subtracting in fard rituals (actions) … or starting completely new ritual considering that as fard … all is bidah.
Belief contrary to what Allah has clearly commanded in Quran … is Kufr
Some examples of Bidah:
Doing 3 rikah in fajr as fard is ‘bidah’ (because, all fard is command of Allah … so one cannot change that … and any change is bidah)
Doing Salah 6 times a day considering them fard is bidah (... tahajud is not fard, so doing prayers 5 times and doing tahajud without considering tahajud as fard is not bidah ... but if anyone who do tahajud and starts considering tahajud as fard then that would be bidah).
Doing more than one Haj believing that Allah commanded to do more than one Haj (as fard) is ‘bidah’. In life, only one Haj is fard, rest are all Nafil.
Fast outside Ramadhan with belief that the fast is fard is ‘bidah’.
Keeping beard and believing that keeping beard is fard ... is bidah … (one should keep beard with intention that one is keeping beard as sunnah, as keeping beard is not fard, but it is sunnah).
And so on …
Some example of kufr:
Believing that there are less than 5 times salah fard in a day … or more than 5 times salah fard, or that salaat is not fard, or not fard on oneself … is kufr.
[Same about belief regarding fasting, Haj, Zakat, etc … as they are all fard and believing that they are not fard or not fard on oneself, is kufr]
Believing that in Islam one can marry two sisters at the same time (real sisters whose one of the parents or both parents are same) is kufr.
Believing that in Islam, girls (sisters, daughter, mother or wife) do not inherit is kufr.
Believing that girls are forbidden to get education in Islam, is kufr.
Considering that Allah has made pork halal … is kufr
Note: If one does an act that is against what Allah has allowed us in Quran, with belief that one should not do such act as Allah made it forbidden or disallowed, then such act would not be kufr but would be sin (because kufr is related to belief and belief is related to our intention, that only Allah and person himself knows)
For instance, if one eats pork while accepting/believing that Allah has made pork haram, than eating pork for that person is not kufr but sin … On the other hand, not eating pork but believing that Allah has made pork Halal … is kufr … same with other beliefs.
(Same with Zina, bribe, stealing, defrauding, deceiving, killing (innocent), etc … as all are not allowed in Islam … so one should have belief that they are not allowed in Islam. Considering them allowed in Islam is kufr … but indulging in them considering them as not allowed in Islam is not kufr but sin)
Pardon me if my earlier posts wasn’t making sense to you. In simple line "I’m asking that if you do a good deed, others follows that good deed (by copying from you) and very slowly slowly, as time passes take a new trend and become a part of our religion that if we say do not do or provide authentic source then that good deed become matter of debate among many.
Hope this time i’ am able to explain the point. The above phrase is something different then this and we’ll take about that too when we finish from this issue.
Psyah Bhai, now that is something new I heard that some need/should have ‘ijaaza’ from ‘peer/scholar’. As per my little knowledge there is a hadith that one who request for ‘wisdom’, Almighty Allah grant him ‘wisdom’. I never came across about this ‘ijaaza’ issue.
Will u plz be kind and tell us more about it, if u don’t mind.
Sa1eem, for your input. I believe your post is not only helpful to me but for others too who read it. Anyhow my point wasn’t about two to three rakats but it was about something else (see reply of CO).
Anyhow, I am sorry that you feel I did not covered what you asked, though I believe I understood your question and in my post I tried to answer what you asked. Actually, I felt in your question you asked about something indirectly, and my post indirectly tried to answer that.
Now, since you wrote that you did not get the answer … let me clear what I thought you asked, and what I wanted to say about it, in different words.
I believe your question was … ‘suppose if someone starts an act considering it to be good deed (or ibadah) that is not covered in Quran or hadith, and then this act of good deed (of ibadah) becomes so popular that many starts doing that regularly, so is that right or wrong?’
I might be wrong (again) in guessing your question, but that is what I understood and I did give answer to that in my previous posts … though indirectly.
So, let me give the answer again … more directly (obviously, with some explanations to back the answer).
In Islam, what is part of deen (in terms of Ibadah) are what is fard. They are:
Recitation of ‘Kalma-e-Shahadah’
Prayers 5 times a day
Fasting in Ramadhan
Zakat (what is due)
Haj (if one can afford, once in life)
Addition to above mentioned ‘fard’ or any other ibadah performed as ‘fard’ is bidah and thus is unacceptable.
Addition to Ibadah (bidah):
1: Doing fard Salaat more than 5 times a day.
2: Fasting as ‘fard fast’ outside Ramadhan.
3: considering zakat more than clearly specified.
4: Performing Haj more than once and considering them all as fard.
5: Any other ‘act of ibadah’ performed considering that as ‘fard’, what is not fard.
All above ‘ibadah’ is bidah that is unacceptable and would lead a person to hell (I explained in my past post … why it is unacceptable?).
Denial of any ‘fard ibadah’ as obligation is kufr, and that would also take a person to hell (denial … not … ‘not performing with believe of its obligation’).
One should know that if one performs all ‘fard’ ibadah (no more, no less), than that person fulfils all required ‘ibadah’ in Islam.
[Actually, there is hadith that a man asked Prophet (SAW) that if he performs obligatory prayers, fast in Ramadhan, accept what is halal and reject what is haram, then will he enter Paradise … and got affirmative answer.
Hadith mentions obligatory prayers and fasting … because other two ibadah, hajj and Zakat, is conditional on fulfilling certain financial conditions (so they are not obligatory on all … though believing on them as ‘fard’ if condition is fulfilled, is obligatory on all) … and ‘Kalma-e-Shahadah gets fulfilled in prayers. This shows that Ibadah in Islam is only ‘fard’.]
Now coming to your question?
‘suppose if someone starts an act considering it to be good deed (or ibadah) that is not covered in Quran or hadith, and then this act of good deed (or ibadah) becomes so popular that many starts doing that regularly, so is that right or wrong?’
Actually, one can do any number of ibadah or good deeds (or deed a person consider as good), as long as that deed do not harms other nor it is performed as ‘fard’, than it makes no difference to Islam, neither it carries any sin. If such deed becomes popular, and many start performing them without considering them ‘fard’, then also there is no harm.
[If deed is to do with Islam, especially ibadah where a person is expecting rewards from Allah, then considering them ‘fard’ means considering that Allah has made that deed fard or person himself deciding a deed to be ‘fard’. Both cases can take a person to hell, because only Allah can make an act fard, and that would be ‘bohtan’ on Allah or making oneself equal to Allah by making a deed fard on oneself.]
Actually, Prophet (SAW) answered this question with his practice. For instance, he used to do ibadah that were not ‘fard’, and we perform them as Sunnah. Sunnah or Nafil ibadahs are not asked by Allah to perform neither Allah would ask about them on judgment day if we don’t, as they are not obligated part of Islam … but we perform them to gain rewards and expect to get rewards for them.
Obviously, no one can be compared with Prophet (SAW), but what Prophet (SAW) did is shown to us Muslims, that people can do ibadah or good deeds outside ‘fard’ that others can follow too (if they like to), and people can expect rewards from these ibadah or good deeds.
Actually, one can do whatever one likes that one thinks as ‘good deed’ outside ‘fard’ or outside ‘recorded deed in any past Islamic source’, and could expect rewards from them … and other Muslims could also follow as long as they do not consider the act as ‘fard’.
So what exactly are you saying about it? With this description, something that comes to mind is the trend of gathering people to complete a reading of the Qur’an between a few people. There’s nothing wrong with the practice in and of itself. So something that can be done is that we explain it to the participants what is really going on here. Like we’re doing this for isaal sawaab and that recitation of the Qur’an is a good deed. The deceased is now in need of whatever he can get from the living since he is unable to do it himself. This doesn’t have to be limited to this particular reading of the Qur’an but anytime you do a good deed, you can do isaal - sawaab for them. If we explain it like this, there’s nothing wrong with it.
However if we’re thinking that it’s sunnah to do a Qur’an khatam for every deceased and that there it must be done after x number of days, on anniversaries of the death etc…when we put these restrictions, that’s where it becomes a problem.
Another example is that if you recite a certain portion of the Qur’an every day, let’s say maybe half a juz or a complete juz..and people start copying that, there’s no problem there. For the sake of doing something regularly, if we set goals for ourselves like this, there’s nothing wrong with it.
Yes :) Would you like to add more of shall I reply to your post?
If my post demonstrates that I've understood what you want to discuss, then go ahead and reply to the post. Though I would like to ask you that why would you ask someone not to do any of the things that I've mentioned? My thoughts are that the average Muslim doesn't need to worry about what if people start following what I do. I'll do what Allah gives me taufiq for and if others decide to copy it, so be it. In fact, if people were to start copying my daily Qur'an recitation quota for instance, I would actually gain from it. The person who encourages to a good deed is like one who does it himself. If other people were to start doing it, in fact that would be even better for me.
If on the other hand, I were to worry about what people will think or that people may start copying me, then I'd end up just worrying and not get anything done. This is not going to net me anything for my akhira and I'd lose out for nothing there.
1- I didn't asked someone not to do, any act that he was doing before or same as what u wrote in you previous post. I only asked him if he is doing this or that then atleast he should know why he is doing. I mean atleast he check if that act/source is according to the Quran/Hadith or not. Let keep away others no need to answer them whether they ask or not.
2- It is great if someone start copying and do the same as the one who daily do i.e., Qur'an recitation. Its a good decision and there is no harm. Similar to that it you are going to a Masjid and another person see you going towards Masjid, he also join you, that is good thing. But the one who copy you, atleast ask himself if he going to a Masjid then it is because he's copied you or due to the order/fear of Almighty Allah?
1- I didn't asked someone not to do, any act that he was doing before or same as what u wrote in you previous post. I only asked him if he is doing this or that then atleast he should know why he is doing. I mean atleast he check if that act/source is according to the Quran/Hadith or not. Let keep away others no need to answer them whether they ask or not.
2- It is great if someone start copying and do the same as the one who daily do i.e., Qur'an recitation. Its a good decision and there is no harm. Similar to that it you are going to a Masjid and another person see you going towards Masjid, he also join you, that is good thing. But the one who copy you, atleast ask himself if he going to a Masjid then it is because he's copied you or due to the order/fear of Almighty Allah?
As response to #1, I meant when you said
[quote]
become a part of our religion that if we say do not do or provide authentic source
[/quote]
For #2, I'll say that even if he started going to masjid by following me, if he's going to the masjid at least, then there's always the hope that he'll start doing it to please Allah. And even if he didn't, it wouldn't be of any harm to me.
Now we all know the namaaz is ‘fard (proven both from Quran and hadith)’ and it should be offered in "Ba-Jamaat’ i.e., in a Masjid. So it is good if one copy this and reach Masjid to offer it whether he’s just copying or have fear, that is between him and Almighty Allah but he was able to copy from us.
Now one copy something from us which is neither mentioned in Quran nor proven from hadith and someone else copy from his and so on. Will be of any harm on us because at first he copied from us?
Well, I'll answer with another example--let's say I like to read a certain portion of the Qur'an every day and that is my practice since that's what I'm able to maintain given my schedule. I doubt you'll find any hadith on it nor would it be mentioned in the Qur'an itself. So I still wouldn't worry if somebody copies it and has others copy them and so on. There would be no harm to me in that scenario either.
Because I'm not saying or adding a disclaimer saying that it is something required in deen that anyone who doesn't at least read this much is sinful or anything like that. I'm not attaching importance to something that has not had importance attached to it from Qur'an or Sunnah. If people do that years from now, they would be the ones at fault and not me. If I do something good, I'll gain. But if I will avoid doing it out of fear of someone maybe copying it down the line and making something more out of it than it should be, then I'll lose out.
we’ll take about that too when we finish from this issue. 
for your input. I believe your post is not only helpful to me but for others too who read it. Anyhow my point wasn’t about two to three rakats but it was about something else (see reply of CO).
.