Ittiba al-Sunan wa Ijtinab al-Bida
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn Kathīr
Ittiba al-Sunan wa Ijtinab al-Bida (Adherence to the Sunnah and Avoidance of Innovations) is a concise hadith tract (juz') by the Hanbali scholar Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (569–643 AH / 1173–1245 CE), devoted to prophetic traditions, narrations of early authorities, and poetry emphasizing the duty to follow the Sunnah and abandon religious innovations.
Scope and Structure
The work is an epistolary hadith collection (juz') organized thematically without formal section headings, moving systematically from general canonical texts that mandate adherence to revelation to specific historical accounts and criticisms of newly invented practices in worship. In biographical and bibliographical literature, it is recorded under the titles Juz' fi Ittiba al-Sunan wa Ijtinab al-Bida as well as Al-Amr bi-Ittiba al-Sunan wa Ijtinab al-Bida.
Content and Themes
Foundational Hadiths and Early Narrations
The author opens with foundational prophetic traditions warning against religious innovation (bid'ah), including the sermon of Jabir ibn Abd Allah in which the Prophet stated: خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمد ﷺ وشر الأمور محدثاتها، وكل محدثة بدعة ("The best speech is the Book of Allah, the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, the worst of matters are newly invented ones, and every newly invented matter is an innovation"). He incorporates the counsel of al-Irbad ibn Sariyah commanding adherence to the Sunnah of the Prophet and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, as well as traditions narrated by Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, Aisha, and Awf ibn Malik regarding sectarian divisions and following the main body of Muslims (al-jama'ah).
Al-Maqdisi cites the hadith of Jabir describing the Prophet drawing a straight path flanked by divergent paths, reciting the verse: وَأَنَّ هَٰذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ("And this is My path, straight, so follow it; and do not follow other ways, for they will separate you from His way"). He complements these with reports from early authorities:
- Ibn Abbas observing that whenever people invent an innovation, they extinguish a corresponding Sunnah.
- Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud entering upon a gathering led by Amr ibn Utbah al-Sulami and Mu'addid who had established an unsanctioned routine of communal glorification (tasbih) between Maghrib and Isha, admonishing them that they had either introduced an unjust innovation or claimed to surpass the Companions in knowledge.
- Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr instructing his son Amir not to sit with people who trembled and fainted upon hearing the remembrance of God, pointing out that neither the Prophet nor Abu Bakr and Umar displayed such physical agitation during Quranic recitation.
Censure of Mystical Audition and Ecstatic Practices
The later portion of the treatise focuses on censuring ecstatic behavior, musical audition (sama'), and rhythmic recitation (taghbir):
- Quotations from Al-Shafi'i stating that taghbir was devised by heretics (zanadiqa) in Iraq to divert people from the Quran, and from Ahmad ibn Hanbal declaring it an innovation and forbidding sama'.
- Abu Ali al-Rudhbari's condemnation of individuals who deemed musical instruments permissible by alleging that they had achieved a spiritual state unaffected by external conditions.
- Dream narratives, such as Abu al-Harith al-Awlasi seeing Iblis orchestrating singing and ecstatic dancing as a trap, and Abu Sa'id al-Kharraz seeing Abu al-Qasim al-Ju'i being reprimanded in the afterlife for induced ecstasy (tawajud).
- Didactic poems, including verses transmitted through his brother Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Maqdisi, censuring mendicancy, clapping (tasfiq), stick-beating (qadib), tambourines (daff), and fraudulent claims of spiritual rank.
Transmission and Editions
Manuscripts of the text are preserved in libraries such as the Central Library in Riyadh. The treatise was edited by Ali Hasan Abd al-Hamid al-Halabi and published by Dar Ibn al-Qayyim in Dammam in 1409 AH / 1988 CE. Later scholars of hadith, including Nasir al-Din al-Albani, cited and evaluated narrations transmitted through this work.
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