بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

What defines a sect? How do we understand if their innovations take them from outside of the fold of Islam or not? This article seeks to provide a brief answer to these questions.

Let’s begin with defining some basic terminology.

Texts fall into the following categories:

Qati’ al-Thubut = explicit in establishment

• This means the text in question in mutawatir in transmission, or in other words, so mass-transmitted that forgery becomes rationally impossible. An example of a text that is qati’ al-thubut is the Qur’an itself.

Dhanni al-Thubut = speculative in establishment

• This means the text is speculative in its establishment. An example of this would be a sahih hadith with a singular chain of transmission.

Qati’ al-Dalalah = explicit in meaning

• This means the text is explicit in its meaning. The meaning of the text can carry no other meaning than it’s dhahir, or apparent.

Dhanni al-Dalalah = speculative in meaning

• This means the text is speculative in its meaning. There could be differing interpretations as to the meaning of the text

A text can be qati in its establishment, but dhanni in its meaning. The reverse is also possible.

The doors for ijtihad are only open in matters determined by dhanni texts.

Maddhahib, or schools of thought, like the Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki, and Hanbali maddhahib, are different interpretations of dhanni texts.

These are considered valid ikhtilaf, or differences of opinion.

What defines a sect is their differing interpretation of qati’ texts. They will interpret something that is explicit with a meaning other than the explicitly mentioned one.

These are not considered valid differences of opinion and hence are considered deviance.

Rejecting something that is qati’ in its establishment is a deviance which takes one outside of the fold of Islam. This would be like rejecting a verse of the Qur’an, which is kufr sarih, or clear kufr.

Rejecting something that is qati’ in its meaning but not in it’s establishment is a deviance which does not render one outside of the fold of Islam, but rather outside of the folds of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l Jama’ah.

It is of the upmost importance that you as a Muslim stick by the Jama’ah as according to the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ

‘Arfajah ibn Shurayh reported: I saw the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, delivering a sermon to the people, saying, “Verily, the Hand of Allah is over the united community, for Satan is with one who secedes from the community, running after him.” [Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4020].

جَزَاكَ اللهُ خَيْرًا