Combining the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), “Every innovation is misguidance,” with the statement of ‘Umar, “This is a good innovation”

Question:
May Allah reward you. The questioner asks: How do we reconcile the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), “Every innovation is misguidance,” with the saying of ‘Umar, “This is a good innovation”?

Answer:
Did ‘Umar say “a good innovation”? What did he mean? He meant the prayer of tarawih behind an imam. The prayer of tarawih is a recommended practice (sunnah), not an innovation. His intention was the linguistic sense of “innovation,” meaning that people had forgotten this matter, so ‘Umar revived it and said, “This is a good innovation,” meaning it is a linguistic innovation, not a religious innovation. Every religious innovation is invalid, and every innovation is misguidance. Far be it from ‘Umar that he intended a religious innovation. And the tarawih prayer is not an innovation; it is a recommended practice. Gathering them behind one imam is not an innovation. They used to gather behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he prayed with them for nights, but he feared it would become obligatory upon them, so he stopped.
In the time of ‘Umar, the excuse was gone, and that was the fear of it becoming obligatory, because the possibility of obligation ended with the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Nothing becomes obligatory after the death of the Messenger. So when the danger was removed, ‘Umar gathered them and revived the recommended practice. He gathered them and revived the recommended practice that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had established, which he had left off out of fear of it becoming obligatory. Yes.