The Fragmentation of the Muslim Community

The Fragmentation of the Muslim Community

1988 11 November 19-20 The Fragmentation of the Muslim Community (578) There is a Hadith in which the Prophet Mohammad is reported to have said: “The Jews became divided into seventy one sects, while the Christians split up into seventy two. The number of groups into which my community will be divided is seventy three.

Although the authenticity of this particular tradition has been challenged by Hadith scholars, the details given by a number of other, similar traditions would appear to support it. There can be little doubt, therefore, on the point the Prophet wanted to make about the fragmentation of the Muslim community. His pessimism about the unity of his followers was, of course, expressed in the form of an epigram, but it is remarkable how many scholars have taken the number ‘seventy three’ in the purely literal sense of a specific numerical entity. So literal-minded have they been that they have listed the different splinter groups and tried to make them add up to seventy three. In his book, A-Milal wa’al Nehal, Ibn Hazm has put the actual number of Muslim sects at 76, while AI-Ashari gives us the round figure of one hundred. AI-Khwarizmi, however, makes it a mere 72. They do not see that efforts to pinpoint exact figures are wasted, when what the Hadith is all about is the keen sorrow we should feel – just like the Prophet – that fragmentation should take place at all. When the Prophet used the number seventy three it was to express his regret that Muslims would become even worse than the Jews and Christians in their state of disunity. Rather than count the number of different sects, we would do better to concentrate on ascertaining the cause of this trend towards sectarianism.

This was a matter pondered over and discussed in great depth by the Companions of the Prophet, not the least of the debaters being Umar ibn Khattab, who wondered how it was that when they all followed the one Prophet, the Muslims would ultimately fall into a state of disunity. Putting this question to Abd Allah ibn Abbas he asked him how it was that when this community has one and the same Prophet, all of its members prayed towards the same qiblah and possessed just one Scripture, it would split up into different factions. Abd Allah explained this paradox as follows: “Commander of the Faithful, the Quran has been revealed to us, and we therefore understand its context. But the nations who come after us will read the Quran without knowing the context of its revelations. Each community will then form its own opinions, which clash with those of other communities. This will result in open conflict, and they will begin fighting with one another”. Initially, both Umar and Ali disagreed with what Ibn Abbas had said, and they remonstrated with him, but after Umar had given fuller consideration to his words, he realized that there was some truth in them. He then called for Ibn Abbas, and asked him to repeat his explanation, to which he then gave his approval.

Ibn Abbas’ statement implies that there are two levels of appreciation of the Quran, depending upon whether it is read with, or without true understanding. The man who brings knowledge and understanding to his reading of the Quran will be enlightened and uplifted by it, whereas the ignorant reader will be left untouched by its greatness. It is individuals of the latter type who will be responsible for the fragmentation of the Muslim community.