The hadith: "This ummah (the Muslim community) will split into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Fire except one." Is this hadith authentic? What are the misguided sects, and who is the saved group?

The questioner : I found in Ibn Kathir's tafsir (exegesis) a hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, to the effect of: Is this hadith authentic? What are the misguided sects? And who is this saved group?

The Shaykh : This hadith is authentic due to the multiplicity of its chains of narration and the acceptance of the ummah (the Muslim community) of it. The scholars accepted it and established it, even in some books of creed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that the saved group is the group that agrees upon what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were upon in terms of creed, speech, and action. Whoever adheres to the correct, sound creeds, and the prescribed words and actions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that is the saved group. This is not restricted to a specific time or place; rather, whoever adheres to the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) outwardly and inwardly is part of this saved group. They are saved in this world from religious innovations and deviations, and saved in the Hereafter from the Fire.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.