Abstract
This Abstract is not a substitute for the research, it’s not a summary. Please read complete research at the website[1]and visit 75 References/Links to comprehend the very important, complex and sensitive issue. More than one reading is recommended.
Introduction
Allah says in Quran:
“This day I have perfected for you your Religion (with all its rules, commandments and universality), completed My favor upon you, and have been pleased to assign for you Islam as religion” [Quran;5:3]
The ‘Perfection of Religion[2]’ mentioned in this verse refers to making it a self-sufficient system of belief and conduct, and an order of social life providing its own answers to the questions with which man is confronted.
“And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled (مَهْجُورًۭا) and made this Qur’an of no account.” (Quran;25:30)[3] [Mahjur (مَهْجُورًۭا): They had immobilized it like villagers who bind a cow by tying her front foot to her horn]
Revival (Tajdid, تجديد), means returning the religion to the state in which it was in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). In that era, Islam was perfect and complete in all respects, pure in every way, then some innovations began to enter into it. Renewal is an intellectual process by which Islam is cleansed of all these defects and innovations and presented in its true form.
The Holy Prophet ( peace be upon him ) in his last exhortation said:
“for those of you who live after me will see great disagreement. You must then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid novelties, for every novelty is an innovation (بدعة), and every innovation (بدعة) is an error (ضَلَالَۃٌ ). [Sunan Abi Dawud 4607,Tirmidhi 266][4]
Bidʻah (بدعة)
Bidʻah (بدعة) refers to innovation in religious matters. Linguistically, the term Bidʻah[5] means “innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy[6]. It can just be understood that if something is not clearly mentioned in the Quran, Sunnah or Hadith, then it is one thing to deduce from the Qur’an and Sunnah to make a ruling, to do ijtihad, to speculate, then all these are permissible. But if someone comes up with something completely new in the religion, in support of which there is no evidence from the Qur’an or from the Sunnah, then it is Bid’ah. In particular, the work done to earn rewards in acts of worship or taking books other than Quran for guidance the proof of which we do not have in the Qur’an, nor in the Hadith, nor in the Sunnah (practice) of the Righteous Caliphs, nor in the Sunnah (practice) of the Companions, such a matter will be considered as bid’ah (deviation, misguidance).
In the above mentioned Hadith (Abi Dawud 4607) , the Prophet ( peace be upon him ) made it clear with regard to bid’ah:
So (in religion) every new thing [ فَاِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَۃٍ بِدْعَۃٌ ”] is definitely an innovation ”. [وَكُلُّ بِدْعَۃٍ ضَلَالَۃٌ “] (And know that) every innovation is certainly an error.”
Another Hadith also contains these words [وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَۃٍ فِي النَّارِ]
“And the abode of every error is fire!” or “Every error leads to fire! ”.
In Islam there is no room for adopting the traditions and practices of the past messengers and prophets, so what is the scope for a later human being to introduce his self-conceived desires and innovations? That is why innovations in the name of religion have been strongly condemned as misguidance, heresy.
The invention of a new innovation in the religion of Islam is to undermine the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad( peace be upon him ). Because the inventor of innovation seems to claim that religion is incomplete without the innovation he invented, and God forbid, the sight of Allah and His Messenger has not reached the place where this innovator has reached. That is why the Prophet ( peace be upon him ) described the invention of innovation as the destruction of Islam. A Hadith says:
’’مَنْ وَقَّرَ صاحبَ بدعۃٍ فقد أعان علی ہدم الإسلام‘‘۔ (مشکوٰۃ،ص:۳۱)
Translation: “Whoever respects an innovator, he helped to destroy Islam.”
Solid Foundation of Islam
If a group or individual calls for adherence to the “Perfected religion of Islam”[7] on the basis of the Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith, one must analyze it and accept it, not to humiliate or follow any particular group, sect or individual, but to follow the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet( peace be upon him ) and the Hadiths by rejecting innovations while adhering to any jurisprudence (fiqh) of his choice. This is the first step towards “Revival of Islam”, the perfected religion. The “Revival of Islam” is only possible if it is based upon correct, stable and strong foundations, mentioned by Allah and displayed, implemented by Messenger( peace be upon him ) through his Sunnah (acts). If unapproved
or dubious material is included in the foundation of Islam then it is not possible to eradicate misguidance, bid’ah/ heresy. Instead of Revival the decline will continue.
Islam is based upon six principles, (Article of Faith) which are mentioned in the hadeeth of Jibreel (peace be upon him), when he questioned the Prophet ( peace be upon him ) , who said: “Faith means to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree, both good and bad.” (Agreed upon).
Faith (Imaan): Belief in Quran & Books Revealed to Prophets:
“O you who believe! believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book which He has revealed to His Messenger and the Book which He revealed before; and whoever disbelieves in Allah and His angels and His messengers and the last day, he indeed strays off into a remote error.” (Quran:4:136)[8] We have sent revelations to you (O’ Muhammad) as We sent revelations to Noah and the prophets (who came) after him; and We sent revelations to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob, and their offspring, and to Jesus and Job, and to Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and to David We gave the Book of Psalms (Quran 6:163)[9]
It is the third article of faith for Muslims to believe in all the books of Allah[10] ,[11]: the Quran (revealed to Prophet Muhammad( peace be upon him), the other three books mentioned by name in the Quran are the Gospel (Injeel, revealed to Jesus), the Torah (revealed to Moses), and Psalms (revealed to David) and scrolls of Abraham. There are many other sacred books, Jews have Talmud (38 volumes) claimed to contain Oral Torah and Christians have New Testament with 23 books apart from 4 Gospels Injeels, but Muslims are not required to believe in those extra books. The Islamic Article of Faith requires Muslims to only believe in the Books revealed by Allah to the Prophets and Messengers. However in practice it is found that Hadith Books enjoy equal, rather superior status to the Quran[12] Has the ‘Article of Faith’ been amended or Bid’ah prevails?
What Allah and Prophet (peace be upon him) said about Hadith Books?[13]
Articles of Faith is the most appropriate place for the Quran and the angel Gabriel (when he visited Prophet (peace be upon him) publically in human form to explain Islam and Faith [14],[15] ) to mention to believe in the sacred, holy “Hadith Books’ [16] (called as Wahy Khiffi, Ghair Matloo, considered as scripture) as part of the article of Faith (imaan). Did God forget it? (He doesn’t)[17] Even the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not mention to believe in Hadith books (he had already prohibited the making of Hadith books[18]) though written centuries later, Prophet ( peace be upon him ) was given extra knowledge by Allah and he had prophesied many future events, he knew it well that the Muslims will deviate and indulge in Bid’a and delevations, so he warned: Narrated Abu Sa`id: The
Prophet said, “You will follow the wrong ways, of your predecessors so completely and literally that if they should go into the hole of a mastigure,[19] you too will go there.” We said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Do you mean the Jews and the Christians?” He replied, “Whom else?” (Meaning, of course, the Jews and the Christians.) ](Muslim: 3456, Bukhari:6781)[20] [mastigure: spiny-tailed lizards]
It’s not possible for Allah, Gabriel and the last Messenger( peace be upon him ) to forget to mention six or seventy five Hadith Books which control and even override[21] Quran[22]. However the only possibility left is that the scholars and Hadith book writers totally ignored the “Hadith Books ban” [23]. Should it be called Bid’ah[24], defiance or disobedience?
This point has been very clearly unambiguously clarified by Quran in many verses, Allah says:
“Allah has now revealed the best HADITH, (أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابًا) a Book fully consistent within itself (Quran;39:23)
“Then in what HADITH after it (Quran) will they believe?(فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُون) (Quran;77:50)(Quran;7:185) (Quran;45;6[25])[26] .
These verses are self explanatory, however the Sunnah of Prophet( peace be upon him)[27] , Sunnah of Four Rightly Guided Caliphs [28]and Sunnah of the Companions all conform to obey the Command of Allah.
The Prophet( peace be upon him) said:
You must then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. [Abi Dawud 4607]
Paradox of People of Bid’ah:
It’s very strange that despite believing, Hadiths to be divinely inspired Revelations [Wahi Khiffi/ Secret Wahi/ Wahi Ghair Matlo (a self concocted belief) The people of Bid’ah deny this Hadith by considering Hadith-Books as justified against consensus Sunnah of Guided Caliphs and hence indulge in denial of Revelation (as per their own belief). [In Islam anyone who denies revelations gets out of the fold of Islam.]. If they believe and obey the Prophet(peace be upon him) in this Hadith (Ibi Dawud 4607), they have to accept the consensus decision/Sunnah of guided Caliphs against Hadith book writing. This is their self created paradox, they can only get out of it by accepting this Hadith (Dawud 4607), in toto without any Ifs or buts, thus obeying the Prophet( peace be upon him ), the Rightly Guided Caliphs (رضی الله) and abandon Bid’ah.
Quran Disabled & Rendered Ineffective
This Bid’a of extra books has gradually disabled the Quran, rendering it ineffective to use its full potential as a supreme source of guidance. This has been identified by Quran:
وَقَالَ ٱلرَّسُولُ يَرَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِى ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ هَذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ مَهْجُورًۭا
“And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled (مَهْجُورًۭا) and made this Qur’an of no account.” (Quran;25:30)[29] [Mahjur (مَهْجُورًۭا): They had immobilized it like villagers who bind a cow by tying her front foot to her horn] No Binded Book left in Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him):
Once the Prophet (peace be upon him) left this world he did not leave any book binded in two covers, not even the Quran.
Quran: The Only Binded Book, Sunnah of Guided Caliphs
“Hadith-Books” not in Sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him) & Rightly Guided Caliphs
However none of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs considered it appropriate to make similar arrangements to write or compile “Hadith-Book” [32]. Hence Hadiths book or books are not part of Sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him) or Sunnah of Four Rightly Guided Caliphs.
Adherence to Sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him) & Guided Caliphs is Obligatory:
The Sunnah (practice/acts) of Rightly Guided Caliphs, Companions not to write “Hadith books” is in line with the command of Allah Quran & Command of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Abu Hurairah narrated, Prophet(peace be upon him) had prohibited them for writing Hadiths and said:
“Do you want a book other than Allah’s book? The communities before you were only caused to stray by the books they wrote along with Allah’s book.” [Taqyid-ilm][33]
Though later some companions were allowed to make private notes [34] for poor memory, letters, financial matters etc but no Hadith book. Caliph Umar bin Khattab after thorough deliberation and Istekhara decided to burn written Hadith material & ban Hadith Books for the same reason. Umer bin Khattab was not an ordinary person, he was given part of special Knowledge given to the Prophet (peace be upon him)[35]. All later Caliphs followed his Sunnah, so in the Collective Sunnah (Ijma) of Four Caliphs there is Only One Book[36], The Book of Allah, The Noble Quran, there is no other book of Hadith or Sunnah. The Prophet ( peace be upon him) in his will had already commanded the Muslims to strictly adhere to his Sunnah and the Sunnah of Caliphs [Abi Dawud 4607] [37]There is no Hadith books in Sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him) and Sunnah of Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. The Companions [38]understood it well and strictly followed the Sunnah of Caliphs, no one deviated by writing any Hadith book till they all passed [39] away. This Bid’a has gradually disabled the Quran by immobilizing it.
وَقَالَ ٱلرَّسُولُ يَرَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِى ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ هَذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ مَهْجُورًۭا
“And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled (مَهْجُورًۭا) and made this Qur’an of no account.” (Quran;25:30)[40]
[Mahjur (مَهْجُورًۭا): They had immobilized it like villagers who bind a cow by tying her front foot to her horn]
Bidʻah: Every Heresy is Misguidance (وَکُلُّ بِدْعَۃٍ ضَلَالَۃٌ)
The 2nd century was the century of start of Bid’a/deviations and disobedience[41]to command of the Prophet( peace be upon him). It appears from their actions (introducing Bid’a) that many learned people of the 2nd century and later up to this day, consider themselves to be wiser and more knowledgeable than the Prophet (peace be upon him), who according to their perception forgot or made errors, firstly by not himself making arrangements to make the Quran and Hadith as bound books and secondly; ordering following of Sunnah of Caliphs who also “mistakenly” did not write Hadith Books rather banned it, thus destroying all the valuable Hadith collections (no one dare make such an open statement, but their actions speak louder than the words). Hence from the 2nd Century onwards Hadith books[42]started to appear, today there are around 75 Hadith books[43]and the number keeps growing. Something very strange in the history of religions, normally the basic books are written up to a certain time and then there is no addition. The Jews have 38 volumes of Talmud and Christians completed the New Testament with 27 books (4 Gospels, 23 other books). Though the Muslims have the Quran, the unique well protected, complete, comprehensive book of guidance, they are eager for more books. The Hadith books, also called the books of Prophet (peace be upon him) by some have no limit in numbers. It is erroneous to call them Prophet (peace be upon him)’s books because he neither wrote them nor dictated or checked or verified by Caliphs. These books are written after two centuries through narrations passed down from person to person as heard or understood by the first narrator. The chain may be sound but the contents text cannot be verified if the single hearer misunderstood due to human limitations besides his truthfulness and piety. The Prophet ( peace be upon him ) had given solution to this problem,[44] which has been ignored by book writers, another Bid’a. The classification of Hadiths keeps on changing even now by the experts. How can a religion or Deen stabilize with unstable basic books?
Choosing Sides
One must keep in mind that on one side is the Quran, the Prophet( peace be upon him)[45] , Four Rightly Guided Caliphs[46]and Companions and opposed to them are Religious scholars of the second century Hijrah and later till to date, who disobeyed the will and command of the Prophet (peace be upon him) rather than continuing with the policy of oral transmission of Hadiths as allowed by the Prophet(peace be upon him).
Merits of Writing Hadith Books
What are the merits of writing and demerits of not writing Hadith books, is not a point to be discussed, it is blasphemous to question the wisdom and knowledge of the Prophet( peace be upon him ). Khateeb Al Baghdadi[47](died 463 AH/ 1071 C.E) in his book Taqyid Ilm[48]has devoted an entire chapter on merits of writing knowledge (Hadith), but in his enthusiasm to justify writing Hadith Books he missed the point that Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him ) and Sunnah of Rightly Guided Caliphs stands much higher to these justifications; Were they not unaware of merits of writing books? The reason[49]given by Prophet (peace be upon him) is total, complete and comprehensive, The time has proved the truthfulness of wisdom of decision, the Sunnah of Prophet( peace be upon him) and Rightly Guided Caliph. This is another miraculous proof of his Prophet hood. The Hadith books have surpassed the extra books of Jews (38 volumes of Talmud) and 23 extra books of Christians. Muslims have neglected the Quran, formed sects, added prefix and suffix to the name Muslim chosen by Allah as if it was incomplete? Many scholars do not understand if some things are quoted from the Quran, they prefer references from Hadith Books, especially of their favorite ones.
To justify this Bid’a, deviation, disobedience and blasphemy they invented many new Bid’a further disobeying the Prophet(peace be upon him) who in same Hadith had said:
You must then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid Bid’a (novelties), for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error. [Dawud4607,Majah40, Tirmidhi 266]
This farewell exhortation has been practically torn into pieces in this particular matter, as if it does not exist, however this Hadith is quoted extensively to ridicule and insult the Muslims of opponent sects on petty matters.
The Islamic Revivalists
It is narrated by Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“Surely Allah will send some people to this ummah every hundred years to renew the religion.” [Saheeh Hadith Albani:144][50].
It is narrated on the authority of Mu’awiyah that I heard the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) saying:
A group of my ummah will always abide by the command of Allah Almighty. Whoever intends to humiliate them or oppose them will not be able to harm them until the command of Allah Almighty (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) comes and they will remain in this state. [Agree upon all][51]
History is full of Islamic Revivalists but they all missed this point during the last twelve centuries. It is now our honour and responsibility to undertake this important mission.
The Big Bid’ah / Deviations
Some important Bid’a / deviations introduced in Islam, required to be redressed are:-
01. Belief in any extra book / books/ scripture other than the Qur’an and books revealed to previous messengers. It is a matter of Faith (Imaan[52]) , hence it is very important.
02. Practically ignoring, ridiculing the book of Allah, The Noble Quran, by making it subservient to other books and wishes of scholars. “ And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled and made this Qur’an of no account.” (Quran;25:30)[53][MAHJUR = They had immobilized it like villagers who bind a cow by tying her front foot to her horn]
03. Use of names other than Islam / “Muslim” or adding prefix or suffix as if it is incomplete.[54]
04. Heavy Involvement in sectarianism.[55]
05. Blindly following Jews, Christians or religious leaders [56] .
06. Classifying the Hadiths on the basis of self-made criteria instead of the standard set by the Messenger of God.[57]
07. Instead of strict adherence to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and the Sunnah of the Righteous Caliphs and Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) prefer the teachings and ideas of the scholars based on Bid’ah (misguidance, deviations).[58]
08. The idea that the Prophet(peace be upon him) and the Rightly Guided Caliphs made a mistake in not compiling the books of Hadith, which was rectified by the scholars and narrators of the second and third centuries and later.[59]
09. ) In obedience to Quran, Sunnah of Prophet( peace be upon him)[60], Sunnah of Four Rightly Guided Caliphs[61]and Companions take appropriate measures. [Scholars may also explore permissibility or otherwise, in the use of digital, audio, video and other technology for Hadiths communication)[62]
10. To consider books of Hadith as equivalent to revelation or Qur’an or to give the status of superior to Qur’an and abrogation[63] of Qur’anic verses.[64],[65]
11. Rejecting, ignoring or altering the clear injunctions/ commands(muhkamat)[66]in the Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith with interpretations and deduced arguments. Such deductions have more than one meaning, which lead to disunity, hypocrisy, sectarianism and deviation.[67]
12. Distorting the meaning of the word “Hadith” or any verse or words in the Qur’an.[68]
Conclusion
1. There is an urgent need to revive Islam to its original Perfected state of the 1st century Hijra by removing all Bid’a and deviations. “Islamic Revival” Movement” (تجديد الإسلام تحریک) (حركة تجديد الإسلام) is an intellectual web based virtual movement to achieve this objective through Dawah[69]and Dialogue using cyberspace and social media. There is no party, group or organization, the word “movement” is just used in the literal sense.
2. The purpose of “Islamic Revival” is to remove all the Bid’ah, all the impediments and obstacles in the way of the Quran which have immobilized it so that Quran can be used as the supreme source of guidance for humanity. Those who join the cause they can claim that they were not among those for whom: “And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled (مَهْجُورًۭا) and made this Qur’an of no account.” (Quran;25:30)[70]
3. It should not be misunderstood that “Islamic Revival” is against Hadith. A devout Muslim cannot even think of going against the words and deeds attributed to the beloved and dearest Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him), Quran, Sunnah and Hadith prohibit “Hadith-Books” but conveying Hadiths orally is recommended (digital method can be explored by scholars). Thus through “Islamic Revival” we are trying to adhere to the commands of Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him) by keeping Quran, Sunnah and Hadith at their proper order and place in accordance with the prescribed way discarding all Bid’ah.
4. It took centuries to introduce very big Bid’as, so it was presumed that it may take centuries for Islamic Revival, however Allah has His plans at work with or without us. The Islamic Revival process has started[71], it may take much less time than anticipated, this video[72] explains it well.
5. The related resource material for Islamic Revival (تجديد الإسلام) has been made available in English (can be translated to any language) and in Urdu for the participants all over the world:
WARNING
1. Do not try to establish a new sect or group on the basis of “Islamic Revival Movement”, this would be another innovation.
2. “Muslim” [73] is the best name given by Allah, “As-Salaam” is an attributive name of Allah Almighty, it is a great honor to be called Muslim.
3. Don’t try to change the fiqh of anyone, let the Muslims be satisfied with the fiqh of their choice. The unity of Muslims is important, stay with the Muslim majority Do not personally criticize any ancient or modern scholar, imam, jurist, muhaddith or those who disagree. The matter be left to Allah.
4. Any changes with regard to the “Islamic Revival” will take place gradually through a peaceful evolution process by Dawah and dialogue, exercise restraint and patience.
5. This Abstract is not a substitute for the complete research, it is not a summary. Please read complete research at the website[74] and visit 75 References/ Links given below to comprehend this very important, complex and sensitive issue. One may require more than one reading.
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٢٨٥
“The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course.” (Quran;2:285)[75]
مَّن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا ۖ وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَا ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّقِيتًا
Whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein: And whoever recommends and helps an evil cause, shares in its burden: And Allah hath power over all things. (Quran;4:85)
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