Ibn Majah

1؎ : Here, it is also appropriate to shed light on the issue of the “great majority” (sawad a‘zam), as in the present hadith, it is mentioned to adhere to the sawad a‘zam in times of disagreement. However, this portion of the hadith is extremely weak due to Abu Khalaf al-A‘ma, and even if it is considered authentic, what is meant by it is only the group that follows the truth. When the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was sent, those who accepted his call were only a minority, and they were upon the truth, and the truth was with them. The same was the case with all the Prophets and Messengers and their followers: by following the guidance of revelation, they became the people of truth, while the number of those upon falsehood was always greater in comparison. In summary, those who follow the way of the Companions, the Followers (Tabi‘in), the Followers of the Followers (Taba‘ Tabi‘in), and the righteous predecessors (salaf salihin), and those who emulate them, are the true sawad a‘zam, whether their group is small or large. Their being upon the truth is not affected by their smallness or largeness in number, and this group of the people of truth, regardless of being few or many, will always exist until the Day of Judgment, and the minority or majority of those not upon the truth will not be able to harm it, insha’ Allah al-‘Aziz.

Those ignorant people of the Muslim community who take pride in the distant-from-religion majority, using the last phrase of this extremely weak hadith: «فعليكم بالسواد الأعظم» as evidence, have no taste for discerning authentic hadith. That is why, unfortunately, they are among those described by this noble verse: «من الذين فرقوا دينهم وكانوا شيعا كل حزب بما لديهم فرحون» (Surah al-Rum: 32), who have caused division (having abandoned the original and natural religion of the Qur’an and Sunnah, they made their own separate religions, and thus split into many groups, and every group is delighted with its own false beliefs, swelling with pride). In reality, these people are a living interpretation of this very verse, while the Qur’an says: «وإن تطع أكثر من في الأرض يضلوك عن سبيل الله إن يتبعون إلا الظن وإن هم إلا يخرصون» (Surah al-An‘am: 116): “O Prophet! If you obey most of those on earth (those who claim the sawad a‘zam), they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but guess.” Then, in comparison to this rejected and extremely weak hadith about the sawad a‘zam, how great and true is the hadith of Mu‘awiyah (radi Allahu anhu) found in the Sahihayn, which no intelligent and just believing scholar can deny, that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: «لايزال من أمتي أمة قائمة بأمر الله، لايضرهم من كذبهم ولا من خذلهم حتى يأتي أمر الله وهم على ذلك» “A group from my ummah will always remain manifestly upon Allah’s command (the Qur’an and hadith), and those who oppose them, abandon them, or fight against them will not be able to harm them, until Allah’s command (the Hour) comes while they are in that state (living according to the Qur’an and hadith).” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tawhid, hadith no. 7460). The wording in Sahih Muslim is as follows: «لاتزال طائفة من أمتي قائمة بأمر الله، لايضرهم من خذلهم أو خالفهم، حتى يأتي أمر الله وهم ظاهرون على الناس» (Kitab al-Imarah). Here, in this narration, instead of “ummah,” the word «طائفہ» is used, which indicates a number less than an ummah (and in other narrations, the word «عصابہ» is used, which indicates an even smaller number), meaning that in some eras, the number of these people of truth, those who act upon the Book and Sunnah, will be equal to an ummah, in some times and places equal to «طائفہ», and in some eras equal to «عصابہ». And that «وهم ظاهرون على الناس» “and they will be dominant over the people.” Subhan Allah, how true and right is the statement of the Last Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), and how it is a proof of your prophethood, that even today, those who act only upon the Qur’an and Sunnah, who, while accepting every ijtihad and opinion of the righteous predecessors (salaf salihin), the noble imams, and the scholars of the ummah that is closest to the Qur’an and Sunnah, also act upon it and respect it—whether the matter is within the Muslim ummah or outside it, in terms of being upon the true religion, these righteous servants of Allah are always seen as dominant over all others.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah) says: If this group is not the Ahl al-Hadith, then I do not know who they are. In the commentary of the above-mentioned hadith of Sahih Muslim, Allamah Waheed al-Zaman Hyderabadi writes: Now, there is such a crowd of people of innovation and misguidance that Allah’s protection is sought, but the statement of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) cannot be contradicted. Even now, there remains a group among the Muslims known by the title “Muhammadi,” and Ahl al-Tawhid, Ahl al-Hadith, and Muwahhid are all their names. This group is established upon the Qur’an and hadith, and despite hundreds of thousands of tribulations, this group (faction and community) is still protected from innovation and misguidance, and in this era, these very people are the true manifestation of this hadith.