If your intention is sincere, does it still matter how you worship?
Islamic Studies · 40 Hadith, 9th and 10th Grade · 60 to 75 minutes
Last lesson, Hadith 4 taught that four things were written for every person before birth: their rizq, their lifespan, their deeds, and whether they end up wretched or happy. When the Companions (RA) asked whether they should rely on what was written and stop doing deeds, the Prophet (pbuh) told them to keep acting.
اعْمَلُوا فَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهُ
He (pbuh) said, "Carry on doing deeds, for everyone will find it easy to do the deeds that lead to the place he was created for."
Last lesson answered whether we should act. Today's hadith is about how we act when the deed is worship.
Before we read anything, take this question seriously. There is no wrong first answer.
A science lab, a recipe, a sport with rules: when does doing it "your own way" stop counting as doing it at all?
Who has the right to decide what counts as worship of Allah (SWT)?
Keep your answer in mind. Hadith 5 speaks directly to this question.
عَنْ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أُمِّ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا، قَالَتْ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ مِنْهُ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ".
The Mother of the Believers, Umm Abdillah Aisha (RA), said: The Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh) said: "Whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that is not from it, it is rejected."
The Prophet (pbuh) said "this matter of ours." What do you think "this matter" refers to?
Read it again. Is it a warning about new things in general, or about new things in something specific?
وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ لِمُسْلِمٍ: "مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌّ".
And in a narration of Muslim: "Whoever does a deed that is not in accordance with our matter, it is rejected."
The first narration speaks about the person who introduces something new. This one speaks about anyone who does such a deed, even if someone else started it long before. Scholars, al-Nawawi among them, point out that it answers the person who says, "I didn't invent anything. I only do what I found."
What is the difference between asking "Who started this?" and asking "Is this from what the Prophet (pbuh) taught?"
The hadith says "what is not from it," not "anything new." Why does that wording matter?
Scholars use the Arabic word bid'ah, innovation in the religion, for what this hadith warns about. Later today we will talk about how to use that word carefully.
To understand Hadith 5 fully, we need the very first hadith of the book alongside it.
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Actions are but by intentions, and every person will have only what they intended."
Hadith 1 looks at a deed from the inside: why did you do it, and for whom? Hadith 5 looks at the same deed from the outside: what did you do, and where is it from?
Scholars, including Ibn Rajab in his well-known explanation of these forty hadith, put Hadith 1 and Hadith 5 side by side. Hadith 1 is a scale for a deed on the inside. Hadith 5 is a scale for the same deed on the outside.
Ikhlas, sincerity. Is it done for Allah (SWT) alone, and not to be seen or praised by people?
Ittiba', following. Is it done the way the Prophet (pbuh) taught it, and not invented by someone later?
An act of worship needs both. A sincere heart does not make an invented form of worship correct, and a correct form done to show off is missing its heart.
Ask yourself: which of the two scales do I check less often in my own worship?
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
Say, "I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."
"These two are the two pillars of the accepted deed. It must be sincerely for Allah (SWT), and correct according to the Shariah of the Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh)."
Which words in the ayah match Hadith 1, and which words match Hadith 5?
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
"...This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My (SWT) favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion..."
Umar (RA) said that these words came down on a Friday, while the Prophet (pbuh) was standing at Arafah (Sahih al-Bukhari 45). That was during his last Hajj, only a few months before he passed away.
Allah (SWT) completed the religion, so worship does not need anything added to it. The way to grow in worship is to learn more of what was taught, do more of it, and do it with more sincerity and care.
Ask yourself: what is one part of what was taught that I have not learned or practiced yet?
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Say, [O Muhammad (pbuh)], "If you should love Allah (SWT), then follow me, [so] Allah (SWT) will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah (SWT) is Forgiving and Merciful."
Following the Sunnah is not a wall of rules standing between you and Allah (SWT). In this ayah it is the path of love: the one who loves Allah (SWT) follows His (SWT) Messenger (pbuh), and Allah (SWT) loves him in return.
Think of someone you love and look up to. How does that love show in the things you pick up from them?
Why might Allah (SWT) tie love for Him (SWT) to following, and not only to feelings?
عَنْ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ جَاءَ إِلَى الْحَجَرِ الْأَسْوَدِ فَقَبَّلَهُ، فَقَالَ: إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ حَجَرٌ لَا تَضُرُّ وَلَا تَنْفَعُ، وَلَوْلَا أَنِّي رَأَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُقَبِّلُكَ مَا قَبَّلْتُكَ.
Umar (RA) came to the Black Stone and kissed it, and said: "I know that you are a stone. You can neither harm nor benefit. Had I not seen the Prophet (pbuh) kissing you, I would not have kissed you."
Umar (RA) did not kiss the stone because he thought it had any power. He did it because the Prophet (pbuh) did it, and he said plainly that he would not have done it otherwise. His reason was that this is what was taught, not that it felt right to him.
Why do you think Umar (RA) said the first sentence out loud?
What would his attitude look like in your own salah, fasting, or dua?
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَرَّ بِقَوْمٍ يُلَقِّحُونَ فَقَالَ: "لَوْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا لَصَلُحَ". قَالَ: فَخَرَجَ شِيصًا، فَمَرَّ بِهِمْ فَقَالَ: "مَا لِنَخْلِكُمْ؟" قَالُوا: قُلْتَ كَذَا وَكَذَا. قَالَ: "أَنْتُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِأَمْرِ دُنْيَاكُمْ".
The Prophet (pbuh) passed by some people who were pollinating [their date palms], and he said, "If you did not do it, it would turn out well." The narrator said: The dates came out poor. Then he passed by them and said, "What is wrong with your palms?" They said, "You said such and such." He said, "You know best the affairs of your world."
Hadith 5 is about "this matter of ours," the religion. New tools and new ways of doing worldly things, like a phone, a car, a new medicine, or an app that helps you study, are not what Hadith 5 is talking about.
Why is it important not to mix up "new in the world" with "new in the religion"?
Some people learn this hadith and start using it mostly to judge others. Its first job is to help you check your own worship.
Before you think about anyone else, ask whether your own worship is sincere and whether it is from what was taught.
When people disagree about whether something is an innovation, ask a qualified scholar rather than judging others. Scholars discuss these questions in detail, and they do not always reach the same answer.
Speak to your family and friends with respect and mercy. Only Allah (SWT) sees what is inside a person, as we saw in Lesson 3.
How could using this hadith to judge people push them away from the deen, even when the person judging means well?
وَمَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "...And whoever tells a lie about me on purpose, let him take his seat in the Fire."
Hadith 5 protects the religion from things added to it. This warning protects the words of the Prophet (pbuh). In Sahih al-Bukhari it comes to us through several Companions (RA).
Today, words the Prophet (pbuh) never said are spread most often online, in a post or a chain message that says "The Prophet (pbuh) said..." and gives no source. Most people who share these posts are not lying on purpose. The next hadith shows why that is still not enough.
Why would anyone make up a hadith, even with a good intention? What does that tell you about the two scales?
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: "كَفَى بِالْمَرْءِ إِثْمًا أَنْ يُحَدِّثَ بِكُلِّ مَا سَمِعَ".
Abu Hurairah (RA) reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: "It is enough of a sin for a person to tell others everything he hears."
Sharing is a way of telling. Forwarding a message, reposting, or adding a post to your story all pass words on to other people, and you are the one passing them.
Ask yourself: this past month, did I share anything about the deen without knowing where it came from?
Which Companion (RA) narrated it? Authentic hadith are reported with the names of the people who passed them on.
Which hadith book is it in, and what is its number? You can look it up on sunnah.com.
Is it authentic? Scholars of hadith graded narrations as sahih, hasan, or weak, and the grade is part of the source.
If you cannot find it, ask your imam or another person of knowledge you trust before you share it.
Scholars of hadith noticed that made-up narrations often promise huge rewards for tiny acts, or threaten terrible things over small matters. Chain messages online add their own signs: pressure to share fast, and threats of bad luck if you don't.
Your group looks at all six posts below. For each one, agree on one answer: share it, stop it, or check it first. Write down one reason for each answer. You have 7 minutes, then each group explains one card.
A message says: "Forward this to ten people within an hour and you will hear good news tomorrow. Ignore it and bad luck will follow you all year."
A post says: "Type Ameen and share. Everyone who shares this will have every sin they ever did erased. Don't let Shaytan stop you."
A video calls something a "beautiful hadith," but it gives no narrator, no book, and no number.
A friend posts the hadith we read today and writes "Sahih al-Bukhari 2697 and Sahih Muslim 1718" under it.
A post claims "scientists finally proved this hadith," but never names the hadith's book or number.
A masjid's newsletter quotes a hadith with the narrator, the book, the number, and the grade.
None of them names a real source. Each one leans on a promise, a threat, or a big claim to get you to believe it and pass it on, and that pressure is a reason to slow down.
Card 3 gives no source, so you look for one before you share it, or you leave it. Cards 4 and 6 give a source, and a source lets you check in a minute.
Sharing a made-up hadith adds to the religion something that is not from it. Asking "Where is this from?" is one way to act on Hadith 5 when you are online.
Take out a sheet of paper and write your three answers quietly.
Your writing stays with you.
Hadith 5 ends with the word radd, rejected. Ibrahim (AS) and Ismail (AS) were raising the foundations of the Ka'bah, the House of Allah (SWT), and even while doing that, they asked Him (SWT) to accept it from them.
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You (SWT) are the Hearing, the Knowing.
Before you share anything about the deen this week, ask: "Where is this from?" If you cannot find the source, do not share it.
When you finish a good deed this week, ask Allah (SWT) to accept it. You can use the words of Ibrahim (AS) and Ismail (AS): "Rabbana taqabbal minna" (Our Lord, accept [this] from us).