Warning against innovations in dhikr, and clarification that there is no good innovation in Islam

The Shaykh: , You are not obligated to adopt specific forms, characteristics, and preparations. Among these is a special announcement, as if the Muslims are gathering for the prayer for rain or the prayer for the eclipse. These are acts of worship that Islam legislated through the tongue of the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - . Then - with great regret - they became forgotten. One of the reasons for this is that people replaced them and established in their place acts of worship that they themselves invented. Have you ever heard any of them announce a prayer for rain, a prayer for the lunar or solar eclipse, in the past few years? Never. As for the prayer that a Muslim can perform between himself and his Lord at any time when it occurs to him or becomes easy for him, special sessions are held for it; and this is not from the Sunnah in any way.
And when I say this, I know that people will be angry and will condemn it, so we confront them beforehand with the Sunnah of the Companions of the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - and their method in refuting newly invented matters, even if these innovations were considered good in the opinion of the majority, as Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab - may Allah be pleased with him - said: "Every innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good." We confront them with the story of Ibn Mas'ud with the people of the special dhikr sessions; for it is narrated in "Sunan al-Darimi" with a sound chain that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari - may Allah be pleased with him - came to the house of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud one morning and found a group of people waiting for him. He said to them: "Has Abu 'Abd al-Rahman - meaning Ibn Mas'ud - come out?" They said: "No." So he sat and waited for him. When he came out, he said: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, I entered the mosque just now and saw people in circles, and in front of each of them were pebbles with which they counted the tasbih, takbir, and tahmid. And in the middle of each circle was a man saying to those around him: 'Say tasbih so much, say tahmid so much, say takbir so much.'" Ibn Mas'ud said: "Did you not refute them?" He said: "No, I was waiting for your command or your opinion." He said: "Did you not order them to count their sins and guarantee for them that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?" Then he returned to his house and went out veiled so that he was not recognized until he entered the mosque and saw what had been described to him of the circling and the counted dhikr with a number that was not legislated. When the matter became clear, he removed the veil from his face and said: "Woe to you! What is this that you are doing? I am Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him." They said: "By Allah - O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman - , these are pebbles with which we count the tasbih, takbir, and tahmid." He said: "Count your sins, and I am the guarantor that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How quickly you will be destroyed! These are his garments - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - and they have not worn out, and these are his vessels and they have not been broken. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, are you more guided than the Ummah of Muhammad - peace and blessings be upon him - or are you clinging to the tail of misguidance?" He did not say: "clinging to misguidance" only, but rather "to the tail of misguidance." They said: "By Allah - O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman - , we did not intend anything but good."
And this is the answer of the majority of the innovators, specifically those who follow them. As for those who are followed, the majority of them know [the truth] but deviate for many purposes, and Allah knows best what is in their hearts. As for the followers, the majority of them follow their leaders with good intentions, as they portray to them that this is dhikr, and that it is legislated dhikr, so they follow them in that completely, just as the people said to Ibn Mas'ud: "By Allah, we did not intend anything but good." But the decisive answer is the saying of Ibn Mas'ud: "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it!" That is: it is not sufficient for one of you to intend good, but it is obligatory that this good intention be accompanied by the fact that the path - also - that he takes in seeking good is good in itself, and it will never be so except if it is the path of the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - ; as Allah - Mighty and Majestic - said in the Qur'an: .
So if the one seeking good takes this path, he is certainly in good. But if he takes another path while intending good, he will not attain this good at all. And this is among the meanings of the saying of the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - : , and among the objectives of his other saying: ; therefore Ibn Mas'ud said: "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it!" Because you are seeking good by a path other than the path of Muhammad - peace and blessings be upon him - ; so you will not attain this good. Then he gave them an example of a hadith he heard from the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - . He said: The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - said: ; that is: it does not reach their hearts, it is only the movement of the tongue and a trade with the recitation of the Qur'an, as is the reality in the last of time, .
Up to here ends the story of Ibn Mas'ud with the people of the innovated sessions, but the lesson is in the complete story narrated by its witness, who said: "We certainly saw those people - meaning: the people of the unlegislated dhikr circles - we saw them fighting us on the day of al-Nahrawan; that is: the people of the dhikr circles became among the Khawarij who rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, so Ali - may Allah be pleased with him - fought them and uprooted their roots except for a few individuals among them, so their sessions did not benefit them at all; and that is because they contradicted the Sunnah in that. And this is a witness to the saying of the scholars: "Minor sins are the herald of major sins," and I quote from their saying and say: "The small innovation is the herald of the great innovation."
This is the witness to the complete rule of what I say: innovated circles in which they remember Allah in an unlegislated way led them to the great innovation; which is rebelling against the Commander of the Faithful and fighting him. Therefore, we must stand at the limits of Allah, and not presume upon Allah by legislating with our opinions, minds, desires, and customs something that the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - did not legis for us. Rather, on the contrary, he gives us the space to remember Allah however it happens for us, without adopting a specific manner or form, but only as is easy, as he said in this hadith: .