Books of Religious Innovation

Question: Two books are currently in circulation among the public. The first is Al-Majmūʿah al-Mubārakah fī al-Ṣalawāt al-Maʾthūrah wa-l-Aʿmāl al-Mabrūrah, authored by ʿAbduh Muḥammad Bābah; the second is Al-Majmūʿah al-Mubārakah fī al-Ṣalawāt wa-l-Adʿiyah al-Maʾthūrah wa-l-Aʿmāl al-Mabrūrah, written by Ustādh Muḥammad Ṣādiq Qamḥāwī. How sound are the supplications and ḥadīths these two works contain?

Answer: Both books are wholly invalid; it is impermissible to make use of them or even to read them. They are filled with innovated prayers and supplications. Assigning a special prayer and a set of invocations to every night of the week has no evidence in the Qur’an or the Sunnah. In addition, the formulas of blessing upon the Prophet ﷺ found in them are marred by excess and exaggerated praise. The books also promote innovated—or even polytheistic—forms of tawassul (seeking nearness through intermediaries) and include litanies tainted by some innovators such as Aḥmad al-Badawī and others. Likewise, they reproduce passages of tawassul taken from Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, a text well-known for its superstitious and innovative content. These passages involve seeking intercession through the Prophet ﷺ, his family, and the saints, all of which leads to undue veneration of created beings and can ultimately result in their being worshipped besides Allah ﷻ.

In short, these two books must be avoided, warned against, and their falsity made clear so that the ignorant are not deceived by them. Muslim authorities are obliged to seize and destroy them.

Another book of the same sort has likewise become widespread today and is now widely circulated among the people