Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: “Sadaqa Allahu Al-`Azheem means ‘Allah has spoken the truth.’ A person who says this is doing so with a view to confirm and attest to his conviction of the truth of the Qur’anic statement. If so, how can this be an innovation? This could only be the case if while doing it one thinks it is a must for everyone listening to the Qur’an or reading the same to say so, in which case it is akin to instituting a ritual without sanction in religion. Otherwise, there is no reason to declare such innocent expressions as reprehensible innovations.
How can anyone expressing his conviction of the truth of the Qur’an or the Prophet be considered an innovator in religion? To use the word innovation in this loose sense as an interdict against any form of spontaneous expressions of piety and religious experience is choking religious practice itself. This was certainly not the way the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us about the nature of Islam. How often do we read in the sources that the Companions often used to burst out in prayers and praising of Allah even during the regular salah (ritual Prayers), and yet instead of condemning or reprobating them, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) only praised them for their genuine and spontaneous expressions of their love of Allah and His religion.
So, let us not use the word bid`ah as an interdict to reduce Islam to a rigid and dry set of formulas as if they were simply a collection of traffic signals for stop and go. We may do well to reflect on the wise saying of Imam Hasan Al-Basri: “The true religion is situated between the extremes of dry legalism and overzealous piety.”