Punishment for Creating Bid'ah

Here is a Ṣaḥīḥ (Authentic) ḥadīth that shows the punishment one receives if he creates a bid`ah (innovates) in religion. It is one ḥadīth, fairly lengthy, so I broke it up into smaller portion for easier reading.

عقاب من ابتدع دينا

Punishment for Whoever Innovates in Religion

 أبي ره قال حدثني سعد بن عبد الله عن يعقوب بن يزيد عن محمد بن أبي عمير عن هشام بن الحكم عن أبي عبد الله ع قال كان رجل في الزمن الأول طلب الدنيا من حلال فلم يقدر عليها فطلبها من حرام فلم يقدر عليها فأتاه الشيطان فقال يا هذا إنك قد طلبت الدنيا من حلال فلم تقدر عليها و طلبتها من حرام فلم تقدر عليها أ فلا أدلك على شي‏ء يكثر به مالك و دنياك و تكثر به تبعتك قال بلى

From Hishām bin al-Hakam from Abī `Abd Allāh (عليه السلام) said: “There was a man in the first age that sought the world from halāl (means), and he was not able to (obtain) it. So he sought it from harām (means), and he was not able to (obtain) it. Then al-Shaytān came to him and said: ‘O this, that you have sought the world from halāl and you not able to (obtain) it. And sought it from harām and you were not able to (obtain) it. Shall I not show you something that you will increase in your money, your world, and increase your followers?’ He (the man) said: ‘Yes’

قال تبتدع دينا و تدعو إليه الناس ففعل فاستجاب له الناس و أطاعوه و أصاب من الدنيا ثم إنه فكر فقال بئس ما صنعت ابتدعت دينا و دعوت الناس إليه و ما أرى لي توبة إلا أن آتي من دعوته إليه فأرده عنه

He (al-Shaytān) said: ‘You should innovate (in) religion, and you should call the people to it’ So he (the man) did it, and the people responded to him, and they obeyed him, and he became afflicted from the world, then he thought and said: ‘What have I done?  I have innovated in religion, and called the people to it. I do not see tawbah (repentance) for me, except that I come to the one whom I called to it, and I have him reject it’.

فجعل يأتي أصحابه الذين أجابوه فيقول إن الذي دعوتكم إليه باطل و إنما ابتدعته فجعلوا يقولون كذبت هذا هو الحق و لكنك شككت في دينك فرجعت عنه فلما رأى ذلك عمد إلى سلسلة فوتد لها وتدا ثم جعلها في عنقه و قال لا أحلها حتى يتوب الله عز و جل علي فأوحى الله إلى نبي من الأنبياء قل لفلان و عزتي لو دعوتني حتى ينقطع أوصالك ما استجبت لك حتى ترد من مات مما دعوته إليه فرجع عنه

So he went to those companions who answered him saying: ‘Verily, that which I called to you is false (bātil), I only innovated it’ So they went about saying: ‘You have lied! This is the truth (haqq), but you have doubted in your religion’ Then they returned from him. When he (the man) saw that, he proceeded to fasten a chain then he put it (the chain) on his neck and said: ‘I will not unfasten it (the chain), until Allāh (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) forgives me.’ So Allāh revealed to a Prophet from the Prophets to say to so and so, ‘By My Glory, if you would have called Me until your joints broke, I would not answer you until you have dissuaded those who died upon what you have called him and he is returned from it (from the bid`ah)’

Source:

1.     Al-Sadūq, Thawāb al-`Amāl, (Qum: al-Manshūrāt al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 2^nd ed., 1406), pg. 257, ḥadīth # 1

Grading:

1.     `Alī Namāzi al-Shahrūdī said this ḥadīth is Ṣaḥīḥ (Authentic)
à Mustadarak Safīnah al-Bihaar, 10 vols., (Qum: Mu’assasah al-Nashr al-Islāmiyyah, n.d.), vol. 6, pg. 474

2.     Hadī al-Najafī said this ḥadīth is Ṣaḥīḥ Sanad (Authentic Chain of Narrators)

à Mawsū`ah Aḥādīth Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 2, pg. 273