occasionally offered voluntary prayer in congregation, but did not do so regularly except in the cases already mentioned. When his Companions gathered, they would ask one of them to recite while the others listened. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb would say to Abū Mūsā, “Remind us of our Lord,” and he would recite while they listened. It has also been reported that:
“The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—came out to the people of the sheltered platform while one of them was reciting, and sat with them.”
The well-known hadith has also been narrated concerning the angels who travel about seeking gatherings of remembrance. Thus, if some people were to gather on certain nights for voluntary prayer, without making this a regular custom resembling an established sunnah, it would not be disapproved. But making it a recurring custom tied to particular times is disapproved, because this alters Islamic law and makes what is not prescribed resemble what is prescribed. If that were permissible, it would likewise be permissible to institute another prayer at midmorning or between the noon and afternoon prayers, Tarāwīh in Sha‘bān, a call to prayer for the two Eid prayers, or a pilgrimage to the Rock in Jerusalem. This would alter and change Allah’s religion. The same applies to the night of the Prophet’s birth and other such occasions.
Disapproved innovations are practices that are not recommended in Islamic law; they consist in instituting what Allah has not authorized. Whoever makes something part of religion and a means of drawing near to Allah without its being prescribed by Allah is a misguided innovator. This is what the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—meant when he said:
“Every innovation is misguidance.”
Innovation is thus the opposite of prescribed religion. Prescribed religion comprises whatever Allah and His Messenger have commanded, whether as an obligation or as a recommendation, even if it was not practised during his lifetime. Examples include gathering behind a single imam for Tarāwīh, compiling the Quran into a single volume, fighting and killing the apostates and the Khawārij, and similar matters. Whatever Allah and His Messenger have not prescribed is innovation and misguidance, such as singling out