✍ Written by: Abu Thāqib Muhammad Ṣafdar Muḥammadī
📖 Foundational Islamic Principles
The most superior speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muḥammad ﷺ. The worst of matters are those newly invented into the religion.
وَكُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ
“And every innovation is misguidance.”
وَكُلُّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
“And every misguidance leads to the Hellfire.”
❌ The Verdicts of the Prophet ﷺ on Bidʿah
مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ فِيهِ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
“Whoever introduces something new into our matter (religion) that is not from it, it is rejected.”
مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
“Whoever performs a deed not in accordance with our command, it is rejected.”
⛔ The Bidʿah Performer is Cursed
There is a curse upon the innovator, and none of his obligatory or supererogatory worship will be accepted.
Allah does not accept the repentance of a bidʿah-doer until he abandons the innovation.
مَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي
“Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not from among us.”
❖ Examples of Bidʿāt Common Among Muqallidīn
① Intention (Niyyah) by Tongue Before Ṣalāh
There is no ḥadīth that instructs one to verbalize the intention before prayer. Yet, the blind followers (muqallidīn) persist in this innovation.
② Wiping the Neck in Wuḍūʾ with the Back of the Hands
This special act of neck wiping has no basis in any authentic ḥadīth. In fact, Aḥmad Riḍā Khān Barelwī himself declared it to be a bidʿah.
See: Malfūẓāt Aḥmad Riḍā Khān Barelwī, p. 217.
Still, major scholars among the muqallidīn, including Shaykh al-Qur’ān and Shaykh al-Ḥadīth, and the general masses, remain involved in this innovation.
③ Raising Hands in Collective Duʿāʾ After Obligatory Prayers
There exists no authentic ḥadīth proving the practice of raising hands for collective duʿāʾ after farḍ prayers.
Even Mufti Rashīd Aḥmad Ludhiyānwī (Deobandi) and many other Deobandi scholars have labeled this a severe bidʿah.
See: Risālah – “Duʿāʾ After Prayers”.
Despite this, these blind followers continue this bidʿah.
④ Reciting Fātiḥah or Qur’an for Isāl al-Thawāb or Condolences
There is no authentic ḥadīth supporting reciting Fātiḥah or Qur’an as a form of isāl al-thawāb or for taʿzīyah (condolences).
In fact, even muqallidīn have acknowledged Fātiḥah at condolence gatherings as bidʿah.
See: Aḥsan al-Fatāwā: 4/245, al-Rajul al-Rashīd: p. 169–173.
Nevertheless, the muqallidīn continue to engage in this bidʿah.
⚠ A Sincere Reminder to the Ummah
Dear Brothers! Wake up and hold fast to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
In them lies success in both worlds.
Otherwise, remember the warning:
المرء مع من أحبّ
“A person will be (on the Day of Judgment) with whom he loves.”
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ
And upon us is only to convey.
