Reconciling: “Every innovation is misguidance” and “Whoever introduces in Islam”

We move on to a message received by the program from the village of al-Asadi and Sab al-Ali in northern Yemen. The sender of the message is the listener: Ahmad 'Az al-Din Hizam al-'Imad. He says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And he also said: , or as it was reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). We ask for clarification of these two matters, as there is a difficulty with them for many people. May Allah reward you with good?
Answer: Yes, all of this is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said, in the authentic hadith in the Friday sermon: , narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. Al-Nasa'i added with a good chain: . And he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said in the authentic hadith: . And he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: , meaning: it is rejected, and it is agreed upon that it is authentic. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. So it is obligatory upon the scholars of Islam to clarify innovations to the people, to disapprove of them, and to guide the people to abandon them. They are innovations in the religion, meaning that a person legislates something that Allah has not legislated. This is bid'ah (religious innovation): innovating something that Allah has not legislated, such as prayer or fasting or otherwise, in a manner that Allah has not legislated. This is called bid'ah. For example, if someone says that it is legislated for people to fast on Friday voluntarily, this is bid'ah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade singling out Friday for fasting: . So the one who says that it is to be fasted and that it is prescribed has innovated and contradicted the authentic hadiths. Or if he says that it is legislated for people to pray a prayer with two bowings or three prostrations in the rak'ah or the like, because this is bid'ah, except for what came in the text regarding the eclipse prayer, which has two bowings and three bowings as in the authentic hadiths, with two prostrations in each rak'ah. But if he says that it is legislated to bow twice in the prayer in every rak'ah other than the eclipse prayer, this becomes bid'ah. Likewise, building on graves and making mosques on them is from the innovations; because this occurred after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); and because its practitioners seek nearness to Allah through it, and it is something that distances them from Allah, and it is from the innovations that lead to shirk (associating partners with Allah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against it and said: . And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So the one who builds mosques and domes on them has innovated in the religion, contradicted the text of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and brought about a means to shirk. Likewise, placing curtains and perfumes on them is from the innovations and from the means to shirk. Likewise, celebrating the death of so-and-so or the birth of so-and-so is also from the innovations. And among that is the celebration of his (peace and blessings be upon him) birth, which has no basis. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it, nor did his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) , nor did the scholars and the righteous in the blessed centuries. It only occurred after the three centuries; it occurred in the fourth century and after. And the Muslim has no right to seek nearness to Allah except with something that Allah has legislated, as mentioned in the hadiths. As for the hadith: , the meaning of this hadith is: reviving the sunnah (recommended practice), displaying it, and calling to it. This is the meaning of “whoever introduces in Islam”: he displayed the sunnah, called to it, and exalted it until the people knew it and acted upon it, so he has a reward like theirs. It does not mean that he innovated a bid'ah. No, bid'ah is disapproved of, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against it. And the reason for the hadith indicates this, for the reason for the hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw people with signs of poverty and need, so he addressed the people, reminded them, and encouraged them to give charity. Then a man came with a bag of silver in his hand, and his hand was almost unable to hold it, or indeed it was unable to hold it. Then the people followed with charity. So he said at that time: . So the meaning is: displaying the sunnah and calling to it, the doer of that has the reward of what he did and like the rewards of those who followed him in good. Likewise, whoever calls to falsehood and sins and innovates in the religion, the sin of that is upon him and like the sins of those who followed him in the bid'ah. And the meaning of “introduced in Islam” is not: he innovated. No, this contradicts the authentic hadiths, and it is not permissible for anyone to say this; because this means rejecting the sunnah and disapproving of it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) disapproved of innovations, warned against them, and repeated that. And Allah in the Qur'an pointed to this; our Lord, Glorified and Exalted is He, pointed to this in the Qur'an, and He said, Glorified and Exalted is He: [Surah al-Shura: 21]. This means disapproving of legislating in the religion what Allah has not permitted. So the one who brings something from his own mind that Allah and His Messenger have not legislated, it is invalid, it is bid'ah, like what was mentioned regarding innovating building on graves, mosques on graves, innovating mawlid celebrations, celebrating mawlid, praying at graves, all of this is from the innovations. So it is obligatory upon every Muslim and every Muslim woman to be cautious of them and to warn against them, warning their brothers of them, so that they may stand upon the sunnah and hold fast to the sunnah, and so that they may be cautious of what people have innovated. Yes. The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.