How can you call yourself a Muslim—one who walks on the path shown by the Last Prophet—or are you someone who has turned away from him and is walking even deepe

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Dear Brother / Sister,

If a Muslim follows the Sunni path, it means he is on the path of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

FIRQA AN-NAJIYAH

The community that accepts Islamic doctrine in its clearest and soundest form. This term is a compound noun consisting of two words. For the first word, “firqa,” see “Firaq ad-Dalla.” The word “Najiyah” is derived from “Najah,” meaning salvation, deliverance, attaining prosperity and happiness, and achieving one’s desires.

Thus, Firqa an-Najiyah means the community or group that attains salvation by being acquitted of all kinds of punishment in the hereafter, and securing their deliverance; another name for it is Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah. In other words, Firqa an-Najiyah is the large community or congregation that accepts and affirms the decrees of the Holy Quran and strictly adheres the path of the Prophet and his great Companions.

The Prophet states the following in a hadith reported from Abu Hurayra:

“My Ummah will divide into seventy-three different sects; the seventy-two sects other than the sect of salvation (Firqa an-Najiyah) will go to Hell. Besides, in the remaining part of such hadiths, when the Companions asked him about Firqa an-Najiyah, the Prophet (pbuh) described it as follows: “Those who adhere to my path and follow me and the path of my Companions.”  

That is why those who follow the path of Beloved Messenger of Allah are called Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, which means “the people of the Sunnah and the congregation”. In this sense, it is best to understand Firqa an-Najiyah as a large community believing in Allah’s Book, that is, in the Quran and straight path of the Prophet and the Companions, and adopting and accepting the view of the community obedient to the Sunnah, i.e., a majority of Muslims and believing in them and practicing them.

Ghazali sums up the true path of Firqa an-Najiyah and the principles of this path leading to salvation under these three matters with respect to belief: 1) Belief in Allah, 2) Belief in prophets –which includes belief in angels and in the books – 3) Belief in the hereafter. (Imam Ghazali, Faysalut-Tafriqa, Egypt, 1325, p 15)

The Prophet stated that a person who believed in these principles would benefit from the blessings of this religion as a Muslim and become a believer and he who denied one or all of them would become neither a believer nor a Muslim but a denier. In a number of verses in the Quran, this right path is pointed out and it is also pointed out that this right path is the path of the Prophet (pbuh): “Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah.” (al-Ahzab, 33/21)

“…So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. And fear Allah; for Allah is strict in Punishment.” (al-Hashr, 59/7)

“But if they hearken not to thee, know that they only follow their own lusts: and who is more astray than one who follow his own lusts, devoid of guidance from Allah? for Allah guides not people given to wrong-doing.” (al-Qasas, 28/50)

“Say: “If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Aal-i Imran, 3/31)

According to Abdulqahir al-Baghdadi (D: 429/1037), who is one of the greatest scholars of history of Islamic schools, Firqa an-Najiyah or Ahl as-Sunnah, which gathers a majority of Muslims who are considered to be the follower of the most correct way in the area of Islamic principles of faith today as well as throughout Islamic history, consists of these eight groups:

1. Scholars who deal with “kalam” and who do not repeat the mistakes of the “wrong people” and who follow Sifatiyyah, that is, who do not think like deviated sects such as Rafidis, Kharijites, Jahmiyyah and Najjariyyah,

2. Fiqh Scholars that consist of imams of fiqh who are the members of both ra’y (view) and hadith and of believers who believed in the way of the religion and who believe like the members of Sifatiyyah believe in Allah, His Infinity and His attributions,

3. Scholars of hadiths who own the knowledge of the news and sunnahs from the Prophet and who are able to distinguish the sound ones from the weak ones,

4. Scholars who are well acknowledged about literature, grammar and syntax,

5. Interpreters and Good-Reciters of the Quran who know the correct ways of reciting the Quran and of interpreting the verses of the Quran and who have the knowledge on the appropriate ways of the interpretation of the sect of Ahl as-Sunnah rather than the interpretation of the deviated groups,

6. Sufi devotees,

7. Hero Muslim combatants who keep guard on the borders of Muslims’ territories against deniers and who fight the enemies of Muslims,

8.  Communities consisting of people in the counties and countries where Ahl as-Sunnah and their attitudes are dominant. (Abdulqahir Baghdadi, Al-Farq Baynil-Firaq, pp. 289-292)

The Principles that Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah have agreed on:

The majority of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah are on an agreement about certain principles of the elements of the religion. It is obligatory for all those who reach the age of puberty and who are sane to know the facts about these elements of the religion. According to Al-Baghdadi, there are branches of each element and there are some points that Ahl as-Sunnah are in an agreement on these issues:

1. The universe is not an illusion or an imagination but it has an essential presence and a reality. Man is able to recognize this universe and obtain information about it.

2. The universe is something created with all the details in it. It has an absolute unique creator.

3. Allah has His infinite attributions that cannot be separated from His Personality.

4. His names, attributes, justice and wisdom are a necessity of His great Personality; it is necessary to know them.

5. Allah has His apostles and prophets; it is obligatory to know their miracles, too.

6. The information about the responsibility for Allah’s commands and decrees on prohibitions should be obtained. That is to say, it is to accept and confirm the five elements which Islam has been set on; and they are as follows: Bearing witness that there are no other deities except Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger, Performing prayers, Giving Alms (zakah), Observing Ramadan Fast and Going for pilgrimage (Hajj) to the Kaaba.

7. Believing in the mortality of humans and in the existence of the hereafter where humans will be resurrected after they die and believing in the concepts like hashr (gathering), questioning, reckoning, Paradise and Hell.

8. Knowing that Allah will be visible to the believers in the hereafter.

9. Knowing that destiny (qadar) is true (right) but people are not obliged in their deeds.

10. Knowing that Allah’s words were present from the beginning but that they do not consist of sounds and letters.

As it can be seen, all those principles and similar ones about belief are the points on which the majority of Firqa an-Najiyah, in other words, Ahl as-Sunnah unanimously agree. Moreover, each of these principles is based on the decrees of the Quran and the hadiths of the Prophet (pbuh).

Therefore, Firqa an-Najiyah is called so because they are aware of Allah’s commands and comply with them; and they comprehend the prohibitions and restraints from them and they also follow the right path that the Prophet showed to them; in other words, they have become the saved community. According to the prior communities, Firqa an-Najiyah consisted of Salafiyyah, which is called Ahl as-Sunnah al-Khassah, and Maturidis and Ash’aris, which are called Ahlas-Sunnah al-Ammah. (For detailed information, see Ahmad b Hanbal, Musnad, II, p.332; Abu Dawud, Sunan, II, p.259; Ibn Majah, Sunan, II, p.479; Ghazali, Ihya, I, p.179; Shatibi, Muwafaqat, IV, 48-52; Taftazani, Sharhul-Maqasid, II, p.199; Abdulqahir Baghdadi, al-Farq baynal-Firaq, Mezhebler Arasindaki Farklar, Translation: Asst. Prof. E. Ruhi Fığlalı, pp.289-335; Ash’ari, Maqalat, pp.277-284)

Cihad TUNÇ

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