Teachings of the Quran, Sunnah, and Islamic Scholars on the Rejection of Innovations

Author: Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri

Divine Statement:

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا

"Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion."

[Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:3]

↰ In this verse, Allah Ta'ala explicitly and categorically announces the completion of the religion of Islam.

Explanation by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (774-701 AH):

"This is one of the greatest blessings of Allah Almighty upon this Ummah that He has perfected their religion for them. Therefore, they do not need any other religion, nor do they need any prophet other than their own Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). For this reason, Allah made him the Seal of the Prophets and sent him to both humans and jinn. Whatever he declared lawful is lawful, and whatever he declared unlawful is unlawful, and the only religion is that which he prescribed."

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 2:465]

Hadith of Sayyidina Irbadh bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him):

"I have left you on a clear path, its night is like its day. No one deviates from it after me but he will be destroyed."

[Musnad Ahmad, 4:126; Sunan Ibn Majah, 43; Kitab al-Sunnah by Ibn Abi Asim, 48; Mustadrak al-Hakim, 1:96. Its chain is Hasan (good).]

↰ The religion is complete, and there is no room for addition or subtraction. Innovation is an addition to the religion, and such addition is an imitation of the disbelievers. Innovation under the guise of religion is a heinous conspiracy against the religion. Innovation is a clear sign of enmity towards Islam. Every innovation is darkness and deviation. Innovation is following one's desires. Innovation is the destruction of Islam. Every innovation is bad and vile. How can a deed be part of the religion if it has no basis in the Quran and Hadith?

Statement by Imam Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him):

"Know that with the existence of innovation, no act of worship such as prayer, fasting, charity, or any other act of worship is accepted. The gatherings of the innovator are stripped of protection, and he is left to his own devices. Walking towards and respecting the innovator aids in the destruction of Islam. What do you think about the innovator himself? He is cursed by the tongue of the Shariah, and his worship distances him from Allah. Innovation sows enmity and hatred, prevents the intercession of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and eradicates the Sunnah that confronts it. The innovator bears the sin of all those who practice it. There is no repentance for him. He will be subjected to humiliation and Allah's wrath, kept away from the Prophet's (peace be upon him) pond, and feared to be counted among the disbelievers who have left the fold of Islam, and face a bad end at the time of death. His face will be blackened in the Hereafter, he will be punished in Hellfire, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Muslims have declared themselves free from him. He is feared to be afflicted with a great trial in this world in addition to the torment of the Hereafter."

[Al-I'tisam by Shatibi, 1:106-107]

Statement by Faqih al-Ummah Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him):

"Indeed, the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The worst of matters are newly invented ones. The wretched one is he who was decreed as wretched in his mother's womb, and the fortunate one is he who takes heed from others. Therefore, follow (the Sunnah) and do not innovate."

[Al-I'tiqad by Bayhaqi, 306. Its chain is authentic.]

Statement by Imam Rabbani Shaykh al-Islam Thani Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him):

"Indeed, the Sunnah by its very nature eradicates innovation. Innovation cannot withstand the Sunnah. When the sun of the Sunnah rises in the heart of a servant, it dispels the fog of every innovation from his heart and removes the darkness of every deviation. There is no power of darkness in the presence of the power of the sun. No one can distinguish between the Sunnah and innovation, nor can they escape from the darkness of innovation to the light of the Sunnah except through adherence and migration of the heart to Allah at all times, with seeking help, sincerity, and true desperation for Allah. The heart migrates to His Messenger by striving to attain his sayings, actions, guidance, and Sunnah. Whoever migrates to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is accepted, and whoever migrates to anything else, his portion is that in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah's help is sought!"

[Madārij al-Sālikīn by Ibn al-Qayyim, 1:374]

↰ An innovation is a baseless and unsubstantiated act.

Divine Statement:

وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ

"And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge."

[Surah Al-Isra, 17:36]

Moreover, He says:

إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى الْأَنْفُسُ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدَى

"They follow not except assumption and what (their) souls desire, and there has already come to them from their Lord guidance."

[Surah An-Najm, 53:23]

↰ Knowledge is derived from the Quran and Hadith. Any religious practice without scriptural evidence is an innovation and a result of following desires.

Divine Statement:

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا أَهْوَاءَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ ضَلُّوا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَأَضَلُّوا كَثِيرًا وَضَلُّوا عَنْ سَوَاءِ السَّبِيلِ

"Say, 'O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion beyond the truth and do not follow the inclinations of a people who had gone astray before and led many astray and deviated from the soundness of the way.'"

[Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:77]

And He says:

وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا لَيُضِلُّونَ بِأَهْوَائِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُعْتَدِينَ

"And indeed, many lead others astray through their inclinations without knowledge. Indeed, your Lord - He is most knowing of the transgressors."

[Surah Al-An'am, 6:119]

↰ This verse condemns the innovator for introducing innovations into the religion without Quranic or Hadith evidence, thereby leading people astray.

Moreover, He says:

لِيَحْمِلُوا أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلَا سَاءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ

"That they may bear their own burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection and some of the burdens of those whom they mislead without knowledge. Unquestionably, evil is that which they bear."

[Surah An-Nahl, 16:25]

↰ The innovator will bear the burden of his innovations and the burden of those whom he led astray due to his innovations.

Statement by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him):

"It is well known that whatever the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not sanction, like, or approve, and none of those who are followed by Muslims sanctioned or approved, is among the denounced innovations. No one says regarding such things that it is a good innovation. For those who divide innovations into good and bad, an innovation being good requires it to be approved by someone among the scholars who are followed, and there must be a legal evidence supporting its desirability. Similarly, those who say that all innovations in the Shariah are blameworthy base this on the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): 'Every innovation is a misguidance.' Umar's statement about Tarawih prayers being a good innovation is based on linguistic context. Therefore, according to them, in the Shariah, every act whose desirability is not established by evidence is an innovation. The end result of both views is the same since they agree that whatever is not obligatory or recommended by the Shariah cannot be made obligatory or recommended. Therefore, whoever considers an act of worship or religion that is not prescribed as obligatory or recommended by the Shariah is misguided by the consensus of the Muslims."

[Majmoo' al-Fataawa by Ibn Taymiyyah, 7:152]
 
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