Is it permissible to circulate a message that calls for performing two rak'ahs of prayer, or reciting Quran, or engaging in dhikr, or making collective supplication at midnight on New Year's Eve, under the pretext that "the more numerous we are, the more pleased our Lord will be," and is this considered an innovation (bid'ah)?

It is forbidden to circulate messages that call for specific acts of obedience (such as prayer and remembrance) during times of sin or innovation (bid'ah), for the following reasons:

1. No prophetic text has been reported that encourages initiating an act of obedience at the time of committing a sin or innovation. This falls under the category of treating an innovation with an innovation, as occurred with Ashura. 2. Acts of obedience have specific virtuous times in Islamic law. Encouraging their performance at a time for which no sound text has been reported is considered legislation regarding the "cause" and the "time," which is a reprehensible innovation. 3. Instead of being preoccupied with individual acts of worship when collective sins are present, one must enjoin good, forbid evil, and advise those who err.

Good intentions do not make an act lawful. The fundamental principle for a Muslim is adherence [to the Sunnah], not innovation.