Introduction
We've met this individual before somewhere, and he's running a very slick operation on the tube. We even had to commend him for his slickness, because it is very professional - when you are out to swindle, it simply has to be, there is no other choice. As most people's attention spans have dwindled to literally minutes and seeking knowledge for them has become reduced to watching byte-sized vids on the tube (because reading and studying books is so excruciatingly painful and boring), the situation is ripe for individuals such as this one to come along and play the pied-piper. Citing isolated, decontextualized statements of the Scholars or brandishing their phraseology whilst concealing the reality of what these scholars meant by it is the method by which this individual and countless others deceive and misguide the people away from the Prophetic Sunnah and instead to the misguided innovations they have entered into the religion. He is holding up the book of Imaam al-Nawawi, (تهذيب الأسماء واللغات) and is impressing upon the byte-sized deen-learner how Imam al-Nawawi, allegedly, is sanctioning the innovations (in worship) that he and his likes spread amongst the Ummah. The reality is not as simple as he makes it out to be and is in fact otherwise, and we will address this matter, by Allaah's permission in this article.

To appreciate this article fully, please be sure to read and digest Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. Also useful for you to read is the definition of bid'ah, and its basis from the Sunnah and understanding that it is of two types (haqiqiyyah and idafiyyah) from the angle of how it relates to Shariah evidences (see this article, and this one). It is also crucial for you to study and understand this diagram in conjunction with the other parts of this series which have preceded.

Revision of the Basics
So far we have established that whenever the term "praiseworthy innovation" (البدعة المحمودة) and "good innovation" (البدعة الحسنة) is used in the language of certain scholars, they are using it purely in its linguistic sense (not Shariah sense). This we established from Ibn Hajar (see here) and also Ibn Rajab (see quote in this article). Further, we established that by inspecting and examining the actual examples given by those who categorize innovation (البدعة) into obligatory (الواجب), recommended (المندوب) and permissible (المباح), it is very clear that they are in fact speaking of either a) something that is not an innovation in the Shariah sense at all (e.g. tarawih prayer in congregation in Ramadan in the mosque) or b) something that comes under the topic of al-maslahah al-mursalah, a matter of broad public interest by which specified Shariah goals are served and by which the five necessities (religion, life, intellect, wealth and lineage) are preserved (see this article for understanding and this article for illustrative examples given by al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam to show what he actually intended). This is where schools, hospices, teaching Arabic grammar and so on enter into as explained by the Scholars who speak of innovation (bidah) having classifications. If you have got all of that in the bag, then grab your stick, join us, and lets collectively give this doubt (of the Innovators) a pounding and send it back from where it came ...
Understanding the Deceptive Tactics Of These Innovators
In order to understand how these people are operating we need to know that those scholars whose words they are employing (al-Nawawi, al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam, Ibn Hajar etc.) have two types of statements:

1. The first type: A mere mention of bidah being either "praiseworthy innovation" (البدعة المحمودة) or "blameworthy innovation" (البدعة المذمومة) or bidah being of categories such as obligatory (الواجب), recommended (المندوب) and permissible (المباح) but without any further elaboration and giving of illustrative examples, because within the context in which they are writing, they are only intending to make a quick hint or reference to the matter.
2. The second type: A mention of those phrases and terms but this time with full elaboration and illustrative examples which reveal their intent and which show exactly what their objective is in using these terms and classifications.

Examples of each of these types will be clear as we progress in this article, but the trick and deception of the Innovators is that they will gather together as many statements as they can from the first type, or selectively quote parts from the second type, and then present them to the people and subsequently make very general statements like, (هذا ما عليه كبار العلماء وهذا ما نحن عليه), "This is what the Major Scholars are upon and this is what we are upon." So your byte-sized deen learner only gets a surface-level, shallow understanding and has only learned terms and phrases yet is none the wiser about what these Scholars really intend by the use of these terms and classifications. All he knows is that the scholars used these terms and made these classifications, but any mention of them has been stripped of the explanation, meaning and illustrative exemplification. And even those quotes which may have added elaboration have been decontextualized by removal of the appropriate information which provides all the details as to what is really intended. The swindler is therefore able to lead the intended target audience into thinking that innovating into the matters of worship to bring oneself closer to Allaah is perfectly legitimate and sanctioned by these scholars, and that this is, allegedly, "what the Major scholars are upon." So the fraud is complete, having been executed to perfection with the slick presentation, and the deceiver is free to move on to the next swindle.
Practical Illustration of the Academic Fraud
The deceptive individual pictured earlier has posted a few videos and in each of them he has cited a quote from al-Nawawi from the same place in one of his books (تهذيب الأسماء واللغات). Al-Nawawi is discussing the entry (بدع) and he does actually elaborate upon it in detail, but this crooked Habashite Sufi pictured above eliminated the part where al-Nawawi explains the intent behind the classification (through a full citation from al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam). Each quote that we bring below is the subject of a separate video created by these people. Their intent is to isolate each of the general statements that offer no detail or explanation as to the intent and purpose behind the classification of these scholars so that the intended audience thinks "how numerous are these statements that legitimize innovation" when they see all these individual videos. So lets now analyze those isolated statements that are used as part of the bait.
1st Statement of Imam al-Nawawi from Tahdhib al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat
The first quote from al-Nawawi is from his book (تهذيب الأسماء واللغات), Idarah al-Tibaa'ah al-Muniriyyah, (3/22), and this is presented in its own short video on the tube:

البدعة بكسر الباء في الشرع هي إحداث ما لم يكن في عهد رسول الله وهي منقسمة إلى حسنة وقبيحة

Al-Bidah, with a kasrah on the letter baa, in the Shariah it is the introduction (invention) of that which is not found in the era of the Messenger of Allaah, and it is divided into [that which is] good and [that which is] repugnant.

So this quote is isolated like this and presented and a person thinks, "Hey, yes they are right, there is "good bidah" in the religion," but little does the person know what exactly al-Nawawi (and others) intend by this phrase - that part is kept hidden.
2nd Statement of Imam al-Nawawi from Tahdhib al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat
In another separate video, from the same location as above, this next passage is quoted from al-Nawawi:

قال الشيخ الإمام المجمع على إمامته وجلالته وتمكنه في أنواع العلوم وبراعته أبو محمد عبد العزيز بن عبد السلام رحمه الله ورضي عنه في آخر كتاب القواعد : البدعة منقسمة إلى واجبة ومحرمة ومندوبة ومكروهة ومباحة، والطريق في ذلك أن تعرض البدعة على قواعد الشريعة فإن دخلت في قواعد الإيجاب فهي واجبة أو في قواعد التحريم فمحرمة أو الندب فمندوبة أو في المكروه فمكروهة أو المباح فمباحة

The Shaykh, the Imaam whose leadership, lofty stature, and proficiency and skill in a variety of sciences is agreed upon, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Aziz bin Abd al-Asalam (rahimahullaah wa radiya anhu) said, at the end of his book, al-Qawa'id:

Innovation is divided into obligatory (waajibah), unlawful (muharramah), recommended (makruhah), disliked (makruhah) and permitted (mubaahah), and the way to knowing that is to view the innovation in light of the Shariah principles, and so if it enters into the principles of obligation, then it is obligatory, or [if it enters into] the principles of unlawfulness, then it is unlawful, or if recommended, then recommended, or if [its falls into] the disliked, then disliked, or the permitted, then permitted.

This is the well known statement of al-Izz bin Abd al-Salaam which has been quoted from him by other authorities such as Ibn Hajar in al-Fath, and al-Shatibi also quotes it (and proceeds to refute it and show that it is itself an innovation having no proof).

Deception Alert: Note that this Habashi Sufi swindler did not complete al-Nawawi's citation from al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam wherein he elaborates with examples and explains exactly what he means by each category, which reveals the true intent and position of al-Nawawi (and the other Shafi'ite jurists). Inshaa'Allaah, we will provide the full text and translation further below.

3rd Statement of Imam al-Nawawi from Tahdhib al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat
Then in a separate video another section of this passage from al-Nawawi is isolated and presented, and this time it is al-Nawawi's citation of the statement of al-Shafi'i through al-Bayhaqi:

وروى البيهقي بإسناده في مناقب الشافعي عن الشافعي رضي الله عنه قال : المحدثات من الأمور ضربان، أحدهما ما أُحدث مما يخالف كتابا أو سنة أو أثرا أو اجماعا فهذه البدعة الضلالة، والثانية ما أحدث من الخير لا خلاف فيه لواحد من العلماء وهذه محدثة غير مذمومة، وقد قال عمر رضي الله عنة في قيام شهر رمضان: نعمتُ البدعة هذه، يعني أنها محدثة لم تكن

Al-Bayhaqi reports with his chain in Manaqib al-Shafi'i from al-Shafi'i (radiallaahu anhu) that he said:

Newly-invented matters are of two types: The first of them is what opposes [something from] the Book, or [something from] the Sunnah, or a narration [from the Companions], or [a matter of] consensus, this is the misguided innovation. And the second is what has been introduced of goodness and there is not a single scholar who opposes it. This is newly-introduced yet not blameworthy and Umar (radiallaahu anhu) had said about the qiyam (al-layl) in the month of Ramadan, "What an excellent innovation this is," meaning, that it is newly-introduced and was not previously done.

We have already addressed this quote in the article on the statements of al-Shafi'i (see here) so please refer to that. However, it is clear that al-Shafi'i's words are in relation to bidah from a purely linguistic meaning and this is very clear from what he says at the very end when he quotes the saying of Umar and then says, (يعني أنها محدثة لم تكن), "meaning, that it is newly-introduced and was not previously done..." and al-Shafi'i knows that this was in fact done by the Messenger (alayhis salam) but abandoned because he (alayhis salaam) feared it might become wajib (obligatory) upon his Ummah. So this act of worship has specific proof in the Sunnah, but its re-enactment is referred to by al-Shafi'i as "bidah" purely from a linguistic meaning and not a Shariah meaning, and this act does not have opposition to the Shariah, rather it is in perfect agreement with the Shariah, with the Prophetic Sunnah, in its foundations and details. Hence, it is not an innovation in the blameworthy sense.
All the above three quotes were all from the same section. But what was left out? Well lets go and take a look!
What Has Been Deliberately Omitted!
That's right, the most crucial part of it all, which actually explains the classifications that these Shafi'ite jurists were making use of, even thought it is right there, sandwiched between all those quotes you have read above, it is not presented and mostly kept from view. The reason is plainly obvious, because the game would be over and the fraud would be plain to see. We have already alluded to this elaboration by al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam in the articles dedicate to his statements (see Part 4 and opening of Part 5). Here is the full entry: