INFOGRAPHIC: Understanding Bid'a

Special thanks to Br. Shaik Abdul Khafid for the graphic work.

I’ve always found bid’a to be one of those misunderstood topics in Islam- if understood, its usually in a patchwork or piecemeal format, so I figured an infographic was needed to provide the big picture. Infographics is an underutilized idea in Islamic education but its very easy to do and inshallah I plan to make a few more of these infographics.

Bid’a is a discursive concept and even the Sahabas debated on certain bid’a. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad has said, “Islam is the only religion in the world that has the concept of bid’a,” (and its subcategories of praiseworthy bid’a and blameworthy bid’a), to regulate Islam and keep it healthy and strong, free of superstition and ignorance, while also allowing it to adapt reflexively and dynamically when a real need arises. Its as I’ve said before regarding bid’a: sometimes things must change in order to remain the same.

The source for this project was Sunna Notes by GF Haddad, from which I took select quotations. Its a very lengthy book full of quotations, and also deals with contemporary issues like feminism, Progressives and Quran-only Muslims. If you have read GF Haddad before, you know he is a fantastic writer, but his tone is very scathing (interestingly, in his videos he is extremely soft spoken) so I tried to avoid his harsh tone in this project.

Click the images to enlarge them.

Bid’a Venn diagram

Understanding Bid’a in Islam Flow chart

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.