What is Bidʿah? Correct Definition in the Words of the Salaf
Excerpt from: Eid Milad al-Nabi ﷺ ki Sharʿi Ḥaysiyat by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amini Puri
❖ Definitions of Bidʿah by the Scholars of the Ummah
① ʿAllāmah ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 855H):
هي ما لم يكن له أصل فى الكتاب والسنة وقيل: إظهار شيء لم يكن فى عهد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا فى زمن الصحابة رضي الله عنهم.
“Bidʿah in religion is every new matter that has no basis in the Qur’ān or Sunnah, or any practice that did not exist during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions رضي الله عنهم.”
(ʿUmdat al-Qārī 25/37)
② ʿAllāmah al-Shāṭibī رحمه الله (d. 790H):
طريقة فى الدين مخترعة تضاهي الشريعة يقصد بالسلوك عليها المبالغة فى التعبد لله سبحانه.
“Bidʿah is an invented way in religion that resembles the Sharīʿah and is intended as a means of excessive devotion to Allah.”
(Al-Iʿtiṣām 1/30)
③ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728H):
إن البدعة هي الدين الذى لم يأمر به الله ورسوله...
“Bidʿah is any form of religion which Allah and His Messenger did not command. Whoever practices a religion not ordained by Allah and His Messenger is thereby an innovator.”
(Al-Istiqāmah 1/5)
❀ He further said:
إن البدعة ما لم يشرعه الله من الدين...
“Bidʿah is that which Allah has not legislated in religion. Every act not legislated by Allah is bidʿah, even if done with some interpretation.”
(Al-Istiqāmah 1/42)
④ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab رحمه الله (d. 795H):
المراد بالبدعة ما أحدث مما لا أصل له فى الشريعة...
“Bidʿah refers to anything introduced which has no basis in Sharīʿah. If it has a basis in Sharīʿah, it is not bidʿah in Sharʿi terms, even if linguistically it is called a bidʿah.”
(Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa’l-Ḥikam p.193)
He also said:
من تقرب إلى الله بعمل لم يجعله الله ورسوله قربة...
“Whoever seeks nearness to Allah through an action not legislated by Allah and His Messenger, his action is invalid and rejected…”
(Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa’l-Ḥikam 1/178)
⑤ ʿAllāmah Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan al-Shamnī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 772H):
ما أحدث على خلاف الحق المتلقى عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم...
“Bidʿah is any knowledge, action, or state invented against the truth transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, under some pretext or preference, and declared as part of dīn.”
(Radd al-Muḥtār 1/560, Ḥāshiyat al-Ṭaḥṭāwī 303, Durar al-Ḥukkām 1/85)
⑥ ʿAllāmah Sharīf al-Jurjānī رحمه الله (d. 816H):
البدعة: هي الأمر المحدث الذى لم يكن عليه الصحابة والتابعون، ولم يكن مما اقتضاه الدليل الشرعي.
“Bidʿah is any newly introduced matter that neither the Companions nor the Tābiʿūn practiced, and which has no Sharʿi evidence requiring it.”
(Kitāb al-Taʿrīfāt p.43)
⑦ Mufti Aḥmad Yār Khān Naʿīmī:
“In Sharʿi terms, bidʿah means those beliefs or practices which did not exist during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ but were later introduced. Thus, bidʿah is of two types: doctrinal (ʿitiqādī) and practical (ʿamalī).”
(Jāʾ al-Ḥaqq p.204)
❖ Summary
✔ The scholars of the Ummah have unanimously defined bidʿah as any new practice, belief, or way in religion that lacks basis in the Qur’ān, Sunnah, or the practice of the Ṣaḥābah.
✔ Any such innovation is rejected and not considered a means of drawing near to Allah.
