THE ISSUE OF BID'AH (INNOVATION)

"...Whatever the Messenger has given you -take; and what he has forbidden you -refrain from..." 

(Al-Hashr:7)

When a person feels like they know better than the Messenger (may peace be upon him), they create their own act of worship and present it in many ways referring (it) later on back to the same Messenger (may peace be upon him).

The Messenger (may peace be upon him), was sent to us in order to teach us on how to worship Allah; he was directly sent
by the Almighty. He (Almighty) gave him the message in order to equip us with the best ways and forms the same Almighty wants to be worshiped.
So, if anyone comes up with an act of worship that was not taught by the Messenger (may peace be upon him), such has directly insulted the Messenger (may peace be upon him) and he has directly insulted Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla).
The reason is; what was the point of sending a Messenger to teach us how to worship Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla) when we think we already know better than him?.

And sometimes, people so much get upset when we tell them not to do things which were not done by the Messenger (may peace be upon him); they think perhaps you belong to a sect that is deviant. May Allah protect us.
Indeed, there is no deviance in a sect that calls towards obeying the instructions of Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla), His Messenger (may peace be upon  him) and abandoning anything in terms of acts of worship that has not been taught by the same Messenger (may peace be upon him). May Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla) grant us deep understanding of His words.

The Messenger (may peace be upon him) has said on many occasions: "I leave with you two things, for as long as you hold fast upon them, you will never be led astray. (and that is), the Book of Allah (Qur'an) and my traditions (Sunnah). May the Almighty grant us beautiful return to the path of the same Messenger (may peace be upon him).

Dear beloved readers, if you take a look at what the Almighty (sub'hānahu wata'āla) says in Sūratul Kah'f towards the end; He speaks of the biggest losers. Those who do lots of deeds and they think they are doing good deeds but at the same time they have not followed the footsteps of the Messenger (may peace be upon him) and this is why they have lost. Allah says in (Q18: vs103-104): قُلْ ه‍َلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِيْنَ أَعْمَالاً# الَّذِيْنَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَه‍ُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّه‍ُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا#
"Say [O Muhammad], shall we inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds?# [They are] those whise efforts is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work." [Sahih Translation].

People would like to add one Rak'ah with that in Rak'ātu Zuhr or the afternoon salāh; but doing that will definitely result in the nullification of the entire prayer because we are only allowed with the units that was done by the Messenger (may peace be upon him), and that is 4. The same applies to all other acts of worship as well.

Beloved readers, never ever think that there is a single act of worship that the Messenger (may peace be upon him) forgot to teach us; Never ever think that there is any act of worship that you may engage in that would be better than that which the Messenger (may peace be upon him) had come with; And never ever think that the Messenger (may peace be upon him) has not done deeds wguch are enough for us to follow; so, we need to come up with the new deed and a new act of worship. Astagh'firullah (we don't want to do that); for that will absolutely result in spoiling of our deeds. May Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla) grant us goodness.

This is why towards the end of the same (aforementioned) Sūrah; Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla) says in (Q18: vs 110):
...فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُوا لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلاً صَالِحًا وَلاَ يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
[Self Translation]: "Whoever is looking forward to meeting with Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla), they should fulfill two main conditions. One is that they do deeds that were taught by the Messenger (may peace be upon him) alone; No extra deeds. Don't think for a moment that you will achieve spirituality by doing a deed that was not done by the Messenger (may peace br upon him). If you would like to know about every deeds of yours, ask the trusted scholars around you if it was really done by the Messenger (may peace be upon him); if it was not, then you do not engage in it in your life; no matter where else it came from. In fact, it will be a point of your downfall and mine if we were to engage in deeds that were not done by the Messenger (may peace be upon him). May the Almighty (sub'hānahu wata'āla) grant us purity.

If you look at the tafseer or the explanations of the term "عَمَلاً صَالِحًا"، it means deeds that were done and encouraged by the Messenger (may peace be upon him) alone. Those are good deeds because the Arabic word صَالِحْ means that which is good enough and pure enough for acceptance.

The second condition that you would require if you would like to meet with your Maker (Allah) is that; you need to protect yourself from associating partnership with Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla). May He grant us goodness.

Dear beloved readers; Islam is very easy. It is us sometimes who add salt and pepper to our religion in order to try and decorate it with INNOVATIONS; not realizing innovations can never decorate your cake but instead, make it unpalatable; that it can never be consumed. May Allah (sub'hānahu wata'āla) protects us (all) from all forms of innovations of every sort.

Wassalāmu alaykum warah'motullahi wabarakātuhu

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