Contemporary Islamic Groups and Belonging to Them

Question:
Due to the limited time, we are presenting the questions in Riyadh. May Allah be with you, Honorable Shaykh. A questioner says: We have heard, and we continue to hear, about the Islamic groups spread throughout the world, whether outside the Kingdom or within it. He mentions groups such as the Tabligh group, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Saluriyyah group, the Anصار al-Sunnah group, and so on, as well as other groups, which have caused a great problem for the student of knowledge. His question here is, Honorable Shaykh: Are these groups, in general, on the right path, or are they on the path of religious innovation (bid'ah) and misguidance? He asks: Are the groups present within this country the same as those outside it, in terms of general principles and details? He says: Are these groups considered among the sects that the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us about in the hadith, where this Ummah will split into seventy-three sects? And are they called a "group" or a "sect"? Is fanaticism for one of the groups considered a sect? And finally, what is the ruling on belonging to these groups?

Answer:
This is a long question specific to this topic. The answer is to say that disagreement certainly exists in this country, both in the past and the present. But the issue is: to whom do we return to know the truth?
What guarantees us its clarification? What guarantees us this is the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and what the righteous Salaf were upon. So we refer the matter of these groups and these sects to the Book and the Sunnah. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, did not leave us to disagreement; rather, He sent down to us a Book and sent to us a Messenger, and commanded us to return to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Praise be to Allah, we have what clarifies the truth for us, if we want the truth. As for the one who does not want the truth, but rather wants fanaticism for your opinion, or your group, or for fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), then his reckoning is upon his own back. But the one who wants the truth, this is the Book and the Sunnah, praise be to Allah, and asking the people of knowledge. The one who does not know takes from the Book and the Sunnah by asking the people of knowledge. So ask them to write: . Matters are regulated, praise be to Allah. And this includes every disagreement that falls under it. The statement "If you disagree about anything" includes every disagreement. Every group falls under this. . That is better, and the people of ta'wil (figurative interpretation). It is obligatory for every Muslim to review the Book and the Sunnah. If he is able to review them, and if he is not able, he should ask the people of knowledge who are transmitted, who know the truth from the falsehood. Yes.