The Ruling on Beginning and End of Year Prayers: Innovation or Recommended Practice?

The issue of the ruling on reciting prayers at the beginning and end of the year often sparks debate within the community. Some parties label this practice as a forbidden innovation (bid’ah) because it is considered to lack a specific basis from the Sunnah of the Prophet. However, an in-depth review by authoritative scholars provides a different and broader perspective. The following is an analysis by Ustaz Fajar Ramdhani, citing the opinion of Prof. Dr. Syauqi Ibrahim Allam. Designating a specific day of the year for a particular prayer or worship originating from the practices of righteous people is permissible according to Islamic law. This practice has been observed by Muslims for centuries. Scholars from various schools of thought affirm its permissibility. The important caveat is that the practice is not believed to be a Sunnah of the Prophet (hadith), but rather a form of good, righteous deed. The claim that specifying a particular time for prayer is an innovation is itself considered by some scholars to be a methodological innovation. This is because such a claim prevents the community from making goodness and remembrance of Allah SWT a routine according to their available time and circumstances. The prayers for the beginning and end of the year are not a new matter. This practice has been passed down through generations by major scholars, particularly from the Hanbali school, for approximately 1,000 years. One of the main figures who recommended this prayer was Asy-Syaikh Al-Imam Abu Umar Al-Maqdisi (died 607 H), the brother of the author of the monumental work Al-Mughni, Imam Ibnu Qudamah. Furthermore, the historian Syamsuddin Abu Al-Muzhaffar (Sibt Ibnu Al-Jauzi) in his book Mir’at Az-Zaman fi Tawarikh Al-A’yan recorded that their teachers always made this prayer a routine and never missed it throughout their lives. In the Maliki school tradition, this prayer is also recorded in authoritative books such as Hasyiyah Al-Allamah Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Al-Madani Kannun. Islam absolutely encourages its followers to pray without rigid time constraints. The absolute command to pray encompasses the generality of time, place, and circumstance. Preventing someone from making a goodness routine is actually seen as an attempt to narrow something that is broad in Islamic law. Therefore, the community is urged to be wary of fatwas that recklessly label these noble prayers as innovation without a strong basis in knowledge. Respecting the legacy of the pious predecessors and the imams of the schools of thought is key to maintaining trust in the treasury of Islamic knowledge. Wallahu a’lam bisshawab.