Every Muslim has heard the famous hadith about the Ummah splitting into seventy-three groups. It’s one of those narrations that forces a person to stop, reflect, and ask themselves: Which group am I actually following?
For many, this hadith becomes a kind of litmus test – an honest self-check to see whether our beliefs and practices truly align with the Prophet ﷺ and his companions.
Before diving into sects, history, or polemics, let’s begin where everything begins: with the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The Original Hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said:
This Ummah will divide into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Hellfire except one.”
He was asked, “Which one is that, O Messenger of Allah?”
He replied: “That which I and my companions are upon.1
This hadith is uncomfortable for many people because every sect claims to be that “saved” one. Even within Ismailism, different branches claim exclusive legitimacy.
But logically, they cannot all be right.
This means anyone who genuinely wants guidance must put aside personal bias and simply ask:
What were the Prophet ﷺ and his companions upon? And am I upon that today?
A Wider Lens: More Hadith on the Saved Group
The Prophet ﷺ didn’t leave us with a vague description. He clarified this “one group” even further.
He ﷺ said:
The Jews split into seventy-one sects, the Christians into seventy-two, and this Ummah will split into seventy-three—seventy-two are in Hell and one in Paradise: the Jamaa‘ah.2
This is powerful.
The Jamaa‘ah – the main body of Muslims – is protected from misguidance.
Not because of numbers alone, but because:
- the scholars may differ on minor details
- but they never differ on the foundational pillars of Islam
- and they never agree on misguidance or invented beliefs
Across the entire Muslim world – from East Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia – generations of scholars have examined the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the practice of the early Muslims. Despite differences in culture, geography, and time, they all arrived at the same core understanding of Islam.
That core is simply this:
Islam is the Qur’an and the Sunnah as understood and practiced by the companions of the Prophet ﷺ.
And this core has remained consistent for 1,400+ years.
This is the Jamaa‘ah.
The Prophetic Guarantee: The Majority Cannot Unite on Misguidance
This understanding is reinforced by other narrations.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
Allah will not unite my Ummah upon misguidance, and the Hand of Allah is with the Jamaa‘ah.3
And he ﷺ warned:
Whoever separates himself from the Jamaa‘ah by even a handspan has removed the rope of Islam from his neck.4
This is not mere rhetoric. It’s a divine promise:
The united body of Muslims, guided by centuries of scholarship, will never collectively follow a false religion.
So when we look around today, what do we see?
- Every Muslim community around the world since the Prophet ﷺ prays five daily Namaaz.
- They fast during Ramadan.
- They pay Zakat.
- They perform Hajj.
- They follow the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
- They believe that revelation ended with Muhammad ﷺ.
- They believe Islam was perfected and completed.
- They believe that the Prophet’s message is final and universal.
- They believe no new divinely-appointed authority can override the Qur’an or replace the Sunnah.
This is not coincidence.
It is the protection promised in the hadith.
This is the Jamaa‘ah.
The Logic Behind Scholarly Consensus (Ijma‘)
When thousands of scholars – spread across different continents, eras, cultures, and schools of thought – all arrive at the same conclusions about:
- the pillars of Islam
- the nature of worship
- the finality of prophethood
- the authority of Qur’an and Sunnah
- the universality of Shari‘ah
…it becomes intellectually dishonest to believe that they somehow misunderstood Islam, and only a tiny minority preserved the “true” path.
If one scholar goes astray, that’s understandable.
If a small group goes astray, that too is understandable.
But if the entire Ummah for 1,400 years agrees on something – praying salah, fasting Ramadan, performing Hajj, giving zakat, and following the Sunnah –
then that consensus cannot logically be wrong.
The Prophet ﷺ said it cannot be wrong.
A Contrast: The Path of the Jamaa‘ah vs. the Path of the Few
This brings us to a sober reflection.
The Jamaa‘ah – representing the overwhelming majority of Muslims – follows a religion that looks exactly like what the Prophet ﷺ and his companions practiced.
Meanwhile, groups like the Ismailis diverge from the Jamaa‘ah in foundational matters:
- the obligation of salah
- the obligation of fasting
- the obligation of zakat
- the obligation of Hajj
- the authority of the Sunnah
- the finality of revelation
- the universality of Shari‘ah
- the idea that an Imam can override divine law
These are not small disagreements.
They are fundamental departures from the road the Prophet ﷺ walked and the companions followed.
This raises the very question the hadith forces us to consider:
Am I on the path of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions… or on a path invented later?
The Qur’anic Warning About Leaving the Main Body
Allah gives us a direct warning in Surah An-Nisā’ – a verse that aligns perfectly with the hadith of the saved sect:
And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, and follows a path other than that of the believers – We will turn him to what he has chosen and burn him in Hell, and what an evil destination.5
Notice Allah doesn’t only say “whoever opposes the Messenger.”
He adds:
“…and follows a path other than that of the believers.”
The “believers” here are the companions, the early Muslims, and by extension the Jamaa‘ah whose understanding preserved Islam generation after generation.
Whoever breaks away from that path has been warned directly by Allah.
A Final Reflection for the Ismaili Reader
If you are Ismaili, this is not written to condemn you – it’s written to invite reflection.
Ask yourself:
- Is my path the path of the believers mentioned in Qur’an 4:115?
- Is what I practice today what the Prophet ﷺ and his companions practiced?
- Is it what the Jamaa‘ah – the overwhelming majority of Muslims – have preserved for 1,400 years?
- Or have I followed a path completely different from theirs?
Because Allah Himself warns:
Whoever follows a path other than that of the believers – We will turn him to what he has chosen…
This is not a small matter.
Salah, fasting, Hajj, zakat, the Sunnah, the finality of prophethood, and the completeness of Islam – these are not optional details. They are the pillars that the Prophet ﷺ built and the companions safeguarded.
If your current path has taken you far from that foundation, then the hadith of the saved sect is not a threat – it is a mercy. A reminder. A chance to realign with the Jamaa‘ah and the path of the Messenger ﷺ.