The Shaykh’s explanation of the hadith: “Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam,” and that the hadith does not indicate innovation in religion.

The Shaykh : Therefore, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions)—and perhaps I can conclude this talk with the following hadith, so that we save some time for answering some questions—so I say: The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) in the authentic hadith that Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih*, from the hadith of Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: كنا جلوسًا عند النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، فجاءه أعرابٌ مجتابي النمار، متقلدي السيوف، عامتهم من مضر بل كلهم من مضر، فلمَّا رآهم رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم تمعَّر وجهه -أي: تغيرت ملامح وجهه حُزنًا على حالة هؤلاء الأعراب مِن الفقر- فخطب النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم في الصحابة، وتلا قوله تعالى: يا أيها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا مما رزقناكم مِن قبل ما يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقولَ ربِّ لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصّدَّق وأكن من الصالحين ثم قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: تصدق رجل بدرهمه بديناره بصاع بره بصاع شعيره، فقام رجل من الصحابة وانطلق إلى داره ليعود حاملًا في طرف ثوبه ما تيسر له من الصدقة، ووضعها أمام النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، فلما رأى سائر الصحابة ما فعل صاحبهم قام كل منهم إلى داره أيضًا ليعود بما تيسر له من الطعام والصدقة، قال جرير: فاجتمع أمام النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم من الصدقات كأكوام الجبال، فلما رأى ذلك رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم تنوَّر وجهه كأنه مذهبة -أي كأنه فضة مطلية بالذهب تلألأ نوراً، فرحا باستجابة أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم لحضه لهم على الصدقة على أولئك القوم-، فقال صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم في هذه المناسبة: من سنَّ في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله أجرها وأجر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أجورهم شيئاً، ومن سنَّ في الإسلام سنة سيئة فعليه وزرها ووزر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أوزارهم شيئاً We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions), when a group of Bedouins came to him, wearing torn cloaks, wearing swords, most of them from Madyan, or rather all of them from Madyan. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) saw them, his face changed color—meaning: the features of his face changed with sadness for the state of these Bedouins in poverty—so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) addressed the Companions and recited His saying: “O you who believe! Spend of that with which We have provided you before death comes to any of you, and he says: My Lord! Why did You not delay me until a near term, and I would give charity and I would be among the righteous.” Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Let a man give charity from his dirham, from his dinar, from his sa' of wheat, from his sa' of barley.” So a man from the Companions stood up and went to his house to return carrying in the end of his garment whatever charity he could manage, and he placed it in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions). When the rest of the Companions saw what their brother had done, each of them stood up to his house also to return with whatever food and charity he could manage. Jarir said: So there gathered in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) from the charities piles like mountains. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) saw that, his face brightened as if it were a gold ring—meaning: as if it were silver plated with gold, shining with light, rejoicing at the response of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) to his encouragement of them to give charity to those people—so he (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) said on this occasion: “Whoever introduces a good practice in Islam, he will have its reward and the reward of whoever works by it after him until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards. And whoever introduces a bad practice in Islam, he will have its sin and the sin of whoever works by it after him until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their sins.” This is where the hadith ends that Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih*. The point of it is: It is a grave error now, and in the end times, for some people to use this hadith as an argument for that general rule: They use this hadith to make an exception to that rule, claiming that the meaning of the hadith is: : They claim that its meaning is that whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam. This is the height of ignorance and the height of a foreign accent, because the incident, as you heard, revolves entirely around the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) encouragement of charity, both by verse and by his own words. Then the first to respond was that first Companion, and the rest of the Companions followed him. So, encouraging those who want to have the reward of their deed and the reward of those who follow them in their deed, he said to introduce a good practice. He said this on this occasion, meaning: on the occasion of charity and the standing up of the first man who introduced that practice in that place. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meaning: Whoever opens a path that leads to a good practice. Where do we know the good practice from? From our minds or from the Shari'ah of our Lord?!
You know the difference between the people of the Sunnah and the Mu'tazilah. The Mu'tazilah say: The good is what the mind deems good. As for the people of the Shari'ah, they say: The good is what the Shari'ah deems good. The evidence is in this very story, where Allah commanded His servants to give charity before death comes to any of them. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) confirmed that with some of his hadiths, such as his saying: So when this man stood up and opened the door to charity, he had introduced a good practice. This good practice was not from himself, but from the good exhortation he heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions). Therefore, he had the reward of his charity and the reward of those who followed him in that exhortation.
Likewise, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the completion of the hadith: Where do we know the bad practice from? From our minds or from the Shari'ah of our Lord?! The answer is the same: from the Shari'ah. Both deeming something good and deeming it bad are from the Shari'ah, and the mind has no role in it.
Since that is the case, in conclusion I say: It is obligatory for all Muslims to stand by the limits of the acts of worship that came clearly from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions), and not to add to them any additions that did not come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions), nor from the Companions, nor from the righteous Salaf. So it is no wonder that the scholars of knowledge say:
“And all good is in following those who came before *** And all evil is in the innovation of those who came after”.