Warning Against Innovations and Explaining Their Danger

The Shaykh: And another example related to our close reality today: unfortunately, the Muslims have divided into new factions and split into modern ideas, with each claiming to defend Islam and wanting to erect the structure of Islam tall and high. Yet, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger, every party among the parties says: "This is our view!" Where is the realization of following the Messenger (peace be upon him) when it is said to them: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith—and this is known to everyone:" . They said: "Who is she, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: . And in a clarifying explanatory narration: .
They all know the hadith. So when you call them to follow the Salaf, who are the standard for... the saved sect among the perishing sects, due to the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he was asked: "Who is this saved sect?" He said: . So when the Muslim is called to realize following the Messenger... the deviation from sincerity in following the Messenger (peace be upon him), he used to say to them: "Follow and do not innovate; you have been sufficed. Stick to the old matter." Meaning: Stick to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon, without addition or subtraction. And it came in an authentic story with a lesson and clarification and something for this translation: "Follow and do not innovate; you have been sufficed. Stick to the old matter." Imam al-Darimi narrated in his "Sunan" with a correct chain from him: That Abu Musa al-Ash'ari came to his house one morning and found the people waiting for him to go out with him to the mosque. He said to them: "Has Abu Abd al-Rahman come out?" (Abu Abd al-Rahman is the kunya of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud). They said: "No." So he sat and waited until Ibn Mas'ud came out. He said: "O Abu Abd al-Rahman, I saw something in the mosque just now that I disliked, and yet—praise be to Allah—I saw nothing but good." He said: "What did you see?" He said: "If you live, you will see it. I saw people in circles, and in the middle of each circle is a man saying to those around him: 'Glorify Allah thus, say Allahu Akbar thus, praise Allah thus,' and in front of each of them are pebbles with which they count the glorification, the saying of Allahu Akbar, and the praise." Ibn Mas'ud said: "Did you not disapprove of them?" He said: "No, I was waiting for your order—or your opinion." So Ibn Mas'ud returned to his house and went out veiled, so that only his eyes were visible. Then he went to the mosque and stood by the people of the circles until he saw what Abu Musa had mentioned to him. He uncovered his face from the veil and said: "I am Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). What is this you are doing?" They said: "By Allah, O Abu Abd al-Rahman, it is pebbles—meaning in common expression: there is nothing in it, it is a simple task—pebbles with which we count the glorification, the saying of Allahu Akbar, and the praise." He said: "Count your sins, and I guarantee you that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. What is the haste of your destruction! These are the garments of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and they have not worn out, and these are his vessels and they have not been broken. By Him in whose hand is my soul, either you are more guided than the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), or you are holding onto the tail of misguidance." They said: "By Allah, O Abu Abd al-Rahman—saying this as an excuse for what they did—we did not intend anything but good." He said: "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it! Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) told us: . The witness of the story and its narrator said: "We certainly saw those people—the people of the circles. He said: We saw them fighting us on the day of al-Nahrawan—meaning: they became the Khawarij against the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib, and he fought them until he uprooted their roots except for a few of them."
This story happened to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, the one who ordered with the saying: "Follow and do not innovate; you have been sufficed. Stick to the old matter"; meaning that the Messenger (peace be upon him) has brought you a complete and perfect Shari'ah. So what is the meaning of inventing acts of worship after him except to correct him and attribute to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he did not fulfill the trust and did not convey the message? Otherwise, how can one who believes that this Shari'ah is complete and perfect reconcile this belief with inventing innovations, matters, and acts of worship that were not in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? These are contradictory and conflicting matters: for a person to believe that the Shari'ah is complete, and then he brings additions to attach to it. These additions are undoubtedly not from it. Therefore, the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to disapprove of the strongest disapproval of innovation in religion; because they are certain and decisive that this innovation in religion contradicts the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: .
So the addition to this Islam contradicts this noble verse; where Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has favored us by completing the religion for us.
And among the wonders of matters and the denial of the importance of this favor from the Lord of the Worlds is that believers in His Shari'ah neglect this, while the disbelievers in the Islamic Shari'ah are aware and know the value of the completeness of this Shari'ah and the virtue and importance of Allah's (Mighty and Majestic) favoring His servants with this noble verse. That is because a man from the Jews came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab during his caliphate and said: "O Commander of the Faithful, there is a verse in the Book of Allah—meaning in the Qur'an—if it had been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have taken that day as a festival."
A verse with you, O Muslims, a verse in the Book of Allah—in the Noble Qur'an—the Jewish man says: "If it had been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have taken the day of its revelation as a festival." 'Umar said: "What is it?" He said: "His saying (the Exalted): . 'Umar said: "It was revealed on a day of festival; it was revealed on a Friday and on 'Arafah."
The point is that this Jew knew the importance of this noble verse; because Allah favors His servants in it by completing the religion for the Muslims. So this is a great favor that you must take the day of its revelation as a festival. So 'Umar answered: "We have done so." Because it was revealed on a Friday, which is the weekly festival of the Muslims, and in addition to that: the Messenger of Allah was at 'Arafah in the Farewell Pilgrimage. So this day is the weekly festival in which this noble verse was revealed. Where are the Muslims today who appreciate this verse and the favor in it from the Lord of the Worlds upon the Muslims, and stand at the completeness of Islam and do not add to it from these additions that have distorted the beauty of Islam and lost its true image from the eyes and insights of people? And therefore they began to turn away from it; because it is not this Islam in its complete true form that our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) revealed upon His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
And the Messenger (peace be upon him) certainly affirmed the meaning of this noble verse when he said: . For these meanings that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) understood, they prohibited the strongest prohibition of innovation in religion, due to the contradiction of innovation with the perfection of the religion, and due to the contradiction of innovation with the fact that the Legislator is the Lord of the Worlds, and due to the contradiction of innovation with the fact that the one to be followed is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, and no one else, as it is said.
Among those reports transmitted from the great Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) is the statement of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman: "Any act of worship that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform, do not perform it." And among them—and this is clearer in its rejection of adding to the religion—is the statement of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Every religious innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good." So where are we today in relation to these Salafi statements? We have strayed far, and we have deviated from this path to another. While the Companions of the Messenger prohibited adding to the religion, we boldly affirm that there is no harm in adding to the religion, because they say there is a "good innovation." And here is Ibn 'Umar explicitly stating: First, he narrates the saying of the Messenger: This is a famous and well-known hadith. He explains this phrase from the hadith of the Messenger by adding clarification, saying: "Even if people see it as good," "Every religious innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good." Why? Because, as Imam al-Shafi'i said, "Whoever prefers [by personal opinion] has legislated." For it is not permissible for a person who does not know the unseen to engage in juristic preference, and the Shari'ah is unseen. If that were not the case, there would have been no need for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to send the Messengers and send down the Books, if every person could prefer by his intellect. The Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew this reality, so they ordered those who came after them to be sincere to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in following him and not to add to what he brought (peace and blessings be upon him).
This is a word that allows for more elaboration and expansion, but I fear that boredom may creep into you; so I will suffice with this much, awaiting questions after we perform the 'Isha' prayer, and we will suffice with this for the time being.
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It is the Messenger who says: It is used to mean the One who disposes of time. It is not permissible; because if the intended meaning is the One who disposes of time, it would not be among the names of Allah.
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