The People of Innovation Are Not Included in the Saved Sect and the Victorious Group

Question:
Is the innovator excluded from the saved sect and the victorious group?

Answer:
The innovators are not from the victorious group, such as the Rafidah, the Jahmiyyah, the Mu'tazilah, the Karramiyyah, and their like. The victorious group are the people of the Sunnah and the community; they are the followers of the Book and the Sunnah who did not innovate in the religion of Allah what Allah has not permitted. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about them, he said: "They are those who are upon the meaning of [the verse] and its companions." He said: "They are the group." The victorious group and the saved sect are the followers of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who did not distort, did not change, and did not innovate, but rather held fast to the Book and the Sunnah and proceeded upon the methodology of the message of the Ummah from the Companions and those who followed them with excellence in speech, action, and creed. So these are the people of the Sunnah and the community who established the oneness of Allah, worshipped Him alone, and were upright upon His Shari'ah, and they believed in His names and attributes and affirmed them as they came in a manner befitting Allah, without distortion, without denial of the divine attributes, without asking how an attribute is, and without likening Allah to creation. And they relied in their actions on what came in the Book and the Sunnah in speech and deeds. Yes. May Allah reward you with good.