Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) as he quoted: "The Chapter on the Prohibition of Innovations and New Matters in Religion."

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The Chapter on the Prohibition of Innovations and New Matters in Religion". Innovations are the things that a person invents; this is their meaning in the Arabic language. From this comes the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning: He created them without any prior example, meaning no similar thing preceded them; rather, He invented them and brought them into existence for the first time. An innovation in the Shari'ah is: anyone who worships Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) with something other than what He has legislated, whether in belief, speech, or action. So, whoever worships Allah with something other than what Allah has legislated in belief, speech, or action is an innovator. If a person invents a belief regarding the names and attributes of Allah, for example, he is an innovator. Or if he says something that Allah and His Messenger have not legislated, he is an innovator. Or if he does an action that Allah and His Messenger have not legislated, he is an innovator. Know that the innovator falls into many dangers. First: what he has innovated is misguidance; what he has innovated is misguidance by the explicit text of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This is because what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought is the truth. Allah the Exalted said: This is the evidence from the Qur'an. The Sunnah is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And it is known that a believer does not choose to follow the path of the misguided, from whom the one praying disavows himself in every prayer: Second: in innovation there is a departure from following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah the Exalted said: So, whoever innovates an innovation with which he worships Allah has departed from following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not legislate it, and thus he is outside the law of Allah in what he has innovated. Third: this innovation that he has innovated contradicts the realization of the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. This is because whoever realizes the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah does not depart from worshipping with what he brought; rather, he adheres to his Shari'ah, does not exceed it, and does not fall short of it. So, whoever falls short in the Shari'ah or adds to it has fallen short in following him, either by deficiency or by excess. And in that case, he does not realize the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Fourth: or fifth. Fourth: the substance of the innovation is a criticism of Islam. For the one who innovates, his innovation implies that Islam was not completed and that Islam was completed by this innovation. Allah the Exalted said: It is said to this innovator: You have now brought a law other than that with which Islam was completed, and this includes a criticism of Islam. Even if you did not criticize it with your tongue, you criticized it with your action. Where is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and where are the Companions from this worship that you innovated? Are they ignorant of it? Or did they fall short of it? Thus, this becomes a criticism of the Islamic Shari'ah. Fifth: it includes a criticism of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is because this innovation that you claim is worship: either the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about it, in which case he would be ignorant, or he knew about it but concealed it, in which case he would be concealing the message or part of it. And this is very serious. Sixth: the innovation includes the division of the Muslim community. Because if the door is opened for the Muslim community in innovations, one person will innovate something and another will innovate something, as is the reality now. The Muslim community will be such that every party rejoices in what it has: Every party says: the truth is with me and misguidance is with the other. And Allah said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So, when people start innovating, they become divided, and each one says: the truth is with me, and so-and-so is misguided and deficient. And they accuse him of lying, slander, bad intentions, and the like. We give an example of this: those who innovated the birthday of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and started celebrating what they claim is the day he was born, which is the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal. Do you know what they say to those who do not do this innovation? They say: These people hate the Messenger and dislike him, and for this reason they did not rejoice in his birth and did not hold a celebration for him, and the like. You will find them accusing the people of truth of what they themselves are more deserving of. The truth is that the innovator's innovation implies that he hates the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), even if he claims to love him. Because if he innovates this innovation and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not legislate it for the community, then as I told you first, he is either ignorant or concealing. Seventh: when the innovation spreads in the community, the Sunnah diminishes. Because people act either with good or with evil. For this reason, some of the Salaf said: "No people have innovated an innovation except that they have abandoned a similar amount of the Sunnah" meaning, or more. So, innovations lead to the forgetting of the Sunnah and its disappearance among the Muslim community. And, if Allah wills, the rest of the speech on innovations and an explanation of their danger to the Muslim community will come. We may not speak about the intention of the doer; some people may have innovated this innovation with a good intention, but they were good in their intention and bad in their action. There is no objection to the intention being good and the action being bad. But it is obligatory for one who knows that his action is bad to return from his action and to follow the Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. Among the harms is also that the innovator does not judge by the Book and the Sunnah, because he returns to his desires and judges by his desires. Allah the Exalted said: to His Book, (Glorified and Exalted is He): to it in his life, and to his Sunnah after his death, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him. And Allah is the One who grants success.