Q19
Why one "right" Islam? Why so many sects?
The question, at its strongest
"If God's message is clear, why have Muslims split into Sunnis, Shiʿis, Ibadis, Alevis and more — and why does each group claim to be the one 'saved sect' of the famous hadith? Either the message is unclear, or the claim to certainty is arrogance. And the disagreements are not small: Sunnis and Shiʿis fought for centuries over who should lead after the Prophet (pbuh), and some groups say there was a prophet after him. How can you say there is a 'shared core'?"
Why people ask it
Because "only one right way" rigidity is the leading trigger of doubt in Chouhoud's survey: "The way that [some] insist there is only one 'right' way to practice faith" (Yaqeen, 2018). Young Turks meet rival religious communities (cemaats), online preachers who condemn other Muslims, Alevi neighbours and secular relatives. The "73 sects" hadith is often used as a weapon.
Short answer
Disagreement among Muslims is real, and some of it is deep. But most of it is about interpretation within a shared core, and the tradition built tools for living with it. The Quran treats diversity of laws as part of God's plan — "To each of you We prescribed a law and a method" (5:48) — while condemning division into hostile camps: "do not become divided" (3:103). The Prophet (pbuh) said that a judge who makes a careful judgement and is right gets a double reward, and if wrong, a single reward (Bukhārī 7352 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). In 2005, the Amman Message — from a conference of 200 scholars from 50 countries, later endorsed by over 500 — recognised eight schools of law (four Sunni, two Shiʿi, the Ibadi and the Zahiri), the Ashʿari creed, "real Tasawwuf (Sufism)" and "true Salafi thought", and forbade declaring any of them apostates. The core-level disputes are real, and this page states them: the Sunni–Shiʿi question of who should lead, which became a question of doctrine; and the Ahmadi belief in a prophet after Muhammad (pbuh), which mainstream Muslims reject. The 73-sects hadith is graded acceptable (Abu Dawud 4596: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; 4597: ḥasan; both al-Albani), and its fuller version (4597, the ḥasan one) says the saved group is "the jamāʿa" — the main body — not a small sect.
The full answer
10min read
For the heart and mind
Being called a disbeliever by another Muslim is a serious wrong, and the scholars of the Amman Message forbade it. They wrote that it is "not possible nor permissible to declare as apostates any group of Muslims" who believe in God and His Messenger, accept the pillars of faith and of Islam, and do not deny anything necessarily known of the religion. If you were shunned, mocked or threatened because of your school, your family's tradition, or your questions, the wrong was done to you.
What helps. Find teachers who can say "this is my view, and others hold another" — the "I do not know" that al-Ghazali counted as a mark of a true scholar (see Q18). Keep friendships across lines. And remember the Quran's promise: "To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ" (5:48) — not you, and not the person who excluded you.
What the Quran says
Diversity as part of the plan (5:48). "To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ" (5:48), Medinan. It comes after verses on the Torah and the Gospel; "To each of you" refers to the communities given scripture, which commentators generally take to include the Muslims (no tafsir on this was checked). It is about different communities with different laws; applying it to schools within Islam is an extension.
Unity commanded (3:103). "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers" (3:103), Medinan, addressed to the believers of Medina, whose tribes had been at war.
A warning (3:105). "And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment" (3:105). Al-Jalālayn: "these are the Jews and the Christians". The Mukhtasar (a modern summary commentary): "Do not be, O believers, like the People of the Scripture who became divided into different groups and divisions".
What these verses say together. Different paths of law can be part of God's test (5:48); hostile division after clear guidance is condemned (3:103, 105). The line runs between difference and division.
What the Prophet (pbuh) taught
The hadith. Abu Hurayra (ra) reports: "my community will be split up into seventy-three sects" (Abū Dāwūd 4596 Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ — al-Albānī; al-Albani: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ). In Muʿawiya's (ra) version, "seventy two of them will go to Hell and one of them will go to Paradise, and it is the majority group" — the Arabic word is al-jamāʿa (Abū Dāwūd 4597 Ḥasan (good) — al-Albānī; al-Albani: ḥasan). Ibn Kathir cites Muʿawiya's version from Imam Ahmad: "This Ummah will divide into seventy-three sects, all in the Fire except one, that is, the Jama'ah."
Which group is the jamāʿa, and does it mean you? The hadith's own word is al-jamāʿa, "the community", which the sunnah.com translator renders "the majority group". It is not the name of a small sect, and nothing in the hadith says any particular modern group is the saved one.
Honest error is rewarded. ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs (ra) reports the Prophet (pbuh): a judge who rules carefully and is correct "will receive a double reward", and if wrong, a single reward (Bukhārī 7352 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). Careful reasoning that reaches different answers is not sin.
How scholars have understood it
What it is. In July 2005, King Abdullah II of Jordan "convened an international Islamic conference of 200 of the world's leading Islamic scholars" from 50 countries in Amman; "over 500 leading Muslim scholars worldwide" later endorsed its Three Points (ammanmessage.com).
The eight schools. The statement lists: "the four Sunni schools (Mathahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali)", "the two Shi'i schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Jafari and Zaydi)", and "the Ibadi school of Islamic jurisprudence and the Thahiri school of Islamic jurisprudence".
Theology, Sufism and Salafism. It is "not possible nor permissible to declare whosoever subscribes to the Ash'ari creed or whoever practices real Tasawwuf (Sufism) an apostate", and "Likewise… whosoever subscribes to true Salafi thought".
The other two points. It forbids takfīr (declaring Muslims apostates), and it holds that "no one may issue a fatwa without the requisite personal qualifications". The King's speech to the OIC summit in Mecca (December 2005) adds: "there exists more in common between the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence than there is difference between them."
Its limits. Rabbani stresses that the Message "should not be promoted as making Islam a 'free-for-all'" and is "not an affirmation that 'everyone is on the complete truth'"; it recognises groups as Muslim, not every view as correct. It did not list the Ahmadis. Whether it has changed behaviour on the ground — in sectarian conflicts in Iraq, Syria or Pakistan — is not something the sources read could measure.
Earlier recognition. Mahmud Shaltut, rector of al-Azhar, issued a fatwa (the date was not given in the source read; in 1959 al-Azhar also "authorized the teaching of courses of Shia jurisprudence") "recognizing Shia Islamic law as the fifth school of Islamic law" (Wikipedia, "Shia–Sunni relations").
History
Sunnis and Shiʿis. "The issue of succession following the death of Muhammad divided Muslims into two branches." Shiʿis hold that the Prophet (pbuh) designated ʿAli (citing Ghadir Khumm) and that leadership belongs to his family; Sunnis hold that he named no successor and that Abu Bakr was chosen at the Saqifa. The killing of Husayn at Karbala "finalized the schism" (Wikipedia). Other differences: Shiʿis count sayings of the Prophet's family (Ahl al-Bayt) as hadith and reject many Sunni-only hadith; Twelver Shiʿis permit temporary marriage (mutʿa), which Sunnis, Ismailis and Zaydis do not; and there are differences in prayer (Shiʿis prostrate on a clay tablet; Shiʿis and Malikis pray with hands at their sides) (Wikipedia).
Is imamate a core belief? For Twelver Shiʿis, yes: the leadership of the Imams is a doctrine, not only a historical question. That is a real difference at the level of belief, not only of law, and this page does not hide it. What the Amman Message affirms is that both groups share the pillars of faith and of Islam and so may not declare each other apostates; it does not claim they agree on imamate.
Alevis. Alevis are mainly in Türkiye, where estimates range from about 4% to 15% of the population. They revere ʿAli and the Twelve Imams; their central ritual is the cem, a gathering with music and both men and women, led by a dede; they fast in the first twelve days of Muharram. Most belong to the Bektashi tradition. They are usually classed with Shiʿism, but their practice differs considerably from Twelver practice; some groups follow Jaʿfari law (Wikipedia). The Turkish state recognised Alevism as a "cultural group" in 2022, and President Erdoğan has said a cemevi "is not a place of worship" (Wikipedia). Alevis are not named separately among the eight Amman schools; those Alevis who follow Jaʿfari law fall under it, and the Message's general rule against takfīr covers all who accept the pillars of faith and Islam.
Ibadis. Ibadis call themselves "The People of Truth and Integrity" and "may object to being classified as Kharijites"; their community grew from the teachings of Jabir ibn Zayd in Basra. Their largest community is in Oman (Wikipedia gives conflicting figures on whether they are a majority there), and they live also in the M'zab (Algeria), Djerba (Tunisia), Libya and Zanzibar. They hold that the imam should be elected, "the most pious man of the community", and need not be from Quraysh; that believers "will not see God on the Day of Resurrection"; and some hold the Quran created (Wikipedia). They are among the Amman schools.
Ahmadis. The Ahmadiyya were "founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908)" in British India; Ahmadis regard him as "divinely appointed as both the promised Messiah and Mahdi" and as a prophet without a new law — in Wikipedia's words, "a true reflection of Muhammad's prophethood". Mainstream Muslims regard this as heresy because they believe Muhammad (pbuh) was the "final prophet" (khātam al-nabiyyīn); Pakistan "officially declared" them "non-Muslims" by constitutional amendment (Wikipedia). The Amman Message does not list them; the pages read do not mention them or give a reason. Whatever one's view, it is a core-level dispute, not a difference of law.
The reasoning
What is shared. Belief in one God; Muhammad (pbuh) as His Messenger; the Quran; prayer, fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage; the Last Day. The Amman Message's rule is built on exactly this: it protects those "who believe in God, Glorified and Exalted be He, and His Messenger… and the pillars of faith, and acknowledges the five pillars of Islam, and does not deny any necessarily self-evident tenet of religion".
Where the core is disputed. Two places: whether there can be a prophet after Muhammad (pbuh) (the Ahmadi question), and how leadership after him is to be understood (imamate). The first, on the mainstream view, is outside the core; the second is a real difference that the Message chose not to treat as grounds for takfīr.
The two slogans. The first overstates by making every difference good; the second by turning the 73-sects hadith into a licence to condemn other Muslims, when the hadith's own word for the saved is al-jamāʿa, the community.
Limit: a shared core does not make the remaining differences trivial. Centuries of violence show that they can be lethal when mixed with politics.
What science says
Intellectual humility. [Moderate; US samples] Across four studies (181 students; 188 and 169 adults online; 104 students in an experiment), Porter and Schumann (2018) found that people higher in intellectual humility "were more open to learning about the opposition's views", gave more respectful reasons for disagreement, and in one study read more of the opposing arguments; an article teaching a growth mindset raised intellectual humility (Heterodox Academy summary; effect sizes were not given in the summary read).
The strongest objection, and the reply
"If the message were clear, there would be no sects." Reply: the core is clear and shared by almost all Muslims; most disagreement is about interpretation, which the tradition expected; Bukhari 7352 rewards a judge's careful reasoning even when wrong, and applying it to scholarly disagreement in general is an extension of that hadith. Limit: the imamate and finality-of-prophethood disputes are not just interpretation.
"Each group claims to be the saved sect, so all are arrogant." Reply: the hadith names "the jamāʿa", the community, not a sect; the Amman Message forbids declaring other Muslims apostates. Limit: many groups still read the hadith exclusively.
"Sunnis and Shiʿis killed each other for centuries." Reply: yes, often when sectarian identity was fused with dynastic or state power (from Karbala to modern Iraq and Syria, per Wikipedia). Scholars have also worked for recognition: Shaltut's fatwa from the Sunni side, and the Amman Message, which recognised two Shiʿi schools (whether Shiʿi scholars signed it has not yet been checked in the sources read). Limit: recognition on paper has not ended conflict.
The range of views
- Amman Message signatories — eight schools, Ashʿari creed, Sufism and "true Salafi thought" are all within Islam; takfīr forbidden.
- Twelver Shiʿis — imamate is a doctrine of faith.
- Ahmadis — accept Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a non-law-bearing prophet; regarded by mainstream Muslims as outside Islam.
- Alevis — a Türkiye-centred tradition revering ʿAli and the Imams, with its own rituals.
Questions readers ask next
If the core is so clear, why did Sunnis and Shiʿis fight over it for centuries? Is imamate not a core belief?
For Twelver Shiʿis it is a core belief; that is a real difference. The fighting was often bound up with political power. The Amman Message's answer is that, sharing the pillars, neither may declare the other apostate — not that they agree.
Which group is the "jamāʿa" in the 73-sects hadith, and does it mean me?
The hadith's word is al-jamāʿa, the community or "the majority group" (Abū Dāwūd 4597 Ḥasan (good) — al-Albānī). It does not name any modern sect.
What are the "two slogans" that "both overstate their case"?
"Disagreement is a mercy" (no known chain) and "only one sect is saved, so the rest are lost". See "Is there a shared core?".
What do Sunnis and Shiʿis actually disagree about, beyond "leadership after 632"?
Imamate as doctrine; which hadith are accepted; temporary marriage; details of prayer (Wikipedia).
Who are the Alevis, and are they counted among the eight schools?
A Türkiye-centred tradition revering ʿAli and the Twelve Imams, with the cem ritual. Not named separately; those following Jaʿfari law fall under it, and the rule against takfīr covers all who accept the pillars.
What are the Ibadis, and why were Ahmadis excluded?
Ibadis: a school centred in Oman, with its own views on the imamate; included in Amman. Ahmadis: the Amman Message does not list them. Separately, mainstream Muslims regard them as outside Islam because they hold that no prophet comes after Muhammad (pbuh).
Key verses
وَأَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَٱحْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَآءَهُمْ عَمَّا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْحَقِّ ۚ لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً وَلَٰكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِى مَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمْ ۖ فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟ ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ ۚ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ٤٨
Transliteration: wa-anzalnā ilayka l-kitāba bil-ḥaqi muṣaddiqan limā bayna yadayhi mina l-kitābi wamuhayminan ʿalayhi fa-uḥ'kum baynahum bimā anzala l-lahu walā tattabiʿ ahwāahum ʿammā jāaka mina l-ḥaqi likullin jaʿalnā minkum shir'ʿatan wamin'hājan walaw shāa l-lahu lajaʿalakum ummatan wāḥidatan walākin liyabluwakum fī mā ātākum fa-is'tabiqū l-khayrāti ilā l-lahi marjiʿukum jamīʿan fayunabbi-ukum bimā kuntum fīhi takhtalifūna
And We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.
Translation: Saheeh International
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And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided. 3:103
Arabic text and transliteration
وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
wa-iʿ'taṣimū biḥabli l-lahi jamīʿan walā tafarraqū wa-udh'kurū niʿ'mata l-lahi ʿalaykum idh kuntum aʿdāan fa-allafa bayna qulūbikum fa-aṣbaḥtum biniʿ'matihi ikh'wānan wakuntum ʿalā shafā ḥuf'ratin mina l-nāri fa-anqadhakum min'hā kadhālika yubayyinu l-lahu lakum āyātihi laʿallakum tahtadūna
Sources
- Saheeh International — 5:48, 3:103, 49:13; via Quranpedia — 3:105, https://quranpedia.net/tafsir/aal-imran/105/en.
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (abridged English), and Tafsīr al-Jalālayn (English), on 3:104–105, https://surahquran.com/tafsir-english-aya-105-sora-3.html.
- Sunan Abi Dawud 4596 and 4597 (sunnah.com), https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4596, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4597, with al-Albani's grades.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 7352 (sunnah.com), https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7352.
- The Amman Message, official site: statement of the International Islamic Conference, Amman, 4–6 July 2005, https://ammanmessage.com/?p=15; overview, https://ammanmessage.com/; King Abdullah II's speech to the OIC summit, Mecca, 8 December 2005, https://ammanmessage.com/?p=33.
- Faraz Rabbani, "Is the Amman Message differed upon among the scholars?", IslamQA (14 September 2012; modified 12 December 2022), https://islamqa.org/hanafi/qibla-hanafi/36781/is-the-amman-message-differed-upon-among-the-scholars/.
- "Shia–Sunni relations", "Alevism", "Ibadi Islam", "Ahmadiyya", Wikipedia.
- Porter & Schumann, "Intellectual humility and openness to the opposing view", Self and Identity 17:139–162 (2018), as summarised by Heterodox Academy, https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/research-summary-intellectual-humility-and-openness-to-the-opposing-view/.
- Youssef Chouhoud, Yaqeen Institute (2018), as read for run 9.
- Abū Dāwūd 4596–97 (sunnah.com)
- al-Baghdādī, al-Farq (Ar.)
- Gömbeyaz, ULUM 1/2 (Tr.)
- Abdallah, AFKAR 7 (2006)
- ammanmessage.com
- 73 Sects (Wikipedia)
- TDV, "İhtilâf" (Tr.)