Is there a good innovation and a bad innovation?

The questioner : Someone might say, "O Shaykh, is there a good innovation and a bad innovation?"

The Shaykh : If someone says this, we say, "No, there is no good innovation and no bad innovation. How can we say this when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is well known that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most knowledgeable of creation regarding innovations, the most sincere of creation toward creation, and the most eloquent of creation in what he says. So how can he say: with this general, comprehensive expression, and then we say that some innovations are good and some are ugly? But we say: Every innovation, if a person thinks it is good, is either not an innovation while he thinks it is one, or it is not good while he thinks it is good. Thus, the error is either in the essence or in the ruling. That is, either it is not an innovation and he thought it was and called it good, or it is an innovation and he thought it was good, but it is not good. The people of the *turuq* (Sufi orders) who innovated in the *adhkar* (remembrances) what Allah and His Messenger did not prescribe—these people think it is good and say it is a good innovation. We say to them: "No, by Allah, it is not a good innovation. Rather, as long as you admit it is an innovation, you must admit it is misguidance, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. If someone asks, 'Did it not become authentic from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he ordered Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Tamim al-Dari to gather the people in Ramadan behind one imam? And he ordered Ubayy and Tamim al-Dari to stand with the people for eleven rak'ahs?' The answer is yes, he ordered them to do so. And one night he went out and the people were praying behind one imam, and he said: 'What a good innovation this is', praising this innovation. The answer is that this innovation is not actually an innovation, because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he prayed with the people for three nights in Ramadan, then he stayed away and said: .
Therefore, the prayer of standing in Ramadan in congregation is a recommended practice (*sunnah*), but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left it off for fear that it would become obligatory upon the community and they would be unable to fulfill it. After the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), this fear was removed, and no new legislation is possible after him. But the people remained in the time of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) praying individually, in pairs, threes, and fours. Then 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw fit to gather them behind one imam and said: 'What a good innovation', meaning in consideration of what preceded it, since the people had left the congregation in the standing prayer of Ramadan, and then the congregation was resumed. So it is an innovation relative to what preceded it, which was its abandonment, and it is not an independent innovation that had not been prescribed before. This is from one angle. From another angle, even though he (may Allah be pleased with him) called it an innovation, it is from the Sunnah of the Prophet and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and it is to be followed, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: But the first angle is the answer from which there is no escape, which is that 'Umar called it an innovation in consideration of the people's abandonment of it and then their return to it. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit Islam and the Muslims through you.