Are religious songs accompanied by music an innovation (bid‘ah)? Are they better than [secular] songs? Why are modern inventions not considered innovations? And what is innovation (bid‘ah) in the noble Hadith?

There is no virtue in listening to religious songs accompanied by music, nor in listening to songs accompanied by it. Listening to religious songs with music is a lesser sin than listening to lewd songs, but if it is listened to as a means of drawing closer to God, and one believes it to be a legitimate means, then it is a reprehensible innovation (bid'ah). This innovated listening was not present in the favored generations, and the imams disliked it. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah answered that the sheikh who used innovative listening to bring about the repentance of sinners is either ignorant or incapable of using legitimate methods. It is permissible to listen to religious songs free from lawful prohibitions, such as music. The blameworthy innovation (bid'ah) in Islamic law applies only to acts of worship, and anything not sanctioned by Islamic law as an act of worship is an innovation.