72-73 sects
Mu'
meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam
Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and
Blessings be upon all of you)
One
of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
As-salamu-alaikum!
I wanted to know if it is true
that among the 72 or so different groups in islam (or christianity/judaism)
only one group will enter jannah. I have heard from some muslims that sunni`s
may be that designated group as they follow islam in its closest form. The same
ruling also applies to christians and jews (perhaps from the times of the
prophets in the past?).
Please can you confirm its
reliability and authenticity & i thank you for your time.
Jazak-allahu-khair!
Ma-assalam.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
72-73 sects
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 171 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr
Allah's Messenger (saws) said:
‘There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people
of Isra'il, so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed
fornication with his mother there will be among my Ummah one who will do that,
and if the people of Isra'il were fragmented into seventy-two sects my Ummah
will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell Fire
except one sect.’ They (the Companions) said: ‘O Allah's Messenger (saws),
which is that?’ Whereupon he (saws)
said: ‘It is one to which I and my companions belong.’
Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, first and foremost we
must understand that no one will enter
Emaan or faith
the doing of Righteous Good deeds in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter
103 Surah Asr verses 1-3:
1 By (the token of) Time
2 Verily, man is in loss
3 Except such as have Faith and do
Righteous Deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of
Patience and Constancy.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter
95 Surah Teen verse 6: Except such as have Faith and do Righteous Deeds: for
they shall have a Reward Unfailing.
The Majestic and Just Lord will not base His Supreme
Judgments on who claims to belong to which group or sect; He has Declared in
several places in the Quran that those who have true Faith and Do Righteous
Good Deeds will deserve His Mercy and thus, the Eternal and
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter
23 Surah Al-Mu’minun verse 52: And this ‘Ummah’ of yours is One ‘Ummah’, and I (Allah) am your Lord, so fear Me alone!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter
22 Surah Hajj verse 77-78: O you who have believed, do ‘rukooh’ (bow down) and do ‘sajdah’
(prostration), and worship your Lord Allah Alone, and do righteous deeds: it
may be that you attain true success!
Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as one should. He has chosen you for His service, and has
not laid on you any hardship in your religion.
Therefore, be steadfast in the
religion of your father Abraham. Allah
had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you (muslims) in this Quran
also, so that the Messenger may
be a witness in regard to you, and you
may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.
Sunnis, Shias, Ismailis, Bohras, Hanafis, Shafei, etc. are no more than man-given and self-invented names, which the sects amongst the Muslim Ummah have chosen for themselves without any authority or basis from the Quran and Sunnah! Allah Subhanah has Himself Declared that the believing Ummah is One Ummah, and the name He has chosen for this Ummah is ‘muslims’!
It is an absolute false belief that the people who claim to be ‘Sunnis’ (or any other self-made sect) are the one sect which is referred to in the prophecy of the noble Prophet Mohammed (saws) that will attain success in the Hereafter. Neither the Prophet (saws) nor his noble companions ever referred to themselves or claimed to belong to any of the self-invented sects which were created long after their deaths; Shias, or Sunnis, or Ismailies, or Hanafis, or Shafeis, etc.; but they were proud to be known and recognized by the one name that Allah Subhanah had Himself chosen for the believers: that is, ‘muslims’.
The Noble Prophet Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws) and his noble companions were ‘muslims’ who Believed and did Righteous Good deeds; and whoever follows their example and believes like they believed, and does righteous good deeds like they did, will belong to their sect; and that is the sect that will achieve success in the Hereafter.
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), he can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), he can be assured of being led astray.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your
Brother in Islam,
Burhan
Wister