There is no such thing as bid’ah hasanah in Islam

the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings beupon his truthful Prophet.

Firstly, how can there be any such thing as bidah hasanah(good innovation) when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be uponhim) said: Every bidah is a going astray and every going astray is inHell-fire.  So, if anyone says that there is such a thing as bidahhasanah, he can only be insisting on going against the Messenger of Allaah (peace andblessings of Allaah be upon him).

Secondly, saying al-hamdu Lillaah (praise be toAllaah) when coming out of rukoo is a well-known phrase of dhikr which isproven in sound ahaadeeth reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah beupon him). All that this Sahaabi did was to come up with a new phrase expressing praise toAllaah. How can this be used as evidence to support innovations in worship and dhikr thathave no basis in the sources of Islam?

Thirdly, what this Sahaabi did cannot be taken as evidence in and of itself. It was not even considered to have been a correct action until after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had approved it, and not before. But how on earth could this innovator obtain the approval of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) after he has passed away?”

Fourthly, if we accept the use of this report as evidence, it is still no more than anisolated incident which cannot be generalized, whereas the hadeeth every bidahis a going astray is clearly a general statement. It is a well-known principle amongthe ulamaa (scholars) that what is stated clearly takes precedence over whatis merely implied.

Fifthly, how can we know what is good or not with our limited minds alone and withoutthe input of Revelation? Is there not the possibility of differences of opinion? What oneperson sees as good will be seen differently by another, so what would the standard be?Whose reasoning could we rely on or refer to? Would this not be confusion, even anarchyitself?

Sixthly (which confirms the third point made above), when the Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of an act of worship or a dhikr (remembrance ofAllaah) on the part of one of his Sahaabah, it would thus become a part of shareeahand hence be regarded as a sunnah hasanah. But with the death of the Prophet (peaceand blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the ceasing of Revelation, how can we knowwhether innovated acts of worship or dhikr are correct or would be approved? We have noway of knowing, so we should limit ourselves only to the forms of worship that have beennarrated in sound reports.

The great scholar al-Haafiz ibn Hijr (may Allaah have mercy on him) narrated manycomments by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah in Fath al-Baari; he agreed with some anddisagreed with others. This is the business of the scholars: they discuss and debate withone another, with the aim of reaching the truth which may lie with the one who isdisagreeing or with the one whose opinion is being criticized. As for the unpleasantcomment quoted in the question, from what we know of Ibn Hijr (may Allaah have mercy onhim) and his good manners, fear of Allaah, awareness of the value of knowledge and respectfor the scholars, we are sure that this comment is a fabrication. May Allaah forgive allthe scholars and reward them for their efforts and concern.