Surah Al-An'aam (6) — Ayah 159

(Ayah 159){اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ فَرَّقُوْا دِيْنَهُمْ …… :} That is, the original religion has always been one, whose foundation is the oneness of Allah, belief in the Day of Judgment, belief in the prophets, and obedience to them. See Surah Al-Mu’minun (52, 53), Surah Yunus (19), Surah Al-An’am (153), and Surah Al-Baqarah (213). There may be some differences in rulings according to their respective times, but the essence of all is one Islam. With the advent of the Last Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Allah Almighty has made it obligatory for every person until the Day of Judgment to believe in him and to follow his way. Now, whoever adopts a separate path and forms a separate group, whether he is an atheist, a polytheist, a Jew, or a Christian, Allah Almighty is commanding His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that you are free from them and you have no connection with them. Similarly, among your Ummah, after accepting Islam, those who, apart from the commands of Allah and His Messenger, that is, apart from the Qur’an and Sunnah, adopt a new way, that is, innovation, and form their own separate group, you are free from them, you have no connection with them. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The Jews split into seventy-one or seventy-two sects, and the Christians also split into the same number of sects, and my Ummah will split into seventy-three (73) sects.” [ أبو داوٗد، السنۃ، باب شرح السنۃ : ۴۵۹۶۔ ترمذی : ۲۶۴۰۔ ابن ماجہ: ۳۹۹۲۔ ابن حبان : ۶۷۳۱ ] Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stood among us and said: “Be aware, those before you from the People of the Book split into seventy-two sects, and this Ummah will split into seventy-three sects, seventy-two will be in the Fire and one in Paradise, and that is the Jama’ah.” [ أبو داوٗد، السنۃ، باب شرح السنۃ : ۴۵۹۷۔ أحمد : 102/4، ح : ۱۶۹۴۰ ] In the narration of Abdullah bin Amr, may Allah be pleased with them both, it is stated: “All of them will be in the Fire except one sect.” The people asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Who are they?” He, peace and blessings be upon him, said: [ مَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ وَ أَصْحَابِيْ ] “That which I and my companions are upon.” [ ترمذی، الإیمان، باب ما جاء فی افتراق ھٰذہ الأمۃ : ۲۶۴۱ ] For further references and authenticity of this hadith, see [السلسلة الصحيحة : 402/1 to ۴۱۴، ح : ۲۰۳، ۲۰۴ ]

Remember that differences in thought and ijtihad, or differences due to lack of knowledge, were also found among the Companions and the Followers, but they were all one group; they did not form sects for the sake of following any personality. What is meant are those people who made their own separate leader and, by declaring every right and wrong thing of his as religion, formed a separate sect. This thing did not exist in the three best generations of Muslims; it was this very thing that destroyed the previous nations of the prophets, and it also became the cause of corruption in the Ummah of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, that even after the clear command of the Qur’an and Hadith, some people, due to their faction, stubbornly clung to the wrong statements of their imam or spiritual guide and separated, and the gathering of Muslims on the Book and Sunnah, leaving the sects based on personalities, remained only a dream, the fulfillment of which now seems possible only through a powerful caliph or Mahdi or ‘Isa, peace be upon him.