Salamun 'Alaykum The question we need to ask ourselves in these present times of trials and tribulations, disunity and discord is "Who Are the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah? How do we eve understand what and who they are, and how can we be from amongst them? The Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah [more commonly referred to as Sunnis] are the people who adhere to the creed and the consensus of the most classical scholars i.e. the Salaf. The Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not leave this world without giving us an all important advice as to who they are and the creed they are upon. The terms Sunnah and Jamaa’ah are terms that the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) spoke in the Athaar when referring to his way. Regarding the Sunnah he said: “Adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided Khalifahs that come after me. Bite upon it with your molar teeth [nawaakhidh] and beware of newly invented matters [in creed, and actions] for certainly every newly invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a misguidance” [Musnad of Imaam Ahmad narrated by al-‘Irbaad Bin Saariyah, hadeeth no. 17145, Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitaab us-Sunnah, hadeeth no. 4607 Imaam Nawawi’s Forty Hadeeth, hadeeth no. 28; and is classified as a Saheeh hadeeth.] Although the word Sunnah holds multiple meanings, Sunnah in the above mentioned Hadeeth strictly refers to the creed of the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Companions (رضي الله عنهم). For this reason, Imaams such as Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal (رحمه الله), Imaam Abu Dawud (رحمه الله) and Imaam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaani (رحمه الله) have all written or compiled fundamental books on the subject of creed using the title of Sunnah. For example we have the Usul us-Sunnah of Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal (رحمه الله), Kitaab as-Sunnah from Sunan Abu Dawud, and Kitaab as-Sunnah from Fath ul-Baari. This demonstrates that according to the understanding of these traditional scholars, the word Sunnah is used synonymously to refer to the creed that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Companions are upon (رضي الله عنهم). The Ahl us-Sunnah believe in the transcendence of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and accept all of His Names and Attributes, consigning complete knowledge of the Mutashaabihah Attributes to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), as only Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) knows their true interpretation. They believe that the Qur’an is the uncreated speech of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), they believe in the Qadr, the Divine Decree, the seeing of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on Yawm ul-Qiyaamah, Imaan as being a testimony of heart, affirmation of the tongue, and the action of the limbs, they believe in the excellence of the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم) in their respective order, the purity of the mothers of the believers (رضي الله عنهن), the obedience to Muslim authority and so forth. They do not deny one particle from the Sunnah, therefore they are from the Ahl us-Sunnah, i.e. the people of the Sunnah. The word Jamaa’ah refers to the consensus of the most classical scholars who are in agreement regarding the Sunnah and other matters relating to the religion, such as creed and also fiqh issues. The word Jamaa’ah can be seen from the following Ahaadeeth: Mu’aawiyah Bin Abu Sufyaan (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Those people of the book who came before you split into seventy two sects, and soon this religion [Islam] will split into seventy-three sects. Seventy-two of them will be in the fire and one will be in Paradise, and that is the Jamaa’ah” [Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitaab us Sunnah hadeeth no. 4597] In a hadith of similar import, the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was asked who are the saved sect? The Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) responded saying: “Those who are upon that which me and my companions are upon today” [Tirmidhi hadeeth no. 2129] We are implicitly told in the following hadith that the consensus of the most classical scholars is a sign of divine protection which cannot be corrupted by misguidance as the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “It is an obligation to stick with the Jamaa’ah for indeed Allah will not unite the Ummah of Muhammad upon misguidance” [Ibn Maajah, hadeeth no. 3950] The verb “la yajtim’u” [meaning “He will not unite”] comes from the same root as the word Jamaa’ah, thus the Jamaa’ah can only refer to the collective who have agreed upon a matter. This is echoed in another hadith which clearly demonstrates that the Jamaa’ah will be the largest gathering, the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “My Ummah shall never agree upon misguidance, so when you see differences, then it is an obligation upon you to stick to the as-Sawaad al-Azam” [Imaam Abu Bakr al-Aajuri’s Kitaab ash-Shari’ah, vol. 2, p. 130] We also see from this hadeeth that the term as-Sawaad al-Azam is synonymous with the term Jamaa’ah. Imaam Tirmidhi (رحمه الله) informs us that: “According to the people of knowledge, the Jamaa’ah refers to the people of jurisprudence, learning and hadeeth” [Tirmidhi, hadeeth no. 2256] As seen from the given evidences, the followers of the correct methodology are the people that adhere to the binding obligation to stick to the Sunnah and the Jamaa’ah, and therefore are the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah. The path has been made clear, however let us highlight the misguided sects that have been noted by scholars of the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah and where such sects have vied against the Sunnah and the Ijmaa'a [consensus] of the vast majority of the most classical Muslims scholars. Imaam Muwaffaq ud-Deen Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdasi [the greatest student of Shaykh 'Abdul Qaadir al-Jilaani] said this in his book called Lum'at ul-I'tiqaad: "It is from the Sunnah to separate oneself from the company of the people of bid’ah, i.e. innovation. It is from the Sunnah to leave all forms of disputation, religious rhetoric, looking into the books of the innovators, listening to their speeches, etc. Every new practice in the religion is an innovation. Any person with any one of these mentioned traits [throughout this text] that differs from Islam is an innovator. Such as the Raafidah; the Jahmiyah; the Khawaarij; The Qadariyah; the Murji’ah; the Mu’tazliah; the Karaamiyah; the Kulaabiyah, and their likes. These are the misguided sects and the ones upon innovation. We seek refuge in Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) from [all of] them." pp.99 - 102 The mentioned astray groups are the following: The Raafidah [or Rawaafid]: They have coined themselves the Shi’a who have splintered into many sub-sects to numerous to mention. The flaws in their creed are many, but to mention the most disturbing, they are as follows: a. Believing that ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) is Allah manifest in flesh b. Believing also that their Imaams have a divine status c. The denial of the believers vision of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on Yawm ul-Qiyaamah, which is to deny verses of the Qur’an which explicitly inform us that the believers will see Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) d. The denial of the last verses of Surat ul-Tawbah in claim that they have been interpolated which implies Qur’an has been altered e. The claim that ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) is better than the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and that ‘Ali should have received the Qur’an instead of the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) f. The denial of the excellence of the Sahaabah, and their disagreement with the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه وسلم) decision in giving the Khilaafah to Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه), and likewise to ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه) and ‘Uthmaan (رضي الله عنه) g. The cursing and rebuking of Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه), Umar (رضي الله عنه) and rendering them disbelievers h. The rebuking, takfeer and assassination of some of the Ashrah Mubasharah in claim that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is no longer pleased with them. However the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) guaranteed them paradise, and to disagree with this is to call the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) a liar i. Their disregarding A’isha (رضي الله عنها) as being one of the Ahl ul-Bayt accusing her of great indecency and disloyalty from which she was exonerated from by Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself, to deny this would be to call Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) a liar j. The abandoning of two of the Salaah at their fixed times All such beliefs render them disbelievers by consensus. For more clarification concerning the Shi’a, read Imaam ‘Abd ur-Rahmaan Ibn al-Jawzi’s Talbees Iblees, i.e. The Deception of Iblees. The Jahmiyah: There founder is Jahm ibn Saffwaan, therefore the people that follow him are called Jahmis, or the Jahmiyah. The flaws of the creed are as follows: a. They deny the Attributes of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) [ta’teel] by negating them b. They deny the seeing of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) in the Hereafter c. They accuse the sound Hanbali scholars of the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah as being literalists d. They claim thar the Qur’an is created e. They deny that Imaan increases and decreases f. They hold the belief that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) forces people to do deeds [al-Jabr] The Khawaarij refer to a group that has exited Islam. The word Khawaarij derives from the root kharaja which means to exit. We know this from a hadeeth which gives us a historical account of how the Khawaarij began. Whilst the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was distributing gold to the non-Muslims, and a man by the name of Thul Khuwaysarah at-Tameemi raised the objection against the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) saying that the Muslims were more worthy of the gold, thus implying that the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was being unfair in his distribution. He arrogantly said to the Holy Prophet “Fear Allah” and walked away in a strop. One from amongst the Sahaabah offered to execute the man, but the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) refused the offer and informed the Sahaabah that a people will arise from his progeny who will recite the Qur’an but it will not pass their throats [it will not enter their hearts]. They will exit the religion like an arrow passing through the body of an animal. They – as prophesized – appeared in the time of the fourth Khalifah ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه), when he agreed to arbitrate with Mu’aawiyah (رضي الله عنه) in the battle of Siffeen 37 AH. They rebelled against ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) accusing him of judging by other than what Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) revealed. Here a reoccurring trait can be seen, rebellion against those Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has bestowed with authority. It was a Kharijite by the name of Ibn Mu’jam who assassinated ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه). They have three very distinctive traits. As They hold it as an obligation to rise up against an Amir or Imaam if they deem him a sinner [as in the case where the man accused the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) of being unfair and again his descendants rising up against ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) and Mu’aawiyah (رضي الله عنه) accusing them of shirk] and their considering anybody who does one of the major sins as an infidel and that it is permissible to kill such a person, take his wealth and enslave his family, and they deny the intercession of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Some of the most extreme of them deny Surah Yusuf as being part of the Qur’an claiming it to be a love story that was interpolated into the Qur’an. The Qadaariyah: They are a splinter group from the Mu’tazilah. They deny the Divine Decree. Shaytaan has deluded them into thinking that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has not written the divine decree and that He does not know what a servant will do until he has done it. The Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has told us that they are the magicians of this Ummah. The Murji’ah: Those who believe that Imaan does not consist of affirmation [testimony of the tongue] and actions of the limbs. They believe that a person is still a believer even if he abandons everything from Islam. They negated major parts of Shari’ah, such as hadd punishments etc. The Mu’tazilah: Those who call themselves “Ahl al-Adl wal-Tawheed” The denied the Speech of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) as being uncreated, and have directly rejected ayahs from the Qur’an relating to the believers seeing of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) in the Hereafter. They also deny the intercession of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) The Karaamiyah: They hold the same beliefs as the Murji’ah and they hold Allah’s Attributes upon their most literal sense. The Kulaabiyah: They are the followers of ‘Abdullah Bin Sa’eed Bin Kullab who claimed that Allah’s Attributes are all one and there is no distinction between them. All quotes and references was taken from the English translation of Lum'at ul-I'tiqaad by Imaam Muwaffaq ud-Deen. As seen this is a valuable piece of work and is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Lumat-ul-Itiq...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263426092&sr=8-1
