Claimed Evidence:

x Al -‘Izz Ibn ‘Abdus -Salaam,  may Allaah have mercy 
upon him ,  divided  Bid’ah  into five categories: 
obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked and 
prohibited.

Refutation:
Ash -Shaatibi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: 
"This categorisation of Bid’ah is something new which 
has no supportive evidence to it, moreover, it contradicts 
the definition of Bid’ah, because any deed which has an 
evidence which legislates it to be obligatory, 
recommended or allowed is by definition not an 
innovation, and it would have been included in the 
general recommendation of good deeds. Therefore, 
considering a matter to be a Bid’ah yet claiming the 



existence of an evidence to recommend it is a 
contradiction in terms."
Reasons behind innovations:


x Ignorance of the religion of Islaam.
x Following ones whims.
x Clinging to doubts.
x The sole use of ration with no reference to the Islamic 
texts (Qur'aanand Sunnah).
x Islamic Scholars not fulfilling their expected role.
x Dependence on weak or fabricated Ahaadeeth.
x Extreme reactions to others errors.
x The failure to limit ones understanding of the Islamic 
texts to that of the companions of the Prophet 
sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
x Blind imitation of the masses.

x Not following the instructions of sincere scholars.