Shyakh 'Izz Abd Salam Sultanul 'Ulamak

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Te vastness o the Arabic language has ofen been compared tothe ocean. As the ocean is rich in its inhabitants o many

colors and orms, so too are the words o this divine languagethat take on a multitude o colors and orms determined by their linguis-tic environment. . Much o the words used within the context o the Islamictradition have a multiple meanings. Words such as “sunna” or example,mean something specic within the contexts o the hadith sciences and meansomething separate when used within the context o qh (jurisprudence)or uṣūl al-qh (legal methodology). Furthermore, the same words such assunna, bidʿa, qh, and o course countless other words have separate mean-ings when used more generally outside o the context o the Islamic sciences.

© Copyright , Te Nur Foundation for Sacred Sciences

ʿIzz al-Dīn b. ʿAbd al-Salām’sCategorization of Bidʿa

Iʿzz al-Dīn b. Aʿbd al-Sal ām’s

Categorization of Bidʿa



hus understanding denitions properlyis essential to a sound understandingo various concepts within the sacredsciences. Tis is why many texts in the

various Islamic sciences begin by providing a lexicalmeaning o a term, as commonly used within theArabic language, be ore continuing to dene a termin the context o the eld in which it is used. Terehas been some con usion in the modern periodregarding the term “ bidʿa.” Tis has been in part dueto a lack o understanding this oundational princi-ple. Te word bidʿa by itsel does not have a negative

connotation unless used in the context o Islamic law(i.e. the sharʿī denition) that identies the orbid-den type o bidʿa. It is only when equipped with thisunderstanding that we are able to comprehend the

well as examine the great scholar ʿIzz al-Dīn b. ʿAbdal-Salām’s seminal classication o bidʿa into the vecategories which have generally been accepted bythe scholars o the Islamic tradition.

Te Linguistic Denition of Bidʿa (al-bidʿalughatan )

Te active orm o this word when used as a verb

such as “one who does bidʿa (man badaʿa )” meansone who invents or does something new which wasnot done previously. Tis word is used based on itsmore common lexical meaning in the Qur’ān in the

ollowing verses:

Te Originator (Badīʿ) o the heavens and the earth,when He decrees a matter, He says to it: Be and it is,[al-Baqara, 2:117].

Te word Badī ʿ here, which is also one o the nameso God, is used to indicate that he creates the heav-ens and the earth be ore any o them ever existed.Another example is ound in the ollowing verse:

Say: ‘I am not an innovation among the messengers,nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.I ollow but that which is revealed to me by inspiration,I am but a warner open and clear,’ [al-Aḥqā , 46:9].

What is meant here is that the Prophet was not

great and pious ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb’s praise othe gathering o Muslims or twenty units o tarawīḥ as being a “noble bidʿa,” the Qur’an’s re erence tothis term when discussing prophecy within theirproper context, and many other similar re erences

to the term. While the study o bidʿa is a lengthyone on which many treatises have been composed,this short study will briey ocus on the denitiono this word rom a lexical and legal perspective, as





the rst to come with a message rom God to hu-manity but rather he is a Messenger among a longline o previous messengers.It can also be said in Arabic “ ibtadaʾa ulān bidʿa”which is literally translated as “a person has beguna bidʿa.” Te meaning o this phrase is that a personhas started a new way or trend o doing somethingwhich had never been done in this way be ore.

Te word “ badī ʿ ” is also used as a orm o praisewhen describing the uniqueness and greatness o anentity. It means that that a matter or object is so ex-tra-ordinary in its excellence that it has no compara-

ble equal during its time. It is also ofen implied thatnothing similar to it in quality has existed be ore.

Many o the major Muslim scholars have divided“bidʿa” into categories based on its lexical meaningin the Arabic language. Te ollowing is ʿIzz al-Dīnb. ʿAbd al-Salām’s classication o bidʿa into vecategories:

1. Wājib (Obligatory Bidʿa): Tis includesthe study o grammar that enables a proper un-derstanding o the words o God, the compila-tion o the Qur’an into a single volume by AbūBakr , the development o Islamic sciencessuch as the collection and classication o had-iths, and contesting unsound theological argu-ments about the nature o God through logicalreasoning (i.e. kalām).

2. Mandūb (Recommended Bidʿa): Such asthe building o schools and acilities o learningor the publication o books.

3. Mubāḥ (Permissible Bidʿa) : Tis includesexpanding the types o ood one consumes orthe style o clothing one wears.

4. Makrūh (Reprehensible Bidʿa): Tis

includes extending one’s asts beyond the regulartime o breaking asts and washing one’s limbsmore than the prescribed three times during rit-ual ablutions.

5. al-Muḥarrama (Forbidden Bidʿa): An ex-ample o this would be to pray the noon prayerbe ore its time has arrived or ollowing the theo-logical views o the libertarians (qadariyya) orthe anthropomorphists ( al-mujassama ).

Tus, the usage o the word “ bidʿa” or what is notorbidden would be an example o the usage o this

word within its lexical context. An example o this isʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb’s saying regarding the gath-ering o the people to pray twenty units ( raka’as) otarawīḥ during Ramaḍān, “What a noble bidʿa!”

Tis was considered noble because this new practicedid not contradict what the Messenger o God used to practice but rather rein orced what he wasalready in agreement with. Furthermore, the reasonthe Messenger o God used to pray tarawīḥ incongregation with the Muslims many nights andsometimes do so alone was out o ear o its becom-ing obligatory upon them. With the passing o theProphet this was no longer a concern and encour-aging people to gather nightly to pray twenty unitswould in act rein orce the Sunna o tarawīḥ ormany who may have otherwise abandoned it. Tosewho were less inclined to ollow thisSunna would atleast pray a ewer number o units o tarawīḥ while

those more motivated to practicing the propheticexample would gain the ull reward o doing so.

Imām al-Shāʿī said,A new matter that contradicts the Book, theSunna, consensus ( ijmāʿ) o the scholars, orthe sayings o the early generations (athar )is a misleading innovation ( bid aʿ ḍālla). Andwhatever is invented that is good and does





not contradict any o these then it is a praise-worthy innovation ( al-bidʿa al-maḥmūda ).

Te Denition of Bidʿa Within the Contextof Islamic law (al-bidʿa sharʿan)

When used within the context o Islamic law, it isthe fh category o bidʿa that is re erenced. Te ol-lowing is the denition o bidʿa rom the perspectiveo Islamic law: “An innovation in the religion thatcontradicts Islamic law and in it, is intended an exag-geration in worship.”

Tis is the denition used by those who limit thelegal denition o bidʿa solely to matters related toworship. Tose who include general actions underthe legal denition o bidʿa dene it as ollows: “Anew practice o religion that contradicts Islamic law and through its practice is intended what is intend-ed with the practice o the Islamic law (shariʿā).”

Te Prophet said : “Who invents in our affairssomething we are not on has rejected.” 1 He alsosaid, “…the best speech is the Book o God, and thebest guidance is path o Muḥammad, and the worsto affairs are the new ones, and every innovation isa misguidance.”2

It is based on this understanding, that the word bidʿahas ofen been used in opposition to Sunna. Hence,it is said that an individual is “on the Sunna (ʿalāal-sunna )” to mean that they are doing that which is

in harmony with the Prophetic teachings while it issaid a person is “on bidʿa ( aʿlā al-bid aʿ)” i their reli-gious practice is done in a manner that contradictsthe Prophetic teachings.

1 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī vol.2,Kitāb al-ṣulḥ:Bāb idhā aṣṭalaḥū aʿlāal-ṣulḥ, h. 2550.2 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī vol.2, Kitāb al-Jumuʿa, Bāb takh al-ṣalāh wa al-khuṭba, h. 867.

Te Key Phrase in the Legal Denition ofBidʿa is “Contradicts Islamic Law”

Te key phrase in the legal denition o orbiddenbidʿa is that the practice contradicts the Islamic law(sharīʿa). Per orming prophetically prescribed actso worship like prayer, asting, variations in suppli-cations, remembrance ( dhikr ) etc. at times which theProphet did not specically per orm or or examplereading supplications ( duas) that were not speci-cally recited by the Prophet are not categorizedby scholars as “ orbidden bidʿa” or two importantreasons. First, they are not contradictory to Islamic

law, and there or cannot be categorized as ḥaram ororbidden. Second, and even more importantly, we

have several examples o the Companions o theProphet initiating their own habits o worshipand supplications without the Prophet’s priorrecommendation and the same evidence indicateshis approval upon later learning o this. Te had-ith collections are abundant with example o this,such as Bilāl al-Ḥabashī’s keeping a habit o pray-ing two raka’as afer making ablutions, Khubayb’spraying two raka’as be ore execution, the amousCompanion who replied to the Prophet’s suppli-cation in the prayer ‘ samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamida’ with his own words ‘Rabbāna laka al-ḥamd,’ or theCompanion who used to recite sūrat al-ikhlāṣ ineach unit o prayer due to his love or it.

All o these are individual acts o worship that arenot contradictory to Islamic law, that were person-

ally initiated by the Companions out o their ea-gerness to do good works, and were later approvedo by the Messenger o God when he learnedo these practices. In approving these actions theProphet was not just approving the act per se, butwas also implicitly approving the more general acto per orming an act o worship that was not initi-ated by the Prophet himsel ; all o which in turn,indicate the permissibility o doing so.





Tere are numerous additional examples o legal-ly permissible acts o worship (i.e. dua, extra ritu-al prayers etc.) the Companions initiated, however,since these have been outlined in detail in othertreatises on the topic o bidʿa, this point will not bedelved into urther and is only touched upon brieyhere as a reminder to the reader.

Making Forbidden What God has MadePermissible

Finally, the word bidʿa as used within the context oIslamic law does not only re er to actual additions to

religious practices but it can also denote abstention romwhat is required or permissible. For example, during theli etime o the Prophet one o the Companions vowedto make orbidden or himsel sleep at night, another

vowed to make orbidden or himsel eating during theday, and another made a vow to make orbidden uponhimsel approaching women. When news o this reachedthe Prophet he said to them, “By God, I am the most

ear ul o God and most mind ul o Him. However, I astand I break the ast, I pray and I rest, and I marry women.Whoever turns away rom my example (sunnatī ) is not

rom me.”



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Shyakh 'Izz Abd Salam Sultanul 'Ulamak