by
Mohammed Sharif
1. The Claim
Every sect among the Muslims-both recognized and unrecognized-today claims that its followers are the true followers of Prophet Muhammad (S) and all others are not. This claim is based on the following hadiths:
The Prophet (S) said: The Jews were split up into seventy-one or seventy-two sects; and the
Christians were split up into seventy-one or seventy-two sects; and my community will be
split up into seventy-three sects. Narrated by Abu Hurayrah � (Abu-Dawood, Hadith 4579)
Allah's Messenger (S) said: There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils that befell
the people of Israel, 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 Israel 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 the one to which I and my
companions belong. Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr � (at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 171)
The followers of each sect believe that they are the correct practitioners and therefore, the rightful claimants of the sect Prophet Muhammad (S) and his companions � belonged to. As a logical extension, they condemn the followers of all other sects as deviants from the righteous path of living Prophet Muhammad (S) established, and some of them, in certain cases, go as far as to say that all others will be in the hellfire mentioned in the hadith.
This type of interpretation of the Prophet's Sayings is not only seriously flawed, it runs counter to their implied meaning and is contradictory to the Qur'anic injunctions. As a result, the only outcome it generates is to create fitna the Qur'an and Sunnah categorically forbid, and thereby to divide and fragment the community to the extent of non-existence. The objective of this essay is to examine the nature of the righteous path prescribed by Allah both before and through Prophet Muhammad (S) in light of the Qur'an and the Tradition of the Prophet (S), and then to provide an appraisal of the true meaning of the above hadiths.
2. The History of Islam
Today, Muslims-with some notable exceptions-and non-Muslims alike believe that Islam started with Prophet Muhammad (S) only, and before Muhammad (S), other messengers of Allah preached other ways of life, such as Judaism and Christianity. This concept of various ways of living being revealed by Allah through different messengers does not make sense, if we believe that there is only one Allah and Allah has created one humankind. Obviously, the Creator knows the best way of living-called 'siratul mustaqeem,' the straight path, in al-Qur'an-for the created, and has prescribed this for it from the inception of its creation. Since there cannot be more than one straight path (one straight line between two points), there can be no question of different ways being revealed by Allah through different messengers. Thus, Allah says,
He has ordained for you that way of life which He enjoined on Noah, and that which We
have sent by inspiration to you-and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus:
so that you should establish that way of life, remain steadfast, and make no divisions therein.
(al-Qur'an, 42:13)
More categorically, Allah says about the disciples of Jesus (pbuh), that they were Muslims and therefore their way of life was Islam,
And when I inspired the disciples to have faith in Me and in My messenger, they said:
We believe, and you bear witness that we bow to Allah as Muslims. (al-Qur'an, 5:11)
If all the messengers of Allah preached Islam and their followers were Muslims, why then today the followers of these messengers are known by different names? The following ayah from al-Qur'an provides the explanation for it,
The way of life before Allah is Islam (submission to Allah's Will): Those who (formerly)
received the Scripture dissented therefrom through rivalry and transgressions among
themselves only after knowledge had come to them. (al-Qur'an, 3:19)
This states very clearly that the only path prescribed by Allah for all of humankind is Islam, meaning 'Submission to the Will of Allah,' and those willingly surrendering becoming Muslims-'Surrendered ones'-pledging to live their complete life according to the commandments of Allah. But after the passing of a messenger, his followers slowly got deviated from this way of life established by their messenger and corrupted the system with many of their own inventions. This necessitated the revelation of the same by Allah many times throughout human history, every time to replace the corrupted one. However, the deviated or the diminished form of the way of life established by each messenger survived as a religion among some of his followers, although most of the injunctions of Allah were lost. Thus, all the different religions that exist today are really the diminished or deviated forms of the straight path revealed by Allah over time.
There was another reason for replacing the old with new revelations. The revelations of Allah were time, place, and people specific. As human society evolved over time, Allah's injunctions changed to fit its needs. Thus, the revelations over time got broader, better, and more universal. This necessitated the abrogation of the specifics of earlier revelations, however, keeping the fundamentals in tact. The following ayah testifies to this,
This day, I have perfected your way of life for you, completed my favor upon you,
and have chosen for you Islam as your way of life. (al-Qur'an, 5:3)
When Allah's injunctions talk about the perfect and complete code of life, it includes the codes for all aspects of human living-spiritual and secular, individual and social, and private and public. But humans throughout history, time and again, tried to violate Allah's injunctions to pursue their earthly ambitions, dividing humanity through rivalry, transgressing the rights of fellow humans, subjugating others, and perpetrating injustice and oppression on them. The most important job for each of Allah's messengers and his followers has been to establish the supremacy of Allah's authority, subjugate human authority to Allah's injunctions, destroy the subjugation of humans by other humans, make all the humans free, and thereby establish peace with justice on earth. In this respect, Allah's chosen name Islam for Allah's revealed way of life is perfect as it also means peace: Willing submission by all to Allah's injunctions does establish peace for all on earth-each individual being at peace with him/herself, with his/her Allah, and with the rest of Allah's creation. It is the divine responsibility of those submitting to the Will of Allah to invite others to this path and to keep doing it until peace is firmly established on earth. This is a very difficult job for the followers of Islam that requires strong dedication, unwavering determination, vast patience, and unfaltering unity. However, the reward-establishment of peace on earth and the immense rewards in the hereafter-is hard to pass by for the true followers of Islam.
3. The Cause of Failure for the Followers of Divine Injunctions
Strong unity among the followers of the straight path is a basic requirement for establishing peace with justice on earth, by replacing the authority of humans over other humans with Allah's, and thereby freeing all humans from subjugation and oppression. But the followers of Islam in the past failed at some point after the passing of their messengers, not only in establishing peace with justice, even they failed to protect themselves from destruction. In ayah (3:19) of al-Qur'an, Allah makes it very clear how the people of the Books got destroyed- they dissented from the revealed path through rivalry and transgressions among themselves. 'Rivalry and transgressions among themselves' were the cause of deviation from the straight path and therefore, of destruction for the whole ummah. This is the reason, Allah categorically enjoins,
Hold fast, all of you together, by the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves.
(al-Qur'an, 3:103)
But the human ego of self-righteousness and the feeling of superiority by some over other fellow beings led to dissentions among the followers of the ummah, and the dissentions quickly led to transgressions against each other. This ego of self-righteousness and the feeling of superiority, depending on circumstances and historical events, manifested in various forms-individual, economic, social, ethnic, racial, regional, geographical, or linguistic. However, whatever form it took, it generated the same result-division of the ummah that was meant to establish peace with justice for everybody on earth, into many ineffective and/or destructive sectarian groups feuding among themselves, adding to the problems of humanity, rather than solving them. Thus, Allah says,
But they (humankind) have divided their affairs (Commandments of Allah) among them into
many sects, each rejoicing in what it has left as its (sectarian) tenets. (al-Qur'an, 23:53)
Very quickly, therefore, this divided ummah was overrun and subjugated by those who were up against Divine Authority, and established tyranny, injustice, and oppression, most probably as a punishment from Allah for the ummah for their dissentions, rivalry, and transgressions. The history of humankind is replete with examples of such subjugation of Allah's chosen ummah by unjust, tyrannical, and oppressive communities-the subjugation of the Israelites by the Pharaohs is only one example of such cases. The following ayah substantiates this contention,
See they not how many a generation We destroyed before them, whom We had established on
the earth more firmly than We have established you, and We shed on them abundant showers
from the sky, and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): yet We destroyed them
for their sins, and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them). (al-Qur'an, 6:6)
4. The True Followers of the Prophet (S)
That self-righteousness, feeling of superiority, and pride are the causes of dissentions, rivalry, and transgressions that destroy unity and lead to the ultimate downfall of the ummah is emphasized very strongly in Allah's commandments. The first and the most important impact of faith in Allah is the feeling of helplessness and insignificance on the part of the faithful faced with the enormity of Allah's power and authority. This simply destroys any kind of feeling of self-righteousness, superiority, and pride. Thus humility becomes an important trait of a believer's character. The significant role humility plays in a believer's life is exemplified by the ayah below,
And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourself before Adam, they fell prostrate, all
save Iblis. He refused haughtily, and so became of those who reject Faith. (al-Qur'an, 2:34)
Although Iblis was a Jinn, he achieved an elevated status among the angels by virtue of his unparallel devotion to Allah. But his feeling of superiority that he is made of fire and Adam is made of dirt led him to disobey Allah's command to bow down to Adam. This egotistic behavior Allah called haughty incurred Iblis Allah's wrath and brought his downfall from a noble position among the angels to cursed Shaitan.
Allah warns that humans really do not have anything to take pride in and feel superior over each other, except in their faith and deeds. Allah emphatically declares,
O humans! Definitely We have created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female
and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may
despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is)
the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with
all things). (al-Qur'an, 49:13)
As if this is not sufficient to clarify that humans have nothing to feel superior over each other, Allah reveals the following knowledge sufficient to destroy the pride,
Verily We have created human of potter's clay of dark mud altered. (al-Qur'an, 15:26)
Does anybody have any reason to have the feeling of superiority over others? In reality, there is none. But humans always find some reason that they use to achieve their objectives. The main objective most of the time humans find the need for and the use of the feeling of superiority is to justify their right to power and authority. The following Sayings of the Prophet (S) are self-explanatory in this respect,
Allah's Apostle (S) said,
You should listen to and obey your ruler even if he were an Ethiopian
slave whose head looks like a raisin. Narrated by Anas Ibn Malik �
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, No. 256).
Prophet (S) also said,
A Muslim has to listen to and obey (the order of his ruler) whether he likes it
or not as long as his orders involve not one in disobedience (to Allah), but if an
act of disobedience (to Allah) is imposed, one should not listen to it or obey it.
Narrated by Abdullah �, (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, No. 258)
We do not assign the authority of ruling to those who ask for it, nor to those who
are keen to have it. Narrated by Abu Musa �, (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, No. 263)
The above verses from the Qur'an and the Sayings of the Prophet (S) categorically show that in Islam there is no place for self-righteousness, feeling of superiority, and pride. The following hadith is even stronger in its assertion,
The Prophet (S) said,
Do not return to Kufr after me by fighting with each other. Narrated
by Ibn Umar �, (Sahih al-Bhukhari.)
This means either fighting with each other itself is Kufr or it leads to Kufr. Either way, it is a serious violation of the injunction of Allah and deviation from the Sunnah of Prophet (S). It is a violation of Allah's injunction, because it results from the feeling of superiority by the created that is reserved for the Creator only. It is a deviation from the Sunnah, because it destroys the ummah itself by dividing it up into feuding sects and thereby frustrating the very purpose of the ummah.
Note that the Prophet (S) in the above Saying did not make any distinction among the feuding sects-he referred to all of them as returning to Kufr. This general admonition for all the potential infighting sects without any exception is extremely important in understanding the true meaning of the Prophet's prediction about his true followers. If all the feuding sects are treated as returning to Kufr, there is basically none left that can be considered as the true followers. If one of the sects has to be considered as the true followers, we have to find the one that does not use self-righteousness and the feeling of superiority over others. Do we really have one sect that does not vie on its correctness and feel and act superior to other sects? If that is true, then why are they sectarian anyway?
Let us evaluate the present day condition of the Muslims. There are, of course, some formally recognized sects among the Muslims; but there are many more informal, even stronger sects that are functioning to keep the community continually feuding and weak, and thereby basically subjugated by others. We are divided across linguistic, geographical, national, regional, ethnic, and racial boundaries. Even a casual observer of the functioning of a Muslim organization, masjid, or school, never mind the Muslim countries, can find the various groupings polarized around all the dividing lines, except on the basis of faith and deeds. This sad picture is common in almost all the Muslim institutions. This infighting occasionally explodes even into physical brawl and court battles, manifesting the ugliness of the infighting. All these suggest that no single sect fits the group whose followers are the true followers of the Prophet (S). But the following hadith clearly indicates that there is one group of Muslims who are visibly established on truth.
One group of my followers will visibly remain established on truth against the wrong
until the order (Qiyamah) of Allah arrives. And they will be the true followers rightly
established till then. Narrated by Mughirah Ibn Shu'ba, (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Fortunately there is such a group of Muslims who are working together in the path of Allah with the sole objective of pleasing Allah only. This group consists of dedicated Muslims from across all the formal and informal, and recognized and unrecognized, sects. They do not differentiate between Muslims on the basis of their sectarian identity, or economic, social, linguistic, geographical, national, regional, ethnic, or racial backgrounds. They defy all kinds of sectarian boundaries, do not judge others and do not vie on grounds of superiority, do not fight for positions of power and authority, work together with everybody with the objective of establishing peace with justice for all on earth. Islam has taught them the depth of understanding, the broadness of outlook, the greatness of compassion, and, of course, the firmness of determination and the strength of patience. If one is looking for the group Allah's Messenger (S) predicted about, one has to look for this one, not in the sects that are vying with each other on correctness and superiority. The membership of this group ranges across all the sects, but they are not blinded by their narrow sectarian pre-dispositions. They are broad in their Islamic perspective and work together for the cause of humanity. Earning the pleasure of Allah through the establishment of peace with justice on earth, using the guidance from al-Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (S), is their only objective. If one looks with an open mind, putting aside the sectarian mental garb for a moment, one can easily find this group, they are openly visible in their conduct and deeds.
5. The Lesson
The subjugated humiliation the Muslim ummah is suffering today is the result of sectarian division and feuding of the ummah. This condition was suffered by the followers of all previous Messengers of Allah and was clearly predicted about us in al-Qur'an and in the Sayings of Prophet Muhammad (S). The current condition of the Muslims befits the prediction very well.
The lesson for the Muslims this analysis provides is to shun all kinds of sectarian tendencies and to join the group who do not discriminate against any sect, but work together with all who believe in and practice the fundamentals of Islam enjoined in al-Qur'an and exemplified by the life of Prophet Muhammad (S). The establishment of peace with justice for all humans in particular and for all the creation of Allah on earth in general should be the objective of the true Muslim ummah.
(The author is Professor of Economics at the University of Rhode Island,
chief organizer of the annual University of Rhode Island Muslim Cultural
Heritage Program and frequently displayed "Discover Islam and Muslim
Culture" exhibit, founding President of the Southern Rhode Island
Islamic Society)