Characteristics of the Victorious Group: Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah

 

This question abouh fiqh : harakah.

Can you tell me the characteristic of jamaah Islam that we must follow?

Praise be to Allaah.

It is the Muslim’s duty to follow the truth and to join the
victorious group, the people of Sunnah and Jamaa’ah (Ahl al-Sunnah
wa’l-Jamaa’ah) who are followers of the pious predecessors (al-salaf
al-saalih), loving them for the sake of Allaah whether they are in his own country or
elsewhere, and cooperating with them in righteousness.

The attributes of the victorious group are related in a number of
saheeh ahaadeeth, for example:

The Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: “My ummah is an ummah which
carries out the commands of Allaah; those who let them down or differ from them do not
harm them and they will keep adhering to this path until the Day of Judgement.”

Mu‘aawiyah and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased
with them) reported that the Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: ‘A group of my ummah
will continue victoriously adhering to the truth until the Last Hour begins.’”

Al-Mugheerah ibn Shu‘bah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
“I heard the Messenger of Allaah
(peace be upon him) say: “Some people of my
ummah will remain victorious over the people until the decree of Allaah reaches
them.”

‘Imraan ibn Husayn (may Allaah be pleased with him) said that the
Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: “A group of my ummah will continue fighting for
the truth, and will prevail over those who oppose them, until the last of them will kill al-Maseekh
al-Dajjaal (the Liar or Anti-Christ).”

From these ahaadeeth we may understand the following:

(1) The Prophet’s words “A group of my ummah will continue .
. .” indicate that this is a section of the ummah, not the entire ummah. This also
indicates that there will be other groups and sects.

(2) His words “those who oppose them will not harm them”
indicate that there will be other groups who oppose the victorious group in the way they
practice the religion. This also concurs with the hadeeth which describes the ummah being
divided into seventy-two groups or sects who oppose the one group that is following the
truth.

(3) Both ahaadeeth offer glad tidings to the people who are following
the truth. The hadeeth that speaks of the victorious group speaks of their victory in this
world.

(4) The words “until the decree of Allaah reaches them” refer
to the wind or breeze that will come and take the soul of every believing man and woman.
This does not contradict the hadeeth “A group of my ummah will remain victoriously
supporting the truth until the Day of Resurrection,” because that hadeeth means that
they will continue to follow the truth until that gentle breeze takes their souls just
before the Day of Resurrection, when many other Signs of the Last Hour have already
manifested themselves.

The characteristics of the victorious group

From the ahaadeeth quoted above, and other reports, we can derive the
following characteristics of the victorious group:

(1) They follow the truth. They are described variously as
“following the truth,” “following the commandments of Allaah,”
“following the true religion,” etc.

All of these phrases indicate that they are adhering to the true
religion with which Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was sent.

(2) They obey the commandments of Allaah, which means:

(a) They are distinguished from the rest of mankind by carrying the
banner of Da’wah towards Allaah.

(b) They undertake the mission of enjoining what is good and forbidding
what is evil.

(3) They will be victorious until the Last Hour.

The ahaadeeth say that “they will be victorious until the decree
of Allaah comes,” “they victoriously support the truth,” or “they will
be victorious over those who oppose them.”

This victory includes:

Being open and not hiding: they are well-known and prominent and have
the upper hand.

Adherence to true religion, righteousness, following Allaah’s
commands and fighting against His enemies in jihaad

Victory by defeating others

(4) They are patient and resist others with patience.

Abu Tha‘labah al-Khashani (may Allaah be pleased with him)
reported that the Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: “After you there will come days
of patience, in which the patience required will be like having to hold a burning coal in
one’s hand.”

Who are the people of the victorious sect?

Al-Bukhaari said: “They are the people of knowledge (the
scholars).”

Many scholars said that the victorious group is the scholars of
hadeeth.

Al-Nawawi said: “It is possible that this group is scattered among
all types of believers. Some may be brave fighters, or fuqahaa’, or scholars of
hadeeth, or ascetics, or people who enjoin good and forbid evil, and other types of good
people.”

Al-Nawawi also said: “It could be a group of different types of
believers, including those who are brave and skilled in warfare, faqeehs, scholars of
hadeeth, Qur’aanic commentators (mufassireen), those who enjoin good and forbid evil,
ascetics and devoted worshippers.”

Ibn Hajar, may Allaah have mercy on him, explained the matter as
follows: “They do not have to all be in one city; they could be gathered in one
country or dispersed across the world. They may be gathered in one city or in a part of
it. It is possible that one group may exist, then disappear, then be replaced by another
group, and so on, until the Day of Judgement, when all will disappear except for one group
in one city, who will disappear when the breeze decreed by Allaah comes.”

The scholars’ discussion of this group does not specify one type
of people, or one city or country, except for the last group, which will be in al-Shaam
(the territory comprising modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine) and will fight
the Dajjaal, as the Prophet
(peace be upon him) said.

No doubt those who are involved with the sciences of sharee’ah
– ‘aqeedah, fiqh, hadeeth and tafseer, studying and teaching – are the
people who are most qualified to be called the Victorious Group, and they should be at the
forefront of da’wah and jihaad, and enjoining what is good and forbidding what is
evil, and refuting the people of bid’ah, all of which must be accompanied with sound
knowledge based on the Wahy (Revelation).

We ask Allaah to make us among them. May Allaah bless our Prophet
Muhammad.