al-Bida wa Atharuha fi Inhiraf al-Tasawwur al-Islami
- Author died
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- Editions
- Majallat al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmīyah bi-al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah
al-Bida wa Atharuha fi Inhiraf al-Tasawwur al-Islami (Religious Innovations and Their Impact on the Deviation of the Islamic Worldview) is a treatise by the Saudi scholar Salih Saad al-Suhaymi examining the nature of religious innovation (bid'ah), its legal status, and its detrimental effects on Islamic doctrine and communal unity .
Origin and Publication
The work originated as a public lecture delivered by al-Suhaymi—then an instructor at the College of Hadith—in the main lecture hall of the Islamic University of Madinah after the sunset prayer on Monday, 9 Rabi' al-Thani 1401 AH . It was subsequently serialized as an academic study in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah, issues 49 and 50–51) and later published in Majallat al-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah (Issue 16, Rajab–Shawwal 1406 AH) .
Themes and Contents
The treatise focuses on establishing adherence to orthodox textual sources and warning against newly invented matters in religious practice . Its primary themes include:
- Completeness and Sufficiency of the Sharia: The author asserts that the Islamic faith was perfected during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, citing the Quranic verse الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلامَ دِينًا ("This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion"), arguing that any addition or modification constitutes an implicit claim that the revelation is deficient .
- Adherence to the Sunnah and the Way of the Predecessors: The work stresses the obligation of holding firmly to the Quran, the Sunnah, and the understanding of the early righteous generations (al-Salaf al-Salih), and of referring all disputed matters back to divine revelation .
- Definition and Criterion of Innovation: Al-Suhaymi outlines the boundary between sunnah and bid'ah, defining the Sunnah as the path traversed by the Prophet and his Companions, and drawing upon classical definitions of innovation, particularly that of Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi in al-I'tisam .
- Rejection of Novelties: The author highlights prophetic warnings against innovation, citing the narration of 'A'ishah bint Abi Bakr that من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد ("Whoever introduces into this affair of ours that which is not of it, it is rejected"), and emphasizes that rationalizing or deeming an innovation good (istihsan al-bid'ah) brings severe religious culpability .
- Impact of Innovations: The text argues that innovations corrupt the religious perception of Muslims, leading to sectarian splintering, intellectual confusion, and the weakening of the Muslim community .
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