Innovation in Religion, the basis for Occurrence of Evil

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, and may Allah's blessings be upon Muhammad and his pure family

Since this is the first session, to seek blessings and auspiciousness, I will quote a saying from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him).

In Nahj al-Balagha sermon 50 and in Kitab Fadl al-‘Ilm by al-Kulayni, through a reliable chain of transmitters, it has been narrated from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) that Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said:

"O people! The basis of the occurrence of evils are those desires which are acted upon and the orders that are innovated. They are against the Book of Allah. People appoint others as leaders based on something other than the religion of Allah. If falsehood were separated from the truth, it would not be hidden from those who seek it. And if the truth were pure from the mixture of falsehood, the tongues of those who oppose it would be cut off. But a bit of this is taken and a bit of that, and they are mixed together. It is then that Satan gains control over his followers, and those who have been granted divine favor are saved."

You have likely heard the beginning of this saying from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) often, but the latter part, which is very important, is less frequently discussed.

The Imam (as) states that the root of all evils is either desires and whims that are followed or rulings that are innovated. If individuals pursue their base desires, seeking worldly pleasures, worldly gains, and worldly status, it becomes the cause of trials. In other words, following one's desires paves the way for conflicts, disputes, and strife.

The second thing that causes evils are innovated rulings. That is, those rulings that some people fabricate and present as part of religion, become the source of evils. Some commentators of *Nahj al-Balagha* have interpreted this to mean that one fabricates rulings based on his desires, but this is contrary to the apparent meaning. The apparent meaning is that both following desires and creating false rulings independently lead to evil.

I am primarily concerned with the second part, “innovated rulings,” and the late Kulayni (may God have mercy on him) also included this saying of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) in the second part of this chapter for this reason. Of course, all segments of society are caught up in the whims of pursuing desires—clerics, non-clerics, scholars, non-scholars, wealthy, and poor alike. However, this second factor is specifically limited to those religious scholars who innovate rulings and introduce them into religion.

Sometimes we think, "What would happen if we slightly alter one of God's rulings?" The most we imagine is that God will be displeased with us, or we violate His sanctity. But in reality, innovation is the cause of chaos among people. If divine rulings are precisely implemented in their rightful place, they bring peace and tranquility to society and individuals. But if innovations are introduced, making what God has declared lawful unlawful, and what is unlawful lawful, this becomes the source of conflict and disputes. 

The phrase "they contradict the Book of God" refers entirely to these innovated rulings, not to the whims of pursuing desires. What is an innovation? It is a contradiction to the clear rulings of the Qur’an. Take, for example, the issue of hijab. If all people truly adhered to what God has decreed, would the crisis that arose in 1401 (2022) have occurred? How many problems were caused? How much was spent? How many were injured? How many people were lost? And its effects are still present today. Opposition to one divine ruling has such consequences. "They contradict the Book of God." 

Another characteristic of innovation is that a group of people appoint certain individuals as their leaders or guardians: "Men appoint men as their guardians." Examples include deviant sects like the Bahais, Wahhabis, Babis, and various new-age spiritual movements, such as Sufism. 

I saw a clip online where one of these Sufis explicitly said, "During prayer, if you envision yourself in the presence of your spiritual leader, then your prayer is valid." This is an innovation. They appoint someone as their guardian and attribute titles and honors to him that are only appropriate for an infallible Imam (peace be upon him). How can you compare an infallible Imam with a person full of flaws? All humans, except for the Infallibles, are prone to mistakes and errors. 

We shouldn’t restrict the idea of “fitna” (trials or turmoil) to just conflicts and disputes. In the Qur'an, "fitna" is sometimes used in reference to polytheism. "Fight them until there is no more fitna" (2:193), meaning there should come a time when there are no more polytheists or disbelievers on Earth. They seek to create a path to lead people away from the straight path, falsely claiming that *they* are the straight path. But this is not the case. The straight path is what is centered on the two weighty things (Thaqalayn), the Qur'an and the Ahlul Bayt. Whatever is based on these two is the straight path; anything that strays from this is deviation. 

I don’t want to delve too much into this, but you can observe in the online world how these sects are spreading misleading ideas and leading the youth astray. All of this is fitna. If a person were to simply accept God’s ruling, they wouldn’t go around trying to mislead people.

Then the Imam says: “If falsehood had been pure, it would not have been hidden from those who seek the truth.” If falsehood were to appear in its pure form, a person would recognize it as falsehood. If falsehood came to the fore without any disguise, an intelligent person would understand where the falsehood lies. “And if truth were pure and free from the confusion of falsehood, the tongues of the opponents would be cut off. But a bit of this (falsehood) and a bit of that (truth) is taken and they are mixed.” 

My emphasis is more on this latter part of the statement by the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him). I mentioned earlier that both the phrase “they contradict the Book of God” and the mixing of truth with falsehood all relate to innovated rulings (in religion). The Imam says: “This is when Satan gains control over his followers.” When does Satan gain power over his followers? When he sees that a person has mixed truth with falsehood. This is what should concern us. In scientific discussions, we need to ask: What is the truth? What has God decreed? God is the origin and essence of truth. Whatever is connected to God is truth, and whatever is connected to something other than God is falsehood.

In our scientific discussions, we must make this our principle and foundation: to seek the truth and to see what religion has conveyed. Then, we should convey that to the people. We must not fabricate things from ourselves, weaving our own ideas and feeding them to the people.

It is one of the honors of the clergy that their foundation is based on the Thaqalayn (the Qur'an and the Ahlul Bayt). Their foundation is to understand the truth. Unfortunately, some people—who are not just opposed to the clergy but are fundamentally against religion itself—claim that the clergy have brought nothing to the people except superstitions. They explicitly state this. Do they realize that by saying this, they are effectively saying that the Qur'an and the Sunnah are superstitions, that fasting, Hajj, Zakat, and Jihad are all superstitions? After all, what has the clergy conveyed to the people other than these? They don’t dare to say that religion is superstition, so they say such things instead.

It is truly astonishing. The clergy, who have left behind such a vast body of scientific work—books on interpretation, ethics, history—who has written these? The clergy. And the source of the clergy’s work is either the Qur'an or the Ahlul Bayt.