The Meaning of the Hadith of the Split into Seventy-Three Sects
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Do the disbelievers not fall within the seventy-three?
Answer:
No, this applies to those who claim affiliation with the Ummah, those who claim affiliation with the response, the response of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), those who claim Islam, that is.
Q: Is it permissible to link this hadith with the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Surah Saba: 20]?
The Shaykh: Without a doubt, it is included. This group is included in it; they are the people of the Sunnah and the community, they are the saved ones, and the rest are afflicted with what afflicted them, some being sinners and some being disbelievers.
Q: Some specified the saved group as the people of knowledge, and others as the people of hadith?
The Shaykh: These are their specific characteristics, meaning. Otherwise, the people of the Sunnah include the common person and the non-common person. Whoever follows the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), even if he is a common person, is from the people of the Sunnah and the community. But their imams are the righteous scholars from among the Companions and those after them, and the people of the noble hadith... his wife, his mother, and his sister, even if they are common people like him, following him.
Q: Was not Imam Ahmad’s intention with "people of hadith" those who follow the hadith, not just the scholars?
The Shaykh: No, his intention was the scholars of hadith, but his intention was that the rest follow them, meaning the rest follow their scholars.
Q: Do the Asha'irah fall within the people of the Sunnah and the community?
The Shaykh: No, they are not from the people of the Sunnah and the community; they are threatened; because they deny the attributes, except seven, or ten, or twenty, according to the differences among them.
Q: Does this mean the school of the common people is the school of their scholars, and it is not permissible for them to deviate from that?
The Shaykh: Yes, the common people follow their scholars.
Do the disbelievers not fall within the seventy-three?
Answer:
No, this applies to those who claim affiliation with the Ummah, those who claim affiliation with the response, the response of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), those who claim Islam, that is.
Q: Is it permissible to link this hadith with the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And Iblees had already confirmed through them his assumption, so they followed him, except for a party of believers.
وَلَقَدْ صَدَّقَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِبْلِيسُ ظَنَّهُ فَاتَّبَعُوهُ إِلَّا فَرِيقًا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَThe Shaykh: Without a doubt, it is included. This group is included in it; they are the people of the Sunnah and the community, they are the saved ones, and the rest are afflicted with what afflicted them, some being sinners and some being disbelievers.
Q: Some specified the saved group as the people of knowledge, and others as the people of hadith?
The Shaykh: These are their specific characteristics, meaning. Otherwise, the people of the Sunnah include the common person and the non-common person. Whoever follows the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), even if he is a common person, is from the people of the Sunnah and the community. But their imams are the righteous scholars from among the Companions and those after them, and the people of the noble hadith... his wife, his mother, and his sister, even if they are common people like him, following him.
Q: Was not Imam Ahmad’s intention with "people of hadith" those who follow the hadith, not just the scholars?
The Shaykh: No, his intention was the scholars of hadith, but his intention was that the rest follow them, meaning the rest follow their scholars.
Q: Do the Asha'irah fall within the people of the Sunnah and the community?
The Shaykh: No, they are not from the people of the Sunnah and the community; they are threatened; because they deny the attributes, except seven, or ten, or twenty, according to the differences among them.
Q: Does this mean the school of the common people is the school of their scholars, and it is not permissible for them to deviate from that?
The Shaykh: Yes, the common people follow their scholars.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.