Question : A question was asked regarding the real meaning of innovation; [that is to say] what is the praiseworthy innovation and what is a blameworthy one?

Fatwa in Brief: All innovations are deviations [from Islam], and there is no such thing as a good innovation.

The Permanent Committee, 2/321

Response:

An innovation is that [act or way of thinking] which arrived after the time of the Prophet (upon him be peace) and his Companions. The majority agreed that there are two kinds of innovation: those that guide Muslims to the good; and those that misguide. Whatever conforms to Islamic law is approved and whatever opposes it must be rejected. In this sense, the term innovation applies solely to matters of religion, not to the secular world.

Commentary:

Innovations pertain to all matters of religion that originated after the Prophet (upon him be peace) and his Companions. Innovations are of two types: those that guide Muslims to the good; and those that misguide. Any innovation that contradicts what God and his Messenger order belongs to the category of innovation that misguides; while any innovation agreeing with the wishes of God and His messenger is praiseworthy. The Prophet (upon him be peace) said: “The one who first implements a praiseworthy innovation benefits not only from its reward but also from the reward of all those who follow him [in his innovation], though the rewards [of these followers] are not diminished”. The same principle holds, however, regarding the person who instigates an evil innovation. Thus, “he acquires its sin and a weight of sin similar to that carried by those who have followed him [in error], though their sins are not diminished”.

Among the evidence for the legality of the praiseworthy innovation is a tradition reported by ‘Umar (r.a.), who, at a gathering of people for the tarawih prayer [extra prayers offered at night during Ramadan], declared “What a good innovation this is!”. Thus, he clearly saw that it [this innovation] was a positive act. Indeed, before complementing it, he [explicitly] called it an innovation (bid‘a), as the Prophet (upon him be peace) had not established it [the tarawih prayers] before then, nor had people gathered for it, nor did it exist in the era of Abu Bakr. But ‘Umar (r.a.) gathered the people for it and recommended it for them. That is why he called it bid‘a, while in truth it is Sunna, as it is a praiseworthy act that is in agreement with the law. There is another hadith, which states that “each new matter is bid‘a”. However, this applies solely to new ideas that pertain directly to religion [and not to prosaic matters] and that run counter to the [demands and principles] of Islamic law and the Sunna. As for innovation in matters that pertain to this world, then knowledgeable people must decide on their adoption according to their consequences.

This way of defining the innovation, and of deciding into which of the two categories [praiseworthy or negative] it falls, belongs to al-Shafi‘i, al-Ghazali, al-‘Izz ibn‘Abd al-Salam and the majority of the jurists. These scholars then divide the subject of innovation into five categories:

1.     The first category includes those innovations that it is obligatory upon all Muslims to perform, such as the establishing and teaching of the sciences of the Arabic language.

2.     The second category consists of recommended innovations, such as the building of schools.

3.     The third category consists of prohibited innovations, such as altering the way in which the Qur’an is read, and in opposition to the nature of the Arabic language itself.

4.     The fourth category pertains to innovations that are reprehensible, such as the decorating of mosques.

5.     The fifth [and final] category concerns innovations that are morally neutral [and thus permitted], such as putting different types of food on the table.

Others, however [disagreed with the above classification, and instead] believed that an innovation is blameworthy (mazmuma) by all means, and cannot be divided into things that are obligatory, recommended or permitted. That is how the hadith “Every innovation is misguidance” is interpreted.

[Yet, in our view] The correct opinion is the first one [that innovations can be good, neutral, and evil], upon which the majority agrees. The term “innovation” here applies solely to matters of religion, not to the secular world. And we must consider what is really at stake. It is permitted, for instance, to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet, yet not to refer to this birthday as an “‘Id”. [This tells us that it is not necessarily the novelty, of itself, that offends; but, rather it is the way of approaching this novelty, and perhaps of granting it more importance than it really has, which is prohibited.] If we find an act [of bid‘a] legally reprehensible, we should classify it so through wisdom and patience. Any matter that divides the jurists should not lead to conflict or [excessive] litigation. For, those who are deceived into thinking that their own opinions are the only true ones, and that they will survive while the rest will perish (yahlak), are [surely] first among the ranks of the doomed (halikin).[1]

Dr. Yassir ‘Abd al-‘Azim