notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Is it correct to call only the two Fatimiyya periods bidʿa? (I do not mean the other periods, such as the Muhsiniyya and so on.) I mean only the commemoration of the martyrdom of Lady Fatima (SA).
Bidʿa refers to introducing, altering, or attributing something outside religion to religion. Commemorating Lady Fatima (SA) during the two Fatimiyya periods is not bidʿa unless it is presented as part of the religion itself. Exploiting these occasions for hidden aims is an act of hypocrisy and hostility toward the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
Bid‘a refers to any alteration, distortion, innovation, or addition to the principles or branches of religion: attributing to religion something that is not part of it, or attributing to the Prophet ﷺ and the Imams (ع) anything absent from their conduct and tradition.
Mourning itself is not bid‘a, nor is honouring the rank of Fatima al-Zahra (س) over two ten-day periods an instance of bid‘a in the technical sense. It would count as bid‘a only if we claimed that observing these two periods was originally recommended and prescribed by the guardians of religion, when in fact it was not.
But any exploitation of this practice for ulterior purposes contrary to the Two Weighty Things is a form of hypocrisy and hostility toward the Ahl al-Bayt (عليهم السلام).