Question:
Assalamualaikum SS Dato’ Seri Mufti. Is it true that celebrating eidul fitri for a month is considered as bid’ah?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam. Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Eid is a joyous and happy occasion for Muslims. It is a time of happiness the same as a slave is freed by his owner.
When a believer succeeds in performing the commandment of Allah SWT, he receives great rewards for his worship and determination to perform the commandments of Allah SWT. This is stated in the Quran:
قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللَّـهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذَٰلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ
Say, "In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate."
Surah Yunus (58)
In Islam there are two sanctioned eid celebrations. This is stated in a hadith of the Prophet PBUH, when the Prophet PBUH arrives in Medina, the people of Medina celebrate two celebrations and he said:
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَبْدَلَكُمْ يَوْمَيْنِ خَيْرًا مِنْهُمَا يَوْمَ الْفِطْرِ وَيَوْمَ النَّحْرِ
“Allah has substituted for them something better than them, the day of sacrifice and the day of the breaking of the fast.”
Musnad Ahmad (12362)
This means, that there are only two days of celebration that is sanctioned on the commandment of Allah SWT. In another hadith, the Prophet PBUH said:
يَوْمُ عَرَفَةَ وَيَوْمُ النَّحْرِ وَأَيَّامُ التَّشْرِيقِ، عِيدُنَا أَهْلَ الْإِسْلَامِ، وَهُنَّ أَيَّامُ أَكْلٍ وَشُرْب
“The day of Arafah, the day of sacrifice, the days of tashriq are (the days of) our festival, O people of Islam. These are the days of eating and drinking.”
Musnad Imam Ahmad (17379)
The difference between eid (day of celebration) that is sanctioned and other days is that there are several specific worships sanctioned along with it. For Eidulfitri in particular, the Muslims are sanctioned specific worships. Among them are, zakat fitrah, the sunnah eid prayer, increasing our takbir beginning at the start of the night of eid until the imam commence the sunnah eid prayer and several other sanctioned sunnah worships. All of this only happen on the first of Syawal and not on any other days of Syawal.
The question is, are other acts of celebration such as visiting others, serving food and entertaining guests, forgiving each other and gifting others (such as gifting money – duit raya) permissible throughout the month of Syawal? Is it considered as a despicable act of bid’ah?
Simply put, bid’ah literally means performing something without any source, example or evidence supporting the act. Allah SWT states: “I am not something original among the messengers,” (Surah al-Ahqaf: 9). While, in syarak the scholars have differing opinions regarding its definition. However, we are inclined towards the opinions presented by the jurists of mazhab Syafie.
Imam al-Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salam said that bid’ah is divided into five. He said: The road (method) to identify bid’ah: “The bid’ah must be presented and considered under Qawa’id al-Syariah, if it is included under qawa’id al-ijab, then it is obligatory, or tahrim, then it is prohibited…and others.” (See Qawa’id al-Ahkam, 2/205)
Al-Khattabi said: “Whatever is built on Qawa’id al-Usul, then it is not bid’ah nor is it deviant. In Lisan al-‘Arab, Ibnu al-Athir’s opinion is stated as the following: Bid’ah is divided into two; bid’ah huda (guidance) and bid’ah dhalalah (deviant)… then whatever that falls under the generality of what is permissible by Allah SWT or the Prophet PBUH and it is not performed before, then it is considered as good. And he further states: “And one of the examples of this (bid’ah huda) is the words of Umar RA: The greatest blessing in the form of bid’ah is this (performing congregational 20 rakaat of tarawih prayer).” (See Faydh al-Qadir, 1/84)
Al-Suyuti cited the opinion of Imam al-Syafie: “New matters is of two forms: First; new matters that contradicts the Quran and al-Sunnah or athar or ijmak, then it is a form of deviance. Second; new matters which is good, there are no differing opinions between the scholars regarding this, thus, not everything that is new is wrong.” (See al-Amr bi al-Ittiba’ wa al-Nahy ‘an al-Ibtida’, 92)
According to the above presented definitions of bid’ah, it is clear that not everything that is new is considered as wrong. Furthermore, if something is new but is aligned with the syarak, then it is included as good deeds. The same applies to the practise throughout Syawal where people would visit, forgive, hold feasts and others, for it is encouraged by Syarak regardless of place and time. This has become a tradition in our society considering that Syawal is among the blessed months.
Conclusion
According to the above discussion, it is understood that the tradition that has been in our society is not included as bid’ah dhalalah (deviant actions). The reason is, it does not include any specific worship created to be performed throughout the month, such as the sunnah eid prayer, sunnah bath, or eid takbir. Furthermore, no one claimed that visiting others, forgiving and holding feasts can only be done in Syawal. As a conclusion, it is just a tradition that has been practised in the blessed month of Syawal.
Hence, we encourage the public to take this opportunity to feed the poor and needy, answering the commandment of Allah SWT:
وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا ﴿٨﴾ إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّـهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا ﴿٩﴾ إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِن رَّبِّنَا يَوْمًا عَبُوسًا قَمْطَرِيرًا ﴿١٠﴾
“And they give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, [Saying], "We feed you only for the countenance of Allah. We wish not from you reward or gratitude. Indeed, We fear from our Lord a Day austere and distressful."
Surah al-Insan (8-10)
Hopefully, this discussion will answer the question asked. Wallahua’lam.