Dought & clear, - Is it permissible to remove the innovators from the mosque?

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There are people in our masjid in charge of adhan, iqamah and khutbah. But they also do many innovations ‘bida’. We have advised them more than once, but they did not stop their innovations.
Should we remove them from the masjid by force?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to expel a Muslim from the houses of Allaah, even if he is an innovator, because they are houses that are built to establish the remembrance and worship of Allaah. The innovator is to be appreciated for his worship and will be rewarded for all the good that he does for the sake of Allaah, but he incurs sin for his innovation. So it is not permissible for anyone to prevent him from worshipping and obeying Allaah, rather we should help him in that and encourage him to attend the congregational prayers of the Muslims, in the hope that he may learn the Sunnah from the people of knowledge, and give up innovated matters of religion.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) even gave permission to some of the mushrikeen to enter the mosque, as in the story of Thumaamah ibn Athaal (may Allaah be pleased with him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be tied to one of the pillars of the mosque. That was before he became Muslim, and he became Muslim on the third day. He said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allaah, there was no face on earth that was more hateful to me than your face, but now your face has become the dearest of all faces to me. By Allaah, there was no religion on earth that was more hateful to me than your religion, but now your religion has become the dearest of all religions to me. By Allaah, there was no city on earth that was more hateful to me than your city, but now your city has become the dearest of all cities to me” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (462) and Muslim (1764).
Look at how his staying in the mosque became a cause of his being guided to Islam. How about the Muslims who take care of the maintenance of the mosque, give the adhaan, deliver the khutbah and so on, as mentioned in the question?
When Ka’b ibn Maalik stayed behind from the campaign to Tabook, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be shunned and forbade the people to talk to him, and he even ordered him to stay away from his wife, but he did not forbid him to attend the prayers in congregation with the Muslims.
He (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the Muslims to speak to us three among those who had stayed behind. So the people shunned us, or their attitude towards us changed, until it seemed to me that the land itself had turned hostile towards me and was no longer the land that I knew. We stayed like that for fifty days. As for my two companions, they stayed in their houses weeping, but I was the youngest and strongest of them. I would go out and attend the prayer, and go around in the marketplaces, and no one would speak to me. I would go to the Messenger of Allaah (S) and greet him with salaam, when he was sitting with the people after prayer, and I would say to myself: Did his lips move in response or not? Then I would pray close to him, stealing glances at him. When I focused on my prayer, he would look at me, then when I looked at him he would turn away. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2757) and Muslim (2769).
When the Khawaarij manifested their bid’ah (innovation) and separated from the main body of the Muslims because of the idea and innovations they introduced, none of the Sahaabah ordered that they be removed or expelled from the mosques, because they are houses which Allaah has given permission to be built and His name mentioned in them. So it is not right for anyone to forbid that for which Allaah has given permission.
‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said concerning the Khawaarij: “They have three rights over us: that we should not initiate fighting with them so long as they do not fight us; that we should not prevent them from entering the mosques of Allaah to mention His name therein; and that we should not deny the booty to them so long as they have fought alongside us.”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah inal-Musannaf(7/562) with a hasan isnaad.
What is prescribed in your case is to treat them kindly in the house of Allaah, and to strive to explain the Sunnah to them by all means. If you can prevent them from establishing their bid’ah, after asking the scholars and making sure that this particular action is indeed bid’ah, then you may prevent them from doing this bid’ah only, but you cannot prevent them from entering the mosque altogether. That is subject to the condition that preventing this bid’ah will not lead to trouble among the Muslims or to an evil that is greater than the bid’ah that you want to prevent.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Based on this, if the person or group combines good with evil in such a way that they cannot be separated, rather they will do it all or abandon it all, then it is not permissible merely to enjoin good or forbid evil, rather you should look and see. If the good is more prevalent, then it should be enjoined, even if that will entail a lesser amount of evil, and you should not forbid an evil if that means that a greater amount of good will be lost. In that case, forbidding evil would be more akin to blocking the path of Allaah and striving to stop people from obeying Him and His Messenger, and to stop people doing good. But if the evil is more prevalent then it should be forbidden, even if that means that a lesser amount of good will be lost. In that case, enjoining that good which entails a greater amount of evil is in fact enjoining evil and striving to disobey Allaah and His Messenger. If the good and evil are equal, then you should neither enjoin nor forbid, rather in some cases it will be better to enjoin (the good) and in some cases it will be better to forbid (the evil), and in some cases neither enjoining good nor forbidding evil will be appropriate, because the good and evil are so strongly connected.
That has to do with specific issues. But when speaking about specific actions, then good should be enjoined in general and evil should be forbidden in general.
With regard to a single person or group, then its good should be enjoined and its evil should be forbidden; its praiseworthy actions should be commended and its blameworthy actions should be criticized, in such a way that enjoining good will not cause most of the good to be lost or a greater evil to occur, and in such a way that forbidding evil will not cause a greater evil to occur or a greater good to be lost. If the matter is unclear then the believer should wait until the truth is clear to him, so that he will not do an act of obedience without the proper knowledge and intentions.
End quote fromMajmoo’ al-Fataawa(28/129-130);al-Istiqaamah(2/217-218).
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
We have Shi’ah with us at work. Is it permissible for us to return their salaams? We also see them in the mosque praying on pieces of paper; is it permissible to expel them from the mosque?
He replied:
I say: treat them as they treat you. If they greet you with salaam, then return their salaams. It is not good to expel them from the mosque, rather some of them may be from among the common folk who do not know anything and have been misled by their scholars. If you are clever and call them in ways that are better, you may be able to influence them. Using violence is not something that is narrated in sharee’ah. Allaah loves kindness in all things. Now if you oppose them and say “Do not prostrate on pieces of paper, do not prostrate on stones” and the like, if the matter may be settled there and they will give up these things, that is good. But (the problem is that) they will persist, and the enmity and hostility between you will increase. What I think you must do is advise them first, especially the ordinary people. Advising does not mean attacking their madhhab and false religion. No, advising means explaining the truth to them and teaching them the Sunnah. Then after that, if you explain the Sunnah to them, I am absolutely certain that if they have real faith, they will come back to the Sunnah and give up their falsehood. If that happens, then that is better. If it does not happen, then you should treat them as they treat you. As for expelling them from the mosque, you have no right to do that.
Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh(no. 80, question no. 4).
Finally:
We should point out to you that not everyone who does an act of bid’ah (innovation) is an innovator, and not everything that you regard as bid’ah is necessarily an innovation. It is not permissible to take as a reference point in this issue the junior seekers of knowledge or those who are zealous about the Sunnah. They themselves need guidance, care and advice. For example, they may think that clasping the hands to the chest after rukoo’ (bowing) is a bid’ah. Do they judge the one who does that as an innovator? Do they want to expel such people from the mosques? Do they know that those who do that – clasping the hands to the chest after bowing – are among our imams and scholars?
We appreciate these brothers for their enthusiasm for the Sunnah, but we do not want them to let their enthusiasm make them pass judgement on people or expel them from the houses of Allaah. How much we have suffered from categorization of people; do we want to bring that categorization into the houses of Allaah? We hope that this will not happen and we hope that they will be sensible and ask – as they have done in this case. Here the fatwa of the scholars is clear even with regard to extreme innovators such as the Shi’ah, and we should not neglect to call them and encourage them to follow the Sunnah in the way that is best.
And Allaah knows best./- -*-
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Dought & clear, - Is it permissible to remove the innovators from the mosque?

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There are people in our masjid in charge of adhan, iqamah and khutbah. But they also do many innovations ‘bida’. We have advised them more than once, but they did not stop their innovations.
Should we remove them from the masjid by force?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to expel a Muslim from the houses of Allaah, even if he is an innovator, because they are houses that are built to establish the remembrance and worship of Allaah. The innovator is to be appreciated for his worship and will be rewarded for all the good that he does for the sake of Allaah, but he incurs sin for his innovation. So it is not permissible for anyone to prevent him from worshipping and obeying Allaah, rather we should help him in that and encourage him to attend the congregational prayers of the Muslims, in the hope that he may learn the Sunnah from the people of knowledge, and give up innovated matters of religion.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) even gave permission to some of the mushrikeen to enter the mosque, as in the story of Thumaamah ibn Athaal (may Allaah be pleased with him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be tied to one of the pillars of the mosque. That was before he became Muslim, and he became Muslim on the third day. He said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allaah, there was no face on earth that was more hateful to me than your face, but now your face has become the dearest of all faces to me. By Allaah, there was no religion on earth that was more hateful to me than your religion, but now your religion has become the dearest of all religions to me. By Allaah, there was no city on earth that was more hateful to me than your city, but now your city has become the dearest of all cities to me” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (462) and Muslim (1764).
Look at how his staying in the mosque became a cause of his being guided to Islam. How about the Muslims who take care of the maintenance of the mosque, give the adhaan, deliver the khutbah and so on, as mentioned in the question?
When Ka’b ibn Maalik stayed behind from the campaign to Tabook, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be shunned and forbade the people to talk to him, and he even ordered him to stay away from his wife, but he did not forbid him to attend the prayers in congregation with the Muslims.
He (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the Muslims to speak to us three among those who had stayed behind. So the people shunned us, or their attitude towards us changed, until it seemed to me that the land itself had turned hostile towards me and was no longer the land that I knew. We stayed like that for fifty days. As for my two companions, they stayed in their houses weeping, but I was the youngest and strongest of them. I would go out and attend the prayer, and go around in the marketplaces, and no one would speak to me. I would go to the Messenger of Allaah (S) and greet him with salaam, when he was sitting with the people after prayer, and I would say to myself: Did his lips move in response or not? Then I would pray close to him, stealing glances at him. When I focused on my prayer, he would look at me, then when I looked at him he would turn away. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2757) and Muslim (2769).
When the Khawaarij manifested their bid’ah (innovation) and separated from the main body of the Muslims because of the idea and innovations they introduced, none of the Sahaabah ordered that they be removed or expelled from the mosques, because they are houses which Allaah has given permission to be built and His name mentioned in them. So it is not right for anyone to forbid that for which Allaah has given permission.
‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said concerning the Khawaarij: “They have three rights over us: that we should not initiate fighting with them so long as they do not fight us; that we should not prevent them from entering the mosques of Allaah to mention His name therein; and that we should not deny the booty to them so long as they have fought alongside us.”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah inal-Musannaf(7/562) with a hasan isnaad.
What is prescribed in your case is to treat them kindly in the house of Allaah, and to strive to explain the Sunnah to them by all means. If you can prevent them from establishing their bid’ah, after asking the scholars and making sure that this particular action is indeed bid’ah, then you may prevent them from doing this bid’ah only, but you cannot prevent them from entering the mosque altogether. That is subject to the condition that preventing this bid’ah will not lead to trouble among the Muslims or to an evil that is greater than the bid’ah that you want to prevent.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Based on this, if the person or group combines good with evil in such a way that they cannot be separated, rather they will do it all or abandon it all, then it is not permissible merely to enjoin good or forbid evil, rather you should look and see. If the good is more prevalent, then it should be enjoined, even if that will entail a lesser amount of evil, and you should not forbid an evil if that means that a greater amount of good will be lost. In that case, forbidding evil would be more akin to blocking the path of Allaah and striving to stop people from obeying Him and His Messenger, and to stop people doing good. But if the evil is more prevalent then it should be forbidden, even if that means that a lesser amount of good will be lost. In that case, enjoining that good which entails a greater amount of evil is in fact enjoining evil and striving to disobey Allaah and His Messenger. If the good and evil are equal, then you should neither enjoin nor forbid, rather in some cases it will be better to enjoin (the good) and in some cases it will be better to forbid (the evil), and in some cases neither enjoining good nor forbidding evil will be appropriate, because the good and evil are so strongly connected.
That has to do with specific issues. But when speaking about specific actions, then good should be enjoined in general and evil should be forbidden in general.
With regard to a single person or group, then its good should be enjoined and its evil should be forbidden; its praiseworthy actions should be commended and its blameworthy actions should be criticized, in such a way that enjoining good will not cause most of the good to be lost or a greater evil to occur, and in such a way that forbidding evil will not cause a greater evil to occur or a greater good to be lost. If the matter is unclear then the believer should wait until the truth is clear to him, so that he will not do an act of obedience without the proper knowledge and intentions.
End quote fromMajmoo’ al-Fataawa(28/129-130);al-Istiqaamah(2/217-218).
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
We have Shi’ah with us at work. Is it permissible for us to return their salaams? We also see them in the mosque praying on pieces of paper; is it permissible to expel them from the mosque?
He replied:
I say: treat them as they treat you. If they greet you with salaam, then return their salaams. It is not good to expel them from the mosque, rather some of them may be from among the common folk who do not know anything and have been misled by their scholars. If you are clever and call them in ways that are better, you may be able to influence them. Using violence is not something that is narrated in sharee’ah. Allaah loves kindness in all things. Now if you oppose them and say “Do not prostrate on pieces of paper, do not prostrate on stones” and the like, if the matter may be settled there and they will give up these things, that is good. But (the problem is that) they will persist, and the enmity and hostility between you will increase. What I think you must do is advise them first, especially the ordinary people. Advising does not mean attacking their madhhab and false religion. No, advising means explaining the truth to them and teaching them the Sunnah. Then after that, if you explain the Sunnah to them, I am absolutely certain that if they have real faith, they will come back to the Sunnah and give up their falsehood. If that happens, then that is better. If it does not happen, then you should treat them as they treat you. As for expelling them from the mosque, you have no right to do that.
Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh(no. 80, question no. 4).
Finally:
We should point out to you that not everyone who does an act of bid’ah (innovation) is an innovator, and not everything that you regard as bid’ah is necessarily an innovation. It is not permissible to take as a reference point in this issue the junior seekers of knowledge or those who are zealous about the Sunnah. They themselves need guidance, care and advice. For example, they may think that clasping the hands to the chest after rukoo’ (bowing) is a bid’ah. Do they judge the one who does that as an innovator? Do they want to expel such people from the mosques? Do they know that those who do that – clasping the hands to the chest after bowing – are among our imams and scholars?
We appreciate these brothers for their enthusiasm for the Sunnah, but we do not want them to let their enthusiasm make them pass judgement on people or expel them from the houses of Allaah. How much we have suffered from categorization of people; do we want to bring that categorization into the houses of Allaah? We hope that this will not happen and we hope that they will be sensible and ask – as they have done in this case. Here the fatwa of the scholars is clear even with regard to extreme innovators such as the Shi’ah, and we should not neglect to call them and encourage them to follow the Sunnah in the way that is best.
And Allaah knows best./- -*-
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Dought & clear, - Every time he enters the forum he says Subhaan Allaahand the members say tasbeeh and takbeer and tahleel

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We notice that in many forums, a member enters and says “subhan Allah” and in response, the second member says “Allahu Akbar” and so on, they keep doing the same every time a member enters the forum. What is the ruling on this? May Allah bless you!.
Praise be to Allaah.
If the one who is entering the forum wants to remind his brothers to say tasbeeh and tahleel and takbeer, so he says tasbeeh or takbeer and the other members respond to him, and remember Allaah, then there is nothing wrong with that. It comes under the heading of mentioning Allaah in a gathering, concerning which there is an important, well known hadeeth:
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: ‘I am as My slave thinks I am, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers me to himself, I remember him to Myself; if he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a gathering better than it; if he draws near to Me a handspan, I draw near to him an arm’s length; if he draws near to me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length; if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (7405) and Muslim (2675).
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No people sit together in a gathering where they do not remember Allaah or send blessings upon their Prophet, but it will be a source of regret and sorrow; if He wills He will punish them and if He wills He will forgive them.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (3380) and Abu Dawood (5059); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Tirmidhi.
The reservations in this case have to do with adopting a specific number of times or order of reciting, such as if he starts with tasbeeh and someone else thinks that he has to follow it with takbeer and tahmeed. Believing that it is to be done in a certain order, or that there is a specific number of times for reciting dhikr for which there is no evidence in sharee’ah, or believing that it is Sunnah to recite dhikr in this manner – all of these are bid’ahs or innovations.
The scholars pointed out that singling out a time or place or specific manner for acts of worship that was not narrated (in sharee’ah) is bid’ah or innovation. In that case it is called bid’ah idaafiyyah (additional bid’ah) because it is prescribed in principle, but is rejected because of how it is done.
Al-Shaatibi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Bid’ah (innovation) refers to something that is newly invented in matters of religion that appears similar to that which prescribed, by which people intend to go to extremes in worshipping Allaah.
This includes adhering to certain ways and manners of worship, such as reciting dhikr in unison, or taking the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) as an Eid, and so on.
It also includes doing certain acts of worship at certain times for which there is no basis in sharee’ah, such as always fasting on the fifteenth of Sha’baan (yawm al-nusf min Sha’baan) and spending that night in prayer.
-I’tisaam(1/37-39).
And Allaah knows best./- -*-
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Dought & clear, - Are All Deeds of Innovators Rejected?

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I read the question on your website about praying behind a person who commits innovations (bid’ah) in which you said that it is permissible to pray behind that innovator whose innovation doesn’t involve shirk. But I went through this hadeeth in Ibn Majah and Darmi which states that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “ Allah doesn’t accept the fast and prayers and sadaqah (charity) and other voluntary deeds of an innovator and he gets out of Islam like the hair taken out from the flour.” If the hadeeth is sahih (authentic), then how can we pray behind an innovator even if he doesn’t do shirk? In the above hadeeth it is mentioned in general i.e. innovator. In my locality there are only those mosques that commit innovations and the mosque of rightly-guided people is quite far from my house. In this case what should I do? Please guide me by giving proofs from the Quran and Sunnah (prophetic teachings). May Allah bless you for the great work you are doing.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
The ruling on praying behind an innovator has been stated previously in the answer to questions no. 20885and 26152. There is no need to repeat it here.
Secondly:
With regard to the hadeeth (narration) mentioned in the question and other marfoo’ hadeeths (reports attributed to the prophet) about the good deeds of the innovator not being accepted, they are da’eef or munkar ahadeeth (i.e., weak) and are not saheeh (authentic). A detailed discussion follows.
1.
The first hadeeth: It was narrated from Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah will not accept any fasting, prayer, charity, Hajj, ‘Umrah (major and minorpilgrimage), jihad (physical struggle against oppression), or any other obligatory or nafil (voluntary) action from a person who follows innovation (bid’ah). He comes out of Islam like a hair pulled out of dough.”
Narrated by Ibn Majah in al-Sunan (no. 49). He said: Dawood ibn Sulayman al-‘Askari narrated to us, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Abu Hashim ibn Abi Khaddash narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Muhsin narrated to us, from Ibraheem ibn Abi ‘Ablah, from ‘Abd-Allah ibn al-Daylami, from Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him).
Al-Shaykh al-Albani said in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (no. 1493):
It is mawdoo’ (fabricated); the fault lies with Ibn Muhsin who is a liar as Ibn Ma’een and Abu Hatim said. Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqreeb: They regarded him as a liar but al-Boosayri was more lenient concerning him in al-Zawaid (1/10). This is a da’eef (weak) hadeeth; its isnad (chain of transmission) includes Muhammad ibn Muhsin, and they are agreed that he is da’eef. The reason for this lenient view is that the narrator is unanimously regarded as da’eef but not as a liar. In that case, mentioning the consensus concerning a narrator without mentioning the reason does not give a proper idea about the narrator.
2.
The second hadeeth: It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah refuses to accept the good deeds of one who follows innovation until he gives up that innovation.”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim in al-Jarh wa’l-Ta’deel (9/439); Ibn Majah in al-Sunan (no. 50), Abu’l-Fadl al-Muqri’ in Ahadeeth fi Dhamm al-Kalam wa Ahlihi (3/111), Ibn Abi ‘Asim in al-Sunnah (no. 32), al-Khateeb in Tareekh Baghdad (13/185), via Ibn al-Jawzi in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanahiyah (1/144). All of them narrated via Bishr ibn Mansoor al-Khayyat from Abu Zayd from Abu’l-Mugheerah from ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him).
Ibn Abi Hatim said, after narrating it: Abu Zu’rah was asked about them – meaning Abu Zayd and Abu’l-Mugheerah – and he said: I do not know them, and I do not know Bishr ibn Mansoor from whom al-Ashajj narrated it. End quote.
Ibn al-Jawzi said in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanahiyah (1/145):
This is not a saheeh hadeeth (authentic report) from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); its isnad includes majhool (unknown) narrators. End quote.
Al-Shaykh al-Albani said in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (1/1492):
It is munkar (denounced). This is a da’eef (weak) isnad, full of majhool (unknown) narrators. Abu Zur’ah said: I do not know Abu Zayd or his Shaykh, or Bishr. Al-Dhahabi said concerning the first of them: He is unknown. And he said concerning the other two: I do not know who they are. And al-Boosayri agreed with him in al-Zawaid (1/11). End quote.
Thirdly:
But some people may be confused by what is mentioned in the hadeeth of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said concerning one who introduces innovation in Madeenah: “Allah will not accept any obligatory or nafil act of worship from him.” Narrated by al-Bukhari (7300) and Muslim (1370).
Something similar was narrated from a number of the Tabi’een, such as al-Hasan al-Basri, from whom it was narrated that he said: “Allah does not accept from the one who follows innovation any fast, prayer, Hajj or ‘Umrah, until he gives it up.” End quote.
Narrated by al-Ajurri in al-Sharee’ah (64); Abu Shamah in al-Ba’ith ‘ala Inkar al-Bida’ wa’l-Hawadith (p. 16); and elsewhere. A similar report was narrated from al-Awza’i, as it says in al-Bida’ wa’l-Nahi ‘anha by Ibn Waddah (27). It was narrated that al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad said: “No good deed is taken up to Allah for the one who follows innovation.” Narrated by al-Lalkai in Sharh Usool I’tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah (1/139).
Al-Shatibi remarked in his commentary on such reports. He said in al-I’tisam (1/108-112):
Either it means that his good deeds are not accepted from him at all, regardless of whether they are in accordance with the Sunnah (prophetic teachings) or not, or it means that the deeds in which he follows innovation in particular will not be accepted from him, to the exclusion of those in which he does not follow innovation.
With regard to the first scenario, it may be understood in three ways:
1 – it may be understood according to the apparent meaning, i.e., that for every innovator, no matter what his innovation is, none of his good deeds will be accepted when he follows that innovation, whether any particular deed comes under the heading of that bid’ah or not. This is very harsh on those who introduce innovations into Islam.
2 – it may be understood as referring to a type of bid’ah that may form the basis for all other deeds, such as if he holds the view that ahad reports are to be rejected, as most deeds prescribed in Islam are based on ahad reports.
3 – The third way of understanding it is that bid’ah in some acts of worship or other deeds may lead the one who follows that particular bid’ah to form some understanding that makes his belief in sharee’ah (Islamic teachings in general) very weak, which invalidates all his good deeds.
With regard to the second interpretation, it means that specifically their deeds in which they follow innovation are not accepted, and that is possible. This is indicated by the hadeeth: “Every action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will be rejected.” End quote.
But the correct view concerning this issue is what was mentioned by Dr. Ibraheem al-Ruhayli in his book Mawqif Ahl al-Sunnah min Ahl al-Ahwa wa’l-Bida’ (1/292-293), where he says:
What is indicated by the apparent meaning of the texts and the words of the Salaf (pious predecessors) is that for the one who follows innovation, Allah will not accept his deeds, and it may be interpreted in the following ways:
1 – The words may be taken at face value, and that what is meant is that all the deeds of the innovator are rejected, those in which he follows innovation and those in which he does not follow innovation. This applies to the innovator who is a kafir (disbeliever), and no one else.
2 – What is meant is that only the innovated actions are rejected, whether they are pure innovation or they were prescribed in Islam but some innovations were introduced into them and spoiled them. /- -*-
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3 – The innovations may cause the reward for the deed to be erased by way of punishment, until it is as if it is not accepted.
4 – The texts may be understood as a rebuke for innovation and as a deterrent.
The reason why we need to find a proper understanding for these texts and the words of the salaf here is that the apparent meaning of the texts seems to contradict the basic principles of sharee’ah, which indicate that the Muslim’s deeds are accepted if they fulfil the conditions of sincerity towards Allah and following the Sunnah, regardless of any innovations, sins, etc., that the person may be doing in other deeds, because they have no effect on the acceptability of this particular good deed. End quote.
With regard to the third interpretation here, it should be understood as referring only to any bid’ah that a shar’i (religious) text indicates that this particular bid’ah erases the good deeds of the one who commits it, and not every single bid’ah falls into this category.
The scholars commented on this hadeeth and explained what is meant by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “Allah will not accept any obligatory or nafil act of worship from him.”
Al-Qadi said: And it was said that what is meant is that his obligatory and nafil acts of worship will not be accepted in the sense of Allah being pleased with them, even though they may be acceptable in the sense that he will be rewarded for them. And it was said that acceptance here refers to being acceptable as expiation for sin.
Sharh al-Nawawi ‘ala Muslim (9/141).
To sum up: It is permissible to pray behind one who follows innovation so long as his bid’ah is not one that constitutes blatant kufr (disbelief). Allah will call people to account on the basis of their deeds.
“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it.”
[al-Zalzalah 99:7-8]
And Allah knows best.

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