INNOVATIONS ARE NOT ONLY IN BUSINESS!
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) during his exhortations said: “The best words are the Book of Allah Almighty, and the best path is the path of Muhammad. The worst deeds are newly invented ones, and each such deed is an innovation, and each innovation is a delusion, and every delusion is in the Fire!”
? Muslim 2/592
And these words, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoke to the best people of his time, to the companions, among whom there were no innovations, but what to say about our time
▪️ Yahya ibn Mu’az said: “All disagreements of people return to three foundations, and each of these foundations has an opposite. And if a person has descended from one of these foundations, he will definitely fall into its opposite! These three foundations are: Monotheism, the opposite of which is polytheism; Sunnah, the opposite of which is innovation; and obedience to Allah, the opposite of which are sins!”
?See “al-I’tisam” 1/91.
Religious innovation happens in matters of belief, in words and deeds.
▪️ Sheikhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Innovation is of two types: in words and beliefs, as well as in deeds and worship.”
?See “Majmu’ul-fatawa” 22/306.
▪️ Shaykh ‘Ali Mahfouz said: “Innovation is of two kinds: in persuasion and in deeds. An innovation in persuasion is to be convinced of something that is contrary to what the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his companions were on. And it doesn’t matter whether such innovations in persuasion are accompanied by deeds or not . ”
?See al-Ibda'” 54.
As an example of innovations in matters of belief, one can cite the innovations of the Kharijites, Mu’tazilites, Qadarites, Rafidites, Murjiites, etc. sects.
▪️ As for innovations in deeds, Sheikh ‘Abdur-Rahman as-Sa’di said: “Innovation in deeds is the establishment in the religion of such worship that Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not legitimize. An innovation in deeds is any worship for which there is no decree in the Shari’ah indicating its obligation or its desirability.
?See “Fataawa as-Sa’diya” 63-64.