Understanding Islam

Explaining Islam in Light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ‎)

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73 Sects of Islam

March 5, 2011

Question

Asalamu alaykum…

I have a few questions that have been playing in my head and would really love if you could shed some light to it.

  1. I have been told some of the translation of the The meaning of the holy Quran’ – By Abdullah Yusuf Ali is incorrect for example Yusuf Ali: 20.005 (God) Most Gracious is firmly established on the throne (of authority). (Someone else opinion) The correct translation to the ayah is: The rahman made ISTIWA upon the A’rsh beffiting to his majesty. The word istiwa has 15 meanings in arabic. One meaning is to be above, another meaning is to be on the same level. Allah says.. La YASTAWEE ashaabun naar wa ashaabul jannah.. The people of the fire and the people of the garden (jannah) are NOT ON THE SAME LEVEL. Believing Allah is on or above the throne etc.. Is kufr. Allah existed before evrything.. He is free from time, the 6 directions cannot be attributed to him. Anyone who holds such beliefs is a kaafir. I use this Quran for translation and will like to know if it is correct or incorrect?
  2. Why do we have many groups (Sunni, Shafi, Maliki, Sufi) today and do we have to follow one of them?
  3. Is this statement correct – The right path is the path of the ahli sunnati wal jama’a, and we know this because in a hadith the prophet (SalAllahu A’laihi wassalam) said: my ummah wil be split into 73 sects, all will be in the fire except for 1. The sahaba asked: “who… are they Ya Rasul Allah (SalAllahu a’laihi wassalam)?” He replied: “ma ana a’laiyhi wa ashaabi, they who are upon what I am upon (ahli sunnah) and what my sahaba are upon (wal jama’ah). In another narration he said: “humul jama’ah” (they are the majority)?

Jeezak Allah

Answer
  1. Interpretation is a matter of personal understanding and knowledge. The same goes for criticism regarding such works. The issue you have pointed out has been in contention for a very long time and it revolves around philosophies and taking the literal meaning versus figurative language. The responsibility is upon the believer to put forth due diligence in learning their religion and choosing for themselves what they believe to be correct. The comments of “someone” are irrelevant and out of line. Those who throw the word kafir around recklessly have a heavy burden to bear when the time comes. As for our understanding of the verse please read Where is Allah?
  2. We have many groups because we are human. It is in our nature to explore and experience things in life. Religion is one of those things. Naturally, our dispositions and condition of events that surround our lives have great significance as to how we view things. When this plays a role in our opinion and we disagree there will be those that side with us and some that go against us. Thus, groups are formed but there are other ways, of course. The names you mentioned are not really groups in a divided sense. Think of Sunni as a tree and Shafi’i, Maliki as the branches of this tree. These two are schools of thought that merely differ on some legalistic aspects of the religion. Sufism would be considered a sect by some due to its philosophical point of view.
  3. Please read the following Further on Following the Majority.

Filed Under: Muslim Sects, Q & A

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