Does everyone who goes against the Sunnahfall into bid‘ah (innovation)? Notes on the meaning of following

I have read many fatwa'sabout innovation and my question is. If the
prophet (peace be upon him) practiced something. Do we have to
practise EXACTLY as he did it? If we dont do it EXACTLY then is it
innovation? Because i'veread a lot of the fatwa's and in a lot of it
many ofthe practices are considered BIDAH. For example the Prophet
(Peace be Upon him) did emphasize on the virtue of Dua in
congrenation. Now if its practised afterfardh salaah why is it an
innovation? Is the sunnah of the prophet subject to exactly the way he
did, the time he did etc etc. If we do it at a different time is it
innovation? say for example if its sunnah to read Surah Kahf on
friday. Now if I read surah kahf every monday and tuesday, will it be
considered a bidah? Im still making Ibadah. Why is it subject to
TIME?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
No doubt it is obligatory for the Muslim to be a follower of his
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in what he
prescribed and it is not permissible for him to go against that orto
introduce any innovation into the religion, because of the evidence
that indicates that it is obligatory to follow and it is forbidden to
introduce innovation. But it shouldbe noted that differing from the
way of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and
falling into bid'ah may mean one of two things:
(i)
introducing an act of worship for which there is no basis in Islam,
such as touching graves and seeking help from their occupants. The
scholars call this real innovation (al-bid'ah al-haqeeqah). This is
that which was not prescribed at all.
(ii)
the act of worship may be originally prescribed in Islam, and what is
contrary to the Sunnah may have to do with defining a certain time or
place for it, or a certain number of times it is to be repeated, or
the manner in which it isto be done or the reasonfor which it is to be
done. This is called innovation by addition (al-bid'ah
al-idaafiyyah);it is not bid'ah unless it is done regularly and
repeatedly. If it is done only once or twice without adhering to that,
then it is not bid'ah, such as if people pray qiyaam in congregation
(jamaa'ah)on some occasion, without thinking that there is any
particular virtue in doing so.
Hence ash-Shaatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) said, discussing the
"innovation by addition": The word bid'ah refers to an invented way of
doing something in Islam that is similar to what is prescribed, of
which the intention is to go to extremes in worshippingAllah, may He
be glorified.
That includes regularly adhering to certain manners and forms of
worship, such as recitingdhikr together in unison, taking the birthday
of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as anEid
(festival), and so on.
It also includes adhering to specific acts of worship at specific
timesthat were not defined assuch in sharee'ah, such as always fasting
on the fifteenth of Sha'baan (an-nusf min Sha'baan) and spending that
night in prayer (qiyaam).
End quote from al-I'tisaam, 1/37-39
Adhering to a thing means doing it regularly and repeatedly.
Secondly:
Du'aa' (supplication) is prescribed during the prayer and following
it, according to the correct scholarly opinion. What is not allowed is
reciting du'aa' in unison. The evidence for it being prescribed to
offer du'aa' after the prayer isas follows:
1.
It was narrated that 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allah be pleased with
him) said: When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said the salaam at the end of the prayer, he would say: "Allaahumma
ighfir li ma qaddamtu wa ma akhkhartu wa ma asrartu wa ma a'lantu wa
ma astraftu wa ma anta a'lamu bihi minni. Anta al-muqaddim wa anta
al-mu'akhkhir laa ilaaha illa anta (O Allaah!Forgive me what I have
done in the past, and what I will do in the future, and what I have
concealed, and what I have done openly, and what I have exceeded
in,whatever You know about me more than I. You are the One Who brings
forward, and You are the One Who puts back, there is no god except
You)."
Narrated by Abu Dawood (1509); classed as saheeh by an-Nawawiin
al-Majmoo'. This does not contradict the reportthat says that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said this du'aa'
before the salaam. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) used to recite this du'aa' in both places. See: al-Majmoo', 3/467
2.
It was narrated that Abu Umaamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
It was said to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him): Which du'aa' is most likely to be heard? He said: "(That
which is said) in the last part of the night and at the end of the
obligatory prayers."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3499; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh at-Targheeb wa't-Tarheeb
"at the end of the prayers" may refer to after the prayers or in the
last part of the prayers. In the followinghadeeth, for example, what
is meant is after the prayer: 'Uqbah ibn 'Aamir (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) instructed me to recite al-Mu'awwidhaat (soorahs that
give protection) at the end ofevery prayer (i.e., after the prayer).
Narrated by Ahmad, 17453; Abu Dawood, 1523. Classed as saheeh by
Shu'ayb al-Arna'oot inTahqeeq al-Musnad
As for reciting du'aa' in unison, there is no report that speaks of
it; hence doing it regularly following the prayers comes under the
heading of bid 'ah.
So acts of worship must be done as prescribed bysharee'ah in six ways:
quantity, manner, time, place, reason and type. For more details of
that please see the answer toquestion no. 21519
Thirdly:
There is nothing wrong with reading Soorat al-Kahf on days other than
Friday, if the readerwants to do that or if it so happens as part of
hisregular daily portion of Qur'aan, and he will have a tenfold reward
for each letter, as is the reward for reading other soorahs. But that
ison condition that he does not set aside a special day for reading
it, as is the case on Fridays, and hence he should not believe that
reading it on this day is better than reading it onother days or that
there is a particular virtue of reading it on a specific day that is
like the virtueof reading it on Friday, because that virtue applies
only to Friday, according to those who say that the hadeeth which
speaks of that is saheeh.
And Allah knows best.