It is as if I feel in your souls a whispering which says: What do you say about the saying of Ameerul-Mumineen Umar ibn Al-Khattaab (ra) the one who was always in agreement with the truth when he ordered Ubayy bin Ka'b and Tameem ad-Daaree to stand and lead the people in prayer during Ramadaan and when he went out to the mosque while the people were all united behind one imaam: "What a good innovation this is. But the prayer which they do not perform but sleep at its time is better than the one they are performing." The answer to that is from two aspects:

The First: It is not permissible for any person to contradict and oppose the words of the Messenger (sas) with any other words. Not with the words of Abu Bakr who is the most superior person of the ummah after its prophet, nor the words of Umar who is the second best of this ummah after its prophet, nor the words of Uthmaan who is the third best of this ummah after its prophet and nor the words of Alee who is the fourth best of this ummah after its prophet and nor the words of anyone besides them because Allaah the Exalted said: Let those beware who withstand his (the messenger's) order that a trial will befall them or that a painful punishment will touch them.

Imaam Ahmad (rh) said: "Do you know what the trial is? The trial is Shirk. Maybe when he rejects some of the words of the Prophet deviation and corruption falls into his heart so he is destroyed."

And Ibn Abbaas (ra) said: "It is almost as if stones from the sky will fall upon you, I say to you the Messenger of Allaah (sas) said this and you say Abu Bakr and Umar said that".

The Second: We know with certain knowledge that Ameerul-Mu'mineen Umar ibn Al-Khattaab (ra) was among the greatest of people in respecting and exonerating the words of Allaah the Exalted and His Messenger (sas). He was well known for standing by the limits (hudood) of Allaah the Exalted to such an extent that he was described as a guardian of the words of Allaah the Exalted.

Umar never transgressed the limits of Allaah and so it does not befit Umar (ra) to oppose and differ from the words of the leader of mankind, Muhammad and that he should say about an innovation "What an excellent innovation this is" and this innovation being the same one which the Messenger of Allaah meant by his speech "Every innovation is misguidance". Rather it is necessary that this innovation about which Umar said: "What an excellent innovation this is" is placed with the type of innovation which does not fall under the intent of the Prophet in his speech: "Every innovation is misguidance".

Umar (ra), by his speech, was referring to the gathering of people behind one imaam after they had been separated and dispersed. The basis for the prayer (in congregation) during Ramadaan was from the Messenger of Allaah . It is established in the two saheehs from the hadeeth of Aa'ishah (ra) that the Prophet led the people in prayer for three nights and then remained behind from the people on the fourth night and said to them: "Indeed I feared that this may be made obligatory upon you and that you may not be able to perform it (due to its burden)." Therefore, praying at night during Ramadaan in congregation is from the Sunnah of Allaah's Messenger and Umar (ra) named this an innovation considering that when the Prophet (sas) abandoned praying with the people they became separated. One man would pray by himself and another would pray with another and yet another would be praying with two people. There would be groups of people praying in the mosque praying by themselves. Then Umar (ra) saw, with his sharp and correct vision that he should unite the people behind a single imaam. This action in itself is an innovation when one considers that the situation before was one of separation and dispersal. This (kind of) innovation is a relative one and has a precedence and it is not an absolute innovation which has been initiated (without any former example or model). Umar (ra) reinstated this because this sunnah was present in the time of the Messenger . Therefore, this is a sunnah but it was abandoned since the time of the Messenger until Umar (ra) returned it. With this rule it is not possible, ever, for the people of innovation to find a passage or outlet from the words of Umar (ra) for what they sanction and approve of from among their innovations. Someone may say: 'There are innovated things which the muslims have accepted and have acted upon yet these things were not known during the time of the Messenger such as schools, composition of books and whatever resembles that. These are innovations which the muslims have considered to be good, acted upon them and see them as being from the best of actions. How then can you reconcile between this which is almost unanimously agreed upon by the muslims and between the speech of the leader of the muslims, the prophet of the muslims and the Messenger of the Lord of all the Worlds :"Every innovation is misguidance." The answer: We say that this in reality is not an innovation. Rather it is a means to something which has been legislated (in the Sharee'ah). The means differ from place to place and time to time. It is from the established principles (in the Sharee'ah) that the means have rulings related to their intent or purpose. Therefore, ways and means for achieving something legislated are also legislated and permissible. Means and ways for things which are not legislated are also not legislated and means and ways to things which are unlawful are forbidden. Even good, when it is a means towards evil is also evil and as such is forbidden. Listen to the words of Allaah Azzawajall: And do not revile or curse those whom they call upon besides Allaah so that they also revile and curse Allaah out of enmity without knowledge.

Reviling the gods of the pagans is not wrong rather it is true and justified however reviling the Lord of all the Worlds is improper, unjustified and constitutes enmity and oppression. That is why when the praiseworthy reviling of the gods of the pagans is a clear and open cause for reviling the Lord of all the Worlds it is unlawful and prohibited. I have presented this as a proof to show that the ways and means have rulings related to their intent and purpose. Therefore, schools, writing down of knowledge and authorship of books while they may be innovations, not being found in the era of the Prophet in this manner, are not the sole intent and purpose (i.e. sought in themselves). Rather they are of the means and ways which have the same ruling as the intent and purpose behind them, which in this case is to teach and spread knowledge.

This is why if a person was to build a school for the purposes of teaching knowledge which is forbidden, the building of the school is also forbidden and if he was to build the school for the purposes of teaching the Sharee'ah the building of this school is legislated and would be permissible. If one was to say: How would you respond to the saying of the Prophet : "Whoever enacted in Islaam a good sunnah would have its reward and the reward of whoever acted upon it till the day of Judgement."

The answer: The one who said: "Whoever enacted in Islaam a good sunnah..." is the same one who said: "Every innovation is misguidance" and it is not possible that a saying should arise from the truthful and believed one (the Messenger) which makes another of his sayings false. It is not possible that the words of the Messenger of Allaah should ever contradict. Nor is it ever possible to reject one meaning when there is a contradiction. Whoever thinks that the words of Allaah or the words of His Messenger are contradictory should look again. This suspicion only arises either out of incapability or negligence. It is not possible for a contradiction to be found in the words of Allaah the Exalted or the words of His Messenger .

When that is the case the explanation of the lack of contradiction between the hadeeth: "Every innovation is misguidance" and the hadeeth: "Whoever enacted in Islaam a good sunnah" is that the Prophet said: "Whoever introduced in Islaam" and innovations are not from Islaam. He also said: "hasanah (good)" and innovation is not hasanah (good). There is also a difference between reviving and innovating.

There is also another answer in which there is no fault: That the meaning of "man sanna (whoever enacted)" is: Whoever revived a sunnah which used to exist and then it became non-existent (disappeared). Built upon this, "enacting" is a relative addition just like when one revives a sunnah after it had been abandoned is considered as an innovation (in relation to its previous non-existence). There is also a third answer which indicates the context of the hadeeth and that is the story of the small band of people who came as a delegation to the Prophet and who were in very straitened and difficult circumstances. The Prophet called the people to bestow out their free will for these people. A man from the Ansaar came with a bag of silver which was very heavy in his hands. He placed it in front of the Messenger (sas) and the face of the Prophet began to rejoice out of delight and happiness and he said: "Whoever enacted in Islaam a good sunnah would have its reward and the reward of whoever acted upon it till the day of Judgement." Here the meaning of enacting is the introduction of an action in terms of its execution/performance and not in terms of legislation. Therefore the meaning of: ""Whoever enacted in Islaam a good sunnah" is the one who acted upon it effecting it, and actualising it, not legislating it because legislation is forbidden since: "Every innovation is misguidance." Know my brothers that a person's following of the Messenger is not proper and correct except when the action is in accordance with the Sharee'ah with respect to six matters:

The First: When a person worships Allaah with an act of worship linked to a cause or reason which is not legislated this is an innovation which is rejected from the one who performs it. An example of that is when people awaken on the seventeenth night of the month of Rajab with the proof that it was the night in which the Messenger of Allaah ascended to the heavens. The tahajjud prayer is indeed an act of worship but when it is linked to this reason it becomes an innovation because it is based and constructed upon a reason which is not established from the Sharee'ah. This description - the agreement of the act of worship with the Sharee'ah in terms of its reason and cause - is an important matter by which the innovatory nature of many things thought to be from the sunnah, when in reality they are not, are made clear.

The Second: Type or Kind: It is also vital that the act of worship agrees with the Sharee'ah in its type. If a person was to worship Allaah with an act of worship whose type or mode has not been legislated, it would not be accepted. An example of that is when a man sacrifices a horse, his sacrifice would not be correct because he has opposed the Sharee'ah in its specification of the type. Sacrifice is not performed except with lamb, cattle, sheep and camels.

The Third: Quantity: If a person desired to increase the prayer (with respect to the number of rakahs) this would become an innovation which is not acceptable since it opposes the Sharee'ah in terms of quantity. If a person was to pray Dhuhr with five rakahs for example, his prayer would not be correct by unanimous agreement.

The Fourth: Manner of Performance: If a person was to perform wudhoo by washing his feet first then wiping his head then his hands and then the face we would say: His wudhoo is void as it is in opposition to the Sharee'ah in the manner of its performance.

The Fifth: Time: If a man was to sacrifice an animal in the first days of Dhul-Hijjah the sacrifice would not be accepted due to its opposition to the Sharee'ah with respect to time. I have heard that some people sacrifce sheep during the month of Ramadaan seeking nearness to Allaah with this sacrifice. This action is an innovation with respect to time because there is nothing by which a person draws nearer to Allaah with sacrificing except the sacrifice of Adhaa, Aqeeqah and that which is given as a gift. As for sacrificing in the month of Ramadaan while believing that there is a reward for this sacrifice similar to the sacrifice on Eedul-Adhaa then that is an innovation. And as for sacrificing merely for the meat then that is permissible.

The Sixth: Place: If a man was to perform I'tikaaf in other than a mosque his I'tikaaf would not be correct. This is because I'tikaaf is not to be performed except in the mosques. If a woman was to say: I wish to perform I'tikaaf in the place of prayer in the house, her I'tikaaf would not be correct due its opposition to the Sharee'ah in terms of time. Another example of this is when a man wishes to perform Tawaaf but finds that it has become constricted (due to the many people) and the area around him has become narrow and constricted so he begins to perform Tawaaf from behind the mosque. His Tawaaf would not be correct because the place for Tawaaf is the House (Ka'bah) Allaah the Exalted said to Ibraheem the Khaleel:

Purify my House for those who perform Tawaaf

Therefore Ibaadah is not considered to be righteous action except when two conditions are present:

The First: Ikhlaas (Sincerity) The Second: Following and Adherence and this is not correct except by the six abovementioned matters. I say to those who have been put to trial with innovations and whose intentions were (no doubt) good, desiring good when you desire good but we do not know, by Allaah, a path better than the path of the Salaf may Allaah be pleased with them. My brothers bite onto the Sunnah of the Messenger with the molars and travel upon the path of the Salaf us-Saalih. Be upon whatever they were upon and then look and see: Will that will injure or hurt you in any way? I say - and I seek refuge in Allaah that I say something about which I have no knowledge - I say: You will find that many amongst these people who are eager and zealous in innovations are weak and feeble in carrying out those matters whose legislation has been established and whose correctness from the sunnah has also been established. When they finish and depart from these innovations they face the established acts of sunnah with laxity. All of this is from the evil effects of innovations upon the heart. The evil effects of innovations upon the heart are very great (and severe) and their dangers towards the religion are immense (and significant). Never do a people make an innovation into the religion of Allaah except that they neglect from the Sunnah its like or even greater than it, as some of the people of knowledge from the Salaf have mentioned. Conversely, when a man feels (and knows) that he is following (and adhering) and not legislating he will obtain, as a result of that, the perfection of awe, submission, humility and worship of the Lord of all the Worlds, and the perfection of following and adherence to the Imaam of the Allaah-fearing, the chief of the messengers and the Messenger of the Lord of all the Worlds, Muhammad I direct this advice to all my muslim brothers who consider anything from among the innovations to be good, whether they are related to the Essence of Allaah, His Names and Attributes or to the Messenger of Allaah and exalting him, that they should fear Allaah and turn away from that. Furthermore, they should make their affair built upon adherence and imitation and not innovation, upon sincerity and not association of partners (in Allaah's worship), upon the Sunnah and not upon Bid'ah, upon what ar-Rahmaan loves and not upon what Shaytaan loves. Then they should look at the security, life and tranquility that their hearts will obtain and also the ease and comfort of their condition.

I ask Allaah that He makes us guides who are guided and leaders of the righteous. That He enlightens our hearts with faith and knowledge and that He does not make the knowledge we have aqcuired harmful to us. That He travels with us upon the path of His believing servants and that He makes us from among His close friends who have fear of him and among His party of the succesful ones. May Allaah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad , his family and his companions.