al-Baith ala Inkar al-Bida wal-Hawadith
- Author died
- 665 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Hudá
al-Ba'ith 'ala Inkar al-Bida' wal-Hawadith (The Motive for Denouncing Innovations and Novelties) is a legal and theological treatise on religious innovations (bid'ah) by the Damascene Shafi'i jurist and historian Abu Shama al-Maqdisi (d. 665 AH / 1267–1268 CE) . The work focuses on identifying and refuting newly introduced ritual practices and customs that people mistakenly regard as acts of worship and religious devotion .
Composition and Context
Abu Shama recorded that al-Ba'ith was the third work he placed in the second volume of his compendium al-Kitab al-Marqum fi Jumlat min al-'Ulum, and he referenced it in his historical chronicle al-Mudhayyal 'ala al-Rawdatayn . The composition of the book developed around the controversy surrounding Salat al-Ragha'ib, an innovated non-obligatory prayer performed between the sunset and night prayers on the first Friday night of Rajab . This issue had sparked a well-known dispute in Damascus in 637 AH (1240 CE) between Taqi al-Din Ibn al-Salah, who defended the prayer as a good innovation, and 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, who rejected it as a reprehensible innovation . When the dispute erupted again after 659 AH (1261 CE), Abu Shama wrote a dedicated monograph entitled al-Insaf fima waqa'a fi Salat al-Ragha'ib min al-Ikhtilaf, siding with 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, and later integrated this tract directly into al-Ba'ith 'ala Inkar al-Bida' wal-Hawadith .
Structure and Content
Abu Shama organized the work to provide both legal foundations and detailed examinations of specific customs prevalent in his time:
- Scriptural and legal foundations: The book opens with Quranic passages, hadiths, and early reports (athar) warning against innovation in religion, obliging adherence to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, and enjoining the duty to command right and forbid wrong .
- Classification of novelties: Abu Shama defines the legal meaning of bid'ah and classifies new practices into recommended (mustahabbah) and reprehensible (mustaqbahah) . Among what he deemed praiseworthy novelties, he commended the public observance of the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid) through charity and adornment, tracing its initial practice to Umar ibn Muhammad al-Mulla in Mosul .
- Specific ritual practices: The bulk of the text examines mistaken forms of devotion, including Salat al-Ragha'ib, the prayer of Umm Dawud in mid-Rajab, prayers on the 27th night of Rajab, the hundred-rak'ah night prayer of mid-Sha'ban (Salat al-Alfiyyah), and the presumption of a regular Sunnah prayer prior to the Friday congregation .
- Preaching, funerals, and pilgrimage: He censures certain pulpit practices of preachers (khutaba'), such as striking the minbar with a sword, delivering the sermon prior to the Eid prayer, and raising voices excessively during blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ . He concludes with newly introduced customs in funeral processions and the rites of the pilgrimage (Hajj) .
Method and Principles
In treating each contested practice, Abu Shama investigated its historical origins, identified who first introduced it, analyzed how it spread, and contrasted it with authentic prophetic reports . He frequently cited earlier works on the subject, particularly the writings of Abu Bakr al-Turtushi .
Throughout the text, Abu Shama formulated several broader legal principles regarding ritual law. He argued that individual believers have no authority to designate specific times or forms of worship without explicit textual evidence from the Lawgiver . He also addressed how habitual persistence in supererogatory acts can lead common believers to view them as mandatory duties, and noted that religious leaders and scholars should occasionally forgo permissible or recommended acts to prevent the lay public from misinterpreting them as obligatory Sunnah .
Reception and Transmission
The book was praised by contemporary and later scholars; Yahya al-Nawawi lauded it in his legal work Sharh al-Muhadhdhab as one of Abu Shama's most distinguished compositions . It was transmitted through scholarly chains of authority that included Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi, and Ali ibn Ismail ibn Bardis . Later scholars counted it among the foundational classical treatises on ritual innovation alongside the works of Ibn Waddah and al-Turtushi . While modern authors have utilized its arguments against seasonal innovated prayers, some later writers criticized Abu Shama's acceptance and praise of the Mawlid celebration as a departure from his otherwise strict stance on novelty . The book has been edited and published in modern printings, including editions by Uthman Ahmad Anbar and Adil Abd al-Mun'im Abu al-Abbas .
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