The Ruling on Defending the One Who Commits Religious Innovation

Question:
What is the ruling on one who defends the person who commits bid'ah (religious innovation) and says, "He has good deeds, and he served Islam in such and such"? This has become widespread among some preachers.

Answer:
We point out the error so that people may avoid it. As for whether he has good deeds, we do not know about that from Allah. His good deeds are not lost; if he has good deeds, they are not lost. We are not a scale that weighs good and bad deeds. Good and bad deeds have a scale with Allah the Exalted on the Day of Resurrection. Our intention is not to belittle the person, but rather to clarify the truth and expose the error so that people do not fall into it. As for the person himself, it is not our concern. His good deeds are his, and they are not lost with Allah if they are good deeds. We did not speak about his good deeds. We said, "Do you have good deeds?" We did not say, "You do not have good deeds." Allah knows best about good deeds.
Our intention was only to clarify the error so that people are not deceived by it. The person’s affair is with Allah the Exalted, and his good deeds are not lost with Allah if he has good deeds. As for if he does not have good deeds, we do not subtract good deeds for him, nor do we claim good deeds for him. It is not our concern regarding him; we neither deny nor affirm regarding good deeds. But we clarify the error with its evidence so that no one is deceived by it. There is no flattery in the truth. O brothers, there is no flattery in clarifying the truth. When someone errs, his error is clarified. The Companions did not rebuke one another when one of them erred; his brother would clarify it to him. And the scholars, past and present, did not blame one another when one of them erred and it was clarified to him; he would accept it and return to the correct path. The matter is not a matter of tribal loyalties or flattery. No, the matter is clarifying the truth for Allah Mighty and Majestic. Be upright, I remember It is obligatory to clarify the truth. As for whether he has good deeds, we hope for that. We hope he has good deeds and that Allah multiplies his good deeds. This is something we do not intervene in regarding good deeds, but this does not prevent us from clarifying the error. Yes.