Weakening the Hadith of the Ummah Splitting into Seventy-Three Sects
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: May Allah reward you. I heard that some researchers have weakened the hadith that this Ummah will split into seventy-three sects, and that this hadith calls for the fragmentation of the Islamic Ummah.
The Shaykh:
This means a refutation of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that the Messenger calls for the fragmentation of the Islamic Ummah. The Messenger warns; he wants the Islamic Ummah to remain united, so he warns against what divides and scatters it. Division is evil, and unity is mercy.[Ali 'Imran 3:105] So division is evil and misguidance, and unity is mercy and good. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: May Allah reward you. He also says that if the hadith were authentic, it refers to non-Muslim sects.
The Shaykh:
That is his statement, but the hadith remains, and praise be to Allah. The scholars of knowledge have explained it and clarified it. We do not need this interpretation; it should be referred back to its correct interpretation from the words of the scholars of knowledge. Yes.
He says: May Allah reward you. I heard that some researchers have weakened the hadith that this Ummah will split into seventy-three sects, and that this hadith calls for the fragmentation of the Islamic Ummah.
The Shaykh:
This means a refutation of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that the Messenger calls for the fragmentation of the Islamic Ummah. The Messenger warns; he wants the Islamic Ummah to remain united, so he warns against what divides and scatters it. Division is evil, and unity is mercy.
And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment.
وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَأُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌThe questioner:
He says: May Allah reward you. He also says that if the hadith were authentic, it refers to non-Muslim sects.
The Shaykh:
That is his statement, but the hadith remains, and praise be to Allah. The scholars of knowledge have explained it and clarified it. We do not need this interpretation; it should be referred back to its correct interpretation from the words of the scholars of knowledge. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-107-وصية النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (54:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.