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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the reason for not interpreting 'Umar's statement: "This is a good innovation" as referring to a religious innovation (bid'ah)?

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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. Some scholars, such as Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him), stated that the intended meaning of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's statement, "This is a good innovation," is the linguistic innovation. Why is it not interpreted as a religious innovation (bid'ah)?

Answer:
Does 'Umar practice a religious innovation (bid'ah)? That is one aspect. The second aspect is: Is the tarawih prayer not performed behind a single imam? Did not the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) perform it? How can it be an innovation? But 'Umar restored it as it was during the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He did not add anything from himself; he only restored it as it was during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Because the concern, which was the fear of it becoming obligatory, was removed by the death of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So, if they gather behind a single imam every Ramadan, there is no fear of it becoming obligatory, because the obligation only existed during the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). After his passing, the obligation was removed. Yes.
Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [630 -1024] ما سبب عدم حمل قول عمر: (نعمت البدعة هذه) على البدعة الشرعية؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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