Islah al-Masajid min al-Bida wal-Awaid

Islah al-Masajid min al-Bida wal-Awaid (Reforming Mosques from Innovations and Customary Practices) is a single-volume treatise on Islamic ritual and communal reform authored by the Damascene scholar Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (1283–1332 AH / 1866–1914 CE), dedicated to identifying and eliminating religious innovations (bida') and customary corruptions associated with mosques and mosque-based worship Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1.

Background and Composition

Al-Qasimi completed the initial draft of the work at his residence in Damascus on 24 Ramadan 1323 AH, subsequent to which he incorporated numerous additions into the text through the year 1330 AH Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…. In his introduction, al-Qasimi stated that his motivation stemmed from the fundamental religious duty of commanding right and forbidding wrong; having been assigned to lead prayers and deliver public lessons in Damascene congregational mosques—an office held by his ancestors—he felt obliged to address the widespread innovative practices observed both locally and during his travels to other regions al-Intisar li-Ahl al-Sunn…+1.

Contents and Scope

The book opens with introductory chapters establishing the theoretical foundations of religious practice, defining bid'a, examining classifications of innovations into praiseworthy and blameworthy, stressing the obligation to adhere strictly to the Quran and the Sunnah, and outlining the scholar's duty to correct the public with forbearance Islah al-Masajid min al-B…+1. The subsequent sections address specific illicit practices and customary accretions connected to mosques:

• Friday and congregational worship: Innovations committed during the Friday sermon (such as the muezzins calling out invocations between the two sermons or as the preacher ascends the pulpit, slow climbing of the minbar, and touching the preacher upon descent), congregational performance of the Zuhr prayer immediately after Friday prayer, and the unwarranted multiplication of Friday mosques in a single quarter Islah al-Masajid min al-B…+2.
• The call to prayer and recitations: Adding unwarranted phrases to the iqamah, group vocal chanting and melodic intonation (tanaghum) by muezzins, singing love poetry (ghazaliyyat) or communal incantations from minarets, hurried or ungrammatical Quranic recitations, and congregants creating disturbances during recitation or public teaching circles Islah al-Masajid min al-B…+1.
• Funerals and graves: Announcing deaths from minarets, reciting poetic dirges and eulogies over corpses inside mosques, and burying the deceased within mosques or building mosques over tombs Islah al-Masajid min al-B….
• Mosque governance and etiquette: Lavish ornamentation and decoration of prayer halls, lengthening minbars, begging, selling goods and remedies within mosques, sheltering ecstatic vagrants (majadhid), and neglecting worldly work to reside idly in mosques under the guise of seclusion Islah al-Masajid min al-B…+1.
• Pilgrimage sites and vows: Legitimate versus innovative visitation practices concerning sanctuaries in Jerusalem, Hebron, Mecca, and Medina, as well as the prohibition of making vows for mosques, illuminating tombs, or funding celebrations for the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid) Islah al-Masajid min al-B…+1.

The work concludes with legal rulings concerning mosque construction, cleanliness, endowments (waqf), the maintenance of decorum, and the permissibility of holding legal debates, educational assemblies, and marriage contracts in prayer spaces Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl….

Reception and Print History

In his introduction to the first printed edition, Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib described the work as an original contribution to contemporary Islamic reform, noting that it was probably the only known Arabic volume devoted exclusively to this subject Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1. Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani commended the book and noted that he drew significant benefit from it in his own research Qawaid al-Usul wa Maaqid ….

Modern critics have noted that al-Qasimi relied heavily on Maliki jurisprudence when formulating judgments, occasionally characterizing practices as innovations merely because Imam Malik expressed disapproval of them, as well as observing internal tensions regarding his discussion of voluntary units between Tarawih sets Haqiqat al-Bida wa Ahkamu….

The first edition of the book was printed in Cairo in 1341 AH Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1. It was subsequently edited, with hadith verification (takhrij) and analytical notes, by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, whose version was published in Beirut across multiple impressions Jami Turath al-Allama al-…+1. An abridgment of the work was prepared by Muhammad ibn Rizq al-Tarhuni and published in 1407 AH Khutbat al-Jumua wa Dawru….