The Shaykh’s summary of his previous remarks on religious innovation and its criteria.
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The Shaykh : I am trying to summarize this long discussion:
Religious innovation—meaning something that has occurred—divides into two categories: either it has a connection to religion, or it has a connection to worldly affairs. If it has a connection to religion and the intention is to increase one’s nearness to Allah, then it is an innovation of misguidance, without any dispute. If the intention is not to increase one’s nearness to Allah, but rather it is used as a means to achieve a wisdom or a cause that Allah legislated through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then we look at it: if the reason necessitating the adoption of this new matter existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then adopting this new matter is not permissible; because if it had been permissible, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have adopted it. An example is the adhan for the two Eid prayers. My brother, we will call the adhan, for what purpose? For the purpose of announcement. Well, this existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); so why did he not use this means for announcement? Thus, we follow him and do not introduce anything new into the religion.
However, if the necessitating factor is new, and we are not responsible for it, and it helps in achieving a legitimate religious objective, such as the loudspeaker, then we do not call it a religious innovation; rather, it is a new matter that has occurred. As long as it achieves a legitimate religious objective, it is prescribed. It may even be more than prescribed, such as these recorders, for example. If a lesson, a sermon, hadiths, or Quranic recitation are recorded, and they are prescribed, then they are prescribed because they are a means. But if songs, entertainment, and musical instruments are recorded, then they are not prescribed. This is because it is among the matters that occurred in the world, not in the religion. This distinction must always be remembered so that we do not fall into excess or negligence. Excess is to say: this was not in the time of the Prophet, so we do not engage in it. My brother, it has no connection to religion, like the car or the airplane. And negligence is when you come and introduce things into the religion that you want to use to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), thereby attributing deficiency and weakness of zeal in worship to the righteous predecessors who did not introduce these new matters into the religious affairs.
And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Religious innovation—meaning something that has occurred—divides into two categories: either it has a connection to religion, or it has a connection to worldly affairs. If it has a connection to religion and the intention is to increase one’s nearness to Allah, then it is an innovation of misguidance, without any dispute. If the intention is not to increase one’s nearness to Allah, but rather it is used as a means to achieve a wisdom or a cause that Allah legislated through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then we look at it: if the reason necessitating the adoption of this new matter existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then adopting this new matter is not permissible; because if it had been permissible, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have adopted it. An example is the adhan for the two Eid prayers. My brother, we will call the adhan, for what purpose? For the purpose of announcement. Well, this existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); so why did he not use this means for announcement? Thus, we follow him and do not introduce anything new into the religion.
However, if the necessitating factor is new, and we are not responsible for it, and it helps in achieving a legitimate religious objective, such as the loudspeaker, then we do not call it a religious innovation; rather, it is a new matter that has occurred. As long as it achieves a legitimate religious objective, it is prescribed. It may even be more than prescribed, such as these recorders, for example. If a lesson, a sermon, hadiths, or Quranic recitation are recorded, and they are prescribed, then they are prescribed because they are a means. But if songs, entertainment, and musical instruments are recorded, then they are not prescribed. This is because it is among the matters that occurred in the world, not in the religion. This distinction must always be remembered so that we do not fall into excess or negligence. Excess is to say: this was not in the time of the Prophet, so we do not engage in it. My brother, it has no connection to religion, like the car or the airplane. And negligence is when you come and introduce things into the religion that you want to use to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), thereby attributing deficiency and weakness of zeal in worship to the righteous predecessors who did not introduce these new matters into the religious affairs.
And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.