Warning against innovations in dhikr, and clarification that there is no good innovation in Islam, and mention of the story of Ibn Mas'ud and his refutation of the people who were remembering Allah

The Shaykh : You are not obligated to adopt specific forms, characteristics, and preparations, such as a special announcement as if the Muslims are gathering for the prayer for rain or the eclipse prayer. These are acts of worship that Islam legislated through the tongue of the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), and then, with great regret, they became forgotten. One of the reasons for this is that people have taken their place and established in their stead acts of worship that they themselves invented. So have you not heard any of them announce the prayer for rain, or the prayer for a lunar or solar eclipse, in the past few years? Never. As for the prayer that a Muslim can perform between himself and his Lord at any time when it occurs to him or becomes easy for him, special sessions are held for it, and that is not of the Sunnah in any way. And when I say this, I know that people will be angry and will condemn it, so we confront them beforehand with the Sunnah of the Companions of the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), and their method in refuting newly invented matters, even if these innovations were considered good in the opinion of the general public, as 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Every innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good". We confront them with the story of Ibn Mas'ud with the people of the dhikr sessions, the special sessions. It was narrated in Sunan al-Darimi with a sound chain that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the house of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud one morning and found a group of people waiting for him. He asked them, "Has Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, meaning Ibn Mas'ud, come out?" They said, "No." So he sat and waited for him. When he came out, he said, "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, I entered the mosque just now and saw people in circles, and in front of each man were pebbles with which he counted the tasbih, takbir, and tahmid. And in the middle of each circle was a man saying to those around him, 'Say tasbih so much, say tahmid so much, say takbir so much.'" Ibn Mas'ud said, "Did you not refute them?" He said, "No, I was waiting for your command or waiting for your opinion." He said, "Did you not order them to count their sins, and did I guarantee for them that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?" Then he returned to his house and went out veiled so that he would not be recognized until he entered the mosque and saw what had been described to him of the circling and the counted dhikr with a number that was not legislated. When the matter became clear, he removed the veil from his face and said, "Woe to you! What is this that you are doing? I am 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him)." They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, these are pebbles with which we count the tasbih, takbir, and tahmid." He said, "Count your sins, and I am the guarantor that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How quickly you will be destroyed! These are the garments of the Messenger, (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 the Soul in whose hand is the life of Muhammad, are you more guided than the Ummah of Muhammad, (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), or are you clinging to a rope of misguidance? He did not say 'clinging to misguidance' and stop, but rather 'clinging to a rope of misguidance.'" They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we did not intend anything but good." And this is the answer of the majority of the innovators, specifically those who follow others. As for those who are followed, the majority of them know [the truth] and deviate for many purposes, and Allah knows best what is in their hearts. As for those who follow, the majority of them follow their leaders with good intentions, as they depict to them that this is dhikr and that it is legislated dhikr, so they follow them in that, exactly as the people said to Ibn Mas'ud, "By Allah, we did not intend anything but good." But the decisive answer that is apparent is the saying of Ibn Mas'ud: "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it". That is, it is not sufficient for one of you to intend good, but it is obligatory that this good intention be accompanied by the fact that the path he takes in seeking good is also good in itself, and it will never be so unless it is the path of the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), as Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said in the Qur'an: . So if the one seeking good takes this path, he is certainly in good. But if he takes another path while intending good, he will not attain this good at all. And this is among the meanings of the saying of the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . And among the objectives of his other saying: . Therefore, Ibn Mas'ud said: "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it". Because you are seeking good by a path other than the path of Muhammad, (peace and blessings be upon him). So you will not attain this good. Then he gave them an example regarding that, a hadith he heard from the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). He said, "The Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), said: . That is, it does not reach their hearts; it is merely the movement of the tongue and a trade in the recitation of the Qur'an, as is the reality in the end of time. .
Up to this point ends the story of Ibn Mas'ud with the people of the innovative sessions. But the lesson is in the entirety of the story as narrated by its witness. He said, "We saw those people, meaning the people of the unlegislated dhikr circles, we saw them fighting us on the day of al-Nahrawan. That is, the people of the dhikr circles became among the Khawarij who rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought them and uprooted their roots, except for a few individuals among them. So their sessions did not benefit them in any way, and that is because they contradicted the Sunnah in that. And this is a proof for the saying of the scholars: "Minor sins are the herald of major sins". And I quote from their saying and say: "A small innovation is the herald of a major innovation". This is the proof for the principle of what I am saying exactly: innovative circles that remember Allah in an unlegislated manner led them to the major innovation, which is rebelling against the Commander of the Faithful and fighting him. Therefore, we must stand at the limits of Allah and not attribute to Allah what He has not legislated, so that we do not legislate by our opinions, minds, desires, and customs something that the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), did not legislate for us. On the contrary, he opens the field for us to remember Allah however it suits us, without adopting a specific manner or form, but only as it becomes easy, as he said in this hadith: .