The teacher asks them to send blessings upon the Prophet 300 times before each lesson

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Always
sending this number of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) before the lesson is not the way of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or of his companions or those
who followed them in goodness. Whatever is like that is an innovation
(bid’ah) which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
forbade and warned us against when he said: “Beware of newly-invented
matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every
innovation is a going astray.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2600), Abu Dawood
(3991), and Ibn Maajah (42); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh
al-Jaami’ (2549).

And the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does
a deed that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it
rejected.” Narrated by Muslim (1817).

The reason
why this action is an innovation is that worship must be something that is
prescribed in its nature, the way it is done, the time when it is done, and
the number of times it is done. Allaah can only be worshipped in the ways
that He has prescribed in His Book or on the lips of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Dhikr may be
prescribed in principle, but people start to specify the way in it is to be
done, or the place or time or number, that may bring it under the category
of innovation.

This is
indicated by the report narrated by al-Tirmidhi (204) from ‘Amr ibn Salamah
who said: We were sitting at the door of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood before Fajr
prayer, when he came out. We walked with him to the mosque, then Abu Moosa
al-Ash’ari came to us and said: Has Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan come out to you yet?
We said: No. So he sat with us until he came out, and when he came out we
all stood up. Abu Moosa said to him: O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, just now I saw
something in the mosque that I have never seen before, but I do not think it
was anything but good. He said: What was it? He said: If you live, you will
see it. He said: In the mosque I saw some people sitting in circles waiting
for the prayer. In every circle there was a man, and in their hands they had
pebbles. He would say: Say Allaahu akbar (Allaah is Most Great) one
hundred times, and they would say Allaahu akbar one hundred times. He would
say: Say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah (there is no god but Allaah) one
hundred times, and they would say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times.
He would say: Say Subhaan-Allaah (Glory be to Allaah) one hundred
times, and they would say Subhaan-Allaah one hundred times. He said: What
did you say to them? He said: I did not say anything to them; I was waiting
to see what you think and I waited for your command. He said: Why did you
not tell them to count their bad deeds and guarantee to them that their good
deeds would not be wasted? Then he moved on and we moved on with him until
he came to one of those circles, and he stood over them and said: What is
this that I see you doing? They said: O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, these are
stones with which we count the takbeers (‘Allaahu akbar’), tahleel (‘Laa
ilaaha illa-Allaah’) and tasbeeh (‘Subhaan-Allaah’). He said: Count your bad
deeds, for I guarantee to you that none of your good deeds will be lost. Woe
to you, O ummah of Muhammad! How quickly you have become doomed! His
companions are still alive and his cloak has not worn out, and his vessel is
not yet broken. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you are either
following a way that is more guided that the way of Muhammad or you are
opening the door to misguidance. They said: By Allaah, O Abu ‘Abd
al-Rahmaan, we intended nothing but good. He said: How many of those who
intended good did not achieve it. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that some people would recite the
Qur’aan and it would not go any further than their collarbones. By Allaah, I
do not know, perhaps most of them are from among you. Then he turned away
from them and ‘Amr ibn Salamah said: I saw most of those circles on the side
of the Khawaarij fighting us on the day of al-Nahrawaan.

Think about
this attitude of Abu Moosa and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood, and how they
denounced this method which was not done by the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) or his companions, although dhikr is
basically prescribed, praiseworthy and encouraged.

The scholars
pointed out that doing an act of worship at a specific time or in a specific
place, or in a specific manner, that has not been narrated, is regarded as
innovation. In that case it is called bid’ah idaafiyyah (an innovation by
adding to something that is basically prescribed). It is prescribed in
principle but is rejected because of the way in which it is done.

Al-Shaatibi
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Bid’ah (innovation) refers to something
that is newly invented in matters of religion that appears similar to that
which prescribed, by which people intend to go to extremes in worshipping
Allaah.

This
includes adhering to certain ways and manners of worship, such as reciting
dhikr in unison, or taking the birthday of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) as an Eid, and so on.

It also
includes doing certain acts of worship at certain times for which there is
no basis in sharee’ah, such as always fasting on the fifteenth of Sha’baan (yawm
al-nusf min Sha’baan) and spending that night in prayer.

End quote
from al-I’tisaam (1/37-39).

Sending
blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
is one of the best acts of worship and one of the greatest means of drawing
closer to Allaah, but always doing that before every Qur’aan class, with
this specific number, is something that is not narrated (from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)), so it is an innovation,
even if the one who does it intends well. How many of those who intended
good did not achieve it, as Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said.

What you
must do is advise this teacher and explain that what he is doing is not
Sunnah, rather it is bid’ah. If he responds, then praise be to Allaah, but
if he does not respond and you can learn how to recite Qur’aan from someone
else, then you should shun him as a rebuke to him and so as to prevent
innovation entering schools at his hands.

May Allaah
help us and you to love the Sunnah and defend it, and to love the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions.

See also
questions no. 20005,
21902 and
22457.
And Allaah knows best.