disbelief in everything worshipped besides Him. That, in turn, requires knowing what constitutes disbelief; otherwise a person may slip into it without noticing. The very same principle applies to the Sunnah and to innovation—there is no difference—because Islam stands upon two mighty foundations: first, that we worship none but Allah, and second, that we worship Him only in the manner He has legislated. Whoever falls short in either has in fact fallen short in the other and has not truly worshipped Allah, exalted is He.

A detailed discussion of these two principles is laid out in the works of the two shaykhs of Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on them both).

From all that has preceded, it is clear that recognizing innovations is indispensable if a believer’s acts of worship are to remain free of practices that compromise pure devotion to Allah Most High. Innovations are among the evils that must be known—not so they may be practiced, but so they may be avoided, just as the poet said:

I learned of evil—not for evil’s sake, but to keep away;
For he who cannot tell evil from good will surely stray.

This very idea is drawn from the Sunnah, for Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (may Allah be pleased with him) said: