The Meaning of the Hadith: "Every Innovation is Misguidance" and Is a Good or Bad Innovation Permissible in the Religion?

The Shaykh : What is the secret behind all Islamic groups turning away from this sermon? I say the matter comes down to two things:
The first thing is that the word of Allah the Exalted applies to them: , but I cannot say that none of them have ever heard of it, or read this hadith in some book. It is in Sahih Muslim, the most authentic book after the Book of Allah, and it is also found in Sahih al-Bukhari. It is inconceivable that any one of these people has no knowledge of this hadith. So what diverts them or turns them away from adhering to this Sunnah? I say: because it contradicts their methodology. How? This hadith establishes a principle that only those who claim affiliation with the pious predecessors, like us, would wish for: You will not find the Muslim Brotherhood, or the Tahrir Party, or the Tabligh group, or other groups in other countries, anyone among them singing about this principle: If they had been accustomed to reviving this Sunnah, their masses would have awakened from their slumber and said to them: How is it that you are consistent in this sermon: while we constantly hear you say: No, there is a good innovation. The Messenger emphasized this great, noble principle in the minds of his Companions, and its status is as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says in his book "Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim Mukhalafat Ahl al-Jahim" in response to some people who say that this generality is not intended: Some of the later scholars claim that this generality, which is explicit in this hadith, is a specific generalization, and then they bring up some narrations, some of which are authentic and some are not, claiming that these are narrations that specify this generality. The meaning of their words is: that the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) , no, meaning: not every innovation is misguidance.
Ibn Taymiyyah says—and here is the point—and I bring it closer with an example: "It is impossible for this text from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to be a specific generalization, while he constantly and perpetually repeats it to the ears of his Companions" In every occasion where he wishes to speak among his Companions, he says: It is impossible for this to be a specific generalization, because it is incumbent upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who was addressed by the word of Allah the Exalted: Your Lord protects you from people who may intend to destroy you, by interposing between you and conveying the message, clarifying it, and explaining it, .
I must remind you that the conveying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in this verse: is of two kinds: conveying the wording, and conveying the meaning.
Here in an empty room, whoever wishes may come to me and say whatever they want, there is no obstacle, and whoever wishes to sit there is at their own choice. The conveying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) which he was commanded to do in this verse is of two kinds: conveying the wording, and conveying the meaning.
Conveying the wording means the Qur'anic wording as Allah revealed it to the heart of Muhammad (peace be upon him), so he is commanded to convey it. This is the first type.
The second matter he was commanded to convey is the meaning of these words, these noble verses. This is the intended meaning of the word of Blessed and Exalted is He in the other verse: This verse is different from the previous one. The previous verse means: conveying the wording and conveying the meaning, while this other verse means only conveying the meaning, as evidenced by: meaning: the Qur'an. Why? To make it clear to the people. His clarification (peace and blessings be upon him)—and this does not need detail now—has three parts: by his saying, by his doing, and by his approval.
So Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "The continuation of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in repeating this principle:

every innovation is going astray, and every going astray is in the Fire

كل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة في النار

Sunan an-Nasa'i 1578Sahih (Darussalam)

to the ears of his Companions makes it impossible for it to be a specific generalization" because it is incumbent upon him, even if only once, to clarify—by virtue of the verses mentioned—that this general text is not to be taken in its generality and comprehensiveness, and he did not do that at all. Rather, he (peace and blessings be upon him), in the completeness of his conveying of what Allah commanded him, would emphasize this general principle, saying: and so on, of other hadiths, which are not our concern here.
As for the example: His example is: This is what a Muslim would say. Why? Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to repeat this universal statement to the ears of his Companions, warning them against drinking any intoxicant, whatever it was called, whether it was called khamr, or nabidh, or wask, or champagne, or whatever, all these names indicate one single thing, which is khamr in the Arabic language. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says, as you heard: Consequently, how can I say: no, not every innovation is misguidance? While he says in both cases: , . This is the example to confirm what you just heard from what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, that this universal statement which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to mention constantly in the Sermon of Need cannot be specified.
I am now coming to you with a reverse example, meaning: a universal statement that the Messenger specified, so that you know the words of the Messenger, the words of truth, which are comprehensive and encompassing: You heard , Now listen to how the restriction is made. He said: The exception entered here. It was possible for him to say: "Every innovation is misguidance except what is in accordance with worship or the good or similar to that" which you hear from the interpreters, if not from the deniers of attributes. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Is it permissible for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to say: "All of you will enter Paradise" and remain silent, while in his heart there is an exception? This is impossible. So how do these people imagine that what they say: is not to be taken in its generality? That means they attribute to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) something that was never in his mind at all. If it had been in his mind, it would have been obligatory upon him, by religion, to hasten, even once, to explicitly state the exception, as he did in this last universal statement: , they said: And who would refuse, O Messenger of Allah? Is it conceivable that one person would refuse to enter Paradise? Conceivable and not conceivable. And listen to the completion of the hadith, for it is, as they say in the language of the present age, "putting the dots on the letters", they said: And who would refuse, O Messenger of Allah? He said: .
So every universal statement that comes in the hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), let alone the Qur'anic verses, and nothing comes to specify it, must be kept in its generality, especially if it is like the universal statement: which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to repeat to the ears of his Companions on every occasion.
We return: Why do the masses of Islamic preachers today not preserve this blessed sermon which the scholars called the Sermon of Need? Meaning: whoever wants his scholarly need to be fulfilled, let him present the Prophetic Sermon of Need before knowledge. Why do they turn away from it? Because it contradicts their methodology. It is not in their methodology what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) followed in this sermon "The Sermon of Need" which is: the condemnation of the generality of innovation, and that is in the religion and in worship. Therefore, we said in that session there what we mentioned to you just now: It is not enough to be enthusiastic. Every group, every party, every sect is enthusiastic for its group, and sets out without knowledge and without awareness. So we advise those who go out and those who do not go out, but who form alliances, and those who spend their time in politics, and many of them do not know how to perform Hajj, or pray, or fast according to the Sunnah. We command them all, by the command of Allah and His Messenger, to learn: No, they are not equal.
So, based on this, we say: