♣ Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

"Indeed the Children of Israa'eel split up into seventy-two sects (72 sects) and my Ummah will split up into seventy-three (73 sects), all of them are in Fire except one."It was asked, "what is the one?' He said, "That which I and my Companions are upon."

Tirmidhi 2641, Al-Haakim, 1/128-129, Imam Ibn Hajr in Takhreej Ahaadeeth al Kashaf.

Rightly guided sect as mentioned above is called "Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah" or sometimes referred as "Sunnath Wal Jamaath." Because the way in which Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) was upon, is called "Sunnah" and the way in which Companions were upon, is called "Jamaah"

♣ 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."

Narrated by: Hazrat Abu Huraira (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Tirmidhi 2640

♣ The Prophet ﷺ said: The Jews were split up into seventy-one or seventy-two sects; and the Christians were split up into seventy one or seventy-two sects; and my community will be split up into seventy-three sects.

Narrated by: Hazrat Abu Huraira (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Abu Dawud 4596

♣ Mu’awiyah b. Abi Sufiyan stood among us and said: Beware! The Apostle of ALLAH ﷺ stood among us and said: Beware! The people of the Book before were split up into seventy-two sects, and this community will be split into seventy three: seventy-two of them will go to Hell and one of them will go to Paradise, and it is the majority group.

Ibn Yahya and ‘Amr added in their version : “ There will appear among my community people who will be dominated by desires like rabies which penetrates its patient”, ‘Amr’s version has: “penetrates its patient. There remains no vein and no joint but it penetrates it.”

Narrated by: Hazrat Abu‘Amir al-Hawdhani (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Abu Dawud 4597

♣ Holy Prophet ﷺ said,

“The Jews split into seventy-one sects and my nation will split into seventy-three sects.”

Narrated by: Abu Huraira (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Ibn Majah Book 36, Hadith 3991

♣ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The Jews split into seventy-one sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy in Hell. The Christians split into seventy-two sects, seventy-one of which will be in Hell and one in Paradise. I swear by the One Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, my nation will split into seventy-three sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy-two in Hell.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, who are they?” He said: “The community” (Majority)

Narrated by: Awf bin Malik (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Ibn Majah Book 36, Hadith 3992

♣ Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,

Without doubt, my ummah (nation) will never be gathered in misguidance. Whenever you see disagreement, then follow the greater majority."

Narrated by: Anas bin Malik (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Ibn Majah Book 36, Hadith 3950

The majority of the Muslims are called "Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah" or sometimes referred as "Sunnath Wal Jamaath". They are traditional Muslims who follow the path of Beloved Prophet ﷺ , companions and the followers. They represent more than 85% of total world Muslim population today.

All the other groups such as Shia, Wahabi, Salafi, Deobandi, Qadiyani are the new sects which formed in the later period and are small in the numbers.

Hadith about Wahabi & Salafi

♣ The Prophet ﷺ said, "O Allah! Bless our Sham and our Yemen." People said, "Our Najd as well." The Prophet ﷺ again said, "O Allah! Bless our Sham and Yemen." They said again, "Our Najd as well." On that the Prophet ﷺ said, "There will appear earthquakes and afflictions, and from there will come out the side of the head (Horns) of Satan."

Narrated by: Ibn Umar (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Sahih Al Bukhari 1037 (Eng - Book 17, Hadith 147), Tirmidhi - Book 46, Hadith 3605

♣ Allah's Messenger ﷺ as saying (in a state) that he had turned his face towards the east (Najd);

"Behold, turmoil would appear from this side, from where the horns of Satan would appear"

Narrated by: Ibn Umar (RadhiAllahu Anhu)

Book: Sahih Muslim - Book 41, Hadith 6938

♣ Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

In the last days, such liars and deceitful people will emerge, who will tell you such new things which neither you nor your forefathers ever heard. Beware of them and stay away from them, and do not let them mislead you or confuse you.

Sahih Muslim, Musnad Ahmed, Mishkat

Today Najd has been renamed as "Riyadh" which is the present day capital city of Saudi Arabia. As our beloved Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the above hadith, 300 years ago, a person called Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab was born in Najd. Who is the founder of Wahabism. According to him all the traditional Muslims are deviants. He created lot of fitna (chaos) in the Muslim world. He considered all the Islamic Scholars are deviants and only those who follow him are in righteous path.

Today the followers of Ibn Abdul Wahab Najdi are called as Wahabi or Salafi and they have spread their misguided teachings all over the world. They operate under different names in different countries. Some of them are Thowheed Jamaat, Jamate Islami, Ihwan (Brotherhood) and Tabligh Jamaat etc.

It is duty of every Muslim to protect their faith from those wahabi deviants according the hadith of our beloved Prophet ﷺ and follow the footsteps of his companions.