0021-1818_islam_98-1-2-i-259

160 Daniella Talmon-Heller, Raquel Ukeles
of the ruler and the commoners of his day. And he [i.e., Ibn al-Sala1] is one of
the pious scholars and high-ranking muftis! But God has said, and He is the most
truthful: „We may test them: those who are best in conduct” [18:7]; „He may try
some of you by means of others” [47:4]; „And we have appointed some of you as a
test for others: Will you be steadfast? And thy Lord is ever a seer [25:20].” 84
In his legitimization of this prayer, Shaykh al-Taq\ [al-Shahrazur\] relied upon
its inclusion in the general command pertaining to prayer. He said: „the weakness
of the hadith does not necessarily imply the nullity of salat al-ragha#ib.” The
answer to that is that we do not hold our opinion merely on account of the falsity
of the hadith, but on the basis of additional evidence, such as the prohibition on
singling out the night before Friday for religious devotions. What was said to be
reprehensible after the general command [pertaining to prayer] has been given
is excluded from that command, according to the explicit opinion of our leading
scholars in the books of usul al-fiqh. 85
23) Defined as an innovation (bid^a) of the „third type,” that which contradicts
the shari^a (in eleven respects!)
Al-Sulam\: There are three types of innovations (bida^), 86 the first: what is
permitted, such as plenty (tawassu^) of food and drink, clothing and women, and
there is no harm in that; the second: what is good (hasan), that is, all innovated
acts that are in accordance with the principles of the shari^a and do not contradict
any of them, such as the tarawih prayer, the construction of Sufi lodges (ribats),
caravanserais (khanat), madrasas, and all other types of pious deeds that did not
occur during the first [Muslim] period. […] The third type: what contradicts the divine
law, or is bound to (or leads necessarily to) a contradiction with the divine
law, such as salat al-ragha#ib, falsely attributed to the Prophet. […] It is at variance
with the shari^a in several respects, some relevant only to scholars, other pertaining
to both the learned and the ignorant. As for what is specific to scholars, there
are two matters: first, that the scholar who performs it misleads the commoners
into believing that it is one of the sunan (religious norms) and thus, ipso facto, he
is lying about the Messenger of God, peace and blessings upon him, which is tantamount
to uttering a lie. Second: the scholar, when he performs it, is the cause of
the commoners lying about the Messenger of God when they say, this is one of the
religious norms, and causing a lie about the Messenger of God is not permitted.
84 Abu Shama, al-Ba^ith, 149–50; texts # 17, 20.
85 Abu Shama, al-Ba^ith, 196.
86 In his Qawa#id al-ahkam, al-Sulam\ lists five types of bida^, using the categories of al-ahkam
al-khamsa (al-Sulam\, Qawa#id al-ahkam fi masalih al-anam, ed. ^A. Al-Daqar, 1992,
pp. 660–62). See also Rispler, “Towards a new Understanding,” 323–25.