The farewell khutba (khutbat al-wida')

Question

On Jumu'at al-wida' (the last Friday of Ramadan) the customary khutba “al-wida', al-wida', ya shahra Ramadan…” (الوداع الوادع يا شهر رمضان — “farewell, farewell, O month of Ramadan…”) is read. Hazrat Thanawi ﵀ forbade it, although I do not remember that book. Please write about this.

Answer

This “farewell khutba” is makruh; it is a bid'a (innovation in religion). Mawlana 'Abd al-Hayy Lakhnawi ﵀ wrote an independent treatise in which he refuted the bid'as and customs current on Jumu'at al-wida' — this khutba among them. Likewise, in the Urdu fatwas of Deoband and Thana Bhawan it is also described as bid'a.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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