Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 811 [Read full issue]
Heresies and Innovations
There is no question that heresies and innovations lead people away from the path of Allah - the only true path of spiritual purification. The Prophet (peace be upon him) made this point very clear when would state at the beginning of his speeches, "The worst actions are the invented ones. And every innovation is a going astray." [Muslim] In other narrations he would say, "And every going astray is in the hell fire." [Al-Nasai]. Furthermore, the Prophet also made it clear that heretical acts will never be accepted by Allah. He stated, "Whoever introduces anything into this affair of ours that does not belong to it will have it rejected." [Bukhari, Muslim]
Hence, by following innovations one is following a path that is, by definition, taking him away from the path of purification to a path that leads one to Hell. Thus, anyone sincerely interested in purifying his soul must take great pains to make sure that his beliefs and actions are free of any heresies or innovations. If he finds that he has some heretical beliefs or is practicing some innovations, he must leave them immediately, as they will never be pleasing to Allah and they are taking him away from his ultimate goal of worshipping Allah in the proper manner.
Compiled From:
"Purification of the Soul" - Jamal al-Din M. Zarabozo, pp. 401, 402