al-Luma fi al-Hawadith wa al-Bida
- Author died
- 712 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn Ḥazm
al-Luma fi al-Hawadith wa al-Bida (The Flashes Regarding Innovations and Novelties) is an 8th-century AH treatise on practical religious innovations and customs authored by the Hanafi scholar Idris ibn Baydakin al-Turkmani (d. after 712 AH / 1312 CE) .
Background and Author
Biographical dictionaries contain little information regarding Ibn Baydakin . Hajji Khalifa recorded the work in Kashf al-Zunun based on marginal notes by Ibn al-Shihnah, attributing it to Idris ibn Baydakin al-Turkmani al-Hanafi . Later bibliographers, such as Ismail Pasha al-Babani in Hadiyyat al-Arifin, conflated the author with Sadr al-Din Idris ibn Abd Allah al-Mardini al-Qahiri (d. 927 AH / 1521 CE) . Ibn Baydakin studied under Ibn Taymiyyah, who penned a commendation (taqriz) on another of his treatises, al-Futuwwah .
Purpose and Scope
Ibn Baydakin states in his introduction that he composed the book in response to requests from companions seeking an overview of newly invented practices (al-bida al-muhdathah) that contravened the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah . He also remarked that he adopted rhymed prose throughout the text to guard against grammatical errors (al-lahn) .
The book focuses on documenting and critiquing contemporary social habits, ritual practices, and folk traditions, including:
- Mosque and Prayer Practices: Prohibitions on commercial transactions in mosques, improper overcrowding, handshakes immediately following the Dawn and Afternoon prayers, and prolonged stays by women in the Sacred Mosque of Mecca .
- Funerals and Graves: Rites surrounding deaths and burials, such as lighting candles and lamps at grave sites, inscribing names and dates of death onto gravestones, and tearing garments during funerals .
- Festivals and Seasons: Celebrations associated with non-Muslim holidays or localized folk festivals, such as the festival of Id al-Shahid in Egypt and Christmas-related seasonal practices .
- Sufi and Group Customs: The conduct of groups such as the Qalandariyya and Maraziqah, along with practices such as tearing garments during auditions of dhikr and Quranic recitation .
- Daily Etiquette: Conduct in public bathhouses (hammam), laughing during Quranic recitation, and eating or drinking from gold and silver vessels .
Manuscripts
The work is preserved in multiple manuscript copies:
- A manuscript in the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, MS 701 Tasawwuf) spanning 196 folios in Naskh script, copied prior to 779 AH / 1378 CE .
- A manuscript held at the Berlin State Library (MS 1681) .
Answer updated