and His Messenger.” ⦗1⦘
How many a devout ascetic may harbor in his heart such innovation and arrogance that he veers away from the Sunnah. Innovation is more serious than the major sins, as Sufyan al-Thawri said:
“Innovation is more beloved to Iblis than sin; one repents from sin, but there is no repentance from innovation.” ⦗2⦘
We therefore ask Allah, exalted is He, to guide us and keep us firm upon His religion and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ, and to make us followers who hold fast to the legacy of his Companions—may Allah be pleased with them. May Allah bless and grant peace to our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions.
[Description of the Treatise]
Part of this chapter has been printed within the Majmuʿ al-Fatawa of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him; it appears in volume (10/625). Roughly the second half of the letter is missing, and interest in it has increased because a number of words and sentences have dropped out.
(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 6780.
(2) Reported by Ibn al-Jaʿd in his Musnad, no. 1809. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him) comments: “The saying that ‘there is no repentance from bidʿa (religious innovation)’ means that an innovator who adopts, as religion, something Allah and His Messenger have not legislated has had his evil deed made attractive to him, so he deems it good. Such a person will not repent as long as he sees his act as commendable, for the first step of repentance is to know that one’s deed is evil so that he may renounce it, or to realize that he has neglected a commanded good—whether obligatory or recommended—so that he may repent and perform it. Therefore, as long as he considers his act good when it is in fact evil, he will not repent. Nevertheless, repentance from it is possible and does occur when Allah guides and directs him until the truth becomes clear, just as He has guided many among the unbelievers, the hypocrites, and various factions of innovators and the misguided.” Majmuʿ al-Fatawa, 10/9.