Mentioning the ways in which the interpretation of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Whoever introduces into Islam” as a good religious innovation is invalid.

The Shaykh : I mean that restricting this hadith to this interpretation is an error; rather, it is invalid for more than one reason. The first is that this interpretation contradicts the event, as we have explained. The second reason, which is very important, is that I hope students of knowledge, in particular, will pay attention to this so that they can guide those who have strayed from understanding the first part of the hadith in the general sense intended by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So we say to these strayers: We hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say in this hadith: , and in the second part he says: . We ask: Is there any disagreement among Muslims today that there is no way to know whether something is good or bad except through the Book and the Sunnah; that is, through revelation from the heavens?!
In other words, the good thing and the bad thing are not what people’s minds find good or do not find good, contrary to what the Mu’tazilah used to hold in the past, which led to severe disagreement between them and the people of the Sunnah due to their deviation. The Mu’tazilah used to say—and this became a principle in the science of theology—“rational beautification and rational disapproval.” The Mu’tazilah say: “The good is what the mind beautifies, and the ugly is what the mind disapproves of.” Great discussions took place between the people of the Sunnah and the Mu’tazilah on this matter, and without doubt, the victory and triumph belonged to the people of the Sunnah over them. I do not see myself in need of supporting the people of the Sunnah here, since we are all, first of all, affiliated with the people of the Sunnah, and there is no Mu’tazili among us who holds the view of their predecessors that the good is what the mind beautifies and the ugly is what the mind disapproves of. As long as there is no one among us who holds to rational beautification and rational disapproval, we return to them to understand the hadith in these two attributes: a good sunnah and a bad sunnah. From where do we know that a certain thing is a good sunnah, or that another thing is a bad sunnah?
The answer is obvious: it is the Book and it is the Sunnah. At that point, we say to the innovators who expanded the circle of worship in Islam due to their deviation from that great principle: . We say to these people: Which innovation did you claim to be good? We told you: . If they are unable to do so, there is no doubt that they are completely unable to bring evidence from the Book and the Sunnah that beautifies for them any of those innovations in worship. Likewise, if they say that a certain matter is a bad sunnah, this claimant must also bring the legal evidence from the Book and the Sunnah that that sunnah is a bad sunnah.