Is there good innovation and bad innovation in Islam?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

The word innovation has a linguistic definition as well as a religious one. In the Arabic language, the word innovation can be classified into good and bad, because it means initiating a certain act. The initiative may be something good, so the innovation would be considered good or it may be something bad, so the innovation would be considered bad.

However, in Islam such categorization may not be applied. This is because innovation means anything that is a novelty in religion and this is bad by all means. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, told us that if anyone innovates something in religion it will not be accepted from him. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

It was also narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, told us that any innovation is considered deviation from the right path. [Muslim]