Are you of the saved Sect ?

 

Which one is the saved sect ?  

Our claim is that we are Muslim i.e. the one who follows Quran. While as we were instructed to be united and not divide in sects.

Holy Quran (3:103): And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves;

Holy Quran (23:52): And verily this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore fear Me (and no other). But people have cut off their affair (of unity) between them into sects: each party rejoices in that which is with itself.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 40: Narrated An-Nu’man bin Bashir: Allah’s Apostle said, “You see the believers as regards their being merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.”

But we did exactly opposite of what we were ordered to do. Even though we were warned by Quran against this.

Holy Quran (23:52,53): But people have cut off their affair (of unity) between them into sects: each party rejoices in that which is with itself.

Holy Quran (30:32): Those who split up their Religion and become (mere) Sects each party rejoicing in that which is with itself!

Holy Quran (6: 159): Surely those who divide the religion into sects and identify themselves as a sect, O Muhammad, you have nothing to do with them. Their case will be called to account by Allah Himself, He will inform them as to what they did.

Holy Prophet (pbuh) also foretold about we getting divided into sects and also gave guidance about what to do in that situation.

Sahih Muslim Book 020, Number 4553: It has been narrated on the authority of Hudhaifa b. al-Yaman who said: People used to ask the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) about the good times, but I used to ask him about bad times fearing lest they overtake me. I said: Messenger of Allah, we were in the midst of ignorance and evil, and then God brought us this good (time through Islam). Is there any bad time after this good one? He said: Yes. I asked: Will there be a good time again after that bad time? He said: Yes, but therein will be a hidden evil. I asked: What will be the evil hidden therein? He said: (That time will witness the rise of) the people who will adopt ways other than mine and seek guidance other than mine. You will know good points as well as bad points. I asked: Will there be a bad time after this good one? He said: Yes. (A time will come) when there will be people standing and inviting at the gates of Hell. Whoso responds to their call they will throw them into the fire. I said: Messenger of Allah, describe them for us. He said: All right. They will be a people having the same complexion as ours and speaking our language. I said: Messenger of Allah, what do you suggest if I happen to live in that time? He said: You should stick to the main body of the Muslims and their leader. I said: If they have no (such thing as the) main body and have no leader? He said: Separate yourself from all these factions, though you may have to eat the roots of trees (in a jungle) until death comes to you and you are in this state.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith Hadith 171: Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) 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: Allah’s Messenger, which is that? Whereupon he said: It is one to which I and my companions belong. Transmitted by Tirmidhi.

We were forewarned about the sect-ism and we were asked to separate from all these factions. But as was foretold we got divided into sects. But the critical thing is that only one sect will be saved from Hell Fire. This critical thing leads to a critical question “Who is the Saved Sect?”. This also has been explained in the hadith itself i.e. the saved sect is the one who is on the way (sunnah) of Prophet (pbuh) and his companions.

Every sect claims for itself that it is the saved sect implying that the other sects are going to hell-fire. Each sect is wrongly claiming 100% purity for itself even though it can be seen that the sects do various things which are not according to the sunnah. The least thing or the least innovation that every sect does is to call itself by some specific name i.e. each sect has given itself some name with which it refers itself with, which certainly is not the way of sunnah. The sunnah in this case is reflected by the following ayat.

Holy Quran Sura Az-Zumar (39: 12) and I am commanded to be the first of muslimun.

Holy Quran Sura Al-Hajj (22:34) ……………; so submit yourselves to Him as a Muslim, and O Prophet, give good news to the humble,

They were asked to refer to oneself as Muslim and not by a sect name.

Now the question still remains who is the saved sect i.e. who is the sect that confirms to sunnah i.e. which fulfills the condition of being saved which is “: It is one to which I and my companions belong”.

The above can be explained by considering that saved sect is not a vertical line but a horizontal one (see image at front) which cuts across all the sects which fall within purview of Islam. Those people who come within this horizontal line (i.e. the people about whom it can be said that they are saved) are those who do not follow the things/practices that are not justified by sunnah but are professed by their sect. In other words these people reject the falseness that is in their sect and only follow the things that are as per sunnah.

For example, in some sect grave/peer prostration (sajdah) is professed but a real Muslim belonging to this sect does not do it because he/she has read in Quran that to beseech or worship someone other than Allah is a major and un-forgivable sin. So it can be said that this Muslim follows sunnah and thus belong to saved sect by discarding all non-sunnah things of his sect.

Holy Qura Sura Yunus(10:106) You shall not pray to others than Allah who can neither benefit nor harm you, for if you do, you shall certainly become one of the wrongdoers.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith Hadith 285: Narrated by Abu Hurayrah The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Had it been permissible that a person may prostrate himself before another, I would have ordered that a wife should prostrate herself before her husband. Transmitted by Tirmidhi.

Similarly, some sect is known for its arrogance of “it being the only guided one”, but again a real Muslim belonging to this sect does not confirm to such arrogance and thus follows the sunnah and becomes of the saved sect by giving up all non-sunnah things of his sect. Shaitan was a great muwahid and aabid but it was the arrogance which made him accursed one and made him inmate of hell forever.

Holy Qura Sura Sad (38:74) except Iblees; he acted arrogantly and became one of the disbelievers.

Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0164: It Is narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. Mas’ud that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him), observed: He who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride shall not enter Paradise. A person (amongst his hearers) said: Verily a person loves that his dress should be fine, and his shoes should be fine. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: Verily, Allah is Graceful and He loves Grace. Pride is disdaining the truth (out of self-conceit) and contempt for the people.

Similarly can be said about real Muslims of other sects i.e. the people who do not follow the things of their sect which does not confirm to sunnah. Thus they can be considered of the saved sect.

But it is also a fact that the horizontal line (in the image at front) does not pass with same width though each sect, for some sect the width is broad and for some width is thin. That is in some sect only minority can be seen as following the sunnah and discarding the bad things of their sect and in some sect majority of them follow the sunnah and discard the bad things of their sect.

It is logical also; a child is born to parents belonging to some sect. The child had not asked for the sect but was born into it; it is the parents who force the child to follow the sect. But when he/she reads Quran and learns about Sunnah and if he/she is destined for Saved Sect he/she does not follow the things of his/her parents sect which do not confirm to sunnah thus saves him/herself without leaving the sect.

It can be said that the people of saved sect (horizontal line) love / care for each other and marry among each other, offer prayer in each other’s masjid, etc regardless of the sect of other real Muslim.

May Allah make us of the saved sect and make us discard all the innovations / beliefs / practices, etc that are not as per the sunnah.

But there are people in every sect (vertical line) for whom sectism is their religion. They pray and follow five pillars of Islam, but they will be at loss because of staunch sectism; going off the way of sunnah.

Sahih Muslim Book 002, Number 0482: Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) came to the graveyard and said: Peace be upon you! the abode of the believing people and we, if God so wills, are about to join you. I love to see my brothers. They (the hearers) said: Arn’t we your brothers-Messenger of Allah? He said: You are my companions, and our brothers are those who have, so far, not come into the world. They said: Messenger of Allah, how would you recognise those persons of your Ummah who have not yet been born? He said: Supposing a man had horses with white blazes on fore- heads and legs among horses which were all black, tell me, would he not recognise his own horses? They said: Certainly. Messenger of Allah. He said: They would come with white faces and arms and legs owing to ablution, and I would arrive at the Cistern before them. Some people would be driven away from my Cistern as the stray camel is driven away. I would call out. Come. come. Then it would be said (to me): These people changed themselves after you, and I would say: Be off, be off.

Holy Quran Sura Fatir (53: 8) Can that person be guided whose evil deeds are so fair seeming to him that he considers them good? The fact is that Allah leaves to stray whom He wills and guides to whom He pleases. Therefore, O Prophet, let not your soul expire in sorrow on their account. Allah is aware of all their actions.

When we say sect in Islam it means the sects which come under purview of Islam and not the ones who have been declared as kafirs by Ulmas / Scholars and does not follow within Islam.