ISLAM

Assalamu Alaikum

Ayah 105  - Sura 3
Yusuf Ali 

Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving clear signs (Quran & Hadees); for them is a dreadful penalty.

Sura : 6 - Verse : 159
As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects (groups) thou (Muhammed) hast nothing to do with them in the least: their affair is with Allah: He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did.

Sahih Bukhari  Vol.4  hadees 803   narrated by Hudaifa bin Al Yaman
The people used to ask Allah's Apostle about good, but I used to ask him about evil for fear that it might overtake me. Once I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We were in ignorance and in evil and Allah has bestowed upon us the present good; will there be any evil after this good?" He said, "Yes." I asked, "Will there be good after that evil?" He said, "Yes, but it would be tainted with Dakhan (i.e. Little evil)." I asked, "What will its Dakhan be?" He said, "There will be some people who will lead (people) according to principles other than my tradition. You will see their actions and disapprove of them." I said, "Will there be any evil after that good?" He said, "Yes, there will be some people who will invite others to the doors of Hell, and whoever accepts their invitation to it will be thrown in it (by them)." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Describe those people to us." He said, "They will belong to us and speak our language." I asked, "What do you order me to do if such a thing should take place in my life?" He said, "Adhere to the group of Muslims and their Chief." I asked, "If there is neither a group (of Muslims) nor a chief (what shall I do)?" He said, "Keep away from all those different sects, even if you had to bite (i.e. eat) the root of a tree, till you meet Allah while you are still in that state."

In the above Quran verses, and the hadees of Mohammed (s.a.w) Allah says very clearly that we should not divide ourselves into different sects, i.e. Hanafee, Shafee, Hanbali, Maliki, Tawheed, Tablique, Jamath-e-Islam etc. etc. if they do so they would have nothing to do with the prophet, which naturally means that they would have nothing to do with Islam,  we have to be just Muslims who have embraced Islam and only follow the Quran and Hadees, to-day we see that though we worship One Allah, follow one Quran, and one Prophet, how can there be so many different groups, one group says halal, and the other says it is haram, how could this be possible, Allah himself says that “I determined your religion Islam, and can there be a better name than calling oneself a Muslim” and in another place He says, “fear Allah as he ought to be feared, and die not other than a Muslim” (Quran 3:102) all this comes because people blindly have segregated themselves and adhere to their leaders BLINDLY, without seeing whether, what their leaders say is their own opinion, or the words of Allah and His Prophet.

In another place Allah says, they (Jews and Christians)  have made their Alims and Ulamas, Allah, (Quran 9:31) - Athee ibn Hathim (R.A) had come to the Prophet (s.a.w) with a large group of Christians and had embraced Islam, on hearing this verse, he came to the Prophet (s.a.w) and said, “Ya Rasoolullah, we have never worshipped our priests at anytime, why is Allah saying this” to this the Prophet (s.a.w) said, if your priests say anything as halal, would you go by it, to this Hatim (r.a.) replied yes, and then the Prophet (s.a.w) said if your priests say anything as haram would you refrain from it ;  to this Hatim (r.a) replied yes,  & if Allah and His Prophet have made certain things Haraam but your priests say they are Halaal - who would you then follow??? to this Hatim (r.a.) replied - certainly our priests, for we know only what they tell us; and to this Prophet (s.a.w) said this is what Allah says you have made them ALLAH - for no one has the right or the authority to make a religious law, even I (Prophet (s.a.w) only make you aware of the laws Allah reveals to us - I do not make laws on my own, as such if Allah says something and your priests contradicts them then they too become equal with Allah for they also make the laws, and if you leave aside the laws of Allah and take to the laws of your priest then they become your Lord. Hence it is the duty of every believer to check and double check to see if what the priests or others say correspond with the words of ALLAH and His Prophet - only then we would be in the straight & righteous path. 

In another hadees, Prophet (s.a.w) says that my ummah will divide into 73 groups, of which ONLY ONE WOULD COME TO PARADISE  to this the Sahabas asked oh Prophet (s.a.w) which would be that one, and he said that,  those that follow what Allah and His Prophet have said will certainly come to paradise. It is most important from the above Hadees ( Sahih Bukhari 4.803) that we should not join any groups, except the Muslim group the one and only one that would come to Paradise.

So it is most important to assimilate our day to day life and all our activities in accordance to Quran and Sahih Hadees, May Allah help us to be true Muslims, adhering to the Quran and Hadees, and let us not call ourselves anything, but Muslims who have embraced Islam..

Vassalaam
a.h.nazeer ahmed