The Arabic word Bidah (Bidaah in authentic Islamic English, mind you?) is usually translated as innovation in English. This can be quite embarrasing given that innovation really means something else in English and usually has positive connotations. Hence top 25 innovations of 2005 might give nightmares to a Salafi but is really harmless. One of the biggest problem with the salafis is that they broadly define bidaah and then accuse any person of indulging in it who does not agree with them. Taken to the extreme one might end up with reasoning like, "No people alive today were alive at the time of the pious ancestors and thus all of them should be eradicated!" You get the idea.
Now back to the English word innovation. It is said that the Muslim world was much more inventive and open minded in its hey day i.e., the Muslims were innovative back then and are not so any more. Get it? This is Innovation vs. Bidaah. Now for all of you literal minded people let me make it clear that I do recogonize that different negative bidaah have crept in the practices of Muslims in different parts of the world but everything is not a bidaah.
