Section Three: this concerns altering the prescribed manner of performing an act of worship so that it is carried out in a form the Law has not sanctioned. Examples include reciting the legislated remembrances in melodious group choruses, or burdening oneself with excessive rigor in worship to the point that it departs from the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ.

Section Four: this involves assigning a specific time to a sanctioned act of worship when the Sacred Law has not assigned such a time—such as designating the day and night of the fifteenth of Shaʿbān for fasting and night vigil. Fasting and night prayer are, in principle, legitimate acts of worship, but restricting them to a particular time requires evidence.

3 – The ruling on innovation in the religion in all its forms: every innovation in the religion is prohibited and a deviation, for he ﷺ said, “Beware of newly introduced matters, for every newly introduced matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance.” (1) He ﷺ also said, “Whoever introduces into this affair of ours something that does not belong to it, it is rejected.” (2) And in another wording, “Whoever performs an act that is not in accordance with our command, it is rejected.” (3) Thus, these two hadiths indicate that every newly introduced matter in