Discussion of the third characteristic, which is adhering to the community, and the Shaykh’s pointing out to the necessity of Islamic unity and explaining its foundations.

The Shaykh : And finally comes the third and last characteristic, ; that is, that this Muslim, in addition to those characteristics, must have this third characteristic realized in him; and that is that he must adhere to the community of Muslims.
In reality, this third characteristic in this hadith is what we are most in need of in our present age, and most in need of understanding it, most in need of its realization and holding onto it in our hearts. Second, that we understand its meaning correctly; because the Muslims today—regrettably, as we mention on various occasions—are divided into sects, parties, schools of thought, and paths, and so on. And Islam, as you all know, commands unity. It commands unity that is not chaotic, without a methodology or a system from Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), but rather a unity established upon the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); as He (Mighty and Majestic) said: . So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) excepted from the difference those whom He showed mercy to. So whoever is among those who were shown mercy from those whom the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) invoked mercy for at the beginning of this hadith; whoever is among these, they hold fast to the rope of Allah, and whoever holds fast to it, Allah guides him, and he is with this community; he adheres to this community. So this division that exists today is absolutely impossible for a Muslim, whatever his school of thought and whatever his inclination, to call these different groups a community that must be adhered to; because if someone said that, he would be like one who wants to combine truth and misguidance, like one who wants to combine light and darkness, and other such contradictory terms; because the truth, by the consensus of the people of knowledge and investigation, does not multiply. The truth is one and does not multiply, by evidence—by many proofs; because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says in the clear Qur’an: , and the Messenger (peace be upon him) says in "Sahih al-Bukhari": .
So the matter, as Imam Malik says, is that there is only right and wrong. As for right and wrong where both are called right; this, as we said, is combining contradictions!! And yet, we still hear today those who call all this difference that we find among Muslims today right; it is not only the branches, as many of us claim, but even in the fundamentals, even in the creed. And the greatest example of this that every one of you must memorize, even if he is not concerned with himself in acquiring knowledge, but rather as it came in some reports from some of the Salaf: "Be a scholar, or a student, or a listener, and do not be the fourth, lest you perish." It is sufficient for any one of you, even if he is only a listener to knowledge, to memorize this one example to refute that claim that many of those who claim to be scholars speak of; they say that difference is mercy, and that the difference is in the branches and not in the fundamentals. So listen and memorize this one example of difference in the fundamentals; and it is a fundamental explicitly stated in the noble Qur’an; and yet difference occurred. And when the difference occurred in the past, we do not enter into the hearts of those who differed; that returns to the Lord of the worlds. But we say: this is right and this is wrong.
What is this difference in a fundamental of the fundamentals of Islam? It is faith. Does faith increase and decrease, or not?
The Qur’an and the Sunnah are all explicit that faith increases and decreases. And does faith include the term of righteous deeds, or not? There are two opinions in each of the two issues. Some said that faith increases and decreases, and this is the correct one, as we indicated. And some said: faith does not accept increase; every faith that accepts increase is disbelief. This is explicit; and therefore they did not include righteous deeds in this faith. So faith is one thing and righteous deeds are another. And the Qur’an and the Sunnah are both overflowing with the fact that faith increases and decreases, and that righteous deeds are part of faith. How could it be otherwise, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—I will mention only one hadith in this regard—says in the authentic hadith: . Is faith one level? . So removing harm from the path—and it is not obligatory—and rather it is a charity among the charities, as it came in some hadiths; yet the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) included it in faith and made it a part of the parts of faith. This is a matter that has been disputed for more than a thousand years. So do we say: the correct one is the one who says faith increases and decreases, and the correct one is the one who says faith does not increase or decrease? Or do we say: the correct one is the one who says faith includes righteous deeds, and the correct one is the one who says faith is not from righteous deeds?
This is combining two contradictions, as we said, and it is not possible for a Muslim to say such a statement at all if he wants to respect, as we say today, his mind and his thought. If the matter is so, and this is one example of thousands of examples in which there is difference among Muslims today; then what is the community that the Messenger (peace be upon him) described in this hadith and made the third characteristic after the first and second? If these three characteristics are present, their owner is a believer who does not harbor hatred toward his Muslim brothers.
He said: , and he attributed that to a very great cause, if people knew it: . The supplication of the community that we must adhere to and hold fast to their guidance; their supplication encompasses those who come after them and includes them—meaning their supplication—with the Muslims, and those who follow them with excellence and good.