THE PEOPLE OF SUNNAH AND THE CONCEPT OF JAMAAH Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Innal hamdan liLah, was salaatu wa salamu ala rosuuliLahi The Ahlu Sunnah do not go against the jamaah because the people of Sunnah understand and appreciate the concept of jamaah better than any other people. The people of Sunnah believe the entire Muslim ummah have only one jamaah that everyone must belong to. The one jamaah is not what the people of Sunnah are against. The breaking away of Muslims from that one jamaah established and nurtured by the Prophet, sollaLohu alaihi wasallam and the pious predecessors based on the provisions of the Quran and Sunnah is what the people of sunnah condemn in strong term. Ibn Umar narrated: Umar delivered a Khutbah to us at Al-Jaabiyah (a village in Damascus) He said:0 you people! Indeed I have stood among you as the Messenger of Allah, sollaLohu alaihi wasallam stood among us, and he said: I order you (to stick to) my Companions, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then lying will spread until a man will take an oath when no oath was sought from him, and a witness will testify when his testimony was not sought. Behold! A man is not alone with a woman but the third of them is Ash- Shaytaan. Adhere to the Jamaaah, beware of separation, for indeed Ash-Shaytaan is with one, and he is further away from two. Whoever wants the best place in Paradise, then let him stick to the Jama ah. Whoever rejoices with his good deeds and grieves over his evil deeds, then that is the believer among you(Sahih)Narrated by Tirmidhi (2165) There are several ways by which people break away from the firqotun naajiyah (the saved group). Majority of those who break away from the one jamaah did so by their beliefs, understandings and methodologies that are fundamentally different from that which is established in the Quran, Sunnah and the practices of the best three generations of Muslims. So, when the confusionists come up with their laa jamaah (no group) tag; it should not be taken to mean that the people of Sunnah are saying there is no jamaah at all. The real gist is that no firqoh (sect) should emerge from the real jamaah that is based on the Quran, Sunnah and the methodologies of the salaf saalih. Every Muslim must belong to the path of the Sunnah because that is the only path the Rosul, sollaLohu alaihi wasallam and his Companions, rodhiyaLohu anhum left us with. There are many evidences in the Quran and Sunnah that shows that every Muslim must practice Islam according to the Sunnah in order to be real Muslims in sight of Allah. For instance, Allah says in Suratul Al-Imran, Say (O Muhammad SAW): If you (really) love Allah then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Q3:31] Also in Suratul Hashr, Allah says, ..And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)... [Q59:7] It must however be noted that the division of the ummah of Muhammad, sollaLohu alaihi wasallam had been decreed. There is nothing anyone can do to prevent it from happening. The people of Sunnah are only trying their best to unite the Muslims upon the path that united our predecessors. In a hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you lives after I am gone will see a great deal of dissent.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood (4067); classed as saheeh by al- Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood] In another hadith, narrated from Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood among us and said: “Those who came before you of the people of the Book split into seventy-two sects, and this ummah will split into seventy-three: seventy-two in Hell and one in Paradise, and that is the jamaa’ah (main body of Muslims)” Narrated by Abu Dawood (4597) and others; classed as saheeh by al-Haakim (1/128) The above hadiths clearly shows that the division of the ummah is inevitable. The only solution to the problem is for us to continue to stress the need to stick to the saved group and avoid all other sects whose aqeedah and manhaj contradict the provisions of the Kitab wa Sunnah. When the Prophet, sollaLohu alaihi wasallam was asked the description of the one group that would be saved among the 73, he said, “(Those who follow) that which I and my companions follow.” [ This is mentioned in the hadeeth of ‘Abd- Allaah ibn ‘Amr] It is funny sometimes when some Muslims try to dispute the fact that there are sects in Islam despite the clear hadiths on it. Anyone who deny the existence of sects in Islam is playing with kufr because it amounts to indirect rejection of the relevant hadiths. No one should say there are no sects in Islam. What we should rather say according to the relevant hadith is that; there would be 73 sects in Islam, but only one would be saved. This is the best understanding of the salaf among scholars. Sheikh Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) says, Hence the saved group is described as Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l- Jamaa’ah, and they are the greater majority and the vast multitude. As for the other groups, they are followers of weird ideas, division, innovation and whims and desires, and none of these groups reached anywhere close to the size of the saved group, let alone being equal to them, rather some of these groups are very small in number. The sign of these groups is that they go against the Quraan, Sunnah and scholarly consensus. The one who follows the Qur’aan, Sunnah and scholarly consensus is one of Ahl al- Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah. [Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (3/346)] Consequently, the aim of this short note is to establish the fact that as Muslims we have just only one ummah (group) the affairs of which is regulated by the Kitab wa Sunnah. However, we have learnt from the hadith cited above that some Muslims would break away as sects from the one group by not following the dictates of the Quran and Sunnah. It follows therefore that what differentiates a broken sect from the main sect is refusal to follow the Quran, Sunnah and the methodologies of the salaf saalih. Therefore, no matter how beautiful the name a group gives to itself, if its affairs is regulated in ways that fundamentally contravenes the Quran and Sunnah, it becomes a rejected sect. On the other if a group of Muslims gather themselves together and conduct their affairs in line with the provisions of the Quran, Sunnah and the methodologies of the pious predecessors, they are not to be referred to as a rejected sect. They are still part of the one ummah. They are covered by the verse of the Quran, ...And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty [Q5:2] It may be correct to say that: it is very hard today to see people gathering to form one organization or the other for the purpose of enjoining goodness and forbidding evils without having some elements of deviations from the proper path. But this does not mean there are no group of Muslims whose activities are to a large extent within the confines of the saved group. It is somehow disturbing that some Muslim youths today are now fond of throwing just any group of Muslims out the jamaah without taking time to examine their activities and see if they have fundamental deviations or not. We need to fear Allah and try as much as possible to evaluate the activities of any group that comes under scrutiny before throwing it out of the main jamaah. As it is often said said that it is not proper to pour away baby with the bathwater, in some cases, some groups only need to be corrected on certain areas of their activities and not throw them out completely. While guiding the students of knowledge on how to identify the deviant sects, Al-Shaatibi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, These are regarded as sects because they differ from the saved group with regard to some fundamental issues of religion and basic rules of sharee’ah, not with regard to minor issues, because differences with regard to minor issues does not lead to division and factionalism, rather factionalism occurs when there are differences concerning fundamental issues of Islam. [Al-I’tisaam (1/439)] So, we must be very careful with the way we evaluate those sects and measure their level of deviations properly before passing final verdicts on them. This note should not be seen as an attempt to support factionalism (egbe) or trying to exonerate existing organizations like the MSSN, TMC, JIBWIS, NACOMYO, NASFAT etc that are known for certain deviations. It is a wake up call against those who are always quick to throw all kinds of gatherings out of the deen without proper justification. As for groups which call people to Islam, but they have some things that go against sharee’ah, the Muslim may cooperate with them in matters that are in accordance with sharee’ah. The scholars of the Standing Committee said, Each of these groups have things that are wrong and things that are right. So you should cooperate with them in matters in which they are right, and avoid the matters in which they are in error, whilst advising them and cooperating with them in righteousness and piety - Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al- Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd- Allaah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh ‘Abd- Allaah ibn Qa’ood [Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (2/237, 238)] It is important to note that some Muslim groups stand out from others because of a specific method of da’wah and working for Islam, but they do not go against Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah in their ‘aqeedah, hence they are not to be regarded as doomed groups, rather they are among the saved group in sha Allaah, if they follow the way of the Sahaabah and Taabi’een in ‘aqeedah and action. It is not haram to work with Sunni groups and organizations who are serving Islam. But in the case of sects, groups and parties that adopt beliefs other than the belief (‘aqeedah) of the Salaf, or a way that is other than the way of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah, there is nothing good in them, and a Muslim should not cooperate with them in anything that will support their beliefs and ways. Finally, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: Do you regard establishing Islamic organizations in Islamic countries to guide the youth and teach them about Islam as something good in this day and age? He replied, Establishing these Islamic organizations is good for the Muslims, but they must strive to explain the truth with evidence and not fight one another. They should strive to cooperate with one another and love one another, advising sincerely and speaking of the good points of the others, and overlooking matters that may disrupt their relationships with one another. There is no reason why there should not be such groups if they call people to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). [Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (5/272] And Allah knows best. Al-ithnain, 8th Rabiul Awwal, 1436 AH (Monday, 29th December, 2014)
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 13:48:55 +0000
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