Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 8, No 2, 2020, pp 564-568 https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8264 564 |www.hssr.in © Kadir et al. CONCEPT OF TAQRIBRA'YAI (BRIDGING TWO VIEWS) IN BID'AH POLEMIC WITHIN THE MALAY MUSLIM SOCIETY Firdaus Khairi Abdul Kadir 1* , Hailan Salamun 2 , Asyraf Hj Ab. Rahman 3 , Fakhratu Naimah Muhad 4 1,2,3 Nationhood and Civilization Department, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia, 4 Research Institute of Islamic Products and Malay Civilization, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia. Email: 1* firdauskhairi@umt.edu.my, 2 hailan@umt.edu.my, 3 asyraf@umt.edu.my, 4 naimahmuhad@icloud.com Article History: Received on 15 th October 2019, Revised on 27 th March 2020, Published on 12 th April 2020 Abstract Purpose of the study: In general, term bid'ah is easily understood by majority Muslims of the Muslim World including those in the Malay Archipelago. The views often debated in regards to bid’ah revolve around issues of new practice that considered as bid'ah or bid'ah hasanah. This study tried to bridge the two views pioneered by Imam Shafie (150 – 204AH) and Imam Shatibi (720-790AH). At the end, this study may contribute to reconcile the disputation and arguments within Malay Muslim society. Methodology: This study was mainly opting the information gathered from Islamic religious books as well as academic journals that discuss the issues of bid’ah. Other than that, this research also referred to both primary sources of al-Quran and Sunnah al Hadith to support the arguments. The related data was accumulated by using the content analyses approach and divided into several themes. Main Findings: The findings of this study show that the phrase of ‘all bid’ah is deviant’ is strongly affecting the status of other good practices as deviant or can be classified as good invention or bid’ah hasanah. In this study, to solve this polemics, it is suggested to opt the concept of taqrib ra’yai by using two of Usul al-Fiqh methods. Applications of this study: Islamic study, especially in the field of Usuluddin and history of Islam in Malay Archipelago and its movement. This study needs to benefitted the whole Muslim community by spreading the importance of bridging these two views either through verbal or written form. By that, the Muslim community, especially amongst Malaysians able to get clarification and solve the disputed issues, especially regarding the bid’ah hasanah. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study suggested Taqrib Ra'yai (bridging two views) method which is intended to bridge the gap of the disputes among the Mujtahid leaders (persons who has been certified and acknowledged as capable of interpreting religious law) as well as among the other Muslims. Keywords: Taqrib Ra’yai, Bid’ah, Practice, Heresy, Islamic Understanding. INTRODUCTION Bid’ah derived from the word bada’ (بدع) which means initiating something without any precedent. For example, anyone who created and started something that led to an event or thing to happen, like the existence of heaven and earth ( al- Kuwaiti, 2008 ). In the terminology of the Shariah or Islamic law, bid’ah means something that has been introduced into the religion of Allah that has no general or specific basis to support it. The term bid'ah began to be known among the Muslims based on the hadith of the Prophet, narrated by Irbadh bin Sariah. In the Hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) instructed his companions to be careful of new things in religion that would initiate bid'ah. The Prophet (pbuh) further reminded that all new practices are considered bid'ah, all bid'ah are astray and those who astray belong in hell. For that reason, the scholars had been debating on the true meaning behind the Prophet's statement and polemics in some of the religious practices such as tahlil, talqin and other religious ritual that have no specific basis but were said to be derived from the interpretation of the hadith. The interpretation of hadith is having a different view and historical chronology to the development of Quranic tafsir. Many of the exegesis of Quranic verses are generally used for the purpose of finding the solution to the problems amongst the current Muslim Ummah (Rahman, Kadir, & Adam, 2017 ). Meanwhile, the matters related to the bid’ah are relatively coupled with the new practices instead of handling the ummah’s conflicts. This study aims to bridge the gap between disputed issues among religious groups and followers by bridging the two views of accepting bid’ah hasanah. Researchers are strongly advised that the fight should be avoided in order to prevent disintegration among Muslims. Despite the existing disputes to some extents, the attempt to bridge the gap through Taqrib Ra'yai (bridging two views) concept seems to be capable of easing the tensions that occur in Muslim society particularly in Malay Muslim contexts ( Anshari, 2018 ). The Malay Muslim community are known for their belief in Islam and follow Islamic teachings introduced by traders and Muslim scholars arriving from Arabia, China and the Indian subcontinent. In addition to this teaching, there are some practices which become the point of dispute within Muslims community in particular, those amongst layman who does not have a detailed knowledge of a particular subject. The dispute revolves around some practices which have been practiced for a long time in the Malay community, for example, reading surah Yasin on Friday night, organizing Tahlil ceremony after death and reading the talqin close to the grave after the funeral. These practices are considered contradictory to the Prophet’s teachings and thus should be