We All Grew Up Hearing This Hadith…

“The Ummah will be divided into 73 sects. All will go to Hell except one.”

Almost every Muslim hears this hadith at some point in their life. I heard it as a kid too—my dad told me about it. Like many children, I was confused and curious. So I asked him:

“Which sect are we in, Baba? Are we the saved one?”

He paused. He didn’t give me a direct answer. No group name. No label. Just said,

“The saved one is the group that follows the Prophet ﷺ and his companions.”

At first, it sounded right. I accepted it. But over the years, something started to bother me.

  • Why does every sect say they are the right one?
  • Why are there different versions of this hadith floating around?

Let me take you on the journey that led me to the truth—and trust me, it’s not what most of us were told growing up.

🚨 The Problem with the Popular Version

We hear:

“My Ummah will be divided into 73 sects. All of them will go to Hell except one.”

But here’s what many scholars have pointed out:

  • The first part of the hadith — “My Ummah will be divided…” — is authentic.
  • The second part — “All will go to Hell except one” — is not proven to be authentic and comes with weak or fabricated chains of narration.

Renowned scholars like Ibn al-Wazir, Imam al-Shawkani, and Shah Waliullah questioned the authenticity of this addition. Some even suggested it was inserted later by specific sects to justify their superiority.

✅ Authentic: “My Ummah will be divided into many sects.”
❌ Inauthentic: “All will be in Hell except one.”

So, Where Did These Extra Versions Come From?

During the early centuries of Islam, as sectarianism started spreading, many groups began twisting the hadith to fit their own ideology.

You may have heard different endings like:

  • “The saved sect is the one that follows the Ahlul Bayt.”
  • “It is the one that loves Abu Bakr and Umar.”
  • “It is the one that does not use Qiyas (analogy).”
  • “The saved ones are those who call to the true deen (Dawat-e-Tabligh).”

Each sect had its own version of the “saved group.”
Over time, people stopped questioning the validity of these versions and began labeling others as hell-bound if they didn’t align.

It became a tug-of-war of theological narratives:

“We are right. You are wrong.”
“We are going to Jannah. You are not.”

📚 What Do the Scholars Actually Say?

Great scholars and hadith researchers (muhaddithun and muhaqqiqoon) have clarified that:

  • The core message of the Prophet ﷺ was that divisions will happen.
  • But the additions about Hell and Heaven, which became a tool for sectarian gatekeeping, are not reliably from the Prophet ﷺ.

A hadith having a chain (sanad) does not guarantee authenticity unless it meets strict criteria:

  • Integrity of narrators
  • Continuity of chain
  • Absence of contradiction with more reliable sources

📝 References:

  • Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
  • al-Milal wa al-Nihal by al-Shahrastani
  • Tazkirat al-Huffaz by al-Dhahabi
  • Lecture by Mufti Kamran Shahzad on YouTube
  • Talk by : Ibn Wazir, Imam Shawkani, Ibn Hazm, Yusuf al-Qaradawi on sectarianism in Islam

Personal Reflection: The Damage This Has Caused

Let’s be honest.
This one hadith—or should I say, misquoted version of it—has done a lot of damage:

  • It made people arrogant about their sect.
  • It gave them the green light to label others as kafir or Jahannami.
  • It destroyed the unity of the Ummah.
  • It replaced humility and learning with sectarian pride and division.

When I heard Mufti Kamran Shahzad’s lecture, it clicks me. He mentioned 4–5 versions of this hadith, and when I talked to my friend, he mentioned me one more new version which he belief in.

This hadith became a tool for sectarian marketing.

💭 What Should We Actually Do?

Here’s what I learned—and I hope you take this to heart too:

✅ Stick to Qur’an and Sunnah
✅ Avoid labeling anyone quickly
✅ Don’t fall for sect traps
✅ Learn your deen from trusted scholars
✅ It’s okay to follow a school of thought (fiqh) — just make sure your Tawheed is clear, and your heart is open
✅ Stop calling others Jahannumi just because they’re different

🔚 Final Thought: Be Muslim. That’s Enough.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Indeed, those who divided their religion and became sects — you are not associated with them in anything…”
(Surah Al-An’am, 6:159)

This ayah is crystal clear. Division is not the Sunnah. Unity is.
The Prophet ﷺ came to unite us under one banner — Islam.

So next time someone asks you what your sect is, just say:

“I’m a Muslim. That’s enough for me.” 🤍

We’ve got bigger issues to deal with as an Ummah.

✍️ Conclusion

If you made it this far, thank you. So next time you hear someone quoting the “72 sects hadith” to divide —

Educate. Don’t argue.
Unite. Don’t label.
Be Muslim. That’s enough. 🤍