Explanation of the author's statement: The eighth: It contains evidence for what is transmitted from the Salaf that religious innovation is a cause of disbelief.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : The fifth, "The eighth: It contains evidence for what is transmitted from the Salaf that religious innovation is a cause of disbelief". Religious innovation is a cause of disbelief. The scholars say that disbelief has multiple causes, and there is no objection to a single thing having multiple causes. Is that not so? For example, water is heated by the sun, by fire, by electricity, and by heating systems; it has multiple causes. So there is no objection to multiple causes for a single effect. Disbelief has causes, and the scholars mentioned religious innovation among its causes. They said that religious innovation remains in the heart, darkening it bit by bit until it reaches disbelief. They cited as evidence for this the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan an-Nasa'i 1578Sahih (Darussalam) They also said that sins are the messenger of disbelief, and a messenger is that which delivers one to the destination. It is so, for as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us, sins accumulate in the heart and leave a black spot in it. Then, if one repents, his heart is polished and becomes white; otherwise, this black spot continues to increase in the heart until it becomes dark, may Allah protect us from that.
Likewise, he warned against minor sins and gave an example of them by saying: They descended to a place and wanted to cook, so each of them went and brought a stick. This one brought a stick, and this one brought a stick, and this one brought a stick. The fire was small and did nothing, but when they gathered them together, they kindled a large fire. So it is with sins; they have a strong effect on the heart. The strongest effect is from desire. Yes, doubt has an effect, but doubt is easy to remove for one whom Allah makes it easy for, because its source is ignorance, and ignorance may be removed through learning.
But the calamity, the whole calamity, and the predominant factor is from desire. Because the human desire for falsehood is the calamity that kills the scholar and the ignorant alike, may Allah protect us from that, and it is a great danger. For this reason, the sin of the Jews was greater than the sin of the Christians, because the cause of the Christians' sin is doubt, while the cause of the Jews' sin is desire and the will for evil and falsehood. We find that we do not say that most religious innovations are desire, but many of them are caused by desire. For this reason, the innovators become aware of the innovations and warn against them, but they persist in them. Most of those who persist in them intend thereby to maintain their prestige among people and their leadership. They do not intend the well-being of creation; they intend to make people submit to them. They think of themselves, and Satan dictates to them that if they return from their innovation, their status among people will decrease. But that is not the case. Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari is the example cited in this regard. When he was of the Mu'tazilah, he was not an imam, but when he returned from the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah to the doctrine of the Sunnah, he became an imam. So it is with every person who returns to the truth. It is difficult for souls to return from what they were upon, especially if a person has become famous for that thing, for it may be difficult for him to return because he thinks that if he returns, people will say, "This is a man who has no knowledge," or "This is a man who is inconsistent," or something like that. But the matter is the opposite. If the truth becomes clear to him and he returns to it, his status increases with Allah the Exalted and then with creation.
So the important point is that we have lengthened our discussion on this issue, which is that religious innovation is a cause of disbelief. It is not valid to object to this by saying that the scholars of knowledge say that sins are the messenger of disbelief, because we say there is no objection to multiple causes; there is no objection to multiple causes. Is not this hadith something observed in everything? Yes, everything has multiple causes. The hadith has multiple chains by which it is strengthened. Yes, even the channels of rain, the channels of the flood, the valley has branches from here and there, and so on.
"The ninth: Satan's knowledge of what religious innovation leads to, even if the doer's intention is good". Satan's knowledge... He is aware, or else he is not aware, because Satan is the one who made it attractive to these polytheists to make these images and statues, saying, "Make them so that you remember them, and they will help you in worship—O Isa." So Satan made this attractive to them because he knows that this religious innovation leads to what? To shirk (associating partners with Allah) and disbelief.
And here the author said: "Even if the doer's intention is good", meaning that religious innovation is evil even if the doer's intention is good. But does the doer sin with a good intention?
Regarding religious innovation, we say: If he knows that it is an innovation, he sins even if his intention is good. If his intention is good, he still sins because he proceeded to a sin; he proceeded to a sin. This is like one who permits lying and claims that it is a benefit, or one who permits deception in a matter and says it is a benefit. So this person who knows that this is an innovation sins, even if his intention is good. But if he is ignorant, he does not sin with this religious innovation, because all sins do not carry sin except with knowledge. He may be rewarded for his good intention; he may be rewarded for his good intention. And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah drew attention to this, and it is clear in his book: "Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim". So the result is that religious innovation leads to calamity and corruption, even if the doer's intention is good. But what we discussed last was not the denial of the corruption to which religious innovations lead, as there is a difficulty in that and no one can refute it. Rather, we discussed the sin of the innovator whose intention is good, whose intention is good. So we said: If he knows that it is an innovation and persists in it, even with a good intention, is he sinful? He is sinful. If he says, for example, "I want with this innovation to revive spirits and energize people, and the like," we say in answer to this: This intention you intended is in reality a strike at the core of the message of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because with this argument or this doubt, you have accused the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of being deficient. Either he is deficient, or he is unaware of this method that benefits creation, or he is deficient in not informing them of it. This is a great matter, a serious danger. We ask Allah for safety. But if he does not know and his intention is good, but he did not know that this is an innovation, he is rewarded for his intention; he is rewarded for his intention. Is he rewarded for his deed? No, he is not rewarded, because his deed is evil and void.Sahih Muslim 1718b This deed is not valid, nor acceptable to Allah, nor pleasing. But because of his good intention with ignorance, he has a reward. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding the man who prayed and then repeated the ablution after finding water and prayed a second time, he said to him: Because of his good intention and because his deed was a righteous deed in its origin; it was a righteous deed. But it does not come to a person to say, "I will do this deed." We said to him, "You have no reward for that, because it is contrary to the Sunnah." For the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the one who did not repeat: . So this is an issue that we should know. If an innovator comes to us and says, "I did not innovate this except for a good intention, for the intention of reviving spirits and energizing people," we say: This is a good intention, but by this path, it is not good. By this path, because it was not on the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or the Rightly Guided Caliphs. So these common people who do not know, and this religious innovation and others are imposed on them, what is their ruling? As long as they intend the truth and did not know it, their sin is on the one who issued the fatwa for them and the one who misled them, and then they did not know. Yes.
The student: Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, their sin is on those who issued the fatwa for them.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Their deed is not shirk... it is shirk with their ignorance.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : If they die, as long as their deed is a polytheistic deed, they are judged as polytheists. We treat them as polytheists, but with Allah the Exalted and Majestic, the punishment is lifted from them due to their ignorance.
For this reason, now there are people in the remote areas of Africa, in the remote areas of distant lands, who do not know anything about Islam. If they die, we do not say: These are Muslims, and we pray for them and seek mercy for them, even though the argument has not been established against them. But we say: It is apparent that we treat them in this world by the apparent, and as for the Hereafter, their matter is with Allah.
every innovation is going astray, and every going astray is in the Fire
كل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة في النارLikewise, he warned against minor sins and gave an example of them by saying: They descended to a place and wanted to cook, so each of them went and brought a stick. This one brought a stick, and this one brought a stick, and this one brought a stick. The fire was small and did nothing, but when they gathered them together, they kindled a large fire. So it is with sins; they have a strong effect on the heart. The strongest effect is from desire. Yes, doubt has an effect, but doubt is easy to remove for one whom Allah makes it easy for, because its source is ignorance, and ignorance may be removed through learning.
But the calamity, the whole calamity, and the predominant factor is from desire. Because the human desire for falsehood is the calamity that kills the scholar and the ignorant alike, may Allah protect us from that, and it is a great danger. For this reason, the sin of the Jews was greater than the sin of the Christians, because the cause of the Christians' sin is doubt, while the cause of the Jews' sin is desire and the will for evil and falsehood. We find that we do not say that most religious innovations are desire, but many of them are caused by desire. For this reason, the innovators become aware of the innovations and warn against them, but they persist in them. Most of those who persist in them intend thereby to maintain their prestige among people and their leadership. They do not intend the well-being of creation; they intend to make people submit to them. They think of themselves, and Satan dictates to them that if they return from their innovation, their status among people will decrease. But that is not the case. Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari is the example cited in this regard. When he was of the Mu'tazilah, he was not an imam, but when he returned from the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah to the doctrine of the Sunnah, he became an imam. So it is with every person who returns to the truth. It is difficult for souls to return from what they were upon, especially if a person has become famous for that thing, for it may be difficult for him to return because he thinks that if he returns, people will say, "This is a man who has no knowledge," or "This is a man who is inconsistent," or something like that. But the matter is the opposite. If the truth becomes clear to him and he returns to it, his status increases with Allah the Exalted and then with creation.
So the important point is that we have lengthened our discussion on this issue, which is that religious innovation is a cause of disbelief. It is not valid to object to this by saying that the scholars of knowledge say that sins are the messenger of disbelief, because we say there is no objection to multiple causes; there is no objection to multiple causes. Is not this hadith something observed in everything? Yes, everything has multiple causes. The hadith has multiple chains by which it is strengthened. Yes, even the channels of rain, the channels of the flood, the valley has branches from here and there, and so on.
"The ninth: Satan's knowledge of what religious innovation leads to, even if the doer's intention is good". Satan's knowledge... He is aware, or else he is not aware, because Satan is the one who made it attractive to these polytheists to make these images and statues, saying, "Make them so that you remember them, and they will help you in worship—O Isa." So Satan made this attractive to them because he knows that this religious innovation leads to what? To shirk (associating partners with Allah) and disbelief.
And here the author said: "Even if the doer's intention is good", meaning that religious innovation is evil even if the doer's intention is good. But does the doer sin with a good intention?
Regarding religious innovation, we say: If he knows that it is an innovation, he sins even if his intention is good. If his intention is good, he still sins because he proceeded to a sin; he proceeded to a sin. This is like one who permits lying and claims that it is a benefit, or one who permits deception in a matter and says it is a benefit. So this person who knows that this is an innovation sins, even if his intention is good. But if he is ignorant, he does not sin with this religious innovation, because all sins do not carry sin except with knowledge. He may be rewarded for his good intention; he may be rewarded for his good intention. And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah drew attention to this, and it is clear in his book: "Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim". So the result is that religious innovation leads to calamity and corruption, even if the doer's intention is good. But what we discussed last was not the denial of the corruption to which religious innovations lead, as there is a difficulty in that and no one can refute it. Rather, we discussed the sin of the innovator whose intention is good, whose intention is good. So we said: If he knows that it is an innovation and persists in it, even with a good intention, is he sinful? He is sinful. If he says, for example, "I want with this innovation to revive spirits and energize people, and the like," we say in answer to this: This intention you intended is in reality a strike at the core of the message of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because with this argument or this doubt, you have accused the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of being deficient. Either he is deficient, or he is unaware of this method that benefits creation, or he is deficient in not informing them of it. This is a great matter, a serious danger. We ask Allah for safety. But if he does not know and his intention is good, but he did not know that this is an innovation, he is rewarded for his intention; he is rewarded for his intention. Is he rewarded for his deed? No, he is not rewarded, because his deed is evil and void.
He who did any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected.
من عمل عملا ليس عليه أمرنا فهو ردYou have two rewards
لك الأجر مرتينYou hit the Sunnah
أصبت السنةYou hit the Sunnah
أصبت السنةThe student: Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, their sin is on those who issued the fatwa for them.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Their deed is not shirk... it is shirk with their ignorance.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : If they die, as long as their deed is a polytheistic deed, they are judged as polytheists. We treat them as polytheists, but with Allah the Exalted and Majestic, the punishment is lifted from them due to their ignorance.
For this reason, now there are people in the remote areas of Africa, in the remote areas of distant lands, who do not know anything about Islam. If they die, we do not say: These are Muslims, and we pray for them and seek mercy for them, even though the argument has not been established against them. But we say: It is apparent that we treat them in this world by the apparent, and as for the Hereafter, their matter is with Allah.