Warning Against Religious Innovations and Its Impact on National Unity
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Question:
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. The Honorable Shaykh, the questioner says: Many are the religious innovations (bid'ah) that the trustworthy scholars have explicitly declared to be innovations, such as the innovation of forming political parties. Few warn against them. In fact, a new argument has emerged claiming that warning against them affects national unity. What is your opinion of this claim?
Answer:
Our view of this claim is that we say: We follow the Book and what the Salaf (the earliest generations) of the Ummah (the Muslim community) were upon. We do not care about the words of so-and-so or such-and-such. Whoever is upon the sound methodology is our brother, he is of us, and we are of him. Whoever opposes the sound methodology is not of us, and we are not of him. The path is clear, so praise be to Allah.
There is no ambiguity in it such that we would say, "Perhaps so-and-so is the one who is right." The path is clear, praise be to Allah, and the straight road is clear. It is necessary to clarify the errors of those who have erred in order to warn against them. This is not to attack their persons or restrict their status, but to warn against the error so that no one is deceived by it. The error is rejected, and it is rejected by whoever brought it. We are of those who reject, and we reject the innovators, even among the people of the Sunnah. If one of them errs, we reject it from him. It is not that he is of the people of the Sunnah, nor that he is of the great scholars. The error is rejected. This does not mean dividing the Ummah; rather, this is for uniting the Ummah, because the Ummah does not unite except upon a sound methodology. If the methodology is square and the Ummah errs, it will not be blamed.
It does not waver. Allah the Exalted says:[Ar-Rum 30:32] This is a condemnation of them. [Al-Mu'minun 23:53] Do they not waver? Allah the Exalted says: And [Al-Anbya 21:92] And I am your Lord, so fear Me. In the other verse: And [Al-Anbya 21:92] One Ummah. The Ummah does not proceed except upon a sound methodology that contains no errors, no innovations, and no deviation. Uniting the Ummah is not about gathering them together.
As some people think, gathering them together. No, uniting the Ummah is not by gathering them together, but by the Book and the Sunnah. Nothing unites the Ummah except by following the Book and the Sunnah, and the one who errs must retract from his error. This is necessary.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. The Honorable Shaykh, the questioner says: Many are the religious innovations (bid'ah) that the trustworthy scholars have explicitly declared to be innovations, such as the innovation of forming political parties. Few warn against them. In fact, a new argument has emerged claiming that warning against them affects national unity. What is your opinion of this claim?
Answer:
Our view of this claim is that we say: We follow the Book and what the Salaf (the earliest generations) of the Ummah (the Muslim community) were upon. We do not care about the words of so-and-so or such-and-such. Whoever is upon the sound methodology is our brother, he is of us, and we are of him. Whoever opposes the sound methodology is not of us, and we are not of him. The path is clear, so praise be to Allah.
There is no ambiguity in it such that we would say, "Perhaps so-and-so is the one who is right." The path is clear, praise be to Allah, and the straight road is clear. It is necessary to clarify the errors of those who have erred in order to warn against them. This is not to attack their persons or restrict their status, but to warn against the error so that no one is deceived by it. The error is rejected, and it is rejected by whoever brought it. We are of those who reject, and we reject the innovators, even among the people of the Sunnah. If one of them errs, we reject it from him. It is not that he is of the people of the Sunnah, nor that he is of the great scholars. The error is rejected. This does not mean dividing the Ummah; rather, this is for uniting the Ummah, because the Ummah does not unite except upon a sound methodology. If the methodology is square and the Ummah errs, it will not be blamed.
It does not waver. Allah the Exalted says:
every faction rejoicing in what it has.
كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَBut the people divided their religion among them into sects - each faction, in what it has, rejoicing.
فَتَقَطَّعُوا أَمْرَهُم بَيْنَهُمْ زُبُرًا كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَIndeed this, your religion, is one religion
إِنَّ هَٰذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةًIndeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me.
إِنَّ هَٰذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونِAs some people think, gathering them together. No, uniting the Ummah is not by gathering them together, but by the Book and the Sunnah. Nothing unites the Ummah except by following the Book and the Sunnah, and the one who errs must retract from his error. This is necessary.
Source
شرح فضل الإسلام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب ما جاء أن البدعة أشد من الكبائر — islamhouse.com (1:13:18)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.