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Fatwa CenterAn explanation of the concept of Bid‘ah (religious innovation)
Question
What is Bid‘ah? I hope you can give me a detailed answer with reference to the Quran and Sunnah and the Hanafi School of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Bid‘ah was defined by Muhammad Al-Khaadimi Al-Hanafi 
as everything that contradicts the Sunnah in terms of religious beliefs, acts and sayings. He added that Bid‘ah in the Sharee‘ah is every introduced innovation that did not exist at the time of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Moreover, Bid‘ah refers to every addition or deletion made to the religion after the age of the Companions that is not approved by the Sharee‘ah.
In the light of this definition, it becomes obvious that there is no difference between the Hanafis and others scholars in terms of defining Bid‘ah. Ash-Shaatibi Al-Maaliki for example, defined Bid‘ah as the method of innovating in religion; it resembles a Sharee‘ah-approved method, but actually contradicts the Sharee‘ah and is intended to exaggerate religious observance. Ash-Shaatibi also cited examples of Bid‘ah to illustrate his point. He mentioned, for instance, using particular methods or ways of performing acts of worship, like the collective performance of Thikr, or the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Another example is the performance of certain acts of worship at specific times when this has not been mentioned in the Sharee‘ah like, for instance, the fasting on the fifteenth day of Sha‘baan and the performance of prayers throughout that night.
Among the criteria that were established by scholars to define Bid‘ah was any act not practiced by the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, despite the fact that such an act might be needed or was not impeded by anything. This is why neither the Taraaweeh prayers nor the collection of the Quran is considered Bid‘ah. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not perform the Taraaweeh prayers regularly in congregation because there was an impediment, which was the fear of this being imposed on Muslims. Also, he did not collect the Quran because there was no need for him to do so. However, when the number of Muslims and lands which were ruled by Islam increased and the Companions feared that the Arabic language might be superseded by other languages, there was an urgent need to collect the Quran.
Bid‘ah has serious effects on the innovator, on people in general and on the religion, and such actions will be rejected on the day of Judgment. This is supported by the Hadeeth where the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned that whoever introduces an innovation in religion, will have it rejected. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] In addition to this, Bid‘ah is an error in and of itself because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned this fact and everyone who commits such an error is destined for Hell. [An-Nasaa’i]
Let us seek refuge in Allaah from Bid‘ahs and from Hell.
And Allaah Knows best.
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