Question:
Hadith No. 232 in Sahih Muslim says The Prophetﷺ (peace be upon him) said: “Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began. So, give glad tidings to the strangers.”
He (the questioner) asks whether it is authentic and asks for its explanation.
Answer:
This is the actual wording of the hadith. However, in some translations, translators add many explanatory words inside brackets. Those bracketed words are not part of the original hadith. They are additions made by translators based on their own understanding. Whenever you see bracketed words in translations of the Qur’an or Hadith, it means those words are not in the original text but are added for clarification.
If we remove those additions, the hadith simply states:
“Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began. So, give glad tidings to the strangers.”
The question then arises: what does “strange” mean here?
In reality, Islam is not a new religion. Islam is the message brought by Prophetﷺ Adam (peace be upon him) and all other Prophetﷺs. Islam means submitting to and worshipping only Allahﷻ. Every Prophetﷺ taught the same fundamental belief: La ilaha illAllahﷻ (There is no deity worthy of worship except Allahﷻ). Each Prophetﷺ conveyed this message to his people. For example, people followed Prophetﷺs such as Moses, Jesus, Noah, and others, but the core message remained the same – worship Allahﷻ alone!
So the belief of monotheism was not new when Prophetﷺ Muhammad (peace be upon him) preached it. Earlier Prophetﷺs like Ibrahim and Ismail also taught it. However, when Prophetﷺ Muhammad presented this message to his people, they treated it as something new and strange because they had moved away from the original teachings and were practicing idol worship. When he called them back to pure monotheism, they reacted with surprise and opposition, thinking he had brought a new idea.
Similarly, the hadith also predicts that in later times, people will again distort or change the teachings of Islam. They may alter, hide, or remove parts of the religion and present modified practices as Islam. When scholars or believers later come forward to restore and explain the original teachings, people may again see those teachings as strange or new because they have become accustomed to altered practices.
For example, when certain scholars in history opposed practices, they believed to be incorrect or based on association with graves or shrines, many people who were used to those practices considered such scholars as introducing new beliefs. Likewise, reformers in different periods faced accusations of bringing new ideas, even though they were calling people back to earlier teachings.
The hadith gives encouragement to such people. It says that when Islam appears strange again — meaning when people return to its original teachings in times of widespread misunderstanding — those who uphold the truth may be labeled as followers of something new. The Prophetﷺ gives glad tidings and blessings to such people.
Therefore, the hadith does not mean that Islam itself is new or that people should invent new religious beliefs. Instead, it means that the true teachings of Islam may sometimes appear unfamiliar or strange to people when they have drifted away from them. Those who hold firmly to the authentic teachings, even when others consider them unusual or strange; those who are being labeled as strange, then these strangers are praised in this hadith.
There is nothing further complicated in its explanation.