” Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem “”Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan) Imam Shafi’i (d. 204/820) has said, “Anything which has a support (mustanad) from the shari’a is not bid’a, even if the early Muslims did not do it” (Ahmad al-Ghimari, Tashnif al-adhan, Cairo: Maktaba al-Khanji, n.d., 133). ….. “Indeed Allah has given me strength via four deputies – two in the heavens and two upon the Earth. Jibra’il and Mika’il are my deputies in the heavens and Abu Bakr and ‘Umar are my deputies in […]