Is there something called a “GOOD BID’AH” (bid’ah hasanah) ?

by Asma bint Shameem

There’s NO such thing as a “good” bid’ah or “bid’ah hasanah”.

Bid’ah can NEVER be “good”.

How can it be good when the Prophet ﷺ said:

🍃 “KULLU bid'atin Dalala wa kullu dalalatin fin-naar.”

“EVERY innovation is a misguidance and every misguidance leads to the Hellfire.”

(Saheeh Muslim 867)

The Prophet ﷺ used the word “Kullu” which means EACH and EVERY newly invented thing in the religion is wrong.

If every bid'ah is a going astray, how can there be bid'ah that’s “hasanah" (good)?

In fact, there can NOT be a bid’ah that’s “good”.

There can NEVER be a bid’ah that’s “good”.

🍃The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours (Islaam) that is not a part of it will have it REJECTED.'" (al-Bukhaari 2697).

🔺What about this Hadeeth?

“'Whoever starts a good thing in Islaam, and others do likewise after him, there will be written for him a reward like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.” (Saheeh Muslim)

🍃Yes the hadeeth is from Saheeh Muslim.

But unfortunately it is often (mis)used by the people who follow bid’ah.

BUT it has to be understood correctly.

In order to take rulings from a Hadeeth, we must look at the circumstances behind it.

🍃 Jareer ibn Abdullaah radhi Allaahu anhu said:

"Some people from the Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ wearing woollen garments.

He saw that they were in bad shape and in desperate need, so he urged the people to give them charity.

The people were very slow to respond, and it could be seen in his face (that he was upset).

Then a man of the Ansaar brought a package of silver, then another came, and another and another, and his face was filled with joy.

The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said:

'Whoever starts a good thing in Islaam, and others do likewise after him, there will be written for him a reward like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.

Whoever starts a bad thing in Islaam, and others do likewise after him, there will be written for him a burden of sin like that of those who followed him, without it detracting in the least from their burden.'" (Muslim 1017)

As we can see from the hadeeth, the Prophet ﷺ was praising the Sahaabi who started giving charity and others saw him and got ENCOURAGED to do the same.

That's because giving charity is an ALREADY ESTABLISHED deed in Islaam.

The Sahaabi did NOT INTRODUCE anything NEW in the religion.

The Prophet ﷺ was happy that the Sahaabi REVIVED the already established Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ of giving charity, when other people were RELUCTANT to do it.

Bid’ah is to practice an act of worship that is not done according to the authentic practice or teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.

And we’re supposed to FOLLOW the PROPHET ﷺ and his ways.

If there was nothing wrong with bid’ah and the practice of the Prophet was not important and anyone can worship Allaah however they wanted, then what was the use of sending the Prophet ﷺ as a Messenger?

Why would Allaah even BOTHER to send him ﷺ?

Isn’t the Qur’aan the “rules” and “commands” sent by Allaah and isn’t the Sunnah the “practical application” of those rules?

Anything that’s NOT in accordance with the teachings and practice of the Prophet ﷺ is bid’ah.

Anything that OPPOSES the Sunnah is bid’ah.

🔺What about compiling the Qur’aan in a ‘book’ form as an ‘example’ of bid’ah?

Compiling the Qur'aan in the form of a book is NOT bidah.

That's because the Quraan was ALREADY written down at the time of the Prophet ﷺ on leaves, bones, leather, and whatever they could find, because they did not have paper back then.

In fact, he ﷺ had special SCRIBES who would write down the Quraan for him when he ﷺ dictated it to them.

🍃 Uthmaan radhi Allaahu anhu said:

“The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ used to receive revelation of Surahs with many aayahs.

When they were revealed, he would call his scribes and tell them,

‘Put these aayaat in the soorah where such-and-such is mentioned.’ (Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi and others)

🍃And Zayd ibn Thaabit said:

"When Abu Bakr delegated me to collect the Mus-haf – I sought the Qur’aan and I gathered it from pieces, i.e., leaves, patches of leather, shoulder-blades of sheep and camels, leaves of palm trees, and the hearts of men."

(al-Bukhaari 4986)

🍃Also it is proven from saheeh ahaadeeth that the Prophet ﷺ forbade traveling with the Qur’aan to the land of the enemy.

🍃 Ibn Umar radhi Allaahu anhu said:

“The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ forbade traveling with the Qur’an to the land of the enemy.”

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

This shows that the Qur’aan was written down and gathered together at that time and the people used to take it with them when they traveled. But it was not completed.

Alhamdulillaah the Sahaabah completely gathered all the various parts of the Qur’aan together so that the Qur’aan is PRESERVED wholly and completely and not lost.

So the writing down of the Qur’aan and putting it together was NOT something NEW in the Deen.

It was ALREADY ESTABLISHED.

So it’s NOT bid’ah.

🔺 What about Taraaweeh ?

Some might give the example of Umar radhi Allaahu anhu when he gathered the people together to pray Taraaweeh behind one Imaam.

And he said “What a good innovation (bid’ah) this is.”

Here Omar radhi Allaahu anhu is using the word ‘bid’ah’ In the LINGUISTIC sense and NOT in the sense of introducing something NEW in the religion

🔺How can anyone say that?

They can say so with CONFIDENCE because the Taraaweeh prayer was a ALREADY CONFIRMED SUNNAH of the Prophet ﷺ and the established practice of his Sahaabah.

It was NOT something NEW in the Deen.

The Prophet ﷺ HIMSELF prayed it and led the Sahaabah.

📌 Proof:

Aa’ishah Radhi Allaahu anhaa said that the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ prayed one night in the masjid, and the people followed him in prayer.

Then he prayed the next night, and many people came.

Then they gathered on the third or fourth night, and the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ did not come out to them.

The next morning he ﷺ said:

“I saw what you did, and nothing kept me from coming out to you except the fact that I feared that it would be made obligatory for you.” And that was in Ramadhaan."

(al-Bukhaari and Muslim)

This PROVES that praying Taraweeh in congregation was ALREADY an established Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ but he ﷺ refrained from reading it continuously because he feared that it might become fardh on me and you.

When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, Umar Radhi Allaahu anhu REVIVED this Sunnah, because the Sharee’ah was now established and complete.

And there was no fear of Taraaweeh becoming obligatory on us.

Therefore Omar radhi Allaahu anhu’s statement and action can NOT be used to establish NEW INNOVATED things in the Deen.

🍃The scholars of the Standing Committee said:

“It should be clear from the above, with no room for doubt, that the Prophet ﷺ was not allowing innovation in matters of deen nor was he opening the door to what some people call "bid'ah hasanah," for the following reasons:

1. The Prophet ﷺ stated repeatedly that: "Every newly-invented thing is a bid'ah (innovation), every bid'ah is a going astray, and every going astray will be in the Fire." (An-Nasa'i in al-Sunan, Salaat al-'Eedayn, Baab kayfa al-Khutbah).

Reports with the same meaning were narrated via Jaabir radhi Allaahu anhu by Ahmad, via al-'Irbaad ibn Saariyah by Abu Dawud and via Ibn Mas'ood radhi Allaahu anhu by Ibn Maajah.

The Prophet ﷺ used to say, when beginning a khutbah (sermon):

"The best of speech is the Book of Allaah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst of things are those which are newly-invented, and every innovation is a going astray" (Muslim 867)

If every bid'ah is a going astray, how can some people then say that there is such a thing in Islaam as "bid'ah hasanah"?

By Allaah, this is an obvious contradiction of the statement and warning of the Prophet ﷺ.

2. The Prophet ﷺ stated that whoever innovates something new in the deen will have his deed rejected, and Allaah will not accept it, as is stated in the hadith narrated by 'Aa'ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa who said:

"The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said: 'Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not a part of it will have it rejected.'"

(al-Bukhaari, Fath al-Baari, 2697).

How can anybody then say that bid'ah is acceptable and it is permitted to follow it?


3. When a person innovates something and adds to the deen something that does not belong to it, he is implying a number of bad things, each worse than the last, for example:

▪️That the religion is lacking, that Allaah did not complete and perfect it, and that there is room for improvement. This clearly contradicts the statement in the Qur’aan:

“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion" [al-Maa'idah 5:3]

▪️That the religion remained imperfect from the time of the Prophet ﷺ until the time when this innovator came along and completed it with his own ideas.

▪️That the Prophet ﷺ was "guilty" of either of two things: either he was ignorant of this "good innovation," or he knew about it but concealed it, thus letting his ummah down by not conveying it.

▪️That the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions and the righteous salaf (early generations) missed out on the reward of this "good innovation" - until this innovator came along and earned it for himself, despite the fact that he should say to himself, "If it was truly good, they would have been the first to do it."

▪️Opening the door to bid'ah leads to changing the religion and opens the way for personal whims and opinions, because every innovator implies that what he is introducing is something good, so whose opinion are we supposed to follow, and which of them should we take as a leader?

▪️Following bid'ah leads to the cancelling out of sunnah practices and the ways of the salaf.

Real life bears witness that whenever a bid'ah is followed, a sunnah practice dies out; the reverse is also true.

We ask Allaah to save us from the misguidance of personal whims and from all trials whether they are open or secret.“

(Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/166-167)

May Allaah protect us from ALL bid’ah and enable us to distinguish between it and the REAL Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

And Allaah knows best.