Mawlid- Counter Arguments Series (1)

 The most heated argument regarding the celebration of Mawlid is that it's a Bidaah and it is haram. This thought has been derived from the following hadith: 

"Every innovation (bidaah) is misguidance and every misguidance is in the Hellfire."

Also that, there are no good  and bad bidaah because every bidaah is evil.

This hadith is not general rather it is specific and it is about the haram innovations only i.e, those innovations which oppose the Shariah, the principles of the Quran and the Sunnah. The innovations which have a basis in the Quran and Sunnah and which are brought in for the protection of the Deen are not haram. This has been proven from the following hadith,

Narrated Aisha  رضي الله عنه: Allah's apostle صلّﷲ عليه وسلم said, "If somebody innovates something which is not in harmony with the principles of our religion, that thing is rejected." 

[Sahih Bukhari]

And also a stronger narration from Mundhir bin Jarir that his father said:

"The Messenger of Allah صلّﷲ عليه وسلم said: 'Whoever introduces a good practice that is followed, he will receive its reward and a reward equivalent to that of those who follow it,without that detracting from their reward in their slightest. And whoever introduces a bad practice that is followed, he will receive its sin and a burden of sin equivalent to that of those who follow it, without that detracting from their burden in the slightest." [Sunan Ibn Majah]

I understand quite well that it's not easy for the opposers to accept this because they claim again that this hadith speaks about initiating or starting a good practice and being followed by others and I wouldn't say that  it is false; that certainly is true but because of another hadith narrated by Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali, behind which there is a story as reported by Imam Muslim which is as follows ,

He said:"Some people from the Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah  صلّﷲ عليه وسلم, wearing woolen 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 Ansar brought a package of silver ,then another came,and another and another and his face was filled with joy.

The Messenger of Allah صلّﷲ عليه وسلمsaid: 'Whoever starts a good thing in Islam that is followed, he will receive a perfect reward for that, and a reward equivalent to that of those who follow it, without that detracting from their reward in the slightest. And whoever starts a bad thing in Islam, that is followed, he will receive the complete burden of sin for that, and a burden of sin equivalent to that of those who follow it, without detracting from their burden in the slightest." [Muslim]

Classifying Innovations

Let's  glance through  quotations of some of the renowned scholars of Islam about the types of Innovations (Bidaah).

Shaykh al Islam Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani    

(A commentator on Al Bukhari) said,

"Anything that did not exist during the Prophet'sصلّﷲ عليه وسلم time is called innovation, but some are good while others are not."

I will mention the circumstance on which he has commented this below.

Imam Nawawi

He says in Sahih Muslim,

 'The Prophet's صلّﷲ عليه وسلم 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.'

In his Tahzeeb al Asma wal Sifaat he says,

 ' Innovation in religious law is to originate anything which did not exist during the time of the Prophet صلّﷲ عليه وسلم, and it is divided into good and bad.' He also said,'Al muhdathat 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 an 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"

What I intend by highlighting those words is to remind the concept of Mawlid; the true essence of Mawlid is taken from the Sunnah which I have already discussed in my previous post.If you haven't been there yet ,don't forget to click here to visit the page.

Imam Al Bayhaqi's narration from Imam Ash Shafi'i

He narrates in Manaqib Al Imam Ash Shafi'i, that Imam Shafi'i said,

 

"Innovated matters in religion are of two kinds:1) Whatever is innovated and contravenes the Book, or the Sunnah, or a narration, or Ijma' (unanimous agreement of the Muslims)-then that is an innovation of misguidance 2)Whatever is innovated of [any and all good things and that does not contradict any of these- then this is novelty which is not blameworthy."

Imam Ash Shafi'i takes support from the following statement of Umar bin Al Khattab  رضي الله عنه to prove the existence of good bidaah.

"And 'Umar رضي الله عنه said concerning the night prayer in the month of Ramadan:' ni'matu bida'at hadhihi' ,what a good innovation this is' meaning it was innovated without having existed before and even so, there was nothing in it that contradicted the above."

And if you still feel that 'Every innovation' literally means 'Each and every innovation', then tell me what do you understand from the following 'innovations' the  khulafa ur rashideen (Rightly guided caliphs) brought in?

Compilation of  the Quran

It has been narrated from a hadith in Sahih Bukhari: 

The Prophet صلّﷲ عليه وسلم had passed away and the Quran was nowhere compiled. When a large number of sahabas were martyred in the Battle of Yamama, Umar  رضي الله عنه suggested to Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه to compile the Quran.  Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه wondered "How could we do something that the Prophet صلّﷲ عليه وسلم did not do?" Umar  رضي الله عنه said,"By Allah, it is good." Umar رضي الله عنه persisted in asking Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه until Allah expanded his chest for it (Allah made him agree and accept his suggestions) and he sent for Zaid ibn Thabit (one of the leading scribes) and assigned him to compile the Quran. Zaid said,"By Allah, they had asked me to move a mountain, it would not have been difficult than to compile the Quran. He also said,"How could you do something that the Prophetصلّﷲ عليه وسلم did not do?" Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه said "It is good and Umar kept coming back to me until Allah expanded my chest for the matter." 

 

Moving of the Maqam Ibrahim in relation to the Ka'aba

Al Bayhaqi  narrated with a strong chain of narrators from Aishaرضى الله عنها ,

"The Maqam during the time of the Prophet صلّﷲ عليه وسلم and Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه was attached to the House, then Umar رضي الله عنه moved it back."

Al Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in Al Fath,

 

"The companions did not oppose Umar رضي الله عنه neither did those who came after them, thus it became unanimous agreement."He was also the first to build the enclosure (maqsura) on it,which still exists today."

 

Adding of the third call to the Friday prayer

Al Bukhari compiled a hadith narrated by Al Zuhri who said:

" I heard Al Sa'ib ibn Yazeed  رضي الله عنه say,"During the lifetime of the Prophet صلّﷲ عليه وسلم,Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه  and Umar رضي الله عنه the adhaan for Friday prayer was called after the imam had taken his seat on the pulpit . But,when Muslims increased in number during  the caliphate of  'Uthman  رضي الله عنه,he ordered a third  adhaan to be made for the Friday prayer , it was called at Al Zawraa' [a place in the market of Madina] and thus the practice was established ."

 This was something completely new; something which wasn't done during the time of Prophet صلّﷲ عليه وسلم.Hence it certainly was an innovation but a good innovation [An innovation which did not oppose the principles of the Shariah and which was done for the protection of our Deen].These bidaahs were introduced on certain circumstances where the responsible authorities felt its need to maintain the balance of our Deen ;to keep the Ummah united with the Deen.

When the opposers of the Mawlid, in order to disprove the concept of good innovation, quote the following from Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani,

And 'the newly invented matters',  with the fathah on the daal, is the plural of novelty and what is intended by it is what has been newly introduced and does not have any basis in the legislation .It is referred to in the usage of the Shari'ah as innovation . As for what has a basis indicated by the Shari'ah then it is not an innovation .For 'innovation 'in the usage of the Shariah is blameworthy as opposed to its usage (with its linguistic meaning) ,for everything that has been newly invented  without any prior example is named 'bidah' irrespective of whether it is praiseworthy or blameworthy .

We can see that Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani himself, speaks about the third call to the Friday prayer  in his Fath al Bari as follows ,

"It is apparent that at that time, people in all countries followed the practice of 'Uthman رضي الله عنه since he was a caliph whose orders were to be obeyed...Everything that was not practiced at the time of the Prophetصلّﷲ عليه وسلم is considered bid'aa [innovation] some of which are good and others are not.It is evident from what was mentioned earlier ,that Uthman رضي الله عنه added the second adhan to the Friday prayer to warn the people that its time had entered in analogy to the rest of the prayers ,keeping its original adhan that was called when the imam took his seat on the pulpit. The purpose of adding the second adhan to the Friday prayer was inferred from the original aim of adhan (inform people that the time for prayer had entered) and it does not abrogate it." 

which obviously means to say that an innovation which does not defy the Quran and the Sunnah is permitted .

Interestingly this is what he says about celebrating Mawlid on 12th of Rabi ul Awwal, quoted by Jalal Al Deen Al Suyuti in his Husn Al Maqsad fi Amal al Mawlid.

"The Sheikh ul Islam and hadith master of his age, Ibn Hajar Asqalani was asked about the practice of commemorating the Prophet's birth and gave the following written reply: As for the origin of the practice of commemorating the Prophet's birth, it is an innovation that has not been conveyed to us from any of the pious early Muslims of the first three centuries, despite which it has included both features that are praiseworthy and features that are not. If one takes care to include in such a commemoration only things that are praiseworthy and avoids those that are otherwise, it is a praiseworthy innovation, while if one does not, it is not. An authentic primary textual basis from which its legal validity is inferable has occurred to me, namely the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith in the collection of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet came to Madina and found the jews fasting on the tenth of Muharram 'Ashura'. 

So he asked them about it and they replied : 'It is the day on which Allah drowned Pharaoh and rescued Moses, so we fast in it to thanks to Allah, Most High.' which indicates the validity of giving thanks to Allah for the blessings He has bestowed on a particular day in providing a benefit, or averting an affliction, repeating one's thanks on the anniversary of that day every year, giving thanks to Allah taking any various forms of worship such as prostration, fasting, giving charity or reciting the Quran. Then what blessing is greater than the Birth of the Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy, on this day? in light of which one should take care to commemorate it on the day itself in order to confirm to the above story of Moses and the tenth of Muharram, but those who do not view the matter thus do not mind commemorating it on any day of the month, while some have expanded its time to any of day the year. "

I hope that the concept of bidaah and the permissibilty of good bidaahs are evident and clear from the quotations I have mentioned above. This isn't the end. In sha Allah , until we meet next time with the second episode of this series....Assalamu alaikum wa rahmathullahi wabarakathuhu...