an innovation in the linguistic sense, because they did something they had not done during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—namely, gathering in this manner. Yet it is a Sunnah prescribed by Islamic law.

The same applies to expelling the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula—that is, the Hijāz, Yemen, al-Yamāmah, and all the lands of the Arabian Peninsula that had not come under Persian or Roman rule; founding cities such as Kufa and Basra; compiling the Quran into a single volume; instituting the state register; introducing the first call to prayer on Friday; appointing a deputy to lead the people in prayer outside the city on Eid; and other practices established by the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Since they established these practices at the command of Allah and His Messenger, they are Sunnah, even if they are called innovations in the linguistic sense.

As for stating the intention aloud and repeating it, this is a reprehensible innovation, not a recommended practice, by the agreement of the Muslims. Neither the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor his Rightly Guided Caliphs did this.

He was asked:

About a man who, when praying, disturbs the people in the rows around him by stating his intention aloud. They rebuked him once, but he did not desist. Someone said to him:

“What you are doing is not