Firstly: Concluding a gathering with the statement “Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu alla ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaik” (Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You) is mentioned in authentic hadiths and is considered from the recommended practices (sunnah).
Secondly: Concluding the recitation of the Quran with the statement “Sadaqa Allahul ‘Azeem” (Allah the Almighty has spoken the truth) is permissible, and there is no harm in doing so for these reasons:
1. Allah Almighty has commanded in Surah Al Imran: “Say, ‘Allah has spoken the truth'” (Al-Imran, 3:95). This is a general statement that encompasses all times and situations, including the recitation of the Quran. In fact, this part of the verse was revealed after the mention of recitation, so it is connected to it. Allah Almighty stated before it: “Say, ‘Then bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful… Say, ‘Allah has spoken the truth.'”
2. The statement “Sadaqa Allah” (Allah has spoken the truth) is part of the general remembrance (dhikr) of Allah. Therefore, anyone who wishes to prevent it in a specific time or situation must provide evidence to support their claim.
3. Allah has repeated this statement multiple times in the Quran, such as in the verses: “And who is more truthful in speech than Allah?” and “And who is more truthful in statement than Allah?”
4. Arguing that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not do something out of ignorance is not a conclusive argument. The Prophet may have referred to the general principle that encompasses various specific branches, without necessarily mentioning each individual branch. However, it is not valid, according to the rational-minded individuals, to label something as bid’ah just because the specific branch was not mentioned. Let us provide an example to illustrate this point:
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) passed away without compiling the Quran into a single book, and he did not arrange its chapters in the current order. He also did not explicitly teach the rules of elongation (madd), shortening (qasr), nunation (tanween), and others, neither through explicit statements nor through gestures.
The same can be said about the diacritical marks and vowel points that were added during the Umayyad era, as well as the introduction of punctuation marks and the division of verses (ru’us al-ayat) that occurred during the Abbasid era. The writing of the Quran in different recitations, as we see it today, also falls under this category.
Is this called innovation?!
So, everyone is an innovator.
Fatwa by Dr. Khālid Naṣr