The Religion Has Been Perfected And Completed, No Need For Newly Invented Matters
This issue of introducing that which doee not belong to the Shariah is related to the concept that Islam is a complete religion [Surah Al-Ma’idah (5): ayat 3]:
Today have I perfected your religion for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and willed that Islam shall be your Religion.
Since it is complete, there is no need for additions or subtractions to the religion. Therefore to introduce some new matter into Islam or to delete/omit something from it is an affront to Allah and the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam.
Al-Imam al-Shatibi makes mention that if certain actions are regarded as ibadah where in reality they are not, this will lead to bid’ah (innovation). There is a hadith which narrates the story of three men who only wanted to do ‘good deeds’ all the time – one said he will not get married, the second one said he will pray all night and will not sleep, and the third said he will fast every day. When the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, heard this, he said that he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, was the most pious and righteous among the people and yet he did not do the things the way and manner the men wanted to do them. This indicates that the actions that the three men thought were ibadah would have resulted in bid’ah as they were not done by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam.
Al-Shatibi also states that avoiding eating certain types of food for the purpose of ibadah should not be practiced. We can avoid these foods for health or other good reasons but not avoid them for the purpose of ibadah.
He also says that if there are two ways of fulfilling an obligation, we should go by the easier way. E.g. If the weather is cold and if we have the choice of using warm or cold water (for wudu’), we should use warm water. We should not use cold water and inflict discomfort on ourselves, trying to show that we are stronger Muslims and hoping for extra rewards. Or if there is choice of going to two masjids (mosques) of different distances, we should go to the one which is closer.
The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, was passing through a place when he noticed someone standing in the middle of the street in the sun. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, asked his Sahabahs what this man was doing in the sun. They said that he made a commitment to observe fast while standing in the sun. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, told them to inform the man to continue his fasting (because this was a good thing to do anyway and fulfilling a commitment is an obligation) but to get out of the sun.
Scholars deduce that we should not attach any hardship to our ibadah hoping that it will make the ibadah more rewardable. Shariah is based on ease. Therefore we should always choose the easier way when performing an ibadah because this will enable us to do it in the proper manner – if we were to choose the difficult route then we may, after a while, find difficulty in keeping to our commitment in carrying out this ibadah. An attached hardship to an ibadah, which has not been specified by the Shariah, should be disregarded – we should not place any hardship in carrying out any ibadah.
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