بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The questioner says: I found in the commentary of Ibn Kathīr a hadīth in which the Messenger says something to the effect: “This nation will split into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Fire except one,” so is this hadīth authentic? And what are the misguided sects compared to this saved sect?
So he answered – may Allāh the Most High have mercy upon him: “This hadīth is authentic (Sahīh), due to the abundance of its chains of transmission, and the nation’s reception of it with acceptance. For indeed the scholars accepted it and established it even in some of the books of creeds. And the Prophet (ﷺ) clarified that the saved sect (al-firqah al-nājiyah) is the group (al-jamāʿah) who gathered upon what the Prophet and his Companions were upon in creed, speech, and action. So whoever adheres to what the Messenger of Allāh was upon from the correct, sound beliefs, and the legislated statements and actions – then that is the saved sect.
And this is not specific to a time nor a place, but rather everyone who adheres to the guidance of the Messenger (ﷺ) outwardly and inwardly, then he is from this saved group. And it is saved in this world from innovations and violations, and saved in the Hereafter from the Fire.”
(Fatāwā Nūr Alā Darb 1/34-35)
The questioner asks: Who is the victorious group (al-tāʾifah al-mansūrah)? And how is (this group) identified?
So he answered – may Allāh the Most High have mercy upon him: “The victorious group is Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah and they are the saved sect (al-firqah al-nājiyah), and they are those who are upon the same as what the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions were upon in creed, speech, and action.
So in creed, they believe in Allāh and His angels and His books and His messengers, and the Last Day, and Divine Decree – its good and its evil. They believe that Allāh – the Most High – is the Lord of everything and its Sovereign. They believe that Allāh – the Most High – is the Truth, and that whatever is called upon besides Him is falsehood. They believe in everything that Allāh named Himself with, or what His Messenger (ﷺ) named Him with. They believe in everything that Allāh described Himself with, or His Messenger (ﷺ) described Him with, without distortion (tahrīf) nor negation (taʿtīl) nor asking how (takyīf) nor likening (tamthīl). They likewise believe in the angels of Allāh – the Most High – according to what came in the Book and the Sunnah.
They worship Allāh – the Most High – with what He has legislated. They do not innovate in the religion of Allāh – the Most High – what He did not legislate, neither in creed nor in verbal or practical actions. Rather, they are sincere to Allāh – the Most High – in their worship, because they were commanded with that:
“And they were not commanded except to worship Allāh, being sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth (i.e. monotheism)” [al-Bayyinah: 5].
They are followers of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ). They believe that every innovation (bidʿah) in the religion of Allāh – the Most High – is misguidance. These are the saved group, and they are the victorious sect, and they are Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.”
(Slightly Abridged, Fatāwā Nūr Alā Darb 1/32)
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Who is the victorious group/saved sect – Imām Ahmad and Shaykh Al-Albānī
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