The Obligation of Following the Prophet ﷺ and Avoiding Bid'ah

Chapter.

And know that it is obligatory upon the servant to solely follow the Prophet ﷺ

in beliefs, sayings, and deeds, and to emulate him ﷺ,

and to beware of opposing his command ﷺ,

lest a trial or a painful punishment befall the servant,

Allah ﷻ said:

“Say, [O Muḥammad], "If you should love Allāh, then follow me, [so] Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful."” (Quran 3:31)

And He said:

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.” (Quran 33:21)

And He said:

“Do not make [your] calling of the Messenger among yourselves as the call of one of you to another. Already Allāh knows those of you who slip away, concealed by others. So let those beware who dissent from his [i.e., the Prophet's] order, lest fitnah strike them or a painful punishment.” (Quran 24:63)

Whoever obeys the Messenger ﷺ

will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys him will enter the Fire,

due to his ﷺ saying:

“All of my Ummah will enter Paradise except those who refuse.”

They said, “O Messenger of Allah, and who would refuse?”

He said, “Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise,

and whoever disobeys me has refused.”

Narrated by al-Bukhari,

on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA).

Newly-invented innovations are rejected back upon their perpetrators,

so avoiding them and turning away from them is obligatory,

even if they are small.

On the authority of Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr (RA)...

On the authority of Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr (RA),

she said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“He who innovates in this matter of ours what is not of it, it is rejected.”

Agreed upon.

The safety of a servant's religion lies in adhering to the Sunnah and abandoning innovation.

Ibn Mas'ud (RA) said: "Follow and do not innovate, for you have been sufficed."

Narrated by al-Darimi, and its chain is authentic.

Among the hallmarks of Ahl al-Sunnah is following the narrations of the Companions,

for they accompanied the Prophet ﷺ and knew best what he brought of the religion.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RH) said in his epistle to...

...in his epistle to 'Abd al-'Attar:

"The foundations of the Sunnah with us are:

holding fast to what the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were upon,

following them, abandoning innovations — and every innovation is misguidance."

The author — may Allah grant him success — mentioned another chapter

in which he calls to another pursuit among the best of endeavors, saying:

"Know that it is obligatory upon the servant

to dedicate sole followership to the Prophet ﷺ in beliefs, words, and deeds.

What is meant by sole followership is that there should not exist in the servant's heart

any conflict with what the Prophet ﷺ brought

in beliefs, words, and deeds.

Through this, the servant's love for Allah ﷻ is perfected,

for Allah tested creation with the love of Muhammad ﷺ and following him,

and that if they follow him, they have attained and secured Allah's love. He, the Exalted, said:

“Say, [O Muḥammad], "If you should love Allāh, then follow me, [so] Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful."” (Quran 3:31)

Al-Hasan al-Basri (RH) used to call this verse the verse of trial,

Al-Hasan al-Basri (RH) used to call this verse the verse of trial,

meaning, the verse by which Allah ﷻ tested creation

regarding the sincerity of their love for Him, Glorified is He,

by following Muhammad ﷺ.

So whoever follows him is sincere in his love for his Lord,

and whoever does not follow him is lying in his claim.

And we have been commanded to emulate him ﷺ

by taking him as our role model, in His saying, the Exalted:

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.” (Quran 33:21)

meaning, an excellent example.

And this verse, which is the verse of 'uswah' (example),

is a great principle of inference among the Companions (RA),

for the Companions (RA) deduced from it in many instances

in the chapters of rulings regarding what they stated of the religion,

namely, that Allah ﷻ made Muhammad ﷺ

the role model whom we emulate.

So whoever follows him

emulates what the Prophet ﷺ was upon of religion,

And He warned us against opposing his command ﷺ,

lest a trial afflict the servant or a painful punishment afflict him.

Allah Almighty said:

“Do not make [your] calling of the Messenger among yourselves as the call of one of you to another. Already Allāh knows those of you who slip away, concealed by others. So let those beware who dissent from his [i.e., the Prophet's] order, lest fitnah strike them or a painful punishment.” (Quran 24:63)

Those who oppose the Prophet's ﷺ command are threatened with two punishments.

Those who oppose the Prophet's ﷺ command are threatened with two punishments.

One of them is that fitnah will strike them.

And fitnah is shirk.

Imam Ahmad (RH) said, "Do you know what fitnah is? Fitnah is shirk."

Imam Ahmad (RH) said regarding this verse: "Do you know what fitnah is? Fitnah is shirk."

Perhaps if he rejects some of his words, he may deviate and perish.

Perhaps if he rejects some of his words, he may deviate and perish.

Reported by Ibn Battah in al-Ibanah al-Kubra.

And the other is a grievous punishment — a painful, severe punishment.

So whoever opposes the command of the Prophet ﷺ

is feared for him that he may fall into shirk at times, or

fall into something less than that, for which he deserves the painful punishment.

Then the author said: "Whoever obeys the Messenger ﷺ will enter Paradise,

and whoever disobeys him will enter the Fire.

Due to his ﷺ saying: "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise,

and whoever disobeys me has refused."

And those who refuse to obey him ﷺ will not enter Paradise with him,

due to his ﷺ saying in the authentic Hadith: "All of my Ummah will enter Paradise except those who refuse."

The Hadith was narrated by al-Bukhari.

Then the author said: "And introduced innovations (bid'ah) are rejected back upon their perpetrators,

so avoiding them is obligatory — meaning, distancing oneself from them while refraining from committing them,

meaning, distancing oneself from them while refraining from committing them.

Thus, the command to avoid contains the command to distance oneself while refraining from committing it.

The command to distance oneself while refraining from committing it is an additional measure beyond mere prohibition,

so it is an additional measure beyond prohibition, as prohibition only entails refraining from committing it.

As for the command to avoid, it

entails demanding distance, by the servant distancing himself

from the paths that lead him to what was forbidden,

and that he recoils from it, meaning he hates it, for recoiling is hatred and dislike.

Even if that innovation seems small,

due to its inherent ugliness—

for innovation, no matter how small, contains a great atrocity,

which is attributing to the Prophet ﷺ the failure to convey the Message.

Attributing to the Prophet ﷺ the failure to convey the Message.

Imam Malik (RH) said: "Whoever introduces an innovation in Islam

has claimed that Muhammad ﷺ betrayed the Message,"

meaning he did not deliver it in the manner Allah ﷻ commanded of

conveying it.

Then he mentioned the Hadith of Aisha (RA) in the Sahihayn:

"Whoever introduces into this affair of ours — meaning our religion — that which is not of it, it is rejected."

And innovations in religion are what are called in Sharia 'bid'ah'.

So bid'ah in Sharia is what is introduced into religion that is not of it,

with the intention of worship.

Then he said: "And the safety of a servant's religion lies in realizing adherence and abandoning innovation,

because adherence is following the Prophet ﷺ and walking in his path,

because adherence is following the Prophet ﷺ and walking in his path,

and innovating is following other than him,

And the safety of a servant's religion lies in him following the one whom Allah sent to him,

and the one whom Allah sent to us is Muhammad ﷺ.

Whoever follows him, his religion will be safe for him,

and whoever follows other than the Prophet ﷺ will fall into heresies and innovations.

Then he mentioned the statement of Ibn Mas'ud (RA):

"Follow and do not innovate, for indeed you have been sufficed,"

meaning, in what has been clarified for you of your religion.

For there is nothing that people need in their religion except that it has been clearly and sufficiently explained.

For there is nothing that people need in their religion except that it has been clearly and sufficiently explained.

Al-Darimi reported this narration in his Musnad, and its chain of transmission is authentic.

Then he said: "And among the symbols of Ahl al-Sunnah is following the narrations of the Companions (RA),"

meaning, one of the signs indicating Ahl al-Sunnah is their following of the narrations of the Companions (RA),

meaning, what has been transmitted from them of statements.

or action, or belief.

Thus, Ahl al-Sunnah are distinguished from others

in that, while they follow the Prophet ﷺ,

they proceed in this following

according to what his companions (RA) understood from him.

For the aspects of what is narrated from the Prophet ﷺ

vary in how they are understood,

And what is required to realize it in the most perfect way is

what the companions (RA) were upon.

Thus, knowing their narrations is a ladder to knowing the religion

which the Prophet ﷺ was upon.

The author justified the command to follow their narrations by saying:

"Because they accompanied the Messenger ﷺ,

so they are more knowledgeable of the religion he brought,"

and no one shares this virtue with them,

which is that they were specifically granted

with the companionship of the Prophet ﷺ, so they were more knowledgeable of his religion,

and more steadfast upon his guidance ﷺ.

Thus, those after them cannot reach, in their knowledge of the religion brought by the Prophet ﷺ,

the level of knowledge they possessed.

Therefore, the safety of one's religion lies in following their footsteps and walking their path.

Then he mentioned the statement of Imam Ahmad (RH):

“The foundations of the Sunnah with us are: holding fast to what was practiced by

the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,

following them, and abandoning innovations, for every innovation is misguidance.” Yes.