. Few evil innovations and some haram act mentioned in the book which Imam Ahmed Raza Khan qadri [Rh] has criticised 1.Tazia dari and blood shed in muharram. 2. To participate in Rawafid gathering 3.To ask money for reciting Quran 4. To make pictures of saints 5. To do ithal e sawab for mushriks 6. to tie imam zaman [ Some people allocate a fixed amount for their imam and tie that money ( coin / currency) on hand , with the beleif that Imam will save them ] 7. Last wednesday [ Taking special shower on last wednesady of the islamic month safar] Please note some of these actions have been called as haram .
as-salamu `alaikum thank you for you input. any chance you could post a few more examples mentioned by the imam?
Salam Alaikum Not totally off topic, and I'm asking to learn not to object, brother can you please give a small summary in your own words (no need for citations) of the reasonings/daleels as to how/why are imams of mosques allowed to receive a salary and teachers of [proper] Islamic institutes and madrassa's, and muftis of dar-ul-ifta's and those huffaz who teach children Quran, be it in a mosque or by private tutoring - are also allowed to work on a salary? Is the prohibition only on receiving money for personally reciting the Quran? If it also applies to the other acts I mentioned, then for one thing, we'd have a segment of our population who sadly do not know anything else other than any religious knowledge they have. If there is a fiqhi hukm (in any madhhab) that one SHOULD learn a material trade too along with deeni knowledge, please advise it and in that case, honestly we are in a worser situation that I can perceive. Also, if such a rule does exist, then what would be the fiqhi ahkaam for a "work-life balance" so to say? As I know the rule is that one should earn their living if they are of sound mind and body. wouldn't that depend on the current circumstances we Sunnis are in at the moment AND on where to/how that money is channeled? at a lot of seminars and stuff I have seen in the west where an entrance fee is charged, the money is aimed for the less fortunate Muslims elsewhere, or to cover the event's operating costs and not for profit purposes (we are talking about acting on the apparent here going by what some of these people might list at face value as good and noble causes, please ignore the hucksters from this example) if scholars and reciters are not supposed to be paid for attending these events, then by extrapolation the answer to my initial question would be that they shouldn't be hired on a salary either, right? anyway, once again, wouldn't these depend on economic factors and strategic interests of Sunnis and the aim for receiving such payments? i mean unlike the wahabis, us Sunnis are not funded by petrodollars, and publishing material costs money and funding AND DEDICATED human resources too. common imams and scholars and translators are not all awliyaa of the past who would work for months on end without realising they didn't eat in a month and a half; even if they were, it would still be incumbent upon us to take care (at a human level) of their personal material needs and other incidentals that are required for the job to be done, and we need funding for all of that. actually thats an excellent topic... i will start another thread on it. Actually brother, as much as I have seen, the only REAL proponents of physical moon sighting are only the subcontinentals (both us and the dobbies) and the proper wahabis mostly the calculation people in the west are the sulah kulli types and mainly "neutral" people along with many non-desi Sunnis like Lebanese, Turks and so on (only a handful of Arab Sunnis in the west are adamant on physical sightings)
I recently attended a qur'an recitation competition which was meant for boys under 12. The winner was not given any "money" but a set of hadith books. The purpose of organising these type of competition among children is to encourage them. This type of competition is conducted in different islamic countries. - I have not seen any mawlid gathering in which people are asked for entrance fee. But if does take place , then indeed it is an evil innovation, because when the companions of the prophet used to recite poems in praise of prophet [ sal allahu alayhi wa sallam] they never asked for any money.
Allama Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi ( May Allah protect him .Ameen) has written a book " Imam Ahmed Raza aur radde bidaat wa munkiraat",[ pages 448] in which he has cited many evil innovations against which the scholars of Ahlus sunnah , in particular Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri [Rh] has written. Among many bad innvations listed in this book are: 1. Unialmic practices during the marriage function. [Please note: This does not mean we should stop marrying, rather we should try to remove and oppose these evil innovations occuring at the time of marriage] 2. Family of a deceased muslim inviting others for food. [ Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri (Rh) writes that this is not only against shariah but also gives burden to the family of deceased. He wrote a booklet on this topic , which is available on line] Recently Dr Ghulam Yahya Anjum has written a book " Imam Ahmed Raza ek nazar mein" in which he has listed the effort of scholars of Ahlus sunnah to invite people towards the love of prophet and stay away from all "evil innovations". He has proved with evidence that the first person to propogate Sajda-e-Tazimi was Hasan Nizami, who was a student of Rashid Gangohi.
this is from the translation of jaa al-haq, p.290-1: charity should be given from the day the deceased pass away until seven days after - ashi'at al-lum'at, bab ziyarat al-qubur on thursday nights, the soul of the deceased returns to his home to see whether people give out charity on his behalf or not - ibid. the holy prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam gave charity on behalf of amir hamza radiyAllahu 'anhu on the 3rd, 7th and 40th day, as well as on the 6th and 12th month subsequent to his demise - anwar e sati'ah, p.145.
as-salamu `alaikum JazakumAllahu khayran for the above examples. If sh. ibn `Abidin or others give any more examples of evil innovations please do mention them here. what about tying threads and strings to graves? would that be classed as bid`a sayyi'a? I think that almost everyone across the board would agree with this.
ibn rajab al-hanbali in his ahwal al-qubur: it is reported from mujahid: that the dead are in a trial (fitnah) for seven days; it was therefore (considered) praiseworthy to feed (the poor) on their behalf on these days. which clearly indicates that there is precedence for these actions. Allah ta'ala knows best.
the below fatwa is a bit strange. and the reasons mentioned are standard deobandi-wahabi excuses to not celebrate mawlids etc. our ulama have said that if there is a wrong thing committed in the mawlid, criticize it - rather than slamming the whole thing as bid'ah. so if shaykh buti attends a mawlid on the 12th of rabi'a, it is a bid'ah because of fixing a date [vide gangohi fatwa of 'tayayyun']. and stranger still is shaykh gibril citing it; unless it is from an old article. wAllahu'l musta'an. ---- the basis on which the practice is considered as bid'ah is: one can extrapolate: in which case, scholars should stop attending talk shows on television. because people in talk shows and television get paid and we can thus generalize that scholars attending talk shows is a bid'ah. also, because the majority of the programmes on television are unislamic, it is haram to appear on television too. it is the act of paying/receiving money that is haram; not donating the reward to the dead by reciting qur'an. this is deobandi excuse for not celebrating mawlid. which principle of fiqh dictates that fixing a particular day causes an otherwise mustaHabb act to become a bid'ah? alahazrat has written a lengthy fatwa in persian titled: al-Hujjah al-fayiHah li Teebi't ta'ayyuni wa'l fatiHah and investigates the claim that 'it is not permissible to fix a date' for certain actions. the summary of which is: fixing a specific time for actions is either by shari'ah (shar'ayi) or by convention, common practice (`aadi):1. shar'ayi: the times fixed by shari'ah such that if an action is not done in such specific times, it is either sin, or invalid or loses its merit etc. 2. aadi: which the shari'ah has not fixed any specific time; but for convenience people assign certain times. an interesting quote is from shah abdu'l `aziz dihlawi from his tafsir aziziyah in a discussion of the verse 'wa'l qamari idha'tasaq' [surah inshiqaq, 84:18]it has been reported that in this condition, the dead person's state is similar to a drowning person desperate for someone to save him; it is during this time that charity, prayer and fatiHah (reward of qur'an recitation) are of a great aid, comfort for him. it is therefore, people do these things with special attention until an year, particularly until the fortieth day. [cf, fatawa ridawiyyah, vol.9, pg.587] ---- indeed, there are other things done by people which deserve reprimand like conducting obsequies etc., which imam ahmed rida refuted in his various fatawa and a specific risalah titled: jaliy as-Sawt li nahyi'd da'awati amam al-mawt. not only imam ibn abidin, but also alahazrat imam ahmed rida khan has deplored qur'an recitation or mawlid or nashid/na'at recitations for money. this is the standard position of our madh'hab as evident from numerous quotes from earlier scholars cited in ibn abidin's epistle. some fatawa by alahazrat can be found on our forum too. there is no question that such practices are bid'ah. the fatwa titled shifa al-`alil wa ball al-ghalil fi Hukmi'l waSiyyati bi'l khatmaati wa't tahaalil is about the validity of a wills and endowments to recite qur'an. this can be found in the first volume of rasayil ibn abidin [followed by another epistle by his son alauddin on the permissibility of isqat which clarifies a few more points]. the gist of the fatwa is:making money or some other worldly gain by way of worship - mainly recitation of qur'an is Haram. making a will or endowment to recite qur'an in lieu of worldly gain is invalid. and doing so (on payment basis) will neither benefit the dead person nor the person who recites or commissions it. in fact, there are many bid'ah in our times (and scholars mutely witnessing them, and even participating in them at times) which are slammed in the aforementioned fatwa of ibn abidin raDiyallahu anhu. for example:- qur'an recitation competitions (what else but prize and fame?) - mawlids and other congregations with entrance fee - scholars and reciters paid to attend mawlids and islamic conferences - nashids recited by fussaaq - scholars writing islamic books and making money from these books (royalties anyone?) - the dancing and prancing and musical instruments used all in the name of sama'a. however, our position is the same as summarized by shaykh buTi: wAllahu ta'ala a'alam.
“and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night)” [al-Baqarah 2:187] al-Bukhaari (1919) and Muslim (1092) narrated from Ibn ‘Umar and ‘Aa’ishah that Bilaal used to give the adhaan at night. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoom gives the adhaan, for he does not give the adhaan until dawn comes.” With reference to the above Ayah and Hadith, please can someone tell me why the local timetables for Sehri during Ramadan stipulate that you stop eating approx 10-30 mins (some less, others more) before the Fajr Aadhaan? Does this come into the category of a bad innovation??
Bro Faqir, I am not sure I understand what your post is implying. Are you or the Shaykh suggesting that Khatam Shareef on any day such as the 3rd, 4th, 40th etc is a bad Bidah or the fact that persons involved (Qaaris/Haafiz etc) are paid for their recitals, that is the abd innovation? Would be grateful for your clarification, please. JZK
Bismillah... In the following post, when I refer to Bid'ahs, I mean them in the bad sense i.e Bid'ah Sayyiah and NOT Bid'ah Hasanas such as the Adhan instituted by Sayyiduna 'Uthman Radhiyallu 'Anhu and the Mawlid gatherings. As for Bid'ahs which relate to beliefs, there are many. These include I'tizal (Mu'tazilsm), Ikhraj (Khawarijism), Rafd and Tashayyu' (Shi'itism) etc As for Bid'ahs which relate to actions, these vary between cultures as different cultures do things differently (generally). Thus, in certain gatherings people may stay awake through the night and passed Fajr. This would be Haram. People may mix freely. People may back-bite and carry tales, lie, curse and others from amogst the Muharramaat, these would obviously be Bid'ah Sayyi'ah when these become the norm of the people in addition to being Haram as they obviously always are. Side Note: I know that this topic is not about good Bid'ahs, but I thought that the following article of Habib 'Umar on the Mawlid gave examples of the two types of Bid'ahs well: Keep me in your duas, Wassalam
to call ahlu's sunnah mubtadis is a massive bid'ah in our age. the deobandis and wahabis are especially guilty of this.
as-salamu `alaikum what are some of the evil innovations that have crept into muslim practice? please list some examples and if possible provide quotes from scholars relating to them. [Important: leave the good bid'ahs (and any controversy that may surround them) out of this discussion please!!]
