WHO ARE THE AHL AS-SUNNAH

A concise exposition of the fallacious misinterpretations of the “73 sect

hadith” - firqat an-Najiyah – using the Islamic concept of Religious pluralism

Abdulwasi O. Agboola
Abstract

This paper investigates what seems to be the primary root cause of Muslim‟s modern
day internal sectarian divide. It starts with the exposition of the 73 sects hadith where
only one sect out of the 73 is said to be saved. It also highlights the different
versions of the hadith with various interpretations and how it has been greatly
abused. In light of the religion pluralistic idea of Islam, and the accommodation of
various ideologies and beliefs into the boat of salvation under specific terms and
conditions, this paper exposes the real Ahl as-Sunnah. In the main body of the
paper, simple question and answer style was adopted influenced by various
questioners to the author. Scholars differing interpretations of certain verses and
hadith used in this work are avoided except where necessary to establish an
undeniable fact.

Copyright © 2019 Abdulwasi Olawale

All rights reserved.
For inquiries, comments, remarks, suggestions, corrections and criticisms, please
contact the author through seeabdwasi@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDING THE HADITH OF 73 SECTS

The division of the Muslim Ummah into various sects whether due to ideological
(theological), jurisprudential or political reasons have brought with it a huge disgrace
of disunity and heaviest price of terrorism against one another. This has led to
discrimination, hatred, castigation, fighting, killing and declaration of one sect or the
other as “unbeliever” who will end up in eternal hell fire. Without fear of
misinterpretation, and of course with ample authentic evidences, the discord and
disunity within the Ummah started with the Sahabah of the Prophet themselves just
almost immediately after the blessed demise of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa Ahli.
Ever since till date, things have become more tensed and the bridge of
discrimination, hatred, takfirism (declaration of one group or the other as unbeliever)
becomes wider.

Yes! Quran warns against sectarianism, discrimination, castigation, takfirism,

invitation by force, shedding of blood due to ideological differences among other
warning; yet, these (warnings) seem to be falling into deafening ears as Muslim
world is in total shamble. In fact, terrorism by the Muslims against fellow Muslims is
far higher in occurrence than against non-Muslims. The question however is, today
with more information and mental development, what is the root cause of this
elephant in the room that generations pass to one another?

There is a popular hadith documented by Imam al-Tirmidhi which seems to give us

the root cause of this problem. It states:

Narrated Abdullah bin Amr:

... Indeed the children of Isra‟il split into seventy-two sects, and my Ummah will split
into seventy-three sects. All of them are in the Fire Except one sect." He said:
"And which is it O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "What I am upon and my
Companions."[1]

ِ ًَ ‫ْن أَ ْن ُع‬
ْ‫ َعن‬،ٍِّ ‫اإل ْف ِرَ ِق‬ ِ ‫ْن ِز ََا ِد ت‬
ِ ‫ َعنْ َع ْت ِد اىرَّحْ َم ِن ت‬،ٌ َّ ‫ان‬
ِّ ‫اىث ْو ِر‬ َ ََ ‫ َعنْ ُس ْف‬،ٌ ُّ ‫ َح َّد َث َنا أَتُو دَاوُ َد ا ْى َح َف ِر‬،‫ال َن‬
َ َْ ‫َح َّد َث َنا َمحْ مُو ُد تْنُ َغ‬
ٍِ‫ ىَ ََأْجََِنَّ َع َيً أ ُ َّمجٍِ َما أَ َجً َعيًَ َتن‬: ً‫َّللا صيً َّللا عيَه وسي‬ ِ َّ ‫ َقا َه َقا َه َرسُو ُه‬،‫مْرو‬ ٍ ‫ْن َع‬ ِ َّ ‫ َعنْ َع ْت ِد‬،‫ْن ََ ِزَ َد‬
ِ ‫َّللا ت‬ ِ َّ ‫َع ْت ِد‬
ِ ‫َّللا ت‬
‫ت‬ْ ‫ك َوإِنَّ َتنٍِ إِسْ َرائَِ َه َج َفرَّ َق‬ َ ِ‫ان فٍِ أ ُ َّمجٍِ َمنْ ََصْ َن ُع َذى‬ َ ‫ان ِم ْن ُه ًْ َمنْ أَ َجً أ ُ َّم ُه َعالَ ِن ََ ًة َى َم‬ َ ‫إِسْ َرائَِ َه َح ْذ َو اى َّنعْ ِه ِتاى َّنعْ ِه َح َّجً ِإنْ َم‬
ِ َّ ‫ٍِ ََا َرسُو َه‬
‫َّللا َقا َه‬ َ ‫ح َد ًة َقاىُوا َو َمنْ ه‬ ِ ‫ار إِالَّ ِملَّ ًة َوا‬ِ ‫َِن ِميَّ ًة ُكلُّ ُه ْم فِي ال َّن‬ َ ‫خ َو َس ْتع‬ ٍ َ‫َِن ِميَّ ًة َو َج ْف َج ِر ُق أ ُ َّمجٍِ َعيًَ َثال‬َ ‫ْن َو َس ْتع‬ِ َ‫َعيًَ ث ِْن َج‬
. ‫َِخ ُم َف َّس ٌر َح َسنٌ َغ ِرَبٌ ََّ َنعْ ِرفُ ُه م ِْث َه َه َذا إِ ََّّ مِنْ َه َذا ا ْى َوهْ ِه‬ ٌ ‫ َقا َه أَتُو عَِ َسً َه َذا َحد‬. ٍ‫َما أَ َنا َعيَ َْ ِه َوأَصْ َح ِات‬

Grade : Da‟if (Darussalam)

The hadith is actually graded “Hasan (sound)” by Imam Tirmidhi and others as
opposed to the source above who graded it “da‟if (weak)”.

Perhaps due to the natural law of “action and reaction”, Muslims generally are
paranoid and of course wary of this hadith as no one wants to end up with those
condemned 72 sects of the Ummah that fire is destined upon. The “reaction” to this
hadith is that every Muslim sect continues to identify herself as the only saved sect
who is upon what the Prophet and his companions were. This has led to
excommunication of others and the idea of takfirism.

According to the above hadith, the saved sect will be upon what the Prophet and his
companions were upon (identified as “Sunnah of the Prophet”); meaning others will
apparently not be upon it. The hadith, interestingly, got another twist in another
version when the “saved sect” is identified as “al-Jama‟ah (the community)”. The
hadith says:

It was narrated from „Awf bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
said:

“The Jews split into seventy-one sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy
in Hell. The Christians split into seventy-two sects, seventy-one of which will be in
Hell and one in Paradise. I swear by the One Whose Hand is the soul of
Muhammad, my nation will split into seventy-three sects, one of which will be in
Paradise and seventy-two in Hell.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, who are
they?” He said: “The Jama’ah”[2]

‫ َعنْ َرادِ ِد‬،‫ص ْف َوانُ تْنُ َعمْ ٍرو‬ َ ‫ َح َّد َث َنا‬،‫ُف‬َ ‫ َح َّد َث َنا َعتَّا ُد تْنُ َُوس‬،ٍُّ ‫ص‬ ِ ‫ح ْم‬ ِ ‫ار ا ْى‬
ٍ ‫ْن دَِ َن‬ ِ ‫ْن َمث‬
ِ ‫َِر ت‬ ِ ‫ْن َسعَِ ِد ت‬ ِ ‫ان ت‬ َ ‫َح َّد َث َنا َعمْ ُرو تْنُ ع ُْث َم‬
ٌ‫َِن فِرْ َق ًة َف َواحِدَ ة‬
َ ‫ت ا ْى ََهُو ُد َعيًَ إِحْ دَ ي َو َس ْتع‬ ِ ‫َّللا ـ صيً َّللا عيَه وسيً ـ ا ْف َج َر َق‬ ِ َّ ‫ َقا َه َقا َه َرسُو ُه‬، ٍ‫ْن َماىِك‬ ِ ‫فت‬ ِ ‫ َعنْ َع ْو‬،ٍ‫ْن َسعْ د‬ ِ ‫ت‬
ٌِ‫ار َو َواحِدَ ةٌ فٍِ ا ْى َه َّن ِة َواىَّذ‬
ِ ‫ُون فٍِ اى َّن‬َ ‫َِن فِرْ َق ًة َفإِحْ َدي َو َس ْتع‬ ِ ‫اري َع َيً ثِ ْن َج‬
َ ‫َْن َو َس ْتع‬ َ ‫ص‬ ِ ‫ار َوا ْف َج َر َق‬
َ ‫ت اى َّن‬ ِ ‫ُون فٍِ اى َّن‬ َ ‫فٍِ ا ْى َه َّن ِة َو َس ْتع‬
ِ َّ ‫ قَِ َه ََا َرسُو َه‬. ‫ار‬ ِ ‫َِن فِرْ َق ًة َف َوا‬ ُ
ْ‫َّللا َمن‬ ِ ‫ُون فٍِ اى َّن‬ َ ‫ان َو َس ْتع‬ِ ‫ح َدةٌ فٍِ ا ْى َه َّن ِة َوثِ ْن َج‬ َ ‫خ َو َس ْتع‬ٍ َ‫َن ْفسُ م َُح َّم ٍد ِت ََ ِد ِه ىَ َج ْف َج ِر َقنَّ أ َّمجٍِ َع َيً َثال‬
. ‫ ا ْل َج َما َع ُة‬:‫ُه ًْ َقا َه‬

Grade : Hasan (Darussalam)

The understanding and interpretation of this hadith (if at all the matn – text is truly
accurate) has come into differing opinions and thoughts. Some scholars even tried to
be smarter saying the “jama‟ah” is being refer to those that identified themselves as
“Ahlu Sunnah wa al-Jama‟ah” as against others that either identified themselves or
being identified as Sufi, Shi‟ah, Deobandi, Ash‟ariyyah etc.
Interestingly, this smart move has worsened the case as sub sects within the self
acclaimed “Ahlu Sunnah wa al-Jama‟ah” begin to define who “Ahlu Sunnah wa al-
Jama‟ah” is/are. Conflicting definitions with varying “terms and conditions” and
excommunication and takfirism within this self acclaimed Ahlu Sunnah are some of
these worst outcome. The truth is “Ahlu Sunnah” are divided into subsects by
ideological differences hence we have Mu‟tazila, Ash‟ariyyah and Athariyyah (known
today as Salafiyyah). Then, by jurisprudencial differences, we have Malikiyyah,
Shafi‟iyah, Hanbaliyyah and Hanafiyyah. If we are to mention other subsects of Ahlu
Sunnah (past and present), that might be cumbersome.

Furthermore, the fact that this group (Ahlu Sunnah) do not have monopoly of hadith
sources, other group for example, the Shia equally bring forth their own version of
the same hadith where the saved sect has been identified as “those who recognize
and follow the wilayah (mastership) of the Ahl al-Bayt, and of course in this view,
Shia seeded the “saved sect” to themselves only. One of the Shi‟i ahadith that further
interpret their thoughts reads:

In a hadith attributed to Imam Ali (as) in the Book Kitab Sulaym bin Qays, Ali ibn Abi
Talib is said to have described the “saved sect” thus:

Aban narrated that he heard from Sulaym who said: “I heard Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s)
say: “The Ummah will be separated in 73 sects, of which 72 will go to Hell, and 1 will
go to Heaven.

From the 73, 13 will show their love towards us Ahlulbayt, from which 1 will go to
Heaven and 12 will go to Hell. The sect that will be saved will be the one which is
guided, which is hopeful, which has Iman, obeys command (bows his head), is
agreeable and intelligent. It is he that trusts me and bows his head to my command,
obeys my command, chooses to keep away from my enemy, loves me, keeps enmity
with my enemy, has recognised my rights, and Imamah and has realised my
obedience compulsory through the Book of Allah and the Tradition of the Holy
Prophet, and has not become an apostate, and has not doubted, because Allah has
enlightened his heart with the knowledge of our rights and has recognised our merits
and all this has sunk into his heart and is written on his forehead. Allah has entered
him in my Shias (lover, supporter, follower) until his heart is satisfied and has
developed surety (yaqin) that there is no doubt included. […] And this is the one
sect, out of the 73, that will be saved from Hell and will be saved from discord,
misguidance and doubts, and this, surely, is from the dwellers of Heaven and these
are 70000 who will enter Heaven without being questioned (hisab)." [3]

Of course, some sects with their usual discriminatory Ideologies threw this Shi‟i
hadith away saying “it‟s a Shia hadith”. Little do they know that Shia do the same by
throwing their (Ahlu Sunnah) version of the hadith away. Besides, bulk of “Ahlu
Sunnah” ahadith in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Jami al-Tirmidhi and other
classical Sunni books were narrated via Shi‟a (Rafidha as some labeled them)
narrators. And when stubborn minds are shown a mutawattir (widely and recurrent
hadith) in Sunni books regarding “Shi'i salvation”, it seems being bewildered. For
brevity, let us cite one out of tens. Imam Ahmad for example reports:

Ibrāhīm b. Sharīk – „Uqbah b. Mukram al-Ḍabī – Yūnus b. Bukayr – alSawār b.

Muṣ‟ab – Abū al-Jahhāf – Abū Mukram „Uqbah – Muḥammad b. „Amr – Fāṭimah al-
Kubrā – Umm Salamah:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, was with me on my night when Fāṭimah and „Alī
visited him. So, the Messenger of Allāh, peace be upon him, said, “O „Alī, be happy,
because you and your companions and your SHI’AH will be in Paradise"[4]

So far, we have highlighted three versions of the hadith (firqat an-Najiyah) that talks
about division of the Prophet‟s Ummah into 73 sects:

* One version claimed the saved sect will be “upon what the Prophet and his
companions were”

* Second version claimed the saved sect is the “Jama‟ah”

* Third version identified “Shia” who acknowledged the wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib
(and Ahl al-Bayt)

Yet, the last version of the hadith of “firqat an-najiyah” do not even mention “saved
sect” in its matn (context). Imam al-Tirmidhi documents:

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

that the Messenger of Allah (s) said: "The Jews split into seventy-one sects, or
seventy-two sects, and the Christians similarly, and my Ummah will split into
seventy-three sects."[5]

َّ‫ أَن‬،َ‫ َعنْ أَ ِتٍ ه َُرَ َْرة‬،‫ َعنْ أَ ِتٍ َسيَ َم َة‬،‫ْن َعم ٍْرو‬ ِ ‫ َعنْ م َُح َّم ِد ت‬،ً‫ َح َّد َث َنا ا ْى َفضْ ُه تْنُ مُو َس‬،‫َّار‬ ٍ ‫خ أَتُو َعم‬ ٍ َْ ‫َح َّد َث َنا ا ْى ُح َسَْنُ تْنُ حُ َر‬
ْ
‫اري مِث َه َذى َِك‬ َ ‫ص‬ ً
َ ‫َِن فِرْ َقة َواى َّن‬ ْ َ
ِ َ‫ت ا ْى ََهُو ُد َعيًَ ِإحْ َدي َو َس ْتعَِ َن أ ِو اث َن َج‬
َ ‫ْن َو َس ْتع‬ ِ ‫ َج َفرَّ َق‬: ‫َّللا صيً َّللا عيَه وسيً َقا َه‬ ِ َّ ‫َرسُو َه‬
ُ ‫عَِسً َحد‬
‫َِخ‬ َ ‫ َقا َه أَتُو‬. ٍ‫ْن َماىِك‬ ِ ‫فت‬ِ ‫مْرو َو َع ْو‬
ٍ ‫ْن َع‬ َّ ‫ب َعنْ َسعْ ٍد َو َع ْت ِد‬
ِ ‫َّللاِ ت‬ ِ ‫ َوفٍِ ا ْى َتا‬. ‫َِن فِرْ َق ًة‬ َ ‫خ َو َس ْتع‬ٍ َ‫َو َج ْف َج ِر ُق أ ُ َّمجٍِ َعيًَ َثال‬
. ‫صحَِ ٌح‬ َ ٌ‫َِخ َح َسن‬ٌ ‫أَ ِتٍ ه َُرَ َْر َة َحد‬

Grade : Hasan Sahih (Darussalam)

VARIOUS MEANING AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE HADITH

We have so far given few understanding of this hadith. Another interesting area of
academic discussion and differing views is the “specified number of 73” versus the
meaning of “al-Jama‟ah”.

Whether via ideological differences or jurisprudential or political differences, Muslim

sects (from the past till date) are far more than 73 in number. The fact that the hadith
itself gives no clue to the manner of counting, this has made some scholars to
postulate and opined that the “73” does not intend numerical count rather it points to
“many” as we have similar cases in the Quran where our Lord used “7, 70, 50,000,
70,000” to signify “many” and not really intend “numerical count”. For example, Allah
says:

Surah At-Taubah, Verse 80:

َّ ‫اَّلل َو َرسُوىِ ِه َو‬

ًَ ‫َّللاُ َ َّ ََ ْهدٌِ ا ْى َق ْو‬ َ ِ‫َّللاُ ىَ ُه ًْ َٰ َذى‬
ِ َّ ‫ك ِتأ َ َّن ُه ًْ َم َف ُروا ِت‬ َ ‫اسْ َج ْغفِرْ ىَ ُه ًْ أَ ْو َ َّ َجسْ َج ْغفِرْ ىَ ُه ًْ إِن َجسْ َج ْغفِرْ ىَ ُه ًْ َس ْتع‬
َّ ‫َِن َم َّر ًة َفيَن ََ ْغف َِر‬
َ ‫ا ْى َفاسِ ق‬
‫َِن‬

(Whether you) Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them; even if
you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them; this is
because they disbelieve in Allah and His Apostle, and Allah does not guide the
transgressing people.”

This verse does not mean if the Prophet ask forgiveness for the hypocrites seventy
one and above (times) that Allah will forgive them. The “seventy” only denotes “many
times”.

And as per the word “al-Jama‟ah” used in the second version of the hadith, some
scholars try to merge it with the first version saying that these particular “Jama‟ah”
will be “upon what the Prophet and his companions were”. And seeing the subsects
of Ahlu Sunnah, Shia etc, these scholars further reason that “al-Jama‟ah” do not
necessarily entail a very large group as it can be few people on the right path. The
truth however is that the word “Jam‟h ( ‫ ”) همع‬in Arabic grammar starts from 3 till
infinity. Meaning that there is a possibility that “al-Jama‟ah” being talked about by the
Prophet entails “all Muslims” (irrespective of their so-called sects). Imam Bukhari
documents this hadith:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah‟s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "All my Ummah will enter Paradise
except those who refuse." They said, "O Allah‟s Messenger (peace be upon him)!
Who will refuse?" He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever
disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it)."[6]

‫َّللا صيً َّللا‬ ِ َّ ‫ أَنَّ َرسُو َه‬،َ‫ َعنْ أَ ِتٍ ه َُرَ َْرة‬،‫ار‬
ٍ ‫ْن ََ َس‬ِ ‫ َعنْ َع َطا ِء ت‬، ٍٍِّ‫ َح َّد َث َنا ِهالَ ُه تْنُ َعي‬،ٌ‫ َح َّد َث َنا فُ َي َْح‬،‫ان‬ٍ ‫َح َّد َث َنا م َُح َّم ُد تْنُ سِ َن‬
ْ
ْ‫ َو َمن‬،‫دَخ َه اى َه َّن َة‬
َ ٍِ‫اعن‬ َ َ ْ َّ ُ َ
ِ ‫ َقاىوا ََا َرسُو َه‬. ً‫ إِ ََّّ َمنْ أ َت‬،‫ون اى َه َّن َة‬
َ ‫ َمنْ أط‬:‫َّللا َو َمنْ ََأ َتً َقا َه‬ ْ ُ ُ
َ ‫ ُم ُّه أ َّمجٍِ ََ ْد ُخي‬: ‫عيَه وسيً َقا َه‬
. ً‫صانٍِ َف َق ْد أَ َت‬ َ ‫َع‬

Interestingly, very few scholars even believe and submitted that the “hadith of 73
sects” has been distorted from its original manuscript. They claim what the Prophet
actually said was that “72 from 73 will enter paradise and only one will end up in
hell”. Objectively, one tend to give this submission a second thought (as not all
people have access to original manuscripts of ahadith), the fact that the above hadith
says “All my Ummah will enter paradise except those who refused....” makes this
submission reasonable.

In the same vein of large accommodation, Quran says:

Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 62:

َّ َ ‫صاىِحً ا َفيَ ُه ًْ أَهْ رُ ُه ًْ عِندَ َر ِّت ِه ًْ َو‬ ِ َّ ِ‫َِن َمنْ آ َم َن ت‬

َ ‫اَّلل َوا ْى ََ ْو ًِ ْاِخ ِِر َو َع ِم َه‬ َ ‫ار َٰي َواىصَّاتِئ‬
َ ‫ص‬َ ‫َِن َها ُدوا َواى َّن‬َ ‫َِن آ َم ُنوا َواىَّذ‬ َ ‫إِنَّ اىَّذ‬
َ ‫َخ ْوفٌ َعيَ َْ ِه ًْ َو َ َّ ُه ًْ ََحْ َز ُن‬
‫ون‬

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the
Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall
have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

Same verse is further repeated with slight variation thus:

Surah Al-Maeda, Verse 69:

ًْ ‫صاىِحً ا َف َال َخ ْوفٌ َعيَ َْ ِه ًْ َو َ َّ ُه‬ ِ َّ ‫ار َٰي َمنْ آ َم َن ِت‬

َ ‫اَّلل َوا ْى ََ ْو ًِ ْاِخ ِِر َو َع ِم َه‬ َ ‫ص‬ َ ‫َّات ُئ‬
َ ‫ون َواى َّن‬ َ ‫َِن آ َم ُنوا َواىَّذ‬
ِ ‫َِن َها ُدوا َواىص‬ َ ‫إِنَّ اىَّذ‬
َ ‫ََحْ َز ُن‬
‫ون‬
Surely those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabians and the
Christians whoever believes in Allah and the last day and does good-- they shall
have no fear nor shall they grieve.

In the above hadith of Abu Hurairah, the illustrious Prophet was said to have warned
that only he who do not obey him will end up in hell-fire. According to the Quran,
obedience to the Prophet must be 100% and absolute. Interestingly, no Muslim has
ever come out and apparently declares disobedience to the Prophet‟s instructions at
least to the best of information that reach him. The fact that this later generation
does not meet the Prophet, we do not have first hand instructions from the Prophet.
What we have are collections of his reported sayings compiled centuries after his
demise. Scholars of ahadith have tried their best to grade these sayings into sahih
(authentic), hasan (good), da‟if (weak), and mawdoo (fabrication). With all these
efforts, there is yet no absolute assurance to the correctness or incorrectness of
these “ahadith” altogether as there might be in truth some ahadith graded “sahih”
that are actually “fabrication”. And there might be some graded “da‟if” that are “sahih”
and what scholar “A” graded authentic might be rejected and graded weak or
fabrication by scholar “B”. This is the reason we have tahqiq on books of ahadith
where one scholar academically expose errors of grading system of another or even
fault the authenticity of some ahadith. For example, the book sahih al-Bukhari is
widely believe to contain 100% authentic ahadith yet scholars (from the past like Al-
hafiz ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and later scholar like Nasir din al-Albani among others)
had identified lots of errors in various ahadith in it. There are even sound research
works which exposed that the present day 9 volumes of sahih Bukhari were not
authored by Imam al-Bukhari himself. In short, the grading system only puts check
and balances within the usage of ahadith. Also, apart from the fact that there is no
100% accuracy in reports (not to mention reports of centuries after the demise of the
speaker), whoever is conversant with research works will find out there are tahrif
(distortions) in ahadith by either compilers, narrators of ahadith or later editors. Some
ahadith that used to exist in books of ahadith can no longer be found in new editions
(of same books) except in the “original manuscript”. Some ahadith did not even exist
in the original manuscript but somehow appear in the new editions. Some are
“wording distortions”. Then, understanding and interpretation of these ahadith varies
from scholar to scholar and these are usually influenced by ideological and political
beliefs and adherence of each scholar.

Amidst these problems, and the fact that everybody could not be scholars and
researchers, how do we identify “true sayings and instructions” of the Prophet which
whoever obeys, paradise is guaranteed? Quran gives us a general information when
Allah highlights the criteria for “salvation” in the two abovementioned verses to be –
belief in Him, belief in the last day and performing good deeds. This is the summary
of the message of the Prophet. Of course, level of belief in Allah (Tawheed) could
vary so also is the level of good deeds (from salat, sawm to sadaqat etc). These only
make things into right perspectives when Quran informs that there are various levels
of paradise with respect to what each presents on the day of judgement. The general
submission of the Quran is “…whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and
does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for
them, nor shall they grieve.”

This put aside and bury the idea of “72 sects in the meaning of majority of the
Ummah” entering hell fire, and only handful in the literal meaning of one sect
entering paradise. In fact, it is even established that people will enter Jannah
(paradise) in groups of 70, 000 or 700, 000 (again it could mean “many” and not
necessarily numerical count) as we read:

Abu Huraira reported:

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Seventy thousand (persons)
would enter Paradise as one group and among them (there would be people) whom
faces would be bright like the moon.[7]

َّ ‫ أَنَّ َرسُو َه‬،َ‫ َعنْ أَ ِتٍ ه َُرَ َْرة‬،‫س‬

ِ‫َّللا‬ َ ‫ َقا َه َح َّد َثنٍِ أَتُو َُو ُن‬،ُ‫ أَ ْخ َت َرنٍِ َحَ َْوة‬،ٍ‫َّللا تْنُ َو ْهب‬
ِ َّ ‫ َح َّد َث َنا َع ْت ُد‬،ًََ ْ‫َو َح َّد َثنٍِ َحرْ َميَ ُة تْنُ ََح‬
‫ُور ِة ا ْى َق َم ِر‬
َ ‫ح َدةٌ ِم ْن ُه ًْ َعيًَ ص‬ َ ‫ ََ ْد ُخ ُه ا ْى َه َّن َة مِنْ أ ُ َّمجٍِ َس ْتع‬:‫صيً َّللا عيَه وسيً َقا َه‬
ِ ‫ُون أَ ْى ًفا ُزم َْرةٌ َوا‬

Other hadith mention 700, 000[8]

Here, one will appreciate the mutawattir hadith mentioned above which identify
“Shi‟a of Ali” to be among those who will enter Jannah. Again the hadith says:

“...So, the Messenger of Allāh, peace be upon him, said, “O „Alī, be happy, because
you and your companions and your SHI’AH will be in Paradise"

This hadith never shut the door of paradise rather the “Shia of Ali” are being
identified as part of Jannah-bond groups.

It will be incomplete if we fail to mention “deviators and innovators”. These are those
who knowingly oppose the Prophet. These group spread across every sect fom the
past till present. Imam Bukhari for example documents:

Narrated Ibn Al-Musaiyab:

The companions of the Prophet (s) said, "Some men from my companions will come
to my Lake-Fount and they will be driven away from it, and I will say, „O Lord, my
companions! It will be said, You have no knowledge of what they innovated after
you left: they turned apostate as renegades (reverted from Islam).”

If deviators and innovators could be found from amongst the sahabah, why would
later groups and sects of Muslim be free from them? It is sheer ignorance and
fanaticism to however label one group as “saved sect” and generality of others as
deviators and innovators. Last on the list are groups who have either researched into
or there have come to them clear truth about certain differing issues yet did takabbur
(arrogance) or reject with levity and carelessness. Whether Muslim, Christian, Jew,
Sabian or whoever falls in this group, obviously they have no excuse before their
Lord.

While this author does not believe in takfirism of others, this paper is an academic
research which explores “who are the Ahlu Sunnah”. It is a detailed and well
referenced work. We do not intend to castigate or abuse any sect therefore any
inappropriate word used is definitely not intended. May Allah ward off our
shortcomings and give us more understanding.
REFERENCES

1. Reference : Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2641

In-book reference : Book 40, Hadith 36
English translation : Vol. 5, Book 38, Hadith 2641
https://www.sunnah.com/tirmidhi/40/36

2. Reference : Sunan Ibn Majah 3992

In-book reference : Book 36, Hadith 67
English translation : Vol. 5, Book 36, Hadith 3992
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/36/67

3. Kitab Sulaym bin Qays, Hadith #7 – or in some #32

4. Source: Abū „Abd Allāh Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Kitāb Faḍāil al-Ṣaḥābah (Jeddah:
Dār al-„Ilm li al-Ṭabā‟ah wa al-Nashr; 1st edition, 1403 H) [annotator:
Waṣiyyullāh b. Muḥammad „Abbās], vol. 2, p. 654, # 1115

5. Reference : Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2640

In-book reference : Book 40, Hadith 35
English translation : Vol. 5, Book 38, Hadith 2640
https://www.sunnah.com/tirmidhi/40/35

6. Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 7280

In-book reference : Book 96, Hadith 12
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 9, Book 92, Hadith 384
https://www.sunnah.com/bukhari/96/12

7. Reference : Sahih Muslim 217

In-book reference : Book 1, Hadith 431
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 1, Hadith 421
https://www.sunnah.com/muslim/1/431

8. For example https://www.sunnah.com/muslim/1/434

REVEALING THE “AHL AL-SUNNAH”
REVEALING THE “AHL AL-SUNNAH”

QUESTION AND ANSWER

A noble questioner asked:

Can You please, explain to me what is sunnah, when did it start, who name it, and
does the name ahlu Sunnah existed during the life of the holy prophet Muhammad..
.. so my question is who are the ahlu Sunnah?

OUR INVESTIGATION

A. What is Sunnah?

Linguistically, the word "Sunnah" means norms, traditions, ways etc. For it to be
more meaningful, it needs to come alongside something. For example, in the holy
Quran, Allah says:

Sura Al-Ahzab: 62:

ً ‫َّللا َج ْتد‬
‫َِال‬ ِ َّ ‫هدَ ىِ ُس َّن ِة‬ ِ َّ ‫ُس َّن َة‬
َ ‫َّللا فٍِ اىَّذ‬
ِ ‫َِن َخيَ ْوا مِن َق ْت ُه َوىَن َج‬

(Such has been) the Sunnah of Allah with respect to those who have gone before;
and you shall not find any change in the Sunnah of Allah.

In the same vein, the holy Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa ahli, was reported to have
said:

Imam Abu Dawud documents:

Narrated Irbad Ibn Sariyah:

"...For, whoever lives among you shall witness after me several disagreements.
Therefore, follow MY SUNNAH and the sunnah of the khulafa, who are rashidun and
mahdiyun. Bite onto it with your molar teeth. And beware of innovated matters. For,
verily, every innovation is a bid‟ah; and verily, every bid‟ah is misguidance."[1]

Grade: Sahih – authentic (Albani)

So, Sunnah simply put, means the tradition (Hadith) and norms (actions, practice,
commands) of the holy Prophet. Some scholars included practice(s) witnessed by
the Prophet and kept mute on it.

B. "... and when did it starts, and who named it?

According to several verses of the Qur'an, it is obligatory to adhere (follow, practice)

the Sunnah of the Prophet. This is because everything the Prophet says and
command, and everything he did are instructions from Allah. Therefore, the Sunnah
of the holy Prophet Muhammad started exactly when Allah appointed him as a
Prophet over mankind. Qur'an says about him:

Al-Araf: 157:

ِ ‫َه ََأْ ُم ُرهًُ تِا ْى َمعْ رُ و‬

‫ف َو ََ ْن َها ُه ًْ َع ِن ا ْىمُن َم ِر‬ ِ ‫ه‬ ِ ‫اإلن‬ ِ ََ ٌِ‫ُون اى َّرسُو َه اى َّنتٍَِّ ْاْلُ ِّم ٍَّ اىَّذ‬
ِ ْ ‫ه ُدو َن ُه َم ْم ُجوتًا عِن َد ُه ًْ فٍِ اى َّج ْو َرا ِة َو‬ َ ‫اىَّذ‬
َ ‫َِن ََ َّجتِع‬
َ ‫ت َع َي َْ ِه ًْ َفاىَّذ‬
ُ‫َِن آ َم ُنوا تِ ِه َو َع َّز ُروه‬ ْ ‫ض ُع َع ْن ُه ًْ إِصْ َر ُه ًْ َو ْاْلَ ْغ َال َه اىَّجٍِ َما َن‬
َ ََ ‫ِخ َو‬ َ ‫ت َوَ َُح ِّر ًُ َعيَ َْ ِه ًُ ا ْى َخ َتائ‬ َّ ًُ ‫ح ُّه ىَ ُه‬
ِ ‫اىط َِّ َتا‬ ِ َُ ‫َو‬
‫ون‬ ْ ْ
َ ُ‫ك ُه ًُ اى ُمفيِح‬ َ َٰ ُ
َ ِ‫نز َه َم َع ُه أوىئ‬ ُ َّ ُّ َّ َ ‫َو َن‬
ِ ‫ور اىذٌِ أ‬ َ ‫ص ُروهُ َواج َت ُعوا اىن‬

Those who follow the Apostle - Prophet, the Ummi, whom they find written down with
them in the Taurat and the Injeel (who) enjoins them good and forbids them evil, and
makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things,
and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them; so (as
for) those who believe in him and honor him and help him, and follow the light which
has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful."

C. "...and does the name ahlu Sunnah existed during the life of the holy prophet
Muhammad. So my question is who are the ahlu Sunnah??

The word " Ahl al-Sunnah" literally means "people of Sunnah". So, again it is not a
complete phrase until we conjoin it with something. "People of Sunnah" of who or
what?

If it is the "Sunnah of the holy Prophet", then, we know it is " People of Sunnah of the
holy Prophet Muhammad ".

Historically, no group was called "Ahl al-Sunnah" during the lifetime of the Prophet.
All followers of Prophet Muhammad, whether Mu'minun (sincere believers), fasiqun
(sinners) or Munafiqun (hypocrites) are known and called "Muslim i.e those who
believe" although Allah did distinguish them as per the quality of their belief; hence
Qur'an talks about the Mu‟minun, Fasiqun and Munafiqun.

The word "Ahlu Sunnah" only surfaced and was used for the first time around 35
years after the death of the Prophet when Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan for the second
time revolted against the “appointed Khalifah” of his time - al-Hasan Ibn Ali, and was
about to cause another civil war between the Muslims. In order to avoid bloodshed,
al-Hasan abdicated the seat of rulership that Mu'awiyah crazily craved for. So when
these two differing Muslim groups "united" as one community, Mu'awiyah then
labeled them as "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'ah - People of the Sunnah and the
community".

D. "... Who are the AhluSunnah?"

In one word (especially when we put aside it‟s political origin), Ahl al-Sunnah are
those who followed (or following) and adhered (or adhering) to the real and authentic
Sunnah of the holy Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa ahli.

AHL AL-SUNNAH OF OUR TIME

With respect to certain groups in history till date (today and till tomorrow) who tagged
themselves as "Ahl al-Sunnah", the question is are they really following and adhering
to the real and authentic Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad?

The answer is an emphatic NO. Why is this so?

In the Hadith documented by Abu Dawud which we have quoted above (reply A), the
Prophet clearly says to his entire sahabah and those who will follow them till Qiyamat
comes, that once he depart from this world, there will be differences and crisis
among them; and the only solution to keep them on the right path is to "follow my
Sunnah and the Sunnah of Khulafah Rashidun mahdiyin (rightly guided caliphs). Bite
IT with your molar teeth."

Unfortunately, today self acclaimed Ahl al-Sunnah do the following:

1. They follow the Sahabah (companions) and the Tabi'ieen (companions of the
sahabah). Note, the exclusive instruction of the Prophet (primarily even to the
sahabah) is "follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of Khulafah ar-Rashidun Mahdiyun".
This is exactly the instruction given by the Qur'an, primarily to the Sahabah, when
our Lord says, “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and ulul amr (those vested with
authority) from amongst you…” [sura an-Nisa: 59]

2. They argued that they follow the Sunnah of the Prophet by following what his
Sahabah (companions) say and did which they attributed to the Prophet.

Unfortunately, there are two issues here: sahabah‟s difference of opinion and
mistakes; and innovation (Bid‟ah).

(i). As per difference of opinion and mistakes, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, for instance,
states:

"Moreover, a lot of the Salaf made mistakes in a lot of these issues, and they agreed
not to make takfīr on account of that. For instance, some of the Ṣaḥābah denied that
the dead could hear the call of the living, and some of them denied that the mi‟rāj
took place in a state of wakefulness, and some of them denied that Muḥammad saw
his Lord, and the opinion of some of them concerning the khilāfah and superiority
(among them) is well-known. Likewise, there are well-known statements from some
of them about the fighting of some others among them, the cursing of some others
among them, and the total takfīr against some others among them.

Qāḍī Shurayḥ used to deny the qirāat of those who recited bal „ajibttu (“Nay, I
wondered”) [37:12] and used to say that Allāh never wondered. This reached Ibrāhīm
al-Nakha‟ī and he said, “Shurayḥ is only a poet, who is dazzled by his knowledge.
„Abd Allāh was more knowledgeable than him and he used to recite bal ajibttu.” So,
he had denied a well-established qirāat and also denied a Divine Attribute which is
proved by the Book and the Sunnah. Yet, the Ummah are unanimous that he was
one of the Imāms.

Some of the Salaf were like that too. Some of them denied expressions used in the
Qur‟ān. For instance, one of them denied His Statement afalam yay-as al-ladhīna
āmanū [13:31] and said, “It is only awalam yatabayan al-ladhīna āmanū.” Another
(from the Salaf) denied the qirāat of His Statement wa qaḍā Rabbuka al-lā ta‟budū‟
ila iyyāhu [17:23] and said, “It is only wawaṣā Rabbuka.” One of them also expunged
Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat al-Nās (from the Qur‟ān), and another wrote Sūrat al-
Qunūt, and this was an error by consensus and mutawātir reports.” [2]
(ii). As per innovation (Bid‟ah), the reality is many sahabah became INNOVATORS
after the death of the Prophet turning against Allah and His Messenger's explicit
instructions. Prophet himself predicted this, for example:

Imam Bukhari documents a mutawattir (recurrent) hadith:

Narrated Ibn Al-Musaiyab:

The companions of the Prophet (s) said, "Some men from my companions will come
to my Lake-Fount and they will be driven away from it, and I will say, „O Lord, my
companions! It will be said, You have no knowledge of what they innovated after
you left: they turned apostate as renegades (reverted from Islam). [3]

‫ب‬ ِ ‫خ َعنْ أَصْ َحا‬ َ ‫ أَ َّن ُه َم‬،ِ‫ْن ا ْىم َُس ََّب‬

ُ ‫ان َ َُح ِّد‬ ِ ‫ َع ِن ات‬،ٍ‫ْن دِ َهاب‬ ِ ‫ َع ِن ات‬، ُ‫ َقا َه أَ ْخ َت َرنٍِ َُو ُنس‬،ٍ‫ َح َّد َث َنا اتْنُ َو ْهب‬،‫صاى ٍِح‬
َ ُ‫َح َّد َث َنا أَحْ َم ُد تْن‬
‫ون َع ْن ُه َفأَقُو ُه‬ َ ‫ض ِر َها ٌه مِنْ أَصْ َحاتٍِ َفَ َُحيَّ ُئ‬ ِ ‫ ََ ِر ُد َعيًَ ا ْى َح ْو‬: ‫ صيً َّللا عيَه وسيً أَنَّ اى َّن ِت ٍَّ صيً َّللا عيَه وسيً َقا َه‬،ٍِّ ‫اى َّن ِت‬
ِ ‫ إِ َّن ُه ًُ ارْ َجدُّ وا َعيًَ أَ ْد َت‬،‫ك‬
‫ار ِه ًُ ا ْى َق ْه َق َري‬ َ ‫ك تِ َما أَحْ دَ ُثوا َتعْ َد‬ َ ‫ َف ََقُو ُه إِ َّن‬.ٍ‫ََا َربِّ أَصْ َح ِات‬
َ َ‫ك ََّ ِع ْي ًَ ى‬

And besides these two glaring facts, there is no where and no explicit order where
the Prophet says, " follow my sahabah to follow my Sunnah".

And this people (self acclaimed Ahl al-Sunnah) after seeing these facts, used to
argue that they follow the "Rightly Guided Caliphs (khulafau ar-Rashidun)" as stated
in the hadith. And when you ask them, "who are these Khulafau ar-Rashidun"? They
will instantly reply, "they are four, namely: Khalifah Abubakr, khalifah Umar, khalifah
Uthman and khalifah Ali".

Question: Where did the Prophet EVER stated such?

These group of people will naturally become quiet and start giving stories. Obviously,
there is no single source either on this earth or the heavens where such could ever
be found.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KHULAFAU AR-RASHIDUN

First, the noble Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa ahli, described the status of these
"Khulafah (Caliphs)" to be "Rashidun (plural of Rashid: He who knows the truth and
practice it); and " Mahdiyin (plural of Mahdi: He who is being guided by Allah) [see:
Shaykh Dr. al-Fawzan explains in his Sharah Aqeeda Wastia, page 165].
The fact that Prophet gave those explicit descriptions completely destroyed the claim
of our self acclaimed Ahlu Sunnah.

Second, in the hadith, while he ordered his Sahabah to follow his Sunnah and the
sunnah of these khulafa after him, the Prophet used the singular “sunnah,” and not
the plural “sunan,” apparently to emphasize that all these Khulafau would have a
single, uniform sunnah. It was not possible for one of them to have a sunnah which
would be different from the sunnah of another. The sunnah of all the Khulafa,
whatsoever their number, would be one and the same in all cases and circumstances.

To further re-emphasize the point, he used the singular pronoun “it” to refer to his
Sunnah and the sunnah of these khulafa jointly. This then establishes that the
Sunnah of Muhammad and the sunnah of the khulafa are so perfectly identical and
uniform that they are in essence one and the same entity.

FACT FIND

For a fact, there are loads of evidences that revealed that the Ahl al-Sunnah‟s
recognised Khulafau ar-Rashidun namely: Hazrat Abubakr, Hazrat Umar and Hazrat
Uthman deliberately changed some of the orders of Allah and alter the Sunnah of the
Prophet not to mention the huge differences between their respective rulings. For
example:

Imam nasai documents:

It was narrated that Ibn 'Abbas said:

"I heard 'Umar say" 'By Allah, I forbid you to perform Tamattur,' but it is mentioned in
the Book of Allah and the Messenger of Allah did it" meaning 'Umrah with Hajj. [4]

Grade : Sahih (Darrusalam)

Imam Nasai also documents:

It was narrated that Al-Hakam said:

"I heard 'Ali bin Husain narrating from Marwan, that 'Uthman FORBADE Mut'ah and
joining Hajj and "Umrah. 'Ali said; 'Labbaika bi Hajjatin wa 'Umratin ma'an - Here I
am, (O Allah) for Hajj and „Umrah together‟.
Uthman said: 'Are you doing this when I have forbidden it?' 'Ali said; 'I will not give up
the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah for any of the people.'' [5]

In fact, one noble Sahabi (apart from Ali as seen above) was very blunt in his
reaction and refused to follow Umar/Uthman‟s order:

It was narrated from 'Imran:

"That the Messenger of Allah combined Hajj and "Umrah, then no Qur'an was
revealed concerning that (i.e its forbiddance), and the Prophet did not forbid it,
regardless of what one man may say."[6]

Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)

That is just one case out of MANY to show that wrong personalities were identified
or known today as Khulafah ar-Rashidun. And the fact that among the sahabah
identified their errors and opposed their commands further point to the fact that those
personalities were not the Khulafau ar-Rashidun (Rightly Guided Caliphs) that
Prophet commanded to be followed.

To further strengthen our submission, Abu Bakr, „Umar and „Uthman did NOT have a
single, uniform “sunnah.” In fact, each one of them contradicted the other “severely.”
This was why Imam Ibn Hazm got confused and mentioned in His book, al-Ahkam fi
Usool-al-Ahkam, 6/76:

َّ ‫وأما قوىه صيً َّللا عيَه و سيً عيَمً تسنجٍ وسنة اىخيفاء اىراددَن فقد عيمنا أنه صيً َّللا عيَه و سيً َّ َأمر تما‬
‫َقدر عيَه ووهدنا اىخيفاء اىراددَن تعده صيً َّللا عيَه و سيً قد اخجيفوا اخجالفا ددَدا‬

“As for his statement, peace be upon him {follow my Sunnah and the sunnah of
thekhulafa who are rashidun}, we know already that he, peace be upon him, never
commanded the impossible. Yet, we find that the Rightly Guided Caliphs after him,
peace be upon him, had severe disagreements among themselves.”
KHULAFAU RASHIDUN REVEALED
KHULAFAU RASHIDUN REVEALED

We have seen from the abovementioned hadith of Imam an-Nasai, someone that will
never compromise the Sunnah of the Prophet: “...Ali said; 'I will not give up the
Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah for any of the people”, and of course, Ali was
commanded to be followed by our Prophet.

THE GUIDE

Surah Ar-Rad, Verse 7:

‫إِ َّن َما أَنتَ مُنذِرٌ َوىِ ُم ِّه َق ْو ًٍ َها ٍد‬

"...You are only a warner and (there is) a guide for every people."

The Sunni premier Imam Jarir al-Tabari documents a sahih Hadith to the Tafsir of
the ayah where the prophet says:

ٌ‫ تل َهحﺪٌ اىﻤهحﺪون تعﺪ‬، ٍ‫ أنث اىهادٌ َا عي‬: ‫فقاه‬، ٍ‫ وأومأ تُﺪه إىً مﻨنة عي‬، ) ‫أنا اىﻤﻨﺬر ( وىنو قىً هاد‬

"I am a warner (and (there is) a guide for every people)", and he (the Prophet) held
Ali by his shoulder, then said, " You are the guide O Ali, by you, guided ones will be
guided after me".[7]

THE APPOINTED KHALIFAH

Imam Ibn Abi 'Asim (d. 287H) records:

689 :‫رقً اىحدَخ‬

ْ َ َ
‫ َعنْ َعم ِْرو‬، ‫ْن ُسيَ ًٍْ أ ِتٍ َتي ٍج‬ َ َ َ َّ َ ْ
ِ ‫ َع ْن ََحْ ًََ ت‬، ‫ َعنْ أ ِتٍ َع َوا َنة‬، ‫ َح َّدث َنا ََحْ ًََ تْنُ َحمَّا ٍد‬، ً‫(حدَخ مرفوع) ثنا م َُح َّم ُد تْنُ اى ُمثن‬
َ ُ‫ أَ ْنتَ ِم ِّنٍ ِت َم ْن ِزى ِة َهار‬: ٍٍّ ِ‫َّللاُ َعيَ َْ ِه َو َسيَّ ًَ ىِ َعي‬
َّ ِ‫ إ‬، ً‫ون مِنْ مُو َس‬ َ َّ ًَّ‫صي‬ ِ َّ ‫ َقا َه َرسُو ُه‬: ‫ َقا َه‬، ‫َّاس‬
َ ‫َّللا‬ ٍ ‫ْن َعت‬ِ ‫ َع ِن ات‬، ‫ُون‬ ٍ ‫ْن َم َْم‬ ِ ‫ت‬
ٌِ‫ِن مِنْ َتعْ د‬ ُ َ َ ْ َ
ٍ ‫ب إِ َّ َوأنتَ خيَِفجٍِ فٍِ م ِّه م ُْؤم‬ ْ َ َ ْ َّ ً َ َ
َ ‫ إِن ُه َّ ََن َتغٍِ أنْ أذ َه‬، ‫ك ىسْ تَ ن ِت َّا‬ َ ‫أَن‬.
َّ

Muhammad b. al-Muthanna - Yahya b. Hammad - Abu 'Awanah - Yahya b. Sulaym

Abu Balj - 'Amr b. Maymun - Ibn Abbas:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to 'Ali:

"You are to me of the status of Harun to Musa, with the exception that you are not a
prophet. [And verily it is not right that I depart except that] you are my Khalifah over
every believer after me."[8]

Dr. Al-Jawabirah says:

Its chain is hasan (good). Its narrators are narrators of the two shayks, except Abu
Balj, and his name is Yahya b. Sulaym b. Balj. Al-Hafiz said: "Saduq (very truthful),
maybe he made mistakes." There are witnesses for it (i.e the hadith)

The submission of Dr. Al-Jawabirah is the same as Allamah Nasir al-din al-Albani[9].
However, the hadith is actually a Sahih (authentic) hadith and not even hasan
(good) as the two have submitted.

'Allamah Ahmad Shakir (d.1377H) made proper clarifications and just correction. He
writes on the same hadith in his tahqiq of Musnad of Imam Ahmad:

"Its chain is Sahih (authentic). Abu Balj: his name is Yahya b. Sulaym. He is also
called Yahya b. Abi al-Aswad al-Fazari, and he is Thiqah (trustworthy). Ibn Ma'in, Ibn
Sa'd, al-Nasai, al-Daraqutni and others declared him Thiqah. It is said in al-Tahdhib
that al-Bukhari said: "There is a problem in him"! I do not know: where has he said
that? This is because in his (al-Bukhari's) biography of him (Abu Balj) in al-Kabir
4/2/279-280, he does not mention any criticism against him, and he (al-Bukhari)
does not write his biography in al-Saghir, and neither he nor al-Nasai has mentioned
him in (his respective) al-Du'afa. Moreover, Shu'bah has narrated from him, and he
does not narrate except from Thiqah (trustworthy) narrators."[10]

This hadith put thing in its very right perspective. Whoever follows Ali is guided for he
is the prophet‟s appointed Khalifah and from him started the chain of Khulafau ar-
Rashidun Mahdiyin.

CLAIM OF FOLLOWING ALI IBN ABI TALIB

Our self acclaimed Ahl al-Sunnah brothers claimed to (also) follow Ali and
recognised him to be among the Khulafau ar-Rashidun. Unfortunately, only by
history was Ali counted among their “Khulafau ar-Rashidun” and not by explicit
declaration of the Prophet as explored above. Often, there are serious opposition
from them (these self acclaimed Ahlu Sunnah) to downplay any hadith that points to
the appointment or declaration of Ali as immediate successor to the Prophet. In
short, the claim, “we (also) recognize or follow Ali” is futile.

Sheik Ibn Taymiyyah save us a lot of time when he writes:

“There was none among the four Imāms and others from the Imams of the jurists
who referenced him (i.e. „Ali) in his fiqh. As for Malik, his knowledge was from the
people of al-Madinah, and the people of al-Madinah barely took the words of „Ali.
Rather, they took their fiqh from the seven jurists: from Zayd, „Umar, Ibn „Umar, and
their likes.”[11]

But, the Sunni boycott was not limited to al-fiqh (jurisprudencial issues). Even in the
reportage of tafasir and ahadith, the Ahlu Sunnah boycott the Ahl al-Bayt. Ibn
Taymiyyah confirms:

“These are books of hadith and tafsir, filled with reports from the Sahabah and
Tabi‟in. What is recorded in them from „Ali is VERY LITTLE.”[12]

Sheik Ibn Taymiyyah continues:

The Rafidi said: “As for the Malikis, they took their knowledge from him (i.e. „Ali) and
from his (i.e. „Ali‟s) offspring.”

The answer is that there is an apparent lie here. This is Muwatta of Malik. What is
recorded in it from him (i.e. „Ali) or any of his offspring is VERY LITTLE. Most of what
is in it is from other than them. There are nine ahadith from Ja‟far (al-Sadiq) in it, and
Malik did not record from ANY of his (i.e. „Ali‟s) offspring except from Ja‟far. This is
also the case with what is recorded in the Sahih books, the Sunan books, and the
Musnad books. What is recorded in them from his (i.e. „Ali‟s) offspring is little. The
generality of what is recorded in them is from others. [13]

So why would our self acclaimed Ahl as-Sunnah continue to claim they are following
the Prophet via Ali, his appointed guide and Caliph after him over the Ummah?
THE REAL AHL AS-SUNNAH
THE REAL AHL AS-SUNNAH

The real Ahl as-Sunnah recognise and follow Ali as source of guidance and the
immediate appointed Khalifah of the Prophet over the Ummah, exactly as stated by
our Prophet before he departed this world. And we are fully aware from Mutawattir
hadith the number of these Khulafau ar-Rashidun after the prophet as opposed to
“four (4)” dubiously mentioned by these self-acclaimed Ahlu Sunnah.

Imam Ahmad for example records:

'Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) - my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Mumal b. Ismail - Hamad b.
Salmah - Dawud b. Hind - al-Shu'bi - Jabir b. Samurah:

‫عن هاتر اتن سمرة قاه سمعت اىنتٍ صيً َّللا عيَه و سيً َقوه َمون ىهذه اْلمة اثنا عدر خيَفة‬

I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying: "There will be FOR this Ummah
TWELVE KHALIFAHS".[14]

Sheik al-Arnaut says: It is a Sahih hadith

Of course the Khilafah (Caliphate) of the Muslim politically ended with the Ottoman
empire in the early 19th century; and we have “10s of 100s” of Caliphs since the
demise of the Prophet. The fact remain that majority of these Caliphs were
historically self-imposed or politically appointed Caliphs and never the 12 Khulafau
our Prophet was talking about.

In another hadith, their identity was further revealed.

Imam Ahmad records:

'Abd Allah - Shurayh b. Yunus - 'Umar b. 'Ubayd - Simak b. Harb - Jabir b. Samurah:

“I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying, "THERE WILL BE
AFTER ME TWELVE AMIRS". Then he said something which I did not hear clearly.
So I asked the one next to me, and he said, " All of them will be from Quraysh".[15]

Sheik al-Arnaut comments: It is a Sahih hadith, and this chain is hasan due to
Simak.

Imam Tirmidhi also documents the hadith [16] So is Imam Muslim, and Imam Bukhari
and others in their respective books of ahadith.
FURTHER IDENTIFICATION
FURTHER IDENTIFICATION

The fact that the clan of Quraish is big and comprised of different family trees,
Prophet was particular about the exact tree of Quraysh that will produce these
Khulafau.

Imam Ahmad records:

َّ ‫ َقا َه َرسُو ُه‬: ‫ َقا َه‬، ‫ت‬

ِ‫َّللا‬ ٍ ‫ْن َث ِات‬
ِ ‫ َعنْ َز َْ ِد ت‬، ‫َّان‬ َ ‫ْن َحس‬ ِ ‫ َع ِن ا ْى َقاسِ ًِ ت‬، ‫ْن‬ ِ َ‫ َع ِن اىرُّ َم‬، ‫ك‬ ٌ َ‫ َح َّد َث َنا َد ِر‬، ‫َح َّد َث َنا ْاْلَسْ َو ُد تْنُ َعام ٍِر‬
ً‫ض أَ ْو َما َتَ َْن اى َّس َما ِء إِ َى‬ ِ ْ‫ َح ْت ٌه َم ْم ُدو ٌد َما َتَ َْن اى َّس َما ِء َو ْاْلَر‬، ‫َّللا‬
ِ َّ ُ‫ك فَِ ُم ًْ َخلِي َف َت ْي ِن ِم َجاب‬
ٌ ‫ار‬ َّ ًَّ‫صي‬
ِ ‫ إِ ِّنٍ َج‬: ًَ َّ‫َّللاُ َعيَ َْ ِه َو َسي‬ َ
‫ض‬ ْ َ َّ َ َّ َ ْ
َ ‫ َوإِن ُه َما ىنْ ََ َج َف َّر َقا َحجً ََ ِردَا َعي ٍَّ اى َح ْو‬، ٍِ‫ َو ِعج َرجٍِ أ ْه ُه َت َْج‬، ‫ض‬ ِ ْ‫ْاْلَر‬

Narrated Zayd b. Thabit:

"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, „I am leaving behind among you
TWO KHALIFAHS: the Book of Allah - a rope stretching between the heaven and
the earth or from the heaven to the earth - and my offspring, my Ahl al-Bayt . Both
shall never separate from each other until they meet me at the lake-font" [17]

Shayk al-Arnaut comment: The hadith is Sahih through its shawahid (witnesses)..."

This hadith is also documented via authentic chains by Imam Ibn Abi Asim in his
Kitab al-Sunnah and Imam al-Hakim an-Nisapouri in his Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn.

Characteristics of Rightly Guided Khulafau is further detailed in this hadith when our
Prophet says, “Both shall never separate from each other…” meaning his offspring,
the Ahl al-bayt will never separated from the Qur'an and Qur'an will never separated
from them. The arf “lan – never” used in the hadith made it impossible for the
Khulafau Rashidun to deviate from the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet. This is the
best character of Khulafau who are ar-Rashidun (those who know and follow the
truth) and Mahdiyin (those who are guided by Allah).

It is then crystal clear that only those who recognised and follow the offspring, the
Ahl al-bayt of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa ahli as the Khulafau ar-Rashidun are
the real people of Sunnat of Muhammad (Ahl al-Sunnah) even to the contrary claims
of any group or individual.
REFERENCES

1. Sunan Abi Dawud 4607

In-book reference : Book 42, Hadith 12
English translation : Book 41, Hadith 4590
https://sunnah.com/abudawud/42/12

2. Majmū‟ al-Fatāwā, vol. 12, p. 492 http://islamport.com/d/3/tym/1/40/304.html

3. Sahih al-Bukhari 6586

In-book reference : Book 81, Hadith 174
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 8, Book 76, Hadith 586
https://sunnah.com/bukhari/81/174

4. Sunan an-Nasa'i 2736

In-book reference : Book 24, Hadith 0
English translation : Vol. 3, Book 24, Hadith 2737
https://sunnah.com/urn/1079050

5. Sunan an-Nasa'i 2723

In-book reference : Book 24, Hadith 0
English translation : Vol. 3, Book 24, Hadith 2724
https://sunnah.com/urn/1078930

6. Sunan an-Nasa'i 2727

In-book reference : Book 24, Hadith 0
English translation : Vol. 3, Book 24, Hadith 2728
https://sunnah.com/urn/1078970

7. Muhammad Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, Tafsir at-Tabari (Dar al-Maarifah), sura ar-Rad
https://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?idfrom=2732&idto=2732&bk
_no=50&ID=2748

8. Source: Kitab al-Sunnah (Dar al-sami'ili al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi) [annotator: Dr. Basim
b. Faysal al-Jawabirah], vol. 1, p. 799-800, #1222
http://library.islamweb.net/hadith/display_hbook.php?bk_no=282&pid=133401&hid=9
86

9. see: Kitab al-Sunnah (al-Maktab al-Islami; 1st edition, 1400H) [annotator:

Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 2, p. 565, #1188}

10. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad (cairo: Dar al-Hadith; 1st edition, 1416H) [annotator:
Ahmad Muhammad Shakir], vol. 1, p. 331, #3062
11. Abu al-„Abbas Ahmad b. „Abd al-Halim b. Taymiyyah al-Ḥarrānī, Minhāj al-Sunnah
alNabawiyyah (Muasassat Qurṭubah; 1st edition, 1406 H) [annotator: Dr. Muḥammad
Rashād Sālim], vol. 7, pp. 529-531 2 Ibid, vol. 8, p. 43

12. Ibid, vol. 8, p. 43

13. Ibid, vol 7, page 531

14. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator:

Shu'ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 106, #21051

See various version of the hadith as documented by Imam Ahmad in his

musnad here:
http://islamport.com/d/1/mtn/1/89/3501.html

15. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator:

Shu'ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 99, #20978

16. Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2223

In-book reference : Book 33, Hadith 66
English translation : Vol. 4, Book 7, Hadith 2223,
https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/33/66

17. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator:

Shu'ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 181, #21618
http://www.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?bk_no=6&ID=959&idfrom=205
96&idto=20685&bookid=6&startno=73