Hakikat Kitabevi Publications No: 10 answer to an enemy of islam

“Hold fast to my sunna and to the
sunna of the Khulafâ’ Ar-râshidîn,” means “Give up the changes
which you will make in Islam following your intellect and nafses
and hold fast to my path,” and shows that bid’as in customs are not
heretical. For, Rasûlullah’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) path covers religious
teachings. He did not say anything pertaining to customs. He came
to inform men of their faith. He was not sent to tell them about
their worldly affairs. For, men knew their worldly affairs well,
while they could not guess what Allâhu ta’âlâ’s will and commands
were.
Today, the word ‘bid’a’ comes to mean the bid’as in belief.
Holders of such heretical beliefs are called 
mubtadi’ and ahl al-
hawâ. For, they follow not Islam but their nafses. The seventy-two
heretical sects are in this group. The beliefs of some of them cause
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disbelief. Those who do not believe in the rising after death, deny
the Attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ, or say that classes of beings are
eternal are in this group, too. Such beliefs, which cause disbelief,
are called 
ilhâd. Those who hold such beliefs are called mulhids. A
belief does not cause disbelief if the person who holds it derived it
by interpreting wrongly one of the âyats and hadîths whose
meanings were inexplicit and dubious and, therefore, had to be
explained away (ta’wîl) by choosing the most proper meaning
among numerous meanings. Those who do not believe in the
torment in the grave or who do not believe in the Mi’râj are so. But
these bid’as, which do not cause disbelief, are more sinful than the
gravest felonies, such as killing a Believer unjustly and committing
fornication. They do not become disbelievers because they derive
their wrong beliefs by supposition from the Qur’ân al-kerîm and
from the hadîth ash-sherîf. Today, many people disbelieve these
facts not out of wrong ta’wîl but saying that they are not
conformable to reason and science. Such disbelievers who base
their beliefs not on Islam but on reason and science become
renegades. Mulhids whose beliefs cause disbelief think of
themselves as Muslims, perform ’ibâdât and avoid sins, but none of
these deeds are valid.
Bida’ sayyi’a in ’ibâdât are not so bad as the bid’as in beliefs,
but they, too, are unaccepted and heretical. It is necessary to avoid
them more than avoiding any kind of wrongdoing. Especially, if a
bid’a in an ’ibâda causes neglecting a sunnat muakkada, the bid’a
becomes even more sinful.
The belief which is the opposite of the bid’a in belief is called