In Islam, Bid‘ah refers to any innovations in religious matters. Linguistically the term means "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy". In contrast to the English term "innovation", the word bid'ah in Arabic generally carries a negative connotation. One tradition holds that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, told a companion to "avoid novelties, for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error”. Another more dire hadith holds, “Every bid’ah is a going astray and every going astray is in Hell-fire”.