SAHÂBAH ATTITUDE TOWARDS INNOVATIONS
An outstanding characteristic of the Sahâbah is their absolute Adherence to the Sunnah of the Prophet, Muhammad and their absolute disapproval of BID'AH (Innovation) Some Sahâbah narrated the following Ahaadeeth
Amr ibn salmah said: We used to sit in front of Abdullah Ibn Masoud's house before the Fajr prayer, so that when he came out we would go with him to the Masjid. {one day} Abu Moosa al-Ash'aaree came and asked us: 'Did Abu Abdur Rahmaan (i.e. Ibn Masoud) leave yet? ' We answered: 'No.'
So Abu Moosa al-Ash'aaree sat with us waiting for him. When he came out, we all stood up. Abu Moosa told him: "Oh, Abu Abdur Rahmaan! I recently saw something in the Masjid which I deemed to be evil, but all praise is for Allah, I did see anything except good "
Ibn Masoud then asked: "then What was it?"
Abu Moosa said: "You will see it if you stay alive. In the Masjid, I saw a group of people sitting in circles waiting for the Salââh. Each circle is led by a person. And every person in these circles carries small stones (pebbles).
The leader of a circle would say: "Say 'Allah-u Akbar' a hundred times" so they would repeat Allah-u Akbar a hundred times; then he says "Say 'Laa ilaaha illallaah', a hundred times" so they would say Laa ilaaha illallaah a hundred times; then he would say: "Say 'Subhaanallah', a hundred times", they will say Subhana Allah a hundred times.
Then Ibn Masoud said: "What did you tell them?"
He said: 'I didn't say anything, I waited to hear your opinion."
Abdullah Ibn Masoud said: "Could you not order them to count their evil deeds, and assured them of getting their rewards."
Then Abdullah Ibn Masoud went ahead and we accompanied him. As he approached one of the circles, he said: "What is this that you are doing?"
They said: "Oh! Abu Abdur Rahmaan, these are pebbles to count the number of times we say Allah-u Akbar, La ilaaha Illallah, and Subhaanallah."
He said: "Count your evil deeds, and I assure you that you are not going to lose anything of your rewards (Hasanat). Woe unto you, people of Muhammad, how quickly you go to destruction! Those are your Prophet's companions available, these are his clothes not worn out yet, and his pots are not broken yet. I swear by Whom my soul is in His Hands that you are either following a religion that is better than the Prophet's religion or you are opening a door of misguidance." They said: "We swear by Allah Almighty, oh, Abu Abdur Rahmaan, that we had no intention other than doing good deeds."
He said: "So what? How many people wanted to do good deeds but never got to do them? The Prophet of Allah has told us about people who recited the Qur'ân with no effect on them other than the Qur'ân passing through their throats. I swear by Allah, I am almost sure that most of you are from that type of people." Then he left them.umar Ibn Salamah (the sub narrator) said: "We saw most of the people of those circles fighting against us with the Khawaarij in the battle of An-Nahrawan."
-- Related by Ad-Daarimee and Abu Na'eim with an Authentic chain of narrations. Authenticated by saleem al-hilaalee in al-BID'AH (pp. 26-29)
This was the case with every innovation introduced in the UMMAH it began as something small, bearing resemblance to the truth which is why those who entered it were mislead and then were unable to leave it. so it grew and became the religion which they followed and thus deviated from the straight path and left Islam.