Refuting the People of Innovation and Those Who Support Them

Question:
He says: Along with Rashid, who recites from some of the Salaf that refuting the people of innovation is among the greatest forms of enjoining good and forbidding evil, and we see today those who consider refuting the people of innovation to be among the greatest crimes. So what is the refutation of them?

Answer:
Refuting the people of innovation is necessary. It is necessary to refute those who are in error in order to clarify the truth. If they are not refuted, that is concealing the truth. However, only the scholars of knowledge undertake refutation. The scholars of knowledge are those who distinguish error from truth, who distinguish the Sunnah from bid'ah (religious innovation), and who know the method of refutation. The scholars of knowledge are the ones who refute. Everyone should not refute, and students should not be gentle with one another in this matter when they do not know how to refute properly, nor do they know what deserves refutation and what does not. This is among the affairs of the scholars of knowledge.