The story of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud regarding his rejection of the innovation of gathering in circles for dhikr, and a discussion on the danger of religious innovation.

The Shaykh : And so we found Ibn Mas'ud hastening to reject the circles of dhikr in the famous story in Sunan al-Darimi and others, with a valid chain of narration. I do not see it appropriate to narrate it in full now, but I will mention the relevant part of it. He saw in some of the mosques people sitting in circles, and in the center of each circle was a man saying to those around him, "Say Subhan Allah so many times, say Alhamdulillah so many times, say Allahu Akbar so many times." And in front of each of them was a pebble with which he counted the tasbih, tahmid, and takbir. So he said to them, "Woe to you! What is this that you are doing?" They said, "It is pebbles, meaning a simple task that contains nothing strange or abominable. It is pebbles with which we count the tasbih, tahmid, and takbir." He said, "Count your sins, and I guarantee you that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How great is the destruction that has befallen you! 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 My soul is in the hand of, you are either on a straighter path than the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), or you are clinging to a rope of misguidance." He said this... because of their innovation in the religion. So what was their answer? Their answer was wrong, but it was less wrong, or less immersed in error, than the answers of people today. People today, when such an innovation is rejected to them, say, "My brother, what is the problem? We gathered to remember Allah, praise Allah, glorify Allah, and send blessings upon the Messenger of Allah. What is the problem?" Those people's answer matched their reality, but it did not have the boldness of... the issue through ignorance, as happens with the later generations. "What is the problem" means there is nothing wrong. They did not say this. They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman," as if they were saying, "If you see that this is a reprehensible matter, we did not intend it. By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we did not intend anything but good." And this is true; they did not intend anything but good. So what was the answer of the man who was truly a jurist, and he was 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud? He said, "And how many are those who intend good but do not attain it." Why? Because the matter is as the poet said, "You hope for salvation but have not taken its paths *** For the ship does not run on the dry land." The one who wants to be saved must take the means that Allah the Exalted has made in His cosmic sunnah or in His legislative sunnah as a means of salvation. As for the ignorant person who acts on his own head and imagines that this is the path of salvation and the path of good, he does not attain this good. Ibn Mas'ud said, "And how many are those who intend good but do not attain it. Indeed, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) informed us." This supports the previous statement of Ibn Mas'ud... because these reciters recite the Qur'an, they recite it like the recitation of poetry, they do not understand it and do not gain understanding from it and through it. And therefore the Messenger (peace be upon him) says in this hadith that 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud informs us of, and here is the lesson. The witness of this story says, "We have indeed seen those people fighting us on the Day of al-Nahrawan." As is known in Islamic history, the first was a battle that took place between the Khawarij, who rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, so he was forced to fight them, implementing known texts, among which is His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He, So the rebellious faction was the faction of the Khawarij. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) fought them after he had established the proof against them and sent 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas to debate them, and yet they did not submit to the proof. So it became necessary for 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to fight them by the text of the Noble Qur'an. He fought them and uprooted their roots, except for a few of them. Among these Khawarij were the people of the circles of dhikr. And from the authentic story is an incident, not just a story that is narrated; it was narrated with a valid chain of narration, from which we take a lesson, or rather many lessons. Among them is what the scholars say, "Minor sins are the herald of major sins." Therefore they say it is obligatory for the Muslim not to belittle a small sin, because by habituating oneself to small sins, one's self will become accustomed until it reaches the point of finding a major sin palatable. Minor sins are the herald of major sins. I derived from the word of the scholars that a small religious innovation leads its owner to a major religious innovation. And the proof of that is this authentic story. And among the lessons is that we look at those to whom Ibn Mas'ud rejected their gathering and clustering in those assemblies. What is the reprehensible thing? Many people, even those who attribute themselves to knowledge, imagine that this story, or rather Ibn Mas'ud's rejection of these people, is a rejection of their gathering for the remembrance of Allah, as you heard. This is said in the authentic hadiths that encourage gathering and dhikr, and that the angels... are specially appointed by the Lord of the Worlds to descend from the sky to the earth to follow the circles of dhikr. This is an authentic hadith in Sahih Muslim. So they imagine that such a hadith contradicts Ibn Mas'ud's rejection of the people of the circles. How does this hadith contradict it? It encourages gathering! This... and this imagination of a contradiction between Ibn Mas'ud's story and the hadiths encouraging circles of dhikr comes only from a lack of understanding of the religion.