It
is narrated on the authority of the Mother of the Believers, Umm 'Abdullah
'Aishah, radiyallahu 'anha, that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, said:
"Whosoever
introduces into this affair of ours (i.e. into Islam) something that
does not belong to it, it is to be rejected."
[Al-Bukhari
& Muslim]
According to the version
in Muslim, (it reads): "Whosoever works a work which has for it no
command of ours is to be rejected."
Background
Like
Hadith 1, this hadith is one of the most important hadiths.
Imam Nawawi said it should be memorised by every Muslim.
This hadith
is used as a criterion for judging external actions or performance of
Ibadah. If an action is not done in accordance with the Shariah or the
Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, it will be
rejected and not accepted by Allah based on text of this hadith.
This hadith complements Hadith 1, which was a criterion for judging
the intentions or the internal actions of the heart. The Scholars say
that the acceptance of actions of Ibadah is based on the above two conditions:
- The intention - the action should be done with sincerity, for the
sake of only Allah.
- It should be done
in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi
wasallam.
Apart from Hadith
1 and Hadith 5, the acceptance of actions can also be found in Surah Al-Kahf
(18): ayat 110:
Whoever looks forward
to meeting his Sustainer (on Day of Judgement), let him do righteous
deeds, and let him not ascribe unto anyone or anything a share in the
worship due to his Sustainer.
Emulating and following
the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, is a Qur'anic obligation.
Allah, the Almighty says:
Verily, in the
apostle of God you have the best example to emulate for everyone who
looks forward (with hope and awe) to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers
Allah unceasingly. [Surah Al-Ahzab (33): ayat 21].
Say (O Prophet):
"If you love Allah, follow me, (and) Allah will love you and forgive
you your sins.
Lessons
This hadith
is related to a very important concept which is following the Sunnah and
violating this concept will lead to bida'ah [which will be discussed
in detail, insha Allah, in Hadith 28].
Scholars classify
actions of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, into actions
done for the purpose of Ibadah (worshiping Allah) and actions which are
not done for that purpose (i.e. customs, actions done haphazardly, etc.).
There are clear indicators for actions done for the purpose of Ibadah
such as commands to do or not to do something, warnings for not doing
something, etc.
Muslims are only obliged
to follow the first kind of Sunnah.
Looking at it in a
positive way, the actions (i.e.forms of ibadah) that we do should
be done in accordance with the Shariah or the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, and to ensure this there is a criterion consisting
of five aspects that will keep our actions in check:
- Time
Any ibadah that we do has to be done in it's designated or specified
time.
E.g. There are fixed times in the day for the five prayers. For fasting,
the month for fasting is Ramadhan. The period that we can fast is from
fajr to sunset. Similarly, there is a specific time in the year
when we can perform the Hajj - from the 8 to the 12 Zulhijjah.
- Place
The Shariah has specified that certain ibadahs have to be performed
in designated places. E.g. The places for performing the Hajj, I'tikaf,
doing Ihram for Hajj have been fixed by the Shariah and this is something
which is sometimes violated by Muslims, e.g. doing the Ihram (starting
talbiyyah and niyyah for Hajj) in Jeddah is incorrect.
- Quantity
For most of the ibadahs the Shariah has specified a certain number
of times that the ibadahs or their components need to be performed.
E.g. For prayers, there are specified number of rakaahs and sujud
and for Tawaf there is a fixed number of rounds (7), etc. We should
not violate these rules intentionally. To violate intentionally may
make the ibadah subject to be rejected.
- Way
Every ibadah was described or shown to us by the Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam - being our best model to follow and emulate. The
way that the ibadahs are performed by him have to be followed
- it should not be violated. E.g. There are different ways of performing
different prayers - Salat ul-Janazah has no ruku' or sujud.
Even the size of the stones used for throwing at the Jamrat has been
specified by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, as not
to be too big.
Before we perform any ibadah, we should know and learn the way
the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, performed it and we
should do it in the right way as he did it. The Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, said, "Pray as you have seen me praying."
Many Muslims today violate the way ibadahs are performed, because
of ignorance or because they do not bother to learn, and they end up
doing the ibadah in the wrong way.
- Type
If the Shariah has specified a type of ibadah, then we should
stick to that type. E.g. Al-Udhiah (sacrifice) - the type of animal
to be sacrificed has been specified by the Shariah and this should not
be violated. Recently a Sheikh in one of the Muslim countries made a
fatwa that Muslims can use chicken as sacrifice - this is a violation
of the type. If a Muslim cannot afford to offer a sacrifice, then they
don't have to do it as it is not a wajib (i.e. an obligation).
In certain years, some of the Sahabahs (companions) purposely did not
perform the sacrifice so that the people did not think that it was a
wajib.
A clear distinction
should be made about the actions of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi
wasallam - whether they were done only from time to time or whether
they were done continuously on a regular basis. For example, some of the
nawafil are things which he, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
would do from time to time. We should observe this. E.g. Certain Surahs
being recited on certain days - it is narrated that the Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, would sometimes recite Surah As-Sajdah (32) and
Surah Al-Insan (76) on Fridays. But some Muslims would recite these two
Surahs every Friday. We should be aware of this because if we do something
regularly people will think that it is wajib even though it is
not.
If the Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, did something only from time to time, then we too
should do it from time to time, especially when we do it in congregation.
As it has been mentioned
above, the actions of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
were done for different purposes. There were actions which he, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, would do haphazardly. There are things he, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, would do because of the custom of that time. These
actions were not done by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
for the purpose of ibadah. We too should not do these actions for
ibadah - our intentions should match the intentions of the Prophet,
sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam. The following are some examples:
- At the time of
the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, the men used to have
long hair - it was not done for the purpose of ibadah. So if
anyone wants to keep long hair today, it should not be done for ibadah.
- The Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, used to open the top buttons of his shirt - this
was because it was hot and not because for the purpose of ibadah.
- The turban, at
the time of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, was worn
because it was the custom then.
- Some hadiths
mention the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, using a stick.
Again this was not done for the purpose of ibadah.
We should not follow
these examples of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, for
the purpose of ibadah.
How do we differentiate
between the actions of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
which were done for the purpose of ibadah and those which were
not? The Scholars say if the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
commanded us to do an action or commanded us not to do something, then
this is considered an ibadah. Or if the Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, mentioned that the doer will receive certain rewards
if an action is done, then it is an ibadah. Or if the failure for
doing a certain action would result in punishment, then the action is
an ibadah.
This issue of introducing
something which doesn't belong to the Shariah is associated with the concept
that Islam is a complete religion [Surah Al-Ma'idah (5): ayat 3]:
Today have I perfected
your religion for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of
My blessings, and willed that Islam shall be your Religion.
Since
it is complete, there is no need for additions or deletions to the religion.
Therefore to introduce some new matter into Islam or to delete/omit something
from it is an affront to Allah and the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi
wasallam.
Al-Imam al-Shatibi
mentions that if certain actions are taken as ibadah where in reality
they are not, this will lead to bid'ah. There is a hadith
which tells the story of three men who only wanted to do 'good deeds'
all the time - one said he will not get married, the second one said he
will pray all night and not sleep, and the third said he will fast every
day. When the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, heard this,
he said that he, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, was the most pious
and righteous amongst the people and yet he did not do the things the
way the men wanted to do them. This shows that the actions that the three
men thought were ibadah would have resulted in bid'ah as
they weren't practiced by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam.
Al-Shatibi also mentions
that avoiding eating certain types of food for the purpose of ibadah
should not be done. We can avoid these foods for health or other good
reasons but not for the purpose of ibadah.
He also says that
if there are two ways of fulfilling an obligation, we should follow the
easier way. E.g. If the weather is cold and if we have the choice of using
warm or cold water (for wudu'), we should use warm water. We shouldn't
use cold water and inflict discomfort on ourselves, trying to show that
we are stronger Muslims and hoping for extra rewards. Or if there is choice
of going to two masjids (mosques) of different distances, we should
go to the nearer one.
The Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, was passing through a place when he noticed someone
standing in the middle of the street in the sun. The Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, asked the Sahabahs what this man was doing. They
said that he made a commitment to fast while standing in the sun. The
Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, told them to tell the man
to continue his fasting (because this was a good thing to do anyway and
fulfilling a commitment is an obligation) but to get out of the sun.
Scholars deduce that
we should not attach any hardship to our ibadah hoping that it
will make it more rewardable. Shariah is based on ease. Therefore we should
always choose the easier way when performing an ibadah because
this will enable us to do it properly - if we were to choose the difficult
route then we may, after a while, find difficulty in keeping to our commitment
in performing this ibadah. An attached hardship to an ibadah,
which has not been specified by the Shariah, should be avoided - we should
not place any hardship in performing any ibadah.
The Scholars say if
someone violates the Shariah by adding something new to an ibadah,
the ibadah is rejected depending on what kind of violation has
been done. For example, in prayer if someone violates its conditions,
then his ibadah will definitely not be accepted.
If an action is any
kind of bid'ah, then it is subject to being rejected and the person
who performed that action will be asked about it and might be subject
to be punished. But if there is a valid excuse for doing that action,
the action will not be rewarded but the person may be excused and not
punished by Allah.
In worldly dealings
and transactions (e.g. Al-Mu'amalat), if someone changes/modifies the
principles of the dealings and this violates the Shariah law, then that
dealing or transaction is rejected. E.g. changing trading based on haram
principles, etc.
Ibnu Rajab mentions
that there are certain actions, which violate the Shariah, but the Scholars
have differing views about them. For example, if a man wears natural silk
while performing his prayer, is his prayer acceptable? Or if someone prays
in a house which is stolen, taken by force from the owner. Most Scholars
say the action is acceptable but the person will be asked about his wrongdoing
(wearing silk, praying in a stolen place).
Conclusion
These
hadiths selected by al-Imam al-Nawawi are more of principles and
criteria that help the Muslim practice easily and fulfil his/her daily
religious obligations.
Hadith
5 sets a criterion for the Muslim by which he can assess and evaluate
his actions to ensure their rightness and acceptability.