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:

Assalamualaikum,
sir, i would like u to answer me what is the sect meaning wahaabi hanifi, shafi, maaliki, humbillee. shiate, sunni,bohra. is it o.k if do not follow these sects and only believe in `la ilaaha illal allah wa muhammadur rasool allah`.`pray five times a day` .`pay zakat`,`do fasting in the month of ramadan``do hajj`pray nawafill prayers give sadakha do nawafill fast do umrah ask only him for forgivness sir while doing this i obey my lord the great `ALLAH`SUBHANA WA TAALA. or it is a sin not following these sects i do not believe in these sects because we are all `Muslims` the same followers of prophet Muhammed we believe in one but according to me we are not one. it would be a good thing if you put light in this question.

May ALLAH bless you

i hope that you would answer and send it to me or display it in your site

last time you send my answers to sombody else please this time you send it to me.

ALLAH HAFIZ

Thanking You

Yours Faithfully

A Muslim

(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:

Sects & Muslims

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.

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.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, Shias, Sunnis, Ismailis, Bohris, etc. are all sect names which man has named and chosen for himself; the name Allah has chosen for the believers is ‘muslims’!

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 one is that?’ Whereupon he (saws) replied: ‘It is one to which I and my companions belong.’

The Messenger of Allah (saws), his noble companions, his noble family, and all the true believers who followed them in belief and in deeds neither called themselves Shias, or Sunnis, or by any other prefix or sect name….they were all proud to be recognized by the name Allah Subhanah has chosen for the believers; ie. ‘muslims’!

Allah says in Chapter 30 Surah Rum aayat 31-32

"This (Islam) is the right and true faith, but most people do not know. (Be steadfast on this) turning wholly and sincerely towards Allah Alone, and fear Him, and establish the Salat, and do not be like the mushriks, who have set up their separate creeds and divided themselves into sects, each sect rejoicing in what it has."

Allahs says in Chapter 42 Surah Ash-Shura aayat 13

"He has appointed for you the same Way of Life, which He had ordained for Noah, and which (O Mohamed (saws)) We have now revealed to you, and which We had already enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus, stressing this: " Establish this Way and be not divided in it"."

Allah says in Chapter 45 Surah Al-Jathiyah aayat 17

"Then they differed amongst themselves after the knowledge (of Islam) had come to them, only because they wanted to wrong one another. Your Lord will Judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning the matters in which they have been differing."

It does not behove and befit a true believer, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, to belong to any self-invented and man-made sect; but rather he should be proud to be recognized with the name his Lord Most Gracious has chosen for his believing slaves: ie. ‘muslims’.

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one 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), one 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 alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan