The Kinds of Bid‘a

Question

Kindly write down how many kinds of bid‘a (innovation in religion) there are in all. The saying of “as-salatu khayrun min an-nawm” (الصلاة خير من النوم — “prayer is better than sleep”) in the Fajr prayer, and the performance of tarawih — these too are the invention of Hazrat ‘Umar ﵁, and these too are bid‘a; and the gathering of the Word of Allah (the Holy Qur’an) in one place in the time of Hazrat Abu Bakr ﵁ — this too is bid‘a. Is such a statement of Zayd correct or not?

Answer

The bid‘a whose condemnation has come in the noble hadith is of one kind only: [ar]كُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلُّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ[/ar] “Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.” Saying “as-salatu khayrun min an-nawm” in the Fajr adhan is established from the hadith; it is not bid‘a.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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