permitted to be done. And whoever does so, has set himself as a partner with All?h ( - عز وجل -) and so does whoever supports him. All?h ( - عز وجل -) said: [ أم لهم شركاء شرعوا لهم من الدين ما لم يأذن به الله]

‘ Or have they partners with All?h ( - عز وجل -) who have instituted for them a religion which All?h ( - عز وجل -) has not allowed’. (1)

The prophet ( - ) displayed the meaning of taking the rabbis and priests as gods with All?h ( - عز وجل -) by the people of the Book that ‘ ... they [people of the Book] did not literary worship them, but they used to obey and follow them in whatever they [the rabbis and priests] consider as Hal?l [lawful] or Har?m [forbidden]’. (2)

These rabbis and priests instituted new Shar‘ for their people believing that they are making more good by doing more worship; the sole misconception through which all Bida‘ got through Isl?m.

In “Al-Minh?j”, Shaikh Zakariyah Al-Ans?r? said: ‘No other obligatory Sal?t should precede it and no other Jumu‘ah Sal?t should be performed in the same area, unless the local mosque could not bear the people’s great number’.

Commenting on Shaikh Zakariyah’s statement, Al-Bujairami wrote: ‘That is if the number is too large that their gathering in one place is something nearly impossible due to the inconvenience their gathering would cause, taking into consideration that women, kids and slaves could also join the Jumu‘ah Sal?t, though it is not an obligation on them. In such a case numerous Jumu‘ah Sal?t could be performed and hence no need for doing Thuhr Sal?t as Ibn Abdil Haqq was reported to have said’. (3)