The Shaykh’s remarks on dividing religious innovations into categories, explaining the danger of this division, citing examples of what these people adopted, and the Shaykh’s correct guidance regarding them

The Shaykh : They call it a "good religious innovation." You have often heard those who advocate dividing religious innovation into five categories say that there is an obligatory religious innovation. They give as an example the compilation of the Qur'an by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. They say this is an innovation in Islam, but it is a good innovation, or rather, an obligatory innovation. We say that calling this great matter an "innovation," which is a term of condemnation as we mentioned in the previous hadith , is one of the worst usages that has entered the minds of some scholars.
The compilation of the Qur'an is an innovation! We say that compiling the Qur'an is obligatory, not an innovation. Denying that it is an innovation, they should use this term in its linguistic sense and not say that innovation in the Shari'ah is divided into five categories, one of which is the obligatory, fard innovation.
The compilation of the Qur'an was done by the Companions for reasons, some of which are apparent to many people, and some of which are apparent to those who reflect deeply on the Qur'an.
The first apparent reason is the agreed-upon rule among scholars: "What is necessary for the performance of an obligation is itself obligatory". You know the reason that prompted the Companions at that time to compile the Qur'an: someone came to inform them that seventy reciters among the Companions had been killed in a single day. They feared that the killing would intensify among the reciters, causing the Qur'an, which was preserved in their hearts, to be lost due to their departure and death. Therefore, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), led by Abu Bakr and 'Umar, hastened to compile the Qur'an. This confirms the well-known rule among scholars of usul al-fiqh: "What is necessary for the performance of an obligation is itself obligatory". Preserving the Qur'an is an obligation; if they had not hastened to compile it as they did, they would have aided in the loss of an obligation and would be accountable. This is the apparent reason, but there is another matter that appears to some who reflect on certain texts of the Noble Qur'an.
Among these is the statement of the Lord of the Worlds in the beginning of Surat al-Baqarah: .
Thus, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) indicated in this verse that the Qur'an is a Book. When it was scattered on sheets, scraps, bones, and the like, it was not called a "Book" at that time. He indicated that it should be preserved and recorded in a Book.
This is what the noble Companions did. It is not correct to call the compilation of the Qur'an an "innovation" or "the first innovation to appear in Islam!" This is a grave, very serious error. I will bring you an example to make this clearer. It is a matter that occurred after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but it is not correct to call it an innovation at all, because its occurrence was by the permission of the Wise Lawgiver.
You know that in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, in the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both), it is stated that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) conquered Khaybar by force, he gave it to the Jews on the condition that they work in it, giving them half and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) half. He and they agreed that he would leave them there. He said: This was one of the conditions of the agreement that the Jews remain in Khaybar working in its date palms. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away while the Jews were in Khaybar. Abu Bakr came and passed away while the Jews were in Khaybar. Then the caliphate of 'Umar began, and a time passed of his caliphate while they were in Khaybar. Then 'Umar decided to expel them, so he expelled them, as we say in the Levant: "They appeared with their belongings", meaning he drove them out and allowed them to take what was light for their needs. As you see, this expulsion occurred after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and after Abu Bakr. Is this an innovation in the religion? The answer is no, why? For two reasons. I mentioned the first: his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): This will ended when the Rightly Guided Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab saw fit to expel them. The second reason is the statement of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): . So when 'Umar expelled the Jews from Khaybar, he merely executed a part of this Prophetic command. Does the one who executes a part of the Messenger's command introduce something new into the religion? Far be it from the Lord of the Worlds. There is no introduction of new things; rather, it is in reality something new that did not exist in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but this new matter has its evidence from the Sunnah, as you saw in the hadith of al-Bukhari and in the other hadith: . This was something the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) advised his Ummah to do while he was in his deathbed illness.
Therefore, it is not correct to say that 'Umar's expulsion of the Jews from the Arabian Peninsula is an innovation, even if combined with the concept of a "good innovation" held by those who divide innovation into five categories, because he executed a Prophetic command, and this is obligatory, not an innovation. Similarly, what is frequently cited by those who divide innovation into good and bad is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's prayer, or 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's order for Ubayy ibn Ka'b to lead the people in the tarawih prayer, and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's statement on this occasion: "What a good innovation this is". They also argue with this incident that there is a good innovation in Islam. The answer is the same as the answer regarding 'Umar's expulsion of the Jews from the Arabian Peninsula. 'Umar did not introduce anything new into Islam at all; rather, he executed an old command. Likewise, when he prayed or ordered Ubayy ibn Ka'b to lead the people as imam, he did not bring anything new, because this imamate was legislated by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) himself in the three nights you read about in Sahih al-Bukhari, and then he (peace be upon him) left it due to a reason: . Then this reason was removed by the death of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), where Allah (Mighty and Majestic) completed the religion, so there was no longer room for legislating new rulings due to the removal of the reason. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab returned and revived that Sunnah, especially since there is a hadith from his statement (peace and blessings be upon him) which is a response to some people who, despite the removal of that reason, believe that praying tarawih in homes is better than praying it in mosques. This is an error, a negligence on the part of these people regarding two things. The first is that the reason was removed, and therefore 'Umar returned to reviving this Sunnah. The second is that there is a hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud with a sound chain in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is a legislation from the Messenger in his words, encouraging Muslims to pray tarawih with the imam. So what did 'Umar ibn al-Khattab do? He revived a practical Sunnah and a verbal Sunnah, each supporting the other. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab did not introduce anything new into the religion; rather, he revived a Sunnah from the Sunnahs of the Master of the Messengers. But the traditional question arises: If so, why did 'Umar ibn al-Khattab say: "What a good innovation this is"? Here we say that 'Umar used the term "innovation" for this gathering considering the state of affairs between the Messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) leaving the congregational tarawih prayer and his reviving it. So this Sunnah was left, and he called it an innovation because it occurred after it had not been practiced in this specific time. By this consideration, he said: "What a good innovation this is". In conclusion, it is not permissible to attribute to the religion what is not part of it except with Shari'ah evidence, as you heard regarding the expulsion of the Jews and regarding 'Umar gathering people for tarawih prayer. And it is not permissible to deny some new matters as long as the reason for their introduction is not our negligence, and at the same time, this new matter supports a legislated Shari'ah ruling, such as the loudspeaker. If we know these two matters, we are saved from excess and deficiency. Excess is wasting such a means on the pretext that it is a new matter, when it is not new in the religion and does not contradict the religion, but rather supports a purpose of the religion and a wisdom of legislation. And it is not permissible to introduce into the religion things that were not there with the intention of increasing closeness to Allah. This addition is prohibited by the many hadiths you know regarding the condemnation of introducing innovations into the religion, the most serious of which is the statement of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): . We prefer.