An Examination of Innovation (Bid'ah) from Albaani’s View

Since the issue of Bid’ah is very important for the Salafis and Wahhabis, and because of the influence of Al-Albaani’s thoughts among them, in this article we tried to investigate and explain innovation from his perspective showing some of the weaknesses of his view. According to our research, Al-Albaani doesn’t propose any definition for innovation (bid’ah) from himself and his definitions are those of Ibn-Rajab Hanbali and Ibn-Hijr Asghalani’s. Al-Albaani rejects the dichotomy of good and vice innovation, bringing reasons for refuting this division. Furthermore, he postulates that bid’ah is divided into minor and major Bid’ah. Yet he doesn’t accept dividing bid’ah into the five commands. He believes that the narrations which rebuke innovation (bid’ah) are correct. He also offers principles for recognizing innovation (bid’ah).