Explanation of the Hadeeth "Whoever introduced into our matter..."
In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Shaykh Nathim Sultan
On the authority of the Mother of the Faithful, Umm
Abdullah, 'Aaishah, who said that the Messenger of Allah,
Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam, said, what translated means,
In another narration for this Hadith, the Messenger of Allah,
Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam, said, what translated means,
"Whoever commits an act which is not a part of our
matter (religion), will have it (his act) rejected."
The Status of this Hadith
Ibn Hajar said, "This Hadith is considered one of the basis
of Islam and a pillar of the religion."
An-Nawawi said, "This Hadith deserves to be preserved,
publicly announced and (firmly) implemented in rejecting
the impermissible."
At-Turaqi said, "This is a Hadith that deserves to be called
'one half of the proofs of the religion.' This is because the
proof (evidence, Text, etc.) is used to confirm or reject a
rule, and this Hadith is a tremendous tool to confirm or
reject all religious rulings."
In addition, ibn Rajab said "This Hadith is one of the major
basis of Islam, just like the Hadith 'Actions are only
considered according to the intentions...', which is the scale
with which the actions, in both their hidden and apparent
aspects, are weighed."
A Warning Against Innovating in the Religion
The Prophet said, "Whoever introduces into our matter
that which is not a part of it, will have it rejected." This
indicates that whoever follows his desire and "invents" or
"adds" to the religion of Allah what is not a part of the
religion, or what is not in conformity with the general rules
and basis of the religion, then this innovation is rejected and
will not benefit its originator in his religion or life. This is a
Hadith that lays down the firm foundation for this great rule of
our religion, that is, all innovations in the religion are
rejected, and is supported by many Texts in the Quran and
the Sunnah, that which will take considerable space and
time if we attempt to list them all.
Innovating in Acts of Worship
Acts of worship are all prohibited, except those which Allah
and His Messenger have legislated. Therefore, the Muslim
is obliged to avoid all the acts of worship which Allah or His
Messenger have not legislated. In the light of this rule that
the scholars have agreed with, whoever performs an act of
worship must produce the evidence to its validity, from the
Quran and/or the Sunnah, when required to do so. The
following points must be noted here:
1 -- An act that is a part of an act of worship may not be
accepted outside that act of worship. Examples to this are,
uncovering the head during I'hram and during Hajj, or
standing up for prayer or to perform Athan (the call to
prayer) (these are all accepted parts of prescribed acts of
worship: Hajj and prayer). If one vows to keep standing, or
vows to uncover his head in other than the cases when
these acts are sanctioned by the religion, then he will have
fallen into Bid'ah (innovation in the religion) that the religion
has prohibited. Therefore, this innovation or addition will be
rejected of him.The Prophet once saw a man standing in
the sun and asked about the reason behind his action. He
was told, "He vowed to stand and avoid sitting, to avoid the
shade and to fast."
The Prophet ordered that man to sit down, seek the shade
end to continue his fast. The Prophet did not accept this
man's vow to stand and avoid the shade, but he ordered
him to continue his fast, because fasting was the only part of
his vow that is legislated.
2 -- All acts of worship that are not legislated by Allah and
His Messenger, are prohibited in the religion and are thus
rejected. This includes using, as a means of approach to
Allah, listening to music, dancing, or other acts of deviation
and innovation which Allah did not authorize or legislate
and which are popular in the Muslim world today. These
acts have even become a part of the religion to some
people and they grow and become old while nursing these
acts and habits. All these acts are firmly rejected and Allah
will never accept them. Furthermore, Allah will not guide
one to truly repent from his sins unless he abandons the
Bid'ah he innovated. The Prophet said, what translated
means, "Allah has withheld repentance from every
person who commits a Bid'ah until he abandons his
Bid 'ah." [Sahih At-Targhib]. Also, those who innovate (in
the religion) are included in the Ayah, "Or have they
partners with Allah (false gods) who have instituted
for them a religion which Allah has not allowed?"
[42:21].
3 -- Adding to an authorized act of worship is firmly rejected.
As for the acceptance of the original deed (and not the
addition which is always rejected), it depends on the type of
action. Sometimes, the entire act of worship will be rejected,
such as when one adds one more Rak'ah (kneeling prayer)
in the compulsory prayers. Sometimes, the addition does
not invalidate the entire act of worship, such as when one
performs Wudhu (washing up for prayer) end repeals its
actions four times each (while one should repeat them only
once, twice or three times).
Therefore, this Hadith should not be used to invalidate the
entire act of legal worship that one adds to. One should
study these acts of worship and their additions, investigate
the addition's validity d follow the sayings of the scholars, so
as not to invalidate entire acts of worship, which were
altered by some additions, without knowledge or authority.
4 -- Deleting a part or parts of an accepted act of worship.
Some people may perform an accepted act of worship for
the sake of Allah, yet, they delete a part or parts of this act. If
this happens, then we must study the deleted part of this act
of worship. If the unfulfilled we must is required in the act of
worship, such as performing Wudhu for prayer which is a
requirement of the prayer itself, then we can rule that the
entire act of worship is rejected. Also, whoever deletes a
cornerstone of an act of worship, such as deleting one
Rak'ah from the prayer, will have his entire act of worship
rejected altogether.
We must note here that we cannot rule that deleting an
inessential part of an act of worship will have the entire act
rejected. Rather, we can only state that the act will be
incomplete. An example to this is when one abandons the
prayer in Jama'ah (congregation). His prayer will be
accepted of him, but he will gain a sin for abandoning the
prayer in Jama'ah, according to those who consider praying
in Jama'ah an obligation on men.
Innovations in Dealings
All dealings are permissible, unless the religion specifies
otherwise. Therefore, those who claim that a type of dealing
is impermissible, will have to produce their evidence to
support their claim. There are several types of innovations
in dealings:
1 -- Those types of dealings that are meant to be in lieu of
contracts, rules, laws or dealings legislated in the Shari'ah.
Such types of contracts are impermissible and will not bring
any benefit to the parties involved. The following Hadith
supports this rule:
Abu Hurayrah and Zayd ibn Khalid narrated that a man
came to the Messenger of Allah and said, "O Messenger of
Allah! I ask you by Allah to rule for me with the Book of
Allah." His opponent, who was more knowledgeable than
him, said, "Yes! Judge between us with the Book of Allah
and permit me to speak first." The Messenger of Allah said,
"Speak." He said, "My son was working for this man and he
committed fornication with his wife. Since I was told that my
son will have to be stoned to death, I paid a hundred sheep
and ewe as a ransom for him. Then, I asked people of
knowledge and they told me that my son will only have to
be flogged a hundred times and banished for a year
(because he was not married), and that this man's wife will
have to be stoned to death." The Messenger of Allah
said,"By He Whose my soul is in His Hand! I will judge
between you with the Book of Allah. The ewe and the
sheep will be returned to you, your son will have to be
flogged a hundred times and banished for a year. And O
Unays (a man from the tribe of Aslam), go to this man 's wife
and stone her if she confesses.'? He went to her and she
confessed and then the Messenger of Allah ordered that
she be stoned. [Muslim, and Al-Bukhari whose narration is
similar in meaning to this Hadith]. (In this Hadith, the
Messenger only applied Islamic law, and rejected the offer
of the father, because it was in lieu of an Islamic law).
2 -- Impermissible dealings or contracts:
a -- When one of the parties to a contract is not allowed to
be a party. This includes marriage contracts to those who
are not permitted for one in marriage, because of ties of
relations (such as the sister or the aunt), ties initiated by
marriage (such as the step daughter) and to combine (the
wife and her sister or her aunt in marriage to the same
man). This type of contracts is impermissible, because they
entail transgressing against the rules set by Allah Who
prohibited marrying Al-Ma'harim (those whom one cannot
marry), such as certain degrees of relative initiated by
marriage and by suckling and to combine (the omen and
her sister or her aunt in marriage to the same man).
b -- When a condition of a contract is ignored, even if both
parties to the contract agree to ignore it. This includes
marriage to a woman still in her Iddah (prescribed time
before a divorced woman or widow can remarry) and
marrying a woman without a Wali (agent, such as her father
or brother, etc.). This type of contracts is also valid. It was
reported that the Prophet separated between a man and
woman who got married during the woman's Iddah,
although he made her pregnant (after his marriage to her).
c -- Contracts that contain what Allah has prohibited, such
as business transactions that entail selling liquor, dead
animals (not slaughtered according to Islamic Law), pigs,
idols, usury and other types of impermissible goods. All
these contracts are invalid and ejected. The Prophet
ordered that a men who has exchanged one Saa` (four
handfuls) of dates for two, to return the extra Saa'.
3 -- Contracts that entail injustice for one of the parties or
signatories An example to this is when a woman is married
by her Wali without her permission. This contract is only
valid when the woman agrees to it, and if she does not
agree, then the marriage contract will be invalid. The
Prophet invalidated the marriage of a Thayyib woman (who
married before, not a virgin) and who was married without
her permission.
Also, the Prophet gave a woman, who was a virgin at the
time of her marriage, the choice to uphold or dissolve her
marriage that was conducted without her consent.Also, this
type of dealings includes the case when one gives a charity
out of someone else's money. This dealing is only valid if
the owner agrees to it, as the scholars have stated.
A Summary
The Muslim is always encouraged to be patient and to
avoid rushing to conclusions, rendering some types of
actions rejected and invalid and using this Hadith as
evidence. First, one must be knowledgeable in the sayings
of the scholars and the general rules and guidelines of the
religion with regards to these dealings or actions before
reaching the conclusion that an action or a contract is
invalid.
Benefits from the Hadith
1 -- Prohibiting an act or a contract indicates that it is invalid.
An-Nawawi said, "This Hadith supports what some scholars
of Usul (general rules and guidelines of the religion) have
ruled, 'The prohibition (of an act or a contract) indicates
both its invalidity and rejection.' Those who took the opinion
that this (disallowing an act or a contract) does not entail
invalidity, claim that this Hadith is only one Text and is not
sufficient to prove such an important rule. This is an invalid
answer, indeed." Further, Ibn Hajar said, "This Hadith
indicates that the prohibition also indicates the invalidity (of
the prohibited actions and dealings)."
2 -- Islam is a complete religion and has no shortcomings.
Courtesy Of: Islaam.com
"Whoever introduces into our matter (religion) that
which is not a part of it, will have it (his innovation)
rejected."
Related by Al-Bukhari & Muslim
Related by Muslim