and who could be more astray than one who follows his own desire without guidance from Allah?" 1
He, the Exalted, also says: "Have you seen the one who has taken his own desire as a god? Allah, knowing his condition, lets him go astray, seals his hearing and his heart, and places a veil over his sight. Who, then, can guide him after Allah?" 2
All innovations are nothing but a fabric woven from unrestrained desire.
- Fanaticism for opinions and personalities
Blind partisanship for the views of men blocks a person from following clear proof and recognizing the truth. The Exalted says: "When it is said to them, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they reply, ‘Rather, we shall follow what we found our forefathers practising.’" 3
This is exactly the stance of many zealots today among some followers of the legal schools, certain Sufis, and the grave-worshippers. When they are invited to the Quran and the sunnah and asked to abandon whatever they practise that conflicts with them, they plead the authority of their schools, their shaykhs, and their fathers and grandfathers.
- Imitating the unbelievers
This is among the strongest causes leading to innovation. Consider the hadith of Abu Waqid al-Laythi, who said: “We set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ toward Hunayn while we were still new to Islam. The polytheists had a lotus tree at which they would stay in devotion and on which they hung their weapons; it was called Dhāt Anwāṭ. We passed by a lotus tree and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, make for us a Dhāt Anwāṭ as they have a Dhāt Anwāṭ.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘Allahu akbar! These are the ways of those before you. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you have said exactly what the Children of Israel said to Moses: “Make for us a god just as they have gods.” 4 You will most certainly follow the ways of those who came before you.’” 5