Is it correct to say that the statement that religious innovations (bid'ah) are more severe than sins is not an absolute statement?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Your Eminence the Shaykh, the statement that the people of innovation are more severe than the sinners is not an absolute statement; is this a correct statement?
Answer:
No, it is not correct. Bid'ah (religious innovation) is worse than sin, whatever the bid'ah may be, because the sinner knows that he is a sinner and it is hoped that he will repent. As for the innovator, he thinks he is on the right path; he does not think he is a sinner and does not repent. It is rare for the innovator to repent. So bid'ah is worse than sin, and it is more beloved to Iblis; bid'ah is more beloved to Iblis than sin.
Your Eminence the Shaykh, the statement that the people of innovation are more severe than the sinners is not an absolute statement; is this a correct statement?
Answer:
No, it is not correct. Bid'ah (religious innovation) is worse than sin, whatever the bid'ah may be, because the sinner knows that he is a sinner and it is hoped that he will repent. As for the innovator, he thinks he is on the right path; he does not think he is a sinner and does not repent. It is rare for the innovator to repent. So bid'ah is worse than sin, and it is more beloved to Iblis; bid'ah is more beloved to Iblis than sin.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يصح أن قول بإن البدع أشد من المعاصي ليس على إطلاقه؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.