A warning against the danger of hastily labeling every new matter as a religious innovation without evidence.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : As I mentioned earlier in the beginning of these gatherings regarding the haste in labeling a new matter as a religious innovation without evidence, some students of knowledge consider every new matter to be a religious innovation and do not distinguish between means and ends. There is a difference between means and ends. The means have the rulings of the objectives; if they lead to a legitimate Shari'ah objective, they are prescribed in accordance with that end. If it is an independent end, then we say it is a religious innovation and we cannot accept it from the one who introduced it. What did we say, my brother?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No, we said from the very beginning of the discussion: come, answer while you are standing, answer while you are standing!
The student: ...
The Shaykh : What?
The student : ... it cannot be said to be a religious innovation unless ...
The Shaykh : I did not say it that way, nor in the sense of what I said! Where are you? Do not daydream, O Shaykh. Are you daydreaming while you are next to me? If you are daydreaming while you are next to me, how could the one further from me be any different? Sit down, sit down.
The classification of books and the organization of chapters of knowledge, and even the dotting of the mushaf and the grammatical analysis of the mushaf, did this exist in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? The answer is no. Did the Muslims reject it? No. Why? Because it is a means to preserving the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and making it accessible to the Ummah. Thus, this means is praiseworthy because it leads to something praiseworthy. The loudspeaker we are using now is a religious innovation; it was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Do we say it is a religious innovation that it is not permissible for a person to use? Perhaps we may find someone who says that due to his lack of fiqh and his ignorance of the sources and resources of the Shari'ah. But if we reflect, we find that using this loudspeaker is among the praiseworthy matters because it is a means to a praiseworthy end. Some people rejected the carpets laid in mosques with lines to straighten the rows, saying it is a religious innovation because it was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). But we say to him, with great ease, was the Prophet's mosque (peace and blessings be upon him) carpeted? The answer is no; it was covered with pebbles. And pebbles cannot be lined out, even if we were to line them out with our feet and dig places for the rows, they would be erased by walking on them. So there is no benefit in lining out the rows, because if they were lined out, they would be erased by walking on them. If these lines lead to a legitimate Shari'ah objective, which is straightening the rows, then we cannot say it is a religious innovation. Rather, we say it is a means to an intended matter, and thus it is praiseworthy. The important thing for the student of knowledge is not to hasten in declaring something a religious innovation or misguidance, or perhaps rising to what is greater, which is declaring someone a disbeliever, until he has evidence from the Shari'ah. Otherwise, he will be questioned about it by Allah on the Day of Resurrection. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says:[An-Nahl 16:116] Likewise, do not say about anything that this is a religious innovation and this is a Sunnah except with evidence. We ask Allah to grant us all understanding in the religion of Allah and insight into its rulings, for He is the Generous, the Bountiful.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No, we said from the very beginning of the discussion: come, answer while you are standing, answer while you are standing!
The student: ...
The Shaykh : What?
The student : ... it cannot be said to be a religious innovation unless ...
The Shaykh : I did not say it that way, nor in the sense of what I said! Where are you? Do not daydream, O Shaykh. Are you daydreaming while you are next to me? If you are daydreaming while you are next to me, how could the one further from me be any different? Sit down, sit down.
The classification of books and the organization of chapters of knowledge, and even the dotting of the mushaf and the grammatical analysis of the mushaf, did this exist in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? The answer is no. Did the Muslims reject it? No. Why? Because it is a means to preserving the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and making it accessible to the Ummah. Thus, this means is praiseworthy because it leads to something praiseworthy. The loudspeaker we are using now is a religious innovation; it was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Do we say it is a religious innovation that it is not permissible for a person to use? Perhaps we may find someone who says that due to his lack of fiqh and his ignorance of the sources and resources of the Shari'ah. But if we reflect, we find that using this loudspeaker is among the praiseworthy matters because it is a means to a praiseworthy end. Some people rejected the carpets laid in mosques with lines to straighten the rows, saying it is a religious innovation because it was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). But we say to him, with great ease, was the Prophet's mosque (peace and blessings be upon him) carpeted? The answer is no; it was covered with pebbles. And pebbles cannot be lined out, even if we were to line them out with our feet and dig places for the rows, they would be erased by walking on them. So there is no benefit in lining out the rows, because if they were lined out, they would be erased by walking on them. If these lines lead to a legitimate Shari'ah objective, which is straightening the rows, then we cannot say it is a religious innovation. Rather, we say it is a means to an intended matter, and thus it is praiseworthy. The important thing for the student of knowledge is not to hasten in declaring something a religious innovation or misguidance, or perhaps rising to what is greater, which is declaring someone a disbeliever, until he has evidence from the Shari'ah. Otherwise, he will be questioned about it by Allah on the Day of Resurrection. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: