His Eminence Sheikh Salah Al-Budair, may Allah preserve him, delivered the Friday khutbah entitled, “Follow the Sunnah and Avoid Innovations in Religion”, in which he talked about the necessity of adhering to the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, which is the right way and straight path. He urged Muslims to avoid innovations in religion (bid’ahs) and superstitions, citing a number of Hadiths and traditions of the righteous predecessors to this effect.

Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah, Who has honoured us with the Qur’an and the Sunnah and has made us members of the best Ummah. I praise Him for His ample favours. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone – a testimony that provides the best protection to whomever holds fast to it, and I bear witness that our prophet and our master, Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, is His servant and messenger, whom the Lord sent as a mercy to the worlds. May Allah’s perpetual and extended peace and blessings be upon him, his family and his Companions until the Day of Judgement.

O Muslims!
Fear Allah, for fear of Allah is the best of all gains and obedience to Him is the most honourable source of pride.

"O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah." (Al Imran: 102)

O Muslims!
The way of true believers and monotheists is to adhere to the Sunnah, follow the traditions of the righteous predecessors, abandon superstitions and innovations in religion (bid’ahs), reject newly-invented matters in religion and acts of misguidance, and disavow them and their followers. That was the practice of the Prophet’s Companions, their contemporaries who did not see the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (Tabi’un), their followers, and the Sunnah scholars, who all expressed agreement and consensus that this is the right way that should be followed.

Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said, “The most hateful things in the sight of Allah are innovations in religion.”

Hudhaifah ibn Al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Abandon any act of worship that is not performed by the Companions of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, for the earlier generations left nothing for the later ones to add [in matters of religion].”

A man wrote to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-Aziz asking him about the divine decree, and he wrote back to him, “I advise you to fear Allah, to be moderate in obeying His commands, to follow the Sunnah of His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and to abandon whatever innovations people have introduced into religion.”  

Imam Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, said, “Adhere to the Sunnah and the way of the righteous predecessors, and beware of every newly-invented matter in religion, for it is an innovation.”

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, said, “Whoever introduces an innovation in Islam, believing it to be something good, has in fact claimed that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, betrayed the mission [that Allah assigned him], for Allah says, "This day, I have perfected your religion for you." (Al-Ma’idah: 3). Therefore, whatever was not part of the religion then cannot be part of the religion today.”

Imam Ash-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on his soul, said, “Anything that contradicts the command of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is null and void and cannot be the basis for any personal opinion or analogy; for Allah gives no excuse to anyone who opposes what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said.”

Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, said, “In our estimation, the fundamentals of the Sunnah consist of adhering to the practice of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, following in their footsteps, and abandoning innovations in religion, for every innovation is misguidance.”

Imam Al-Awza’i, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, said, “We closely follow the Sunnah wherever it may be.”

Ibn ‘Awn, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, advised those around him before his death, by repeatedly saying, “Adhere to the Sunnah, and beware of innovations in religion. Adhere to the Sunnah, and beware of innovations in religion.”

Imam Al-Ajurri, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, said, “May Allah have mercy upon a person who keeps away from such [deviant] sects, shuns innovations in religion, follows the Sunnah without introducing innovations into it, and sticks to the prophetic traditions, seeking thereby the straight way and asking assistance of his Lord, the Most Generous.”

Al-Awza’i was once asked, “[What do you think of] a man who says that he sits with people who follow the Sunnah as well as those who follow innovations in religion?” He replied, “That is a man who wants to put truth and falsehood on an equal footing.”

In his interpretation of the Qur’anic verse:
"On the Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) when some faces will become white and some faces will become black . . ." (Al Imran: 106)

Abdullah Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said, “The faces of those who follow the Sunnah and the way of the Companions and their righteous successors (ahlus-Sunnah wal-jama’ah) will become white, while the faces of those who follow innovations in religion and cause dissension will become black.”

Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Whenever the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, delivered a khutbah, his eyes would turn red, his voice would rise, and his anger would grow intense. At the beginning of the khutbah, he would often say, “The best speech is the Book of Allah, the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the worst matters are newly-invented matters [in religion], and every innovation [in religion] is misguidance” (Reported by Muslim).

Therefore, adhere to this upright method and straight way, and you certainly will be rewarded with the Garden of Delight.

O Muslims!
In our day, evil heretics and filthy liars, the followers of corrupt doctrines and wicked beliefs, have started to rise to the surface. They have engaged in spreading innovations in religion, acts of misguidance, superstitions, obsequies (ma’atim), and acts of shirk (associating partners with Allah) among the Muslim laymen, publicly displaying these heresies in their media and in Muslim gatherings, exploiting the poverty and ignorance of some Muslims as well as their negligence in protecting true monotheism and defending the right religion.

These are the most vehement of all people in their hatred and abhorrence of the Sunnah. They deviate from the Sunnah, oppose it, fight against it, and stubbornly reject it. They kill whoever calls to the Sunnah or defends it and besiege its followers. Both in the past and at present, they have incessantly taken up arms against the followers of true monotheism and the Prophet’s Sunnah in order to eradicate their call and destroy their mosques, scholarly institutes, and schools that follow the traditions of the righteous predecessors.

O followers of the Master of Mankind, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him! Be the guardians of the right faith and the soldiers that defend true monotheism. Defend the Sunnah of the Master of Messengers. Defend the Sunnah of the Master of Messengers, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And there is no other way to defend the Sunnah except by adhering to it, disseminating and teaching it, confronting its enemies, protecting its followers, and striving in the cause of Allah to make it reign supreme. Therefore, hasten to defend the Sunnah before the disease spreads out of all proportions and becomes incurable. Hasten to defend it before it is too late.

May Allah make you and me among the guardians of the Sunnah and may He protect us all from the plotting of its enemies.

I seek forgiveness from Allah. Ask Allah for forgiveness; He is ever Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again in obedience and in repentance.