Innovation (Bid‘ah)

Bid’ah [innovation in the religion] is among the most warned-against matters in Islam, and among the least defined when it is spoken about. This page sets out what innovation is, why it is rejected, and how a person can tell it apart from following, in the words of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen: his booklet Ingenuity in the Perfection of Sharia and the Danger of Innovation, and his Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin. The words between the quotations are mine, kept plain.

What Bid’ah Is

The Shaykh opens his chapter on the prohibition of heresies in the religion by defining the word twice over, first in the language and then in the Sharee’ah [the revealed law of Islam]:

“The author – may Allah shower blessings on him – says in the Chapter of Prohibition of Heresies in the Religion. Bid’ah is something an individual invents; this is its lexical meaning in the Arabic Language. An instance is Allah’s saying – the Exalted: “…the originator of the heavens and the earth…” (al-Baqarah: 117).”

“Meaning, the One Who originated them without a preceding sample; that is, their kinds never existed. He was the first to invent and create them.”

“But in the parlance of the Sharee’ah, Bid’ah refers to whatever is directed as worship to Allah – free is He from all imperfections – apart from His legislations whether in creed, speech or deed. So, whoever gives worship to Allah with other than what Allah has approved in terms of creed, speech or deed, is a Mubtadi’ (Innovator).”

“Therefore, if a person invents a particular creed regarding the Names and Attributes of Allah, such is an Innovator. Likewise if he gives a saying or deed Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ) did not approve of, he is an Innovator.”

So innovation sits in one of three fields: what a person believes, what he says, or what he does. Whatever is directed as worship but was not legislated is bid’ah, whatever the intention behind it. The rest of this page is the evidence that this definition leaves nothing outside it.

The Religion Was Completed and Fully Explained

That a new act of worship could be something the religion left for people to add is answered first by how completely the Messenger ﷺ conveyed the religion:

“He made clear in it what the nation needs in all its affairs, so much so that Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not leave a bird flapping its wings in the sky without mentioning to us some knowledge about it.” A polytheist said to Salman al-Farsi, may Allah be pleased with him: Your Prophet taught you even the etiquette of relieving oneself. He said: “Yes, he forbade us from facing the qiblah while defecating or urinating, or from cleaning ourselves with less than three stones, or from cleaning ourselves with the right hand, or from cleaning ourselves with dung or a bone”.”

The Qur’an itself is described the same way. The booklet points to its detail, reaching even to the etiquette of gatherings, of entering houses, and of dress, and then to Allah’s description of His Book:

“”And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things” (An-Nahl: 89).”

“There is nothing that people need in their afterlife and their life in this world except that Allah Almighty has made it clear in His Book, either explicitly or implicitly.”

Someone may ask how the Book clarifies everything when the number of units in each prayer, for example, is not stated in it. The booklet answers that the Qur’an directs the reader to the Sunnah, the second part of the revelation:

“The answer to that is that Allah the Most High has made clear to us in His Book that it is obligatory for us to take what the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said and what he has shown us: “He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah” (An-Nisa’: 80),”

“”And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from.” (Al-Hashr: 7).”

The same passage adds that Allah revealed to His Messenger ﷺ the Book and the wisdom (Qur’an 4:113), the wisdom being the Sunnah, one of the two parts of the revelation; so what the Sunnah has made clear, the Qur’an has indicated, and what came in the Sunnah came in the Book of Allah.

The book’s footnote defines the Sunnah as everything transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ in sayings, actions, approvals, biography, and characteristics. What the Sunnah clarified, the Qur’an indicated. Shaykh Abdur-Rahman as-Sa’di, explaining the verse in Surah ash-Shura, names what it is to prescribe a religion Allah gave no authority for:

“Or do they have partners who have prescribed for them a religion for which Allah has not given any authority? Had it not been for a prior decree of respite, a decisive judgement would already have been passed between them. Verily for the wrongdoers there will be a painful punishment.”

“No doubt true religion cannot be anything but what Allah (ﷻ) has prescribed so that people may follow it and draw near to Him thereby. In principle there should be no one who prescribes anything that was not prescribed by Allah for His Messenger (ﷺ), so how about these evildoers who have in common with their forefathers their adherence to disbelief?”

In his explanation of the verse, Shaykh as-Sa’di says the partners prescribed for the polytheists a religion of polytheism and innovation, forbidding what Allah had permitted and permitting what He had forbidden, as their whims and desires dictated.

And the perfection of the religion is stated in the Book itself, before any scholar’s words:

“What indicates to you that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not leave anything that people need in their worship, dealings and lives without clarifying it is indicated by the words of Allah the Most High: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.” (Al-Ma’idah: 3).”

“If this is decided upon for you, O Muslim, then know that whoever innovates a law in the religion of Allah, even with good intentions, then this innovation of his, in addition to being misguidance, is considered a stab at the religion of Allah Almighty, and is considered a denial of Allah Almighty in His saying: “This day I have perfected for you your religion” because this innovator who innovated a law in the religion of Allah Almighty that is not in the religion of Allah Almighty, is as if he is saying in his heart that the religion is not perfect because he still has this law that he innovated to draw closer to Allah Almighty.”

The perfection point is made once, and it is the centre of the page: an added act of worship is not a small extra on a complete religion. The booklet’s next chapter answers those who say their innovation honours Allah and His Messenger ﷺ:

“It is strange that such people say, “We are the ones who honor Allah and His Messenger,” while if they innovate in the religion of Allah and in His law that His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought something that is not part of it, then they are undoubtedly putting their selves forward before Allah and His Messenger. Allah Almighty said:”

“”O you who have believed, do not put [yourselves] before Allah and His Messenger but fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.” (Al-Hujurat: 1).”

Putting oneself forward before Allah and His Messenger is the opposite of honouring them. What love and honour actually look like is following, and the Prophet ﷺ himself drew the line.

The Prophet’s ﷺ Warning

The warning stands in the narration the booklet prints in full:

“You are amazed at a people who know the saying of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.” They know that his saying, “Every innovation is misguidance,” is a general and comprehensive statement surrounded by the strongest tools of comprehensiveness and generality, “every.””

“The one who uttered this general statement, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, knows the meaning of this statement, and he is the most eloquent of creation, and the most sincere of creation to creation. He only utters something with the intention of its meaning. So when the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said, “Every innovation is misguidance,” he knew what he was saying, and he knew the meaning of what he was saying, and this statement came from him out of complete sincerity to the Ummah.”

The booklet’s footnote gives the hadith’s sources: Abu Dawud, Book of the Sunnah, 4607; at-Tirmidhi, 2676; and Ibn Majah, 42. The same hadith stands on this site in Shaykh al-Fawzan’s printing, with its commentary, on Hadith 28: Holding Firmly to the Sunnah; it is quoted here in the booklet’s printing, and each page carries its own book’s words openly. The Shaykh calls this statement a sharp sword:

“And based on this, there is no room for the people of innovation to make their innovations a good innovation while we have in our hands this sharp sword from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “Every innovation is misguidance.” This sharp sword was made in the factories of prophecy and the message. It was not made in troubled factories, but it was made in the factories of prophecy and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) formulated it in this eloquent formulation.”

The Test: When an Act Counts as an Innovation

How, then, is a person to tell whether an act is following or innovation? The booklet gives a test. Following is not achieved unless the action agrees with the Sharee’ah in six matters:

“And let it be known, brothers, that following is not achieved unless the action is in accordance with the Sharia in six matters:”

“The first is the reason: If a person worships Allah with an act of worship that is coupled with a reason that is not Sharia, then it is an innovation that is rejected by its doer.”

“An example of this is that some people stay up on the twenty-seventh night of Rajab under the pretext that it is the night in which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) ascended. So, Tahajjud is an act of worship, but when it is coupled with this reason, it is an innovation; because he based this act of worship on a reason that is not proven by the Sharia. This description – the conformity of the act of worship to the Sharia in the reason – is an important matter that shows the innovation of many things that are thought to be from the Sunnah but are not from the Sunnah.”

Tahajjud is the voluntary night prayer: a legislated act, made an innovation by the reason attached to it. The other five matters follow:

“The second is the type: The act of worship must be in accordance with the Sharia in its type. If a person worships Allah with an act of worship that is not Sharia-based, then it is not acceptable.”

“An example of this is if a man sacrifices a horse, then it is not a valid sacrifice; because he has violated the Sharia in its type. Sacrifices can only be from livestock, camels, cows, and sheep.”

“The third is the amount: If a person wanted to add a prayer to an obligatory prayer, we say: This is an unacceptable innovation because it is contrary to the Sharia in amount, and it is even more appropriate if a person prayed the noon prayer, for example, five times, then his prayer is not valid by consensus.”

“The fourth is the manner: If a man performed ablution and began by washing his feet, then wiped his head, then washed his hands, then his face, we say: His ablution is invalid because it is contrary to the sharia in manner.”

The fifth matter is the time: a sacrifice slaughtered on the first day of Dhul-Hijjah, before its day, is not accepted, because it is contrary to the Sharee’ah regarding the time. The sixth is the place: i’tikaf [retreating to the mosque for a period of worship] performed anywhere other than a mosque is not valid, because i’tikaf is only performed in mosques. Behind the six stands the pair of conditions the booklet states in the same chapter: worship is not a righteous deed unless two conditions are met, “The first: Sincerity to Allah. The second: Following the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and following is not achieved except by the six matters mentioned above.” Sincerity and following are taught in full on Worship (Ibadah) and on What Is the Difference Between Following the Sunnah and Following Cultural Traditions?, and are not repeated here. An act that fails this test is rejected, and what that rejection means is taught phrase by phrase on Hadith 5: Rejection of Innovation(Bid’ah) in the Religion.

Can an Innovation Be Good?

Against all of this it is said that some innovation is good, even necessary. The booklet refuses the division itself, and not only some of its parts:

“Is it correct after this generality to divide innovation into three categories, or into five categories? This is absolutely not correct.”

“What some scholars have claimed that there is a good innovation is not without two cases: 1- That it is not an innovation but it is thought to be an innovation. 2- That it is an innovation and it is bad but its badness is not known.”

Two proofs are usually brought. The first is the statement of Umar ibn al-Khattab when he gathered the people for the night prayer of Ramadan behind one imam:

“As if I sense that there is a creeping thing in your souls that says what you say about the Commander of the Faithful, Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, who was guided to the truth, when he ordered Ubi bin Kaab and Tamim Al-Dari to lead the people in prayer in Ramadan, so he went out while the people were gathered around their Imam and said: “This is an excellent innovation, and the one they sleep about is better than the one they stand in prayer.””

The booklet’s footnote gives the narration’s source: al-Bukhari, Book of Tarawih Prayer, 2010. The answer comes from two aspects. The first is that no one’s words are set against the Messenger’s ﷺ words, not Abu Bakr’s, not Umar’s, not Uthman’s, not Ali’s; the book supports it with Allah’s warning to those who dissent from the Prophet’s order (Qur’an 24:63) and with Imam Ahmad’s explanation of that verse: the trial in it is polytheism, and rejecting some of the Prophet’s words lets deviation fall into a person’s heart until he perishes. The second aspect looks at what Umar actually did: the Prophet ﷺ had prayed this prayer in congregation, then left it, fearing it would be made obligatory; the people afterwards prayed scattered, and Umar gathered them behind one imam. The booklet concludes:

“This action, in relation to the people’s dispersion before, was an innovation. It is an additional, conceptual innovation, and not an absolute, constructive innovation that Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, established. This is because this Sunnah existed during the time of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is a Sunnah, but it was abandoned since the time of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, until Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, restored it. With this foundation, the people of innovation can never find in this statement of Omar an outlet for the innovations they approve of.”

Umar’s word, then, was relative to the people’s state: a Sunnah that existed, was left for a time, and was restored is not an innovation in the religion. The same distinction answers the objection from schools, book classification, and the like, which were not known in this form in the Prophet’s ﷺ time, though Muslims accepted them, practised them, and saw them as excellent deeds:

“The answer is: We say that this is not, in reality, an innovation, but rather a means to a lawful purpose, and means differ according to places and times. One of the established rules is that means have the rulings of objectives, so means to a lawful purpose are lawful, and means to an unlawful purpose are unlawful, and means to a forbidden purpose are forbidden.”

“Schools, classification of knowledge, and writing books, even if they are innovations, did not exist in the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in this manner, but they are not objectives, but rather means, and means have the rulings of objectives.”

The second proof is the hadith of setting a good precedent. The booklet answers that there is a difference between establishing a practice and declaring an innovation, and that “established” is relative in the same way: “There is a good answer: The meaning of “whoever established” is whoever revived a Sunnah that existed and then disappeared, so he revived it. Based on this, “establishment” is relative, just as innovation is relative, for whoever revived a Sunnah after it had been abandoned.”

The Shaykh gives the same answer in fatwa form. In Fatawa Arkanul-Islam, Question 88, innovators cite this hadith as evidence for their innovations; the hadith itself is reported by Muslim, Book of Zakah, 1017. The answer reads the hadith in the light of the warning quoted above, then gives its occasion and its meaning:

“That is that the Prophet ﷺ exhorted the people to give charity to the people who came from Mudar, and they were needy and wanting. Then a man came with a bag of silver and placed it in front of the Prophet ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever sets a good precedent (Sunnah) in Islam, he will have the reward of it and the reward of those who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection…””

“So, if we know the reason for this Hadith and the meaning will be applied according to it, it becomes clear that what is intended by setting a good precedent is to set a precedent of acting upon an existing Sunnah, not to set a precedent by innovating something in the Islamic Law. This is because legislation is only for Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, and that the meaning of the Hadith is that whoever set a precedent, i.e. initiated acting upon a Sunnah, as an example for the people to follow, he will have the reward of it, and the reward of those who act upon his example. This is the specific meaning of the Hadith.”

“If the meaning of the Hadith were that it is permissible for a person to legislate as he wills, then the religion of Islam would have been incomplete during the life of the Prophet ﷺ. Every community would have its own law and its own way. If one who did this innovation believed that it is good, then his belief is wrong, because this belief belies the words of the Messenger ﷺ: “Every innovation is a misguidance.””

So setting a good precedent is being the first to act upon a Sunnah that exists, as the man did who first brought a bag of silver when the Prophet ﷺ called for charity for the needy people of Mudar; it is not a licence for anyone to legislate. Whether a good intention can make an innovation good is asked directly on this site’s companion page, Innovation Can Be Good If Intention Is Good?

What Innovation Does

The Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin lists the dangers into which a newly invented matter plunges its bringer. The first two:

“It is important to note that an individual who brings newly invented matter in the religion plunges into numerous dangers: Firstly: what he has newly invented is misguidance according to the texts of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah because what the Prophet (ﷺ) has come with is the truth. Allah – the Exalted – says: “So after the truth what else can there be except error.” (Yoonus: 32).”

“This is evidence from the Qur’aan; the evidence from the Sunnah is his statement – peace and blessings be upon him – “Every Innovation is misguidance.””

“Secondly, Bid’ah involves rebelling against following the Prophet (ﷺ). Allah, the Exalted, says: “Say (O Muhammad to mankind); ‘if you (really) love Allah then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft forgiving, Oft Merciful.’” (Aal-Imraan: 31).”

“Therefore, whoever innovates a Bid’ah with which he worships Allah has swerved from following the Prophet (ﷺ) since the Prophet (ﷺ) has not approved of such action. Hence, regarding his newly invented matter in the religion he is away from Allah’s Legislations.”

The footnote to the Sunnah evidence in that passage gives Muslim, Book of the Friday Prayer, no. 867. The third danger strikes at the testimony of faith itself:

“Thirdly, the innovation he has invented negates the essence of the testimony that “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” Whoever genuinely affirms the testimony that, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” will never veer off worshipping Allah – the Exalted – through what the Messenger has brought. He will rather stick to his Sharee’ah without going overboard or failing. But if an individual becomes negligent of the Sharee’ah or adds to it then, he has fallen short in his following due to the addition or removal. Therefore, he has not truly proven his testimony that, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.””

Fourthly, the Shaykh says, innovation defames Islam: it presents the religion as imperfect and the innovator as the one who completed it. He puts the perfection verse to the innovator and asks whether the Messenger ﷺ approved such matters, whether the Companions observed them, or whether they were ignorant of them or lax about them. The fifth danger turns back on the Messenger ﷺ himself:

“The fifth point: it involves slandering Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ); and that is for the reason that, the newly invented matter considered as worship was either unknown to the Messenger (ﷺ) such that he could be ignorant or that he knew it but deliberately concealed it that he may be accussed of hiding the message or at least some of it: and this is grave!”

Sixthly, innovation divides the Ummah, each group rejoicing in what it has and condemning the rest; the Shaykh works that harm through the example of celebrating the Prophet’s birthday, and it is taught on What Does Islam Say About Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday? The seventh danger is quieter:

“The seventh point: When newly invented affairs in the religion proliferate in the Ummah, the actual legislated practices fade away because the people will always act, whether upon good or evil. Thus, one of the pious predecessors said: “A people do not invent a matter in their religion except that they give up its like in the Sunnah.” That is, or even worse (than the Sunnah that has been replaced). Hence, newly invented matters in the religion lead to forgetting the Sunnah and its decline among the Ummah.”

The booklet closes the subject with the same exchange, an innovation taken up for every Sunnah let go, and with the state of the one who refuses the legislator’s seat:

“But if a person feels that he is a follower and not a legislator, he will thereby attain complete fear, submission, humility and worship of the Lord of the Worlds, and complete following of the leader of the pious, the master of the messengers, and the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

“I give advice to all my Muslim brothers who have approved of some innovations, whether in relation to the Essence of Allah, or the Names of Allah, or the Attributes of Allah, or in relation to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his glorification, to fear Allah and refrain from that, and to base their matter on following and not innovation, on sincerity and not polytheism, on the Sunnah and not on innovation, on what the Most Merciful loves and not what Satan loves, and let them see what safety, life, tranquility, peace of mind and great light will bring to their hearts.”

The safeguard is the test itself: sincerity to Allah, and following the Messenger ﷺ in reason, type, amount, manner, time, and place. Nothing needs to be added to a religion Allah has perfected.

References

Al-Ibda’ fi Kamal ash-Shar’ wa Khatar al-Ibtida’ (Ingenuity in the Perfection of Sharia and the Danger of Innovation): Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen; English translation by Omar bin Ahmed Tohamy, printed at Jeddah, 1401 AH (printed pp. 6-20). The spine of this article.

Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 2: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen; Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2016, ISBN 978-603-500-380-3, translated by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf and Abu Abdil-Barr Muhammad Yaqeen (Chapter 18, printed pp. 325-328). The definition and the dangers.

Fatawa Arkanul-Islam, Vol. 1: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen (Question 88, printed pp. 259-261). The good-precedent hadith answered in fatwa form.

Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 9 (Juz 25-27): Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di; IIPH, English Edition 1, 2018, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (on Qur’an 42:21, printed pp. 47-48).

Further Reading

• • Innovation Can Be Good If Intention Is Good?: the companion question: intention and innovation.

• • Hadith 5: Rejection of Innovation(Bid’ah) in the Religion: the rejected-affair hadith, taught phrase by phrase.

• • Hadith 28: Holding Firmly to the Sunnah: the warning hadith in al-Fawzan’s printing, with its commentary.

• • What Does Islam Say About Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday?: the division harm worked on the Mawlid, and innovation with a sincere intention.

• • What Does Islam Say About Birthdays?: the same test applied to birthday celebrations.

• • What Is the Difference Between Following the Sunnah and Following Cultural Traditions?: the two conditions of acceptance from another angle.

• • Worship (Ibadah): what worship is, and why it cannot be as people invent.

Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.