What is the importance of the group in Islam? And is it required for a Muslim to belong to a specific group?
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The questioner : From Sudan as well, a listener of the program, Salah Mustafa from Sudan, says in this question: What is the importance of the group in Islam, and is it required for a Muslim to belong to a specific group?
The Shaykh : Yes. The group in Islam is gathering upon the Shari'ah of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in it:Mishkat al-Masabih 30:296 This is the group to which a person must belong. As for the partisan groups that desire nothing but the victory of their opinion, whether it is with truth or falsehood, it is not permissible to belong to them, because that entails disavowal of the Islamic group and loyalty to the partisan group which contains division and disagreement. And Allah the Exalted said: [Al-An'am 6:159] And He said: [Ash-Shuraa 42:13] And He said: [Ali 'Imran 3:105] And He said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): [Al-An'am 6:159].
And these Islamic groups that belong to Islam and whose goal is the victory of Islam must not divide. They must be confined to one faction, the faction of the group upon which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us when he said: They said: Who are they, O Messenger of Allah? He said: .
And these groups divided the Ummah.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And they scattered them and cast enmity among them, until one of them looks at the other as a distant enemy, even though all of them are Muslims who belong to Islam and want Islam to be victorious through them. But how can that be when they have divided in this division and torn apart in this tearing? So what I direct my brothers to from this pulpit, the pulpit of "Light on the Path" from the Saudi Arabian Radio, is that they gather upon the truth and that they look at the points of disagreement among them and remove them by returning to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And the truth is that this division has become its prey, or rather, it has become the prey of this consciousness that we observe in the Islamic youth. So this youth, due to the division of these groups, has become such that every faction of them belongs to a group, and every one of them belongs to one of these groups, and they divided, and some of them began to curse the others and attack them.
And this is a severe, back-breaking blow to this awakening that has begun, and praise be to Allah, its effects are appearing in the Muslim youth.
The important thing is that I advise against division, even within these groups, and I see that the Islamic Ummah should be one Ummah that does not differ, and that each one of them does not name itself in a way that it sees itself as a rival to the other group. Yes, that is right.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes. The group in Islam is gathering upon the Shari'ah of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in it:
There will not cease to be found among my people those who uphold what God commands, not being injured by those who desert or oppose them till God's affair comes about and finds them in that condition.
لا تزال طائفة من أمتي على الحق ظاهرين لا يضرهم من خذلهم ولا من خالفهم حتى يأتي أمر الله وهم على ذلكIndeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects - you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything. Their affair is only [left] to Allah
إن الذين فرّقوا دينهم وكانوا شيعا لست منهم في شيء إنما أمرهم إلى اللهHe has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus - to establish the religion and not be divided therein
شرع لكم من الدين ما وصى به نوحا والذي أوحينا إليك وما وصينا به إبراهيم وموسى وعيسى أن أقيموا الدين ولا تتفرقوا فيهAnd 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.
ولا تكونوا كالذين تفرّقوا واختلفوا من بعد ما جاءهم البينات وأولئك لهم عذاب عظيمIndeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects - you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything
إن الذين فرقوا دينهم وكانوا شيعا لست منهم في شيءAnd these Islamic groups that belong to Islam and whose goal is the victory of Islam must not divide. They must be confined to one faction, the faction of the group upon which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us when he said:
This Ummah will split into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Fire except one.
ستفترق هذه الأمة على ثلاث وسبعين فرقة كلها في النار إلا واحدةWhoever is upon what I and my Companions are upon.
من كان على مثل ما أنا عليه وأصحابيAnd these groups divided the Ummah.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And they scattered them and cast enmity among them, until one of them looks at the other as a distant enemy, even though all of them are Muslims who belong to Islam and want Islam to be victorious through them. But how can that be when they have divided in this division and torn apart in this tearing? So what I direct my brothers to from this pulpit, the pulpit of "Light on the Path" from the Saudi Arabian Radio, is that they gather upon the truth and that they look at the points of disagreement among them and remove them by returning to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And the truth is that this division has become its prey, or rather, it has become the prey of this consciousness that we observe in the Islamic youth. So this youth, due to the division of these groups, has become such that every faction of them belongs to a group, and every one of them belongs to one of these groups, and they divided, and some of them began to curse the others and attack them.
And this is a severe, back-breaking blow to this awakening that has begun, and praise be to Allah, its effects are appearing in the Muslim youth.
The important thing is that I advise against division, even within these groups, and I see that the Islamic Ummah should be one Ummah that does not differ, and that each one of them does not name itself in a way that it sees itself as a rival to the other group. Yes, that is right.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.