Jummah Khutbah
الْحَمْدَ لِلّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِيْنُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤمِنُ بِهٖ وَنَتَوَکَّلُ عَلَیْهِ۔ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللہ مِنْ شُرُوْرِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللہ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلَ هَادِيَ لَهُ۔ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللہ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنّ مُحَمّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ۔
أَمَّا بَعد ، فَإنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ وَشَرَّ الأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلاَلَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلاَلَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
اَعُوْذُبِاللّٰہِ مِنَ الشَّیْطٰنِ الرَّجِیْمِ
بِسۡمِ اللهِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِيۡمِ
أَمَّا بَعد ، فَإنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ وَشَرَّ الأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلاَلَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلاَلَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
اَعُوْذُبِاللّٰہِ مِنَ الشَّیْطٰنِ الرَّجِیْمِ
بِسۡمِ اللهِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِيۡمِ
I am sure that you have heard the words that I have just recited many times. These words are said at the beginning of every Khutbah. But most of the people are not aware of the meanings of these words, why they are said in a khutbah and what are their implications.
Saying these words at the beginning of every khutbah is a Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). There is a detailed hadith in Sunan Nasai about it. It was narrated that Jabir bin 'Abdullah said:
"In his Khutbah the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to praise Allah as He deserves to be praised, then he would say:
Saying these words at the beginning of every khutbah is a Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). There is a detailed hadith in Sunan Nasai about it. It was narrated that Jabir bin 'Abdullah said:
"In his Khutbah the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to praise Allah as He deserves to be praised, then he would say:
" مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلاَ مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلاَ هَادِيَ لَهُ إِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَشَرَّ الأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلاَلَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلاَلَةٍ فِي النَّارِ"
(which means that) 'Whomsoever Allah guides, none can lead him astray, and whomsoever Allah sends astray, none can guide. The truest of word is the Book of Allah and best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst of things are those that are newly invented (in religion); every newly-invented thing (in religion) is a bidah (an innovation) and every bidah is going astray, and every going astray is in the Fire.'
Then he (peace be upon him) said: 'The Hour and I have been sent (together) like these two.' (and he would join his index and middle finger together) Whenever he mentioned the Hour, his cheeks would turn red, and he would raise his voice and become angry, as if he were warning of an approaching army and saying: 'An army is coming to attack you in the morning, or in the evening!' (Then he said): 'Whoever leaves behind wealth, it is for his family, and whoever leaves behind a debt or dependents, then these are my responsibility, and I am the most entitled to take care of the believers.'" (Nasai: 19/23, Grade: Sahih)
Then he (peace be upon him) said: 'The Hour and I have been sent (together) like these two.' (and he would join his index and middle finger together) Whenever he mentioned the Hour, his cheeks would turn red, and he would raise his voice and become angry, as if he were warning of an approaching army and saying: 'An army is coming to attack you in the morning, or in the evening!' (Then he said): 'Whoever leaves behind wealth, it is for his family, and whoever leaves behind a debt or dependents, then these are my responsibility, and I am the most entitled to take care of the believers.'" (Nasai: 19/23, Grade: Sahih)
This hadith alone is sufficient for us to realize the importance of the topic of Bidah. This hadith tells us that every newly invented thing in religion is a bidah, every bidah leads one astray and this leads one to Hell fire. The concept of Bidah is so important that our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) used to remind people about it in every khutbah. It is unfortunate that a large number of Muslims today do not understand what bidah is, they have not tried to learn it and that is why they are involved in many kinds of bidahs.
So today let us try to understand this term. The root of the word bid’ah in Arabic literally means initiating something without any precedent. For example, Quran says:
So today let us try to understand this term. The root of the word bid’ah in Arabic literally means initiating something without any precedent. For example, Quran says:
بَدِيعُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ
“(Allah Almighty is) the Originator of the heavens and the earth…” (Quran 2:117)
“(Allah Almighty is) the Originator of the heavens and the earth…” (Quran 2:117)
In the terminology of sharee’ah, bidah means something that has been introduced into the religion of Allah that has no general or specific basis to support it. Bidah is any invented way in religion that is aimed at worshiping or drawing closer to Allah. This means anything that is not referred to specifically in Sharee'ah, and for which there is no evidence (daleel) in the Quran or Sunnah, and which was not known at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his Companions. At the same time, it is quite obvious that this definition of religious inventions or innovations, which are condemned, does not include worldly inventions (such as loudspeakers, computers, internet, cars etc.).
For example, the innovated adhkaar (dhikr) such as saying the name of Allah on its own (“Allah…Allah… Allah”) or the pronoun (“Hu… Hu… Hu…”, meaning “He… He… He…”). This is a new thing that has been innovated in the religion, intended as worship of Allah, but there is no evidence for this, either specific or general in the Quran or Sunnah, so it is a bid’ah.
This definition gives us a very clear criterion of identifying bidah. If something is practiced in the name of religion as a form of worship that did not exist at the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the companions (may Allah be pleased with them all), then that practice is a bidah and it must be avoided. It does not matter how many people are practicing it and celebrating it. The deen is not established by numbers, it is not established by how well known and widely practiced something is, it is established by the proof, it is established by the evidence, it is established by the daleel from the Quran and the Sunnah.
The proof for this definition of bidah comes from the Sunnah. We have already discussed one hadith and I am repeating it again here as a reminder. Every newly invented thing (in religion) is a bidah, every bidah is going astray and every going astray is in fire.
Now lets us see a few more sahih ahadith about this topic.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) also said: "Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours (i.e. Islam) that is not part of it, will have it rejected." (Nawawi: 5, Sahih Bukhari: 53/7, Sahih Muslim: 30/23, Ibn Majah: 1/14)
And he said: He who did any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected. (Sahih Muslim: 30/24)
Abu Najeeh al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. So we said, “O Messenger of Allah! It is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I counsel you to have taqwa (fear) of Allah, and to listen and obey [your leader], even if a slave were to become your ameer. Verily he among you who lives long will see great controversy, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Khulafa ar-Rashideen (the rightly guided caliphs), those who guide to the right way. Cling to it stubbornly [literally: with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly invented matters [in the religion], for verily every bidah (innovation) is misguidance.” (Nawawi: 28, Abu Dawood: 42/12)
There are people who try to confuse the Muslims about the concept of bidah. They quote a hadith to try to justify their innovations and say that innovating something good has a great reward. They call it Bidah Hasana. But these people are misquoting the hadith. Let us examine this hadith and find out what it actually means:
Jareer ibn 'Abdullaah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: 'Whoever starts a good thing and is followed by others, will have his own reward and a reward equal to that of those who follow him, without it detracting from their reward in any way. Whoever starts a bad thing and is followed by others, will bear the burden of his own sin and a burden equal to that of those who follow him, without it detracting from their burden in any way.'" (Tirmidhi: 41/31, Grade: Sahih)
From this hadith, Ahlul Bidah try to justify their claim of good innovations (bidah hasana). But this is not the complete hadith. There is a story behind this hadith, which will explain what "whoever starts a good thing" means.
Mundhir b. Jarir reported on the authority of his father (Jareen ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him)):
While we were in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the early hours of the morning, some people came there (who) were barefooted, naked, wearing striped woollen clothes, or cloaks, with their swords hung (around their necks). Most of them, nay, all of them, belonged to the tribe of Mudar. The colour of the face of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) underwent a change when he saw them in poverty. He then entered (his house) and came out and commanded Bilal (to pronounce Adhan). He pronounced Adhan and Iqima, and he (the Holy Prophet) observed prayer (along with his Companion) and then addressed (them reciting verses of the Holy Qur'an): '" O people, fear your Lord, Who created you from a single being" to the end of the verse," Allah is ever a Watcher over you". (Quran 4:1) (He then recited) a verse of Sura Hashr:" Fear Allah. and let every soul consider that which it sends forth for the morrow and fear Allah" (Quran 59:18). (Then the audience began to vie with one another in giving charity.) Some donated a dinar, others a dirham, still others clothes, some donated a sa' of wheat, some a sa' of dates; till he (the Holy Prophet) said: (Bring) even if it is half a date. Then a person from among the Ansar came there with a money bag which his hands could scarcely lift; in fact, they could not (lift). Then the people followed continuously, till I saw two heaps of eatables and clothes, and I saw the face of the Messenger (ﷺ) glistening, like gold (on account of joy). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He who sets a good precedent in Islam, there is a reward for him for this (act of goodness) and reward of that also who acted according to it subsequently, without any deduction from their rewards; and he who sets in Islam an evil precedent, there is upon him the burden of that, and the burden of him also who acted upon it subsequently, without any deduction from their burden. (Sahih Muslim: 12/88)
From the context of the story, it is clear that there is no such thing called good innovation (bidah hasana). All innovations are bad no matter how much people say that it is good. In this story, the Sahaba did not start a "good innovation", they were following Sunnah, they were giving charity to the poor and the needy. We all know that giving charity is a well established practice from Quran and Sunnah. So how can this be presented as an example of "good innovation"?
Now we can understand what is meant by the words "whoever starts a good thing (sunnah hasanah) in Islam". It means: Whoever revives a part of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or teaches it to others, or commands others to follow it, or acts according to it so that others see him or hear about it and follow his example.With this context, we can easily understand the real meaning of this hadith quoted by Ahlul Bidah and we can protect ourselves from their fitna.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا، وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّهَ لِيَ وَلَكُمْ ولِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِيِنَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتْ ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ، إِنَهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرّحِيمُ۔
Second Khutbah
قال الله تعالی فی کتابه الکریم اِنَّ اللّٰهَ وَمَلٰٓٮِٕكَتَهٗ يُصَلُّوۡنَ عَلَى النَّبِىِّ ؕ يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا صَلُّوۡا عَلَيۡهِ وَسَلِّمُوۡا تَسۡلِيۡمًا، اللھم صل علٰی محمد و علٰی آل محمد کما صلیت علٰی ابراھیم و علٰی آل ابراھیم انک حمید مجید ۔اللھم بارک علٰی محمد و علٰی آل محمد کما بارکت علٰی ابراھیم و علٰی آل ابراھیم انک حمید مجید
In the second khutbah, I will try to summarize the discussion so far and explain the implications of this discussion. It should be clear to us now, with no room for doubt, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not allow innovation in matters of deen (religion), nor did he open the door to what some people call "bid'ah hasanah," (i.e. good innovation) for the following reasons:
- The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stated repeatedly in his khutbahs that: "Every newly-invented thing is a bid'ah (innovation), every bid'ah is a going astray, and every going astray will be in the Fire.
If every bid'ah is a going astray, then how can some people then say that there is such a thing in Islam as "bid'ah hasanah"? By Allah, this is an obvious contradiction of the statement and warning of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). - The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stated that whoever innovates something new in the deen (religion) will have his deed rejected, and Allah will not accept it.
Then how can anybody then say that bidah is acceptable and it is permitted to follow it? - When a person innovates something and adds to the deen something that does not belong to it, he is implying a number of bad things, each worse than the last, for example:
- That the religion is lacking (naouzubillah), that Allaah did not complete and perfect it, and that there is room for improvement. This clearly contradicts the statement in the Quran (interpretation of the meaning): " This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion" (Quran 5:3)
- That the religion remained imperfect (naouzubillah) from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) until the time when this innovator came along and completed it with his own ideas.
- That the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was "guilty" (naouzubillah) of either of two things: either he was ignorant of this "good innovation," or he knew about it but concealed it, thus letting his ummah down by not conveying it.
- That the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), his Companions and the righteous salaf (early generations) missed out on the reward of this "good innovation" - until this innovator came along and earned it for himself, despite the fact that he should say to himself, "If it was truly good, they would have been the first to do it."
- Opening the door to bidah leads to changing the deen (religion) and opens the way for personal whims and opinions, because every innovator implies that what he is introducing is something good, so whose opinion are we supposed to follow, and which of them should we take as a leader?
- Following bidah leads to the cancelling out of sunnah practices and the ways of the salaf. Real life bears witness that whenever a bidah is followed, a sunnah practice dies out; the reverse is also true.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “People do not contrive an innovation in religion but that it removes a Sunnah like it.” (Musnad Aḥmad: 16522)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Verily, Allah veils the tawbah (repentance) from every innovator (in religion) until he leaves his innovation'' (Ibn Abi Asim#37 and Shaykh Al Albaani declared it Sahih).
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) commented on this hadith that,'' This (hadith) indicates that the innovator will not repent from his Bid'ah (innovation in religion), because he thinks that he is rightly guided.'' (Majmu al Fataawa 11/685)
Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Whoever introduces something into Islam and considers it to be something good has claimed that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was treacherous (naouzubillah) to his trust of messengership. (Reported by Al-Tabarani in Majum Al-Kabir)
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
Never a Prophet had been sent before me by Allah towards his nation who had not among his people (his) disciples and companions who followed his ways and obeyed his command. Then there came after them their successors who said whatever they did not practice and practiced what they were not commanded to do. He who strove against them with his hand was a believer: he who strove against them with his tongue was a believer, and he who strove against them with his heart was a believer and beyond that there is no faith even to the extent of a mustard seed. (Sahih Muslim:1/86)
We ask Allah to save us from the misguidance of personal whims and from all trials whether they are open or secret. We ask Allah to save us from all kinds of innovations, whether they are practiced by a few people or a large number of people. Whether they are practiced in Muharram, or Rabi-ul-Awwal, or Rajab, or Shabaan, or Ramadan or in any other part of the year. We ask Allah to give us the ability to follow the Quran, to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him), and to follow the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and cling to it stubbornly. We ask Allah to save us from all kinds of misguidances and protect us from all kinds of fitna. We ask Allah to guide us all to the right path, and follow Islam as it was followed by the Prophet (peace be upon him), the Sahaba, the Tabieen and the Taba Tabieen. Ameen.
Verily, the Sahaba, the Tabieen and the Taba Tabieen were the three best generations of Muslims. They had learnt Islam from the most pristine sources and they understood it better than anyone else. They followed Islam in its original form as Allah had sent it, without adding any innovations in it and without removing any Sunnah from it. If we want to be good Muslims, then we must follow their example and leave every innovation that the people after them came up with.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best people are those of my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then, there will come people after them whose testimony precedes their oaths and their oaths precede their testimony.” (Sahih Bukhari: 81/18, Sahih Muslim: 44/298).
اَللّٰھُمَّ اَیِّدِ الْاِسْلاَمَ وَ الْمُسْلِمِیْن، اَللّٰھُمَّ انْصُرْ مَنْ نَصَرَ دِیْنَ مُحَمَّدِ ﷺ وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنْھُمْ، وَاخْذُلْ مَنْ خَذَلَ دِیْنَ مُحَمَّدِ ﷺ وَلَا تَجْعَلْنَا مِنْھُمْ، اَللّٰھُمَّ اَرِنَا الْحَقَّ حَقًّا وَارْزُقْنَا اتِّبَاعَهُ، وَاَرِنَا الْبَاطِلَ بَاطِلًا وَارْزُقْنَا اجْتِنَابَهُ، اَللّٰھُمَّ ثَبِّتْنَا عَلَی الْاِسْلاَمِ، اَللّٰھُمَّ نَوِّرْ قُلُوْبَنِا بِنُوْرِ الْاِیْمَانِ، اَللّٰھُمَّ اَغْفِرْ لِلْمُوْمِنِیْنَ وَالْمُوْمِنَاتِ، اَلْاَحْیَاءَ مِنْھُمْ وَالْاَمْوَاتِ۔
عِبَادَ اللہ ِ، رَحِمَکُمُ اللہ ُ،إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ، اذکرواللہ یذکرکم، وَادْعُوْہُ یَسْتَجِبْ لَکُمْ، وَلَذِکْرِ اللہِ اَکْبَرُ، وَاللہ ُیَعْلَمُ مَا تَسْمَعُونْ۔
عِبَادَ اللہ ِ، رَحِمَکُمُ اللہ ُ،إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ، اذکرواللہ یذکرکم، وَادْعُوْہُ یَسْتَجِبْ لَکُمْ، وَلَذِکْرِ اللہِ اَکْبَرُ، وَاللہ ُیَعْلَمُ مَا تَسْمَعُونْ۔