The Shaykh’s advice to read al-Shatibi’s book *Al-I’tisam* and the Shaykh al-Islam’s book *Iqtida’ al-Sirat al-Mustaqim* regarding the chapter on religious innovations and their criteria.

The Shaykh : And before I mention what I know on this matter, I want to advise you, in your capacity as students of knowledge like me, to study this specific issue, to understand it correctly, and to be like the righteous Salaf in avoiding religious innovation, even if that innovation is based on a general text from the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So that you do not fall into religious innovation, I advise you to read a book that is the greatest book I have known on this subject, namely *Al-I’tisam* by Imam al-Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him). This book is dedicated to this subject, and I know of no other like it; everyone who came after him is merely dependent on it and draws from it. However, there is a specific section that you must also read by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in his great book *Iqtida’ al-Sirat al-Mustaqim: Refuting the People of the Hellfire*. In this book, the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah addressed this important and serious issue, and in general, he concluded with what the previous hadith and its equivalents indicate: . But he looked at the issue from another angle: that some matters may arise, and the scholars of knowledge may see them as prescribed, yet they did not exist in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So how was the rule not applied to them: , while many, and very many, new matters occurred? So what is the decisive ruling that distinguishes between what occurs and is prescribed, and what occurs and is not prescribed?
This is what Imam al-Shatibi detailed in the aforementioned book *Al-I’tisam*, and the Shaykh al-Islam summarized and condensed the speech on it in the book just mentioned. So I will summarize the matter for you: I do not, of course, want to remind you of the texts that affirm this great Islamic rule: ; because I believe that you are aware of it, as I think and hope. But I actually want to clarify two matters for you so that you may verify the meaning of this authentic hadith: ; so that you do not fall into excess or negligence. Because some people, due to their ignorance of what will be mentioned regarding the two Shaykhs, innovate new matters and cling to them because they fall under general texts, while other people deny matters that have occurred on the pretext that they are new and are not among the new matters. This precise detail is something we all need.