Arba'un 5 — whoever introduces into this matter of ours

الأربعون 5 — من أحدث في أمرنا

Aisha bint Abi Bakr (may God be pleased with her)'s hadith, the fifth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; in Muslim's wording, 'whoever does an act that is not upon our command has it rejected'. Transmitted by al-Bukhari (2697) and Muslim (1718) through al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from his aunt Aisha, and also by Ahmad, Abu Dawud (4606), Ibn Majah (14), Ibn Abi Asim in al-Sunna and others; Ibn Rajab makes it a great foundation — the scale of deeds in their outward form as the hadith of intentions is their scale inwardly — and defers the discussion of innovations to his commentary on the hadith of al-Irbad ibn Sariya (hadith 28) (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 155–171).

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«من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد»

A verbatim excerpt of the text, forty words at most; the full text is in the edition cited under sources

Chain of transmission

Summary

Hadith of Aisha bint Abi Bakr: "Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with our matter, it is rejected". Ibn Rajab takes it as a great principle and a standard for outward deeds, as the hadith of intentions is a standard for inward ones. ¹

Place in the museum

Source: the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi. Mentions Aisha bint Abi Bakr. Built on in the chapters on innovation and newly invented matters.

Connections

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Basis for: Bid'a (religious innovation)
Mentions: Aisha bint Abi Bakr

People and things also explored

Abu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illness· Ali enters Kufa in 36 AH· The Battle of Uhud· The Death of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq· The death of the Prophet· The Farewell Pilgrimage· The forged letter attributed to Uthman· The Hijra

Sources

Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Arba'un 5 — whoever introduces into this matter of ours”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/arbaun-05/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-17.

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Abu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illness

When the illness grew too heavy for the Prophet to come out, he sent word that Abu Bakr should lead the people; Abu Bakr led seventeen prayers, the Prophet once joined him sitting at his left, and Sunni tradition reads the appointment as a sign of Abu Bakr's standing.