The Ruling on Dividing Religious Innovation into Five Categories

The question: The first letter received was from the Republic of Sudan, from Muhammad Ahmad Abd al-Hakim of the al-Kamilin district. In this letter, which contained a number of questions, he says: Shaykh al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) divided the topic of bid'ah (religious innovation) into five categories in his commentary: the first is obligatory bid'ah, with the example of organizing the arguments of the theologians against the materialists; the second is recommended bid'ah, with the example of compiling books of knowledge; the third is permissible bid'ah, with the example of elaborating on varieties of food; the fourth and fifth are forbidden and disliked, which are clear. The question: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I hope you will clarify this along with what Shaykh al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) intended. May Allah reward you?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows:
This which you quoted from al-Nawawi regarding the division of bid'ah (religious innovation) into five categories has been mentioned by a group of scholars, and they said: Bid'ah is divided into five categories: obligatory, recommended, permissible, forbidden, and disliked.
Others among the scholars held that every religious innovation is misguidance and that there is no division within it; rather, it is all, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: misguidance. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Such are the authentic hadiths that came from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), including what Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: , and several hadiths to this effect came from the hadith of 'Aishah, from the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sari'ah, and from other hadiths. This is the correct position: that it is not divided into the categories mentioned by al-Nawawi and others, but that it is all misguidance. Religious innovation occurs in religion, not in permissible matters. Therefore, variety in food in a new form not known in the early period is not called a religious innovation from the standpoint of the Shari'ah, even if it is an innovation in the linguistic sense; for an innovation in language is something newly created without a prior example, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [al-Baqarah:117], meaning that its creator and originator is without a prior example. However, the term "innovation" is not applied except to what concerns worship in the acts of the Shari'ah. Thus, all of this is called misguidance; it is not said to have categories of obligatory, recommended, and so on. This is the truth and the correct position that a group of scholars accepted and established, and they refuted those who opposed it. Likewise, compiling books and organizing evidence to refute the atheists and opponents is not called an innovation; this is what Allah and His Messenger commanded, so it is obedience to Allah and not an innovation. The Noble Book came with refutations of the opponents, the enemies of Allah, with great verses, and the Sunnah also came with refutations of the opponents of Islam. Thus, the Muslims, from the time of the Companions to this day, have been concerned with refuting the opponents of Islam with what has become apparent to them from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and they have clarified the evidence and categorized it. All of this is not called an innovation in the Shari'ah, but rather it is fulfilling an obligation and striving in the path of Allah, and it is not an innovation in the ruling of the Shari'ah. Likewise, building schools, hostels, bridges, and other things that benefit the Muslims is not called an innovation from the standpoint of the Shari'ah, but it is a commanded matter; for the Shari'ah commanded education, so schools assist in education. Likewise, what concerns hostels for the poor: it is commanded to be kind to the poor and the needy, so if dwellings called hostels are built for them, this is what Allah commanded. Likewise, bridges over rivers: all of this benefits the Muslims and is not an innovation, but it is a prescribed matter. Calling it an innovation is only of the kind mentioned above from the standpoint of the Arabic language, as 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said regarding the Tarawih prayers when he gathered the people behind a single imam to pray Tarawih with them every night: This means from the standpoint of language. Otherwise, the Tarawih prayer is a confirmed recommended practice (sunnah mu'akkadah) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed, encouraged, and motivated people to do, so it is not an innovation but a recommended practice. However, 'Umar called it an innovation from the standpoint of language, that it was done without a prior example; for they used to pray in groups in the mosque during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), not behind a single imam. This one would pray with two, this one with three, and this one with more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with them for three nights and then left it, and said: Therefore, the conclusion is that standing in prayer in Ramadan is a confirmed recommended practice and not an innovation from the standpoint of the Shari'ah, even if 'Umar (may Allah have mercy on him) called it an innovation from the standpoint of language.
And the summary is that the correct position is that everything people innovate in religion that Allah has not prescribed is called bid'ah, and it is bid'ah of misguidance, and it is not permissible to do it. And it is not permissible to divide bid'ah into obligatory, sunnah, permissible, etc. This is contrary to the principle established by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And in this is danger, as if the one saying it is refuting the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: , and this one says: No, rather it has categories. This is a great danger.
So, it is obligatory upon the scholars to be polite with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and to beware of the thing that may scratch the right of the one who does what contradicts the Sunnah. And even if the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) who said that did not intend to refute the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)—may Allah protect them from that, they did not intend this—yet those who think ill of them among the enemies of Allah may use it as an argument against them, and some ignorant people may think that.
So, the conclusion is that the division into recommended bid'ah and obligatory bid'ah, etc., is not the correct position, but rather the correct position is the opposite.
The presenter: May Allah reward you and may Allah bless you.