ENLIGHTENING THE PROPONENTS OF MAWLID AND OTHER INNOVATIONS

By

Ibn 'Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Ioori

Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه said any act not done by the Prophet صلىالله عليه وسلم and his companions رضي الله عنهم in the deen is evil even anyone thinks that it is good. This means that no amount of good intention would justify perpetration of bid'ah that is as clear as Maolid Celebration. He was the same person who said:

((اتبعوا ولا تبتدعوا فقد كفيتم))

"Follow and do not innovate, for you have been fufilled (with a complete religion)"

When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said "bid'ah", it doesn't mean bid'ah in everything. It means bid'ah in acts of ibaadah, or bid'ah in the practice of the religion. The asl (foundation) of eid in Islam is ibaadah. Allah's Messenger talked about two annual eids (eid el fitr and eid el adha). So, who are we to add another one? In this case,  maolid is organized to be an act of ibaadah. In fact, some refer to it as eid el maolud. It constitutes an addition in the deen. There is no,basis for it in the Qur'an and Sunnah. There are many sunnah we have not practiced, why should add something that is not part of the deen to the deen. In fact, many of those who insist on celebrating maolid are in the habit of attacking the sunnah and its people. By innovating maolid, does it mean they are better than the companions? Did the Companions celebrate the birthday of the Prophet? Do we love the Prophet better than them? So, the general rule in matters of ibaadah and deen generally is "do not innovate at all". Q5:3 says your deen is complete. The Qur'an and Sunnah explains the wajib, haram, madub, mubah, makruh and mustahabb. There is no need for addition. In a very clear hadith that most of us know, Aisha رضي الله عنها reported from the Prophet:

((من أحدث في أمرنا هذ ما ليس منه فهو رد))

"Whoever introduces in our matter (the deen) that which is not there (not done by the Prophet, Companions and the Taabi'een) shall be rejected" 

Not only this, the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said through Jabir Bin Abdillah رضي الله عنه: And you are about newly invented matters, for all newly invented matters in the deen are innovations, all innovations in the deen are misguidance and all misguidance is hell-fire. Why do Muslims joke with innovations these days. It is so dangerous. It is a form of disobedience to the Messenger of Allah. Imam Malik رحمه الله said: anyone who innovates in the deen is indirectly saying the Prophet did not complete his mission. 

In worldly matters, we can do whatever we like except where it contradicts any aspect of the Sunnah or harmless conventional practices. An example of a worldly invention that is haram is an invention for gender change. So, any technological or scientific invention is permissible for Muslims if it has no impediments in the shari'ah. So, don't come and display ignorance saying why using phones, cars, aeroplanes and so on. These are products of modern knowledge that has nothing to do with the deen. More of these would be invented later in future without breaching any rule of shari'ah. For us to know that inventions in matters of the deen is different from inventions in worldly matters: you would realise all the scientific and technological inventions are not specifically for Muslims. Non Muslims also use them and when we use them, we don't count the use of it to be an act of ibaadah. For instance, someone can't be driving car and say he is doing ibaadah. The people of bid'ah bring up these kinds of confusions to mislead ignorant people.

Muslims are permitted to invent in worldy matter and not in matters of the deen. Now that Nigeria is in recession, we need Muslims to come up with scientific and technological inventions that would boost our economy. Why don't we come up with beneficial inventions in worldly affairs. Why should you leave what is permissible (innovations in worldly affairs) for what is forbidden (innovation in the deen). That brain you have wasted in fabricating maolid (leading to misguidance) and other innovations would have been useful in the inventions in science and technological. So, don't say why marbles on the walls of the Ka'bah. Don't say why tiles in Mosques? Stop displaying ignorance. All these are permissible because they are not inventions in affairs of the deen. Without all these things we can still pray.  

Why wasting your time inventing in matters of religion that Allah and His Rosul صلىالله عليه وسلم says is already complete. Your effort is not needed in this area. What is needed from you is طاعة (obedience or followership) and not بدع (innovations). If it were to be permissible to invent in matters of the deen as the shias and sufis have done and still doing, the Companions رضي الله عنهم would have done better than you because they met the Messenger, they witnessed the revelations and recorded hadiths. But they were warned by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم not to engage in bid'ah and they didn't innovate. It was reported in a book 'Min Akhlaaq Salaf' of Sheikh Ahmad Fareed that Umar رضي الله عنه as an Amir wanted to do something and he had resolved to do it. But one of the Muslims told him that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم didn't do this, and Umar stopped his decision to do that thing. 

So, why are we so hard-hearted today? When we are advised to move away from bid'ah, we refuse to listen. Are we better than the likes 'Umar and other Companions. Up till today, there is no single daleel for Maolid, yet many people are still doing it. Why? More so, Maolid was imitated into the deen by shias who used to curse the Companions of the Prophet. They are imitating the Christians who celebrate the birthday of Prophet Isa عليه السلام ignorantly. This shows that Maolid is not just an innovation, it is an imitation of the Kuffar. Whoever imitates a people is part of them. Then, the origin of birthday itself is also pagan. Google it and read about it. 

And lastly, I have never seen a celebration of birthday where the celebrant is dead and not alive. Is Maolid Nabiyy actually a celebration of birth or death? No one celebrates Maolid after clear proofs have been presented to him except an arroagant person and a hypocrite who doesn't know his religion properly or just choose to disobey Allah and His Apostle صلى الله عليه وسلم. So, anyone trying to justify Maolid in Islam is just promoting evil and Allah is aware of everything we do. 'Ali Bin Abi Taalib رضي الله عنه reported an authentic hadith where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says that: the curse of Allah is upon anyone who innovates or tolerates innovation or an innovator.

May Allah guide us aright.