We are all Islam, until you join (or grow up) and then you get to realise we are not all Islam. We are Sunni, Shia, Suffi, Ismaili, Salafai, Wahabi, Ahmadi and many more. And each claims to be the “true” authentic Islam. And gets worse, while in the open they try to be civil, in reality some look at each other as worse than Kuffar! Why?
Where does this mentality come from? It comes from a disputed Hadith that says:
Narrated Abu Hurairah:
that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “The Jews split into seventy-one sects, or seventy-two sects, and the Christians similarly, and my Ummah will split into seventy-three sects.”
Grade: Hasan – not Sahih because it is disputed.
Reference : Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2640In-book reference : Book 40, Hadith 35English translation : Vol. 5, Book 38, Hadith 2640
Why disputed? Because if you search Sunnah.com “seventy three sects” you will have multiple variations of it. Some follow this with saying “only one will go to heaven …” Some saying “a small group will be going to heaven” while some saying ” the “main” group will go to heaven”.
On that bases, the religion of peace cannot even live in peace with other people who believe in the same Allah and his prophet!!! WTF!!
Here is why this hadith fail (like many others) first, as hard as you try will not find this number of sects in Christianity or Judaism!! If you go by branches, each had three to four. If you go by subbranches you will get around 20. The minute you go into different churches and temples, you are talking hundreds and even thousands. Every other street in the US had a new Church claiming salvation!!
And in Islam, same problem. I cannot find 73 anywhere. I did extensive study of the different branches and sub-schools, and sects and the number is always less than 30!! Only when you start to “invent” names and variations, you could go up to 50! Where are these 73 sects? What this (and other hadith) show us is Muhammad was inventing things as he goes. He could have said 101, 102, 103…and people will blindly believe him and go invent sects to match his numbers. And what this also shows is that the religion of peace becomes takfeeri -each claim they are authentic!