whoever regards certain innovations as praiseworthy—whether on the strength of sound, authoritative proofs from the Sacred Law or on the arguments advanced by some people that are accepted by the uninformed or, in a general sense, by those who engage in broad interpretation.
These objectors occupy two positions:
First: they say, “Once it is established that some innovations are good and others reprehensible, the reprehensible are only those the Lawgiver has forbidden, while the innovations about which He has remained silent are not reprehensible; indeed, they may even be commendable.” This is a view held by some of them.
Second: they may single out a particular practice and say, “This is a good innovation because it achieves such-and-such benefit.” Thus they declare, “Not every innovation is misguidance.”
The response:
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, plainly stated: “The worst of matters are those newly introduced; every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire,” together with his general warning against invented matters. It is therefore impermissible for anyone to reject the hadith’s clear denunciation of innovations; whoever contests its meaning is simply being obstinate.
As for the counter-arguments, they are met in one of two ways:
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One may say: whatever has been proven to be good is, in fact, not an innovation at all; hence the general wording of the hadith remains intact without exception.
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Alternatively, one may say: whatever has been proven good constitutes an exception to the general rule, and a general text that is qualified remains authoritative in all cases outside the specific exception. Accordingly, whoever claims that a particular innovation is exempt from this general censure must furnish proof adequate to establish that exemption; otherwise, that would be