The Shaykh’s mention of the saying of Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): “Whoever introduces into Islam an innovation that he sees as good has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) betrayed the message.”

The Shaykh : For this reason, it was reported from the Imam of the City of Migration, the Imam Malik ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him), that he said: “Whoever introduces into Islam an innovation that he sees as good has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) betrayed the message. Read the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:

This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.

اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام دينا

[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]

Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: ‘The end of this Ummah will not be set right except by what set right its beginning. So whatever was not a religion on that day will not be a religion today.’” This is from the jurisprudence of the Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), the Imam of the City of Migration, where he explicitly stated in clear Arabic that whoever introduces into Islam a single innovation and claims it is good has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) betrayed the message. And whoever makes this claim has not believed that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, as is very clear from the words of this noble Imam.
“Whoever introduces into Islam an innovation” meaning a single one, “that he sees as good has claimed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has betrayed the message. Read the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:

This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.

اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام دينا

[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]

And the end of this Ummah will not be set right except by what set right its beginning. So whatever was not a religion on that day will not be a religion today.” So it is incumbent upon the Muslim only to realize his following of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) so that he is truthful in that he is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, His slave and His Messenger, and that he came to us with a complete and sufficient message, with no deviation in it and no deficiency.