This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri's book Aamad Mustafa ﷺ.
Innovations and the Understanding of the Salaf
◈ Maseeb bin Najbah, may Allah have mercy on him, said to Abdullah bin Masood, may Allah be pleased with him:
إني تركت قوما بالمسجد يقولون : من سبح كذا وكذا فله كذا وكذا، قال : قم يا علقمة فلما رآهم، قال : يا علقمة اشغل عني أبصار القوم، فلما سمعهم وما يقولون، قال : إنكم لمتمسكون بذنب ضلالة، أو إنكم لأهدى من أصحاب محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم .
"I saw a group of people in the mosque saying that whoever says SubhanAllah so many times will receive such and such reward." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Masood, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Alqamah! Get up, come with me. When you saw their circle, tell Alqamah to divert their attention elsewhere. Then, when you heard their mention, he said: Either you are misguided or more guided than the companions of Muhammad, peace be upon him!"
Reference: (Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir by Al-Tabarani: 125/9, Hadith: 8628, Hasan)
After a similar incident, he said:
إنكم لأهدى من محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، وأصحابه، إنكم لمتمسكون بطرف ضلالة .
"Either you are more guided than Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his companions, or you have chosen the path of misguidance."
Reference: (Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir by Al-Tabarani: 128/9, Hadith: 8639, with authentic chain)
◈ Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, went to debate with the Kharijites, and they said:
فما جاء بك؟ قلت : أتيتكم من عند صحابة النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم من المهاجرين والأنصار، لأبلغكم ما يقولون المخبرون بما يقولون فعليهم نزل القرآن، وهم أعلم بالوحي منكم .
"What brings you here?" Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I came on behalf of the Muhajireen and Ansar, the companions, to inform you of their opinion based on revelation. The Quran was revealed in their presence, and they knew the revelation better than you."
Reference: (Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn by Al-Hakim: 150/2, Hadith: 2656, with good chain)
Imam Hakim, may Allah have mercy on him, declared it "authentic" according to Muslim's criteria, and Hafiz Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, agreed with him.
◈ Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 101 AH), in refuting the deniers of Qadar (Divine Decree), said:
لقد قرءوا منه ما قد قرأتم، وعلموا من تأويله ما جهلتم، ثم قالوا بعد ذلك : كله كتاب وقدر .
"The Quran you are reading is the same that the Salaf read; the meanings and interpretations the Salaf made, you remain ignorant and blind to, yet they believed in Qada and Qadar despite your presented arguments."
Reference: (Sunan Abi Dawood: 4612, Al-Shariah by Al-Ajuri: 223, with good chain)
Allama Al-Maqrizi, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 845 AH), writes:
أصل كل بدعة فى الدين البعد عن كلام السلف والإنحراف عن اعتقاد الصدر الأول .
"Distance from the speech of the Salaf and deviation from the creed of the early generation is the root of every innovation."
Reference: (Al-Mawa'iz wal I'tibar bi Dhikr al-Khutat wal Athar: 198/4)
◈ Allama Al-Shatibi, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 790 AH), writes:
لو كان دليلا عليه لم يعزب عن فهم الصحابة والتابعين، ثم يفهمه هؤلاء، فعمل الأولين كيف كان مصادم لمقتضى هذا المفهوم ومعارض له، ولو كان ترك العمل فما عمل به المتأخرون من هذا القسم مخالف لإجماع الأولين، وكل من خالف الإجماع فهو مخطىء، وأمه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم لا تجتمع على ضلالة ، فما كانوا عليه من فعل أو ترك فهو السنة والأمر المعتبر، وهو الهدى، وليس ثم إلا صواب أو خطأ، فكل من خالف السلف الأولين فهو على خطأ، وهذا كاف .
"If there were any proof for it, the understanding of the companions and the Tabi‘in would not have been absent, so that later generations would understand it. If the Salaf abandoned any act, it was not due to ignorance of the correct meaning of the proof, but because they were aware of the correct meaning. If later generations perform acts contrary to the consensus of the Salaf, they will be rejected. The Ummah of Muhammad cannot unite upon misguidance; therefore, whatever the Salaf unanimously agree to do or leave is the Sunnah and authentic guidance. In any matter, there are only two possibilities: correctness or error, and whoever opposes the Salaf is certainly in error."
Reference: (Al-Muwafaqat: 72/3)
◈ He also writes:
لهذا كله يجب على كل ناظر فى الدليل الشرعي مراعاة ما فهم الأولون، وما كانوا عليه فى العمل به، فهو أحرى بالصواب، وأقوم فى العلم والعمل .
"Considering all these matters, it is obligatory for every person who reflects on the Shariah evidence to respect the understanding and practice of the Salaf, because they are closer to correctness and more established in knowledge and practice."
Reference: (Al-Muwafaqat: 77/3)
◈ Furthermore, he writes:
لا تجد مبتدعا ممن ينسب إلى الملة إلا وهو يستشهد على بدعته بدليل شرعي، فينزله على ما وافق عقله وشهوته .
"You will see that all innovators attributed to Islam argue for their innovations with Shariah evidence, then shape it according to their own intellect and desires."
Reference: (Al-I'tisam: 134/1)
◈ He further states:
فالحذر الحذر من مخالفة الأولين، فلو كان ثم فضل ما ، لكان الأولون أحق به، والله المستعان .
"Beware! Avoid opposing the Salaf. If the actions adopted by later generations had any virtue, the Salaf would have certainly adopted them."
Reference: (Al-Muwafaqat: 56/3)
◈ He also says:
في كثير من الأمور يستحسنون أشياء، لم يأت فى كتاب ولا سنة ولا عمل بأمثالها السلف الصالح، فيعملون بمقتضاها ويثابرون عليها، ويحكمونها طريقا لهم مهيعا وسنة لا تخلف، بل ربما أوجبوها فى بعض الأحوال .
"Innovators consider dozens of acts as recommended, for which there is no evidence in the Book and Sunnah, nor did the Salaf perform them. The innovator continues such acts regularly and considers them a clear path and non-contradictory Sunnah for himself, sometimes even declaring them obligatory."
Reference: (Al-I'tisam: 12/1)
◈ Hafiz Ibn Abdul Hadi, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 744 AH), said:
لا يجوز إحدات تأويل فى آية أو سنة لم يكن على عهد السلف، ولا عرفوه ولا بينوه للأمة، فإن هذا يتضمن أنهم جهلوا الحق فى هذا، وضلوا عنه، واهتدى إليه هذا المعترض المتاخر .
"It is not permissible to take any meaning or interpretation of a verse or hadith that was not known in the time of the Salaf, which the Salaf did not understand or explain to the Ummah. If such a meaning is considered permissible, then it must be accepted that the Salaf were unaware of the reality, and the later generation discovered the truth."
Reference: (As-Saarim al-Munki fi al-Radd ala as-Subki, p. 318)
"Imam Ibn al-Anbari, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 328 AH), said:
من قال فى القرآن قولا يوافق هواه، لم يأخذ عن أئمة السلف، فأصاب، فقد أخطأ، لحكمه على القرآن بما لا يعرف أصله، ولا يقف على مذهب أهل الأثر والنقل فيه .
"Whoever interprets the Quran according to his own desire with statements not established from the Imams of the Salaf, even if correct, is still wrong, because he has imposed a ruling on the Quran for which there is no evidence, and he is not familiar with the creed of the people of influence and transmission (the Salaf) regarding it."
Reference: (Al-Faqih wal Mutafaqqih by Al-Khatib: 2338, with authentic chain)
◈ Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 728 AH), said:
إن الصحابة والتابعين والأئمة إذا كان لهم فى تفسير الآية قول وجاء قوم فسروا الآية بقول آخر لأجل مذهب اعتقدوه وذلك المذهب ليس من مذاهب الصحابة والتابعين لهم بإحسان صاروا مشاركين للمعتزلة وغيرهم من أهل البدع فى مثل هذا، وفي الجملة من عدل عن مذاهب الصحابة والتابعين وتفسيرهم إلى ما يخالف ذلك كان مخطئا فى ذلك بل مبتدعا وإن كان مجتهدا مغفورا له خطؤه فالمقصود بيان طرق العلم وأدلته وطرق الصواب ونحن نعلم أن القرآن قرأه الصحابة والتابعون وتابعوهم وأنهم كانوا أعلم بتفسيره ومعانيه كما أنهم أعلم بالحق الذى بعث الله به رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم فمن خالف قولهم وفسر القرآن بخلاف تفسيرهم فقد أخطأ فى الدليل والمدلول جميعا .
"If the companions and Tabi‘in have one opinion in the interpretation of the Quran, and later people say something contrary to that opinion to support their own creed, then this way of thinking is not that of the companions and Tabi‘in but that of the polytheists and Mu‘tazilites. In summary, whoever speaks against the creed of the companions and Tabi‘in is certainly in error and an innovator. If he is a Mujtahid, he will be rewarded for his effort despite the error. Our purpose is to explain the paths of knowledge and evidence and to point out the correct path among them. We know that the Quran was read by the companions, Tabi‘in, and Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in, and they knew the meanings and interpretations of the Quran better than us, just as they knew the truth better than us. So whoever speaks against them or interprets the Quran contrary to them errs in both evidence and meaning."
Reference: (Majmoo‘ al-Fatawa: 362/13)
◈ Allama Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 751 AH), said:
إن إحداث قول فى تفسير كتاب الله الذى كان السلف والأئمة على خلافه يستلزم أحد الأمرين ، إما أن يكون خطأ فى نفسه، أو تكون أقوال السلف المخالفة له خطأ، ولا يشك عاقل أنه أولى بالغلط والخطأ من قول السلف .
"Expressing an interpretation of the Quran contrary to the understanding of the Salaf and the Imams of the Sunnah necessarily implies one of two things: either the one who expresses it is wrong, or the statements of the Salaf are wrong. There is no doubt for any wise person that whoever opposes the Salaf is based on error and mistake."
Reference: (Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq al-Mursalah: 128/2)
The point is that if there were any Shariah evidence or permissibility for celebrating Eid Milad, the righteous Salaf and the Imams of Ahl al-Sunnah would have initiated it. Since they did not do this, it is certainly not permissible.
◈ Allama Ibn Abi al-Az Hanafī, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 792 AH), said:
صاروا يبتدعون من الدلائل والمسائل ما ليس بمشروع، ويعرضون عن الأمر المشروع .
"Some have abandoned legitimate acts and started innovating acts that have no relation to Shariah."
Reference: (Sharh al-‘Aqeedah al-Tahawiyyah: 593)
◈ Allama Al-Suyuti, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 911 AH), said:
مثل طوائف من أهل البدع اعتقدوا مذاهب باطلة وعمدوا إلى القرآن فتأولوه على رأيهم وليس لهم سلف من الصحابة والتابعين لا فى رأيهم ولا فى تفسيرهم .
"There are various groups of innovators who hold false beliefs and distort the Quranic evidences according to their own opinions. Their views and interpretations differ from those of the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and the Tabi‘in, may Allah have mercy on them."
Reference: (Al-Itqan: 206/4)
