about the hadith of the schism (My Ummah will split into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Fire except the one that follows my Sunnah)

The questioner : The hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in which he says Is the schism here a schism in creed, or is it a schism like what we see in the Islamic arena, such as the Tablighi, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis, and so on? Because we often hear that some of them declare the group of so-and-so or the group of so-and-so to be disbelievers. What is the outcome of all this?

The Shaykh : First, my brother, stay away from the issue of declaring people disbelievers, because this is one of the most dangerous matters, and scholars cannot delve into it, let alone the general public. As for the hadith of the seventy-three sects, and whether these sects differ in creed or if the matter is broader than that? What I must clarify, and what every Muslim must know at the same time, is that dividing the Islamic Shari'ah into creed and rulings, or another division that returns to the first, into principles and branches, is a terminological division, not a Shari'ah division. Any matter that is agreed upon by convention, if there is no contradiction with the Shari'ah in this convention, there is no harm. Here comes the saying of some scholars that every people may agree on whatever they wish. But if the convention contradicts the Shari'ah in some aspect, then we ignore this convention. Now, principles and branches have led to a great error in the present age. And so we say we reject this division because it has led to error, and what leads to error is erroneous. What is the result? When it became in the minds of some students of knowledge, or those who imitate knowledge, that Islam is principles and branches, creed and rulings, this convention or division suggested to them that what must be attended to is what relates to creeds and principles, while rulings and branches are secondary matters. This is one thing. Another thing indicates the first: that many people have come to consider that Shari'ah issues, in their opinion, have no relation to creed. They tell you, "These are trivial matters, my brother, these are superficial matters, do not occupy yourselves with them." Do you hear this speech or not?
The audience : Yes.

The Shaykh : So where does this speech come from? From dividing the Shari'ah into creed and rulings, into principles and branches. And from the implications of this division is that a disagreement arises over an issue: which category does this belong to, principles or branches? What you will not believe, they say, "These are branches." My brother, this does not concern me, let us work on what is more important than that. The one who wants to know, if we hypothetically accept the validity of this division, must be from the great scholars of the Book and the Sunnah, so that he can weigh matters with the straight balance, so that he can say that this is a creed in which disagreement is not permissible, and these are rulings in which there is leeway, as you hear from some people: "Whoever follows a scholar will find Allah safe." Some of them even narrated a hadith attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I mentioned it in the series more than twenty years ago, warning that it is not a hadith but rather the words of some scholars, and it is not authentic in itself. What about "Whoever follows a scholar will find Allah safe"? Are we originally commanded to follow scholars without evidence (taqlid) or commanded to follow the evidence? We also have in this research: the summary is, when you want to return to the hadith of the seventy-three sects, does this include those who differ in creed, or is it broader than that? If you know that this division has no basis in the Shari'ah, that it is merely a convention first, and that this division has led to the neglect of many Shari'ah matters under the name that these are not from the principles and that they are not from the creed, finally we say What is the banner of the saved sect? The hadith, as you mentioned, even if briefly, its text is Now, recall the previous philosophy: principles and branches, creed and rulings. What does it mean that the Messenger (peace be upon him) is not upon what I am upon and my Companions in creed only, or is it creed and rulings? Creed and rulings, principles only, or principles and branches? Principles and branches means Islam in brief, meaning Islam without addition or subtraction. Because the matter, as the common people in the Levant say, the excess is the brother of the deficiency. Indeed, the excess is the brother of the deficiency in the Shari'ah. So if you pray Maghrib four rak'ahs as if you prayed it two rak'ahs, the excess is the brother of the deficiency. So if you take the Shari'ah with an addition from yourself, just as if you subtracted from it, the excess is the brother of the deficiency. So when the Messenger (peace be upon him) said, presenting to the Muslims who want to be from the saved sect, the prominent mark of this saved sect is that it is This means that it is Islam in its entirety, if there are branches and principles, if there are creeds and rulings, and this exists without doubt, but this entire collection is Islam, and in its totality, the saved sect must be careful to know it and apply it. Now, you mentioned the Muslim Brotherhood, Tabligh, and Tahrir, and I do not know what else, and so on. On this occasion, we do not say that these and these and these are from the misguided sects, meaning the seventy-three. Why? Because we know by experience and association that in every group of these parties, there are individuals who adopt what this hadith indicates But they are joined to a party, to a group, having a methodology in this life, convinced that this will achieve the desired guidance for all Muslims, which is establishing the rule of Allah on earth. So it is not permissible for us to judge and issue a general statement saying the group is from the misguided sects, and so on. Rather, we say, and here is the summary of the answer: everyone who divides Islam into two parts, creed and rulings, and attends to one without attending to the other, makes principles and makes branches, and neglects the practice of the branches, is without doubt from the misguided sects, because he contradicted the indication of his saying (peace be upon him) We, for example, today live in a time in which many belong not only to Islam, but also to being callers to Islam. These do not adopt Islam as a whole, indivisible. We know that one of them was asked by a British madman, a singer, as they said, may Allah guide him to Islam, and we hope that is the case. This one whom Islam guided is supposed to end his madness and end the work that brought him vast wealth, which is his use of singing and musical instruments. And it appears, and Allah knows best, that he is sincere, so he wrote to one of the well-known, famous ones who is known as a caller to Islam, asking him: "My story is such and such, I have become a Muslim, Allah guided me to Islam, but my earnings are from singing, I sing and play musical instruments, and so on. Is it permissible for me to continue earning money with this profession?"

The questioner : The rights of the tapes.

The Shaykh : The rights. Well done. The answer came, unfortunately, that there is no definitive text in Islam forbidding musical instruments. This is a state where he himself knows that Shari'ah rulings do not require their evidence to be definitive; it is sufficient for them to be probable, meaning the preponderance of opinion. But here, for some reason Allah knows, he contradicted the position of the scholars of the Muslims entirely and told him there is no definitive text. So it was as if he told him, "Stay British in what you sing, and your declared Islam is sufficient for you." This is a deviation from what the Messenger (peace be upon him), the Companions, and the righteous Salaf were upon. And so Allah the Exalted said, warning against such deviation, and with this verse I conclude this blessed session, if Allah wills, which is His saying So whoever fears what the righteous Salaf had regarding not separating between creed and rulings, and between principles and branches, but rather adopts Islam as a whole, indivisible, is the saved sect. And whoever is not so, is not so. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The audience : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : We entrust you to Allah, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.