Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 93

(Ayah 93) ➊ {وَ تَقَطَّعُوْۤا اَمْرَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ:’’ تَقَطَّعُوْۤا ‘‘} is from the form "tafaʿʿul" which is intransitive. Originally it was {’’ تَقَطَّعُوْا فِي أَمْرِهِمْ‘‘}, meaning they became divided among themselves in the matter of their religion. Due to the omission of {’’فِيْ‘‘ }, the accusative came on {’’ اَمْرَهُمْ ‘‘}. Some have said that here {’’ تَقَطَّعُوْۤا ‘‘} is in the form "tafʿīl" ({قَطَّعُوْا}) which is transitive, meaning they divided their religion among themselves. This meaning is also possible, but the first meaning is more correct. That is, all had one religion and one Lord, so it was necessary that all remained one community and held firmly to the Book and Sunnah of their Prophet, but despite knowing everything, merely due to mutual stubbornness and enmity, they split into many sects regarding religion. See Surah Al-Baqarah (2:213) and Surah Ash-Shura (13, 14). The same happened to our Ummah, that instead of uniting on the Book and Sunnah, they made separate leaders of jurisprudence and Sufism and split into many sects, each of which considers itself to be on the truth. Politically, by abolishing the Islamic Caliphate, they were divided into fifty-six (56) independent countries, none of which is truly independent; the result is before everyone.

➋ Before this, Allah Almighty addressed the People of the Book and said: «{ اِنَّ هٰذِهٖۤ اُمَّتُكُمْ اُمَّةً وَّاحِدَةً وَّ اَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوْنِ }» meaning, "This is your Ummah, one Ummah, and I am your Lord, so worship Me alone." Now in this verse, instead of addressing them, He mentioned them in the third person and instead of saying {’’ تَقَطَّعْتُمْ أَمْرَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ ‘‘} (you became divided among yourselves in the matter of your religion), He said: {’’ وَ تَقَطَّعُوْۤا اَمْرَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ ‘‘} that they became divided among themselves in their matter. This is a shift from direct address to third person, as if after addressing them, Allah Almighty did not consider them worthy of being addressed due to their factionalism, so He mentioned them in the third person.

➌ { كُلٌّ اِلَيْنَا رٰجِعُوْنَ :} meaning, these people may form as many groups as they wish, in the end all have to return to Us, then We will decide among all. He said: «{ قُلِ اللّٰهُمَّ فَاطِرَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ عٰلِمَ الْغَيْبِ وَ الشَّهَادَةِ اَنْتَ تَحْكُمُ بَيْنَ عِبَادِكَ فِيْ مَا كَانُوْا فِيْهِ يَخْتَلِفُوْنَ }» [الزمر : ۴۶ ] "Say: O Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of the unseen and the seen! You alone will judge between Your servants concerning that in which they used to differ."

93. 1. That is, after abandoning the religion of Tawheed and the worship of the Lord, they split into various sects and groups. One group became of the polytheists and disbelievers, and even the followers of the Prophets and Messengers became groups—some became Jews, some Christians, some something else. And unfortunately, these sectarian divisions also arose among the Muslims themselves, and they too were divided into dozens of sects. The decision regarding all of them, when they return to the Divine Court, will be made there.

But they divided their affair among themselves into factions [84], yet all of them will return to Us.

[84]
Sectarianism Due to Exaggeration in the Status of Elders and the Propagation of Shirk-Related Beliefs:

Those who divide the religion into pieces are generally people of religious leadership. Whether they are scholars or revered spiritual leaders, their purpose is usually to gain wealth and status. For example, Allah Almighty has stated in dozens of places in the Noble Quran that the Knower of the unseen, the Omnipresent, the Fulfiller of needs, and the Remover of difficulties is only Allah Almighty. And this was the common religion of all the Prophets. Now, these people begin to prove that the Prophets and our revered elders all know the news of the unseen and are present and watching over the conditions of their disciples. Whether those elders are alive or have passed away, if they are called upon or supplicated to, they also hear people's pleas and come to their aid. They put all their effort into these matters, fabricate such incidents and stories, and make them so popular among the masses that, in turn, they bring trouble upon the monotheists. And their only purpose in this is that their seats of authority remain intact and offerings continue to be received. People keep visiting their doors, and these individuals keep showing them green gardens of problem-solving and need-fulfillment, and assure them that on the Day of Judgment, they will intercede and have them forgiven. According to the Book and Sunnah, all these paths are satanic paths. They are against the common religion of the Prophets.

Disputes Leading to Sectarianism and the Role of Scholars in Fruitless Debates:
Then sometimes, such debates are initiated by scholars that have nothing to do with religion, have no place in religion, and no practical benefit results from them. For example: Is the Quran created or uncreated? Allah Almighty, Who is capable of everything, can He also lie or not? Or is the crow lawful or unlawful? Or among the Christians, there was a debate for ages as to whether Jesusؑ used to eat leavened bread or unleavened? Or what was the number of the People of the Cave? Then debates and arguments and even books are written on such issues from both sides. And all this is a waste of the entire nation’s time. And such issues are usually raised by scholars when the nation is suffering from practical decline and the scholars intend to keep the public’s attention focused on themselves. This process also ultimately results in sectarianism, which, according to the Book and Sunnah, is disbelief, shirk, and the punishment of Allah.