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As for acts of worship, a fundamental principle of religion is that nothing is unlawful except what Allah has forbidden, and nothing is part of religion except what Allah has prescribed.

In Surahs al-An‘ām and al-A‘rāf, Allah, glorified be He, reproached the polytheists for forbidding what He had not forbidden and instituting religious practices for which He had given no permission. As Ibn ‘Abbās said: “If you wish to understand the ignorance of the Arabs, read from His words, ‘They assign to Allah a share of the crops and livestock He has created,’ and the rest of the verse.”

Allah condemned the polytheists for their innovations in forbidding crops and livestock, and for the forms of polytheism they had introduced. He also condemned them for invoking divine decree to justify their innovations. He, the Exalted, said:

“Those who associate partners with Allah will say, ‘Had Allah willed, we would not have associated partners with Him’”—and the rest of the verse.

It is related in al-Sahīh from ‘Iyād ibn Himār that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Allah, the Exalted, says: ‘I created My servants as upright monotheists, but the devils led them astray, forbade them what I had made lawful for them, and commanded them to associate with Me that for which I had sent down no authority.’”

In Surah al-A‘rāf, He mentioned what they had forbidden and what they had instituted as religion. He, the Exalted, said:

“Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden shameful deeds’”—and the rest of the verse. And He said: