Hakikat Kitabevi Publications No: 10 answer to an enemy of islam

bid’a in
’ibâdât. Of such bid’as, those that were introduced without a
verbal or practical, overt or denotative permission from the
“owner of the religion,” that is, from Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-
salâm), are called 
bid’at sayyi’a. None of the bid’as in customs are
called bid’at sayyi’a since they are done not for worshipping but
for worldly advantages. Innovations done in eatings, drinking,
dressing and habitation are bid’as in customs. All bid’as done in
belief are 
bid’at sayyi’a. The beliefs of the seventy-two heretical
groups are bid’at sayyi’a. The innovations done by the four
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madhhabs in ’ibâdât are not bid’ats since they were derived not
out of reasoning but from the 
adillat ash-Shari’iyya. They are not
additions to the Nass but are the explanations of the Nass. If
saying the takbîr iftitâh several times when beginning the salât is
intended for extra thawâb, it is a bid’a. If it is done inadvertently
because of scruples, it is a sin. If the bid’as made in ’ibâdât were
overtly or denotatively permitted by the owner of the religion,
they are called 
bid’at hasana, which are mustahab or wâjib. It is
mustahab to build minarets for mosques. It is thawâb to build
them, and it is not sinful not to build them. A minaret is also
called 
ma’dhana. Zaid ibn Thâbit’s mother (radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ)
said, “The highest house around Masjid an-Nabî in Medina was
mine. Formerly, Hadrat Bilâl al-Habashî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)
used to call the adhân by mounting the roof of my house. After
Rasûlullah’s (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) masjid was built, he
called it by mounting the high place built in the masjid.” This
shows that it is sunna for muadhdhins (muezzin) to call the adhân
by mounting the minaret. [It is a dismal fact that the bid’a of
calling the adhân through loud-speakers has been annihilating
this sunna.] Building religious schools and writing religious books
are bid’as that are wâjib. It is thawâb to do and sinful not to do
them. So is the case with producing warning proofs against the
doubts of the holders of bid’a and mulhids, that is, holders of
those bid’as that are disbelief.
All the bid’as stated in the hadîths written above are bida’
sayyi’a which were introduced into Islam. They are not useful to
’ibâdât. Bida’ hasana, which are helpful in ’ibâdât and which are
done with the permission of the owner of the religion are not
heresies. The hadîth ash-sherîf,