Among the sects into which this Ummah [the Muslim nation] would divide, only one group is saved. It is not known by a name a person claims for himself. It is known by what it holds to: what the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions were upon. That one group carries more than one name in the books. It is called the Saved Sect, the Aided Group, the Victorious Group, and Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah [the People of the Sunnah and the Congregation]. This page explains who that group is, what it is saved from, and how it is known.
This page is drawn from Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s Commentary on Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, from the introduction in Vol. 1 and two places in Vol. 2, from his Fiqhul ‘Ibaadaat, in the Aqeedah [creed] section, Questions 52 to 55, and from Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan’s A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, at its fifth folio and its closing questions and answers.
The Evidence
The Prophet ﷺ himself named the one saved group, and he named it by what it is upon, not by a label:
“This Ummah shall be divided into seventy-three sects; all of them shall enter the Fire, except one.” They said: “Which is it, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “It is that which is upon the like of what I and my Companions are upon.”
Reported by at-Tirmidhi (2641). Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen notes in his footnote on this hadeeth that its chain contains a weak narrator, ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Ziyad bin An‘um al-Afriqi, weak due to his poor memory, and that the hadeeth is supported by other reports, among them the report of Anas, by which it rises to the grade of hasan [good].
Shaykh al-Fawzan states the same point in his own words in A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects. Manhaj means the clear way and method a Muslim follows:
“No one is saved from this punishment except one group from the seventy three sects and it is the ‘Saved Sect’. Those who are upon that which the Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and his Companions were upon, the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), the sound Manhaj and the clear path.”
What “Saved” Means
The name itself carries the meaning. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen begins with the first word, al-Firqah:
“‘Al-Firqah’ with Kasra on the (letter) Fa’, means At-Ta’ifah (the group). Allah, the Most High, said: ‘For there should separate from every division of them a group’ (At-Tawbah 9:122). But, Al-Furqah with Damma (on the letter Fa’), then it is taken from Al-Iftiraq (the division).”
Then the second word, an-Najiyah:
“An-Najiyah (the saved): is a subject’s noun, from Naja (saved), when he is rescued. It is, safe and secure from Bida‘ (innovation) in this world, and safe from the Fire in the Hereafter.”
The Shaykh explains those two safeties directly from the hadeeth:
“Thus, whoever is upon the like of what the Prophet and his Companions were (upon), then he is safe from Bida‘ (innovations). (As for) ‘All of them shall enter the Fire, except one’ then that one is safe from the Fire. Therefore, the salvation here, is from Bida‘ (innovations) in this world, and from the Fire in the Hereafter.”
In Fiqhul ‘Ibaadaat, answering the question on the division of the Ummah, he sums the group up in one paragraph:
“This sect is the saved one. It is saved from Bida‘ in this life, and in the Hereafter it will be saved from Hell, and it is the victorious group (at-Taa’ifah al-Mansoorah) until the Day when the Hour will be established. It continues to prevail, abiding by the Command of Allah, The Most Mighty and The Most Magnificent.”
The Aided Group
The same group is also called al-Mansurah [the aided group]. The Prophet ﷺ said, and the hadeeth is quoted here whole, with the book’s own gloss restored:
“A group of my Ummah shall continue to be manifest (Zahirin) upon the truth.”
Reported from a number of the Companions. The commentary notes that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah stated it is mutawatir [reported by so many people at every stage that it cannot have been invented], in Iqtida’ as-Sirat al-Mustaqim.
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains the aid itself:
“Allah, His Angels and the believers aid it. Consequently, they shall remain supported till the establishment of the Hour; supported by Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, the Angels and His believers; the human can even be supported by the Jinn. The Jinn will support him and intimidate his enemy.”
On the words “until the establishment of the Hour”, the commentary explains, in summary, that this means close to the establishment of the Hour, or the group’s own hour, which is their death, and that the first explanation is the closer one. The group does not run out before its time. It remains, aided, upon the truth.
Whoever Remains, Whoever Differs
Shaykh al-Fawzan draws the line in both directions. Whoever remains upon the way of the Messenger ﷺ and his Companions is saved. Whoever differs is threatened in measure with his differing. Two words in his answer need their meanings: kufr is unbelief, the rejection of the faith itself, and imaan is faith:
“So whoever remains upon what the Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and his Companions were upon is from those who are saved from the Fire. And whoever differs from them is threatened with the Fire in accordance to his deviation from the truth. If his sect was a sect of kufr and apostasy, then he is from the people of the Hellfire who shall remain eternally in it. And if his sect did not cause him to be expelled from the fold of imaan, then he is threatened with the severe punishment of the Fire which is not eternal.”
So the hadeeth’s sentence about the Fire is not flattened. The Shaykh keeps the book’s own distinction: a sect of unbelief and apostasy is one ruling, and a deviation that does not expel a person from faith is another, and each is threatened according to what it holds.
The Marks of the Group
How is this group known in practice? In Fiqhul ‘Ibaadaat, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked about its most distinguishing quality. His answer names four matters, and this page states the mark in those four, in his words:
“The most distinguishing quality of the saved group is the adherence to that upon which the Prophet ﷺ was upon in matters of ‘Aqeedah (creed), ‘Ibaadah (worship), manners, and transactions. You find the saved group distinguished in these four matters.”
He was then asked whether these qualities have to be complete in a person for him to be from the group. In the book, Surah al-An‘am (6:132), which speaks of degrees according to what people did, stands between the two parts of his answer. Tawheed [worshipping Allah alone] is named first in it, because a shortfall there is not like a shortfall in manners:
“Diminution in these matters does not disqualify the person as being from the saved group unless he fails to fulfill the aspect of Tawheed or that of Bida‘.
Failing to fulfill the part of Tawheed and that of Bida‘, may take the person out of the saved sect. Similarly, with respect to Ikhlaas (pure intention). However, as far as the matters of manners and transactions, then failing to fulfill them does not take the person out of this saved sect, though he is sinful for this.”
One more mark stands in Vol. 2 of the Wasitiyyah commentary, at the opening of the chapter on the status of the People of the Sunnah. Among the sects, this group is the balanced one:
“Therefore, the People of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah, in comparison to the sects in this Ummah are like this Ummah compared to other religions; meaning, they are balanced. Then, the author, may Allah have mercy upon him, mentioned five foundations which the People of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah are balanced compared to the sects of the Ummah.”
Why They Are Called Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah
The fuller name is explained in the commentary word by word. First, why they are attributed to the Sunnah, and why to the Jama’ah:
“‘The People of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah’: He (the author) attributed them to the Sunnah because they adhere to it, and to the Jama’ah (congregation) because they are agreed upon it (the Sunnah).”
The word Jama’ah itself is then explained. The book prints spaced hyphens in this passage, and they are carried here as the book prints them:
“The response would be that the word Jama’ah - a common noun - primarily means a gathering. It was transferred to mean people who are gathered together. Hence, the meaning of the People of Sunnah and Jama’ah becomes: the People of Sunnah and the gathering. They are being referred to as the People of Sunnah because they adhere to it; and they are being referred to as the People of the Jama’ah (community) because they are gathered on it (Sunnah).”
The creed itself returns to the name at its close, in Vol. 2:
“And for this they are named the People of the Book and the Sunnah, and they are named the People of the Jama’ah, because the Jama’ah is the gathering, and its opposite is separation, even though the word Jama’ah has come to be used as a name for the people that congregate.”
And the commentary on those closing words carries the test of a claim. A person is not from this group because he says he is:
“‘They are named the People of the Book and the Sunnah:’ because of their believing in them, adhering to them, and giving them preference over other than them. And whoever contradicts the Book and the Sunnah, and claims that he belongs to the People of the Book and Sunnah, then he is a liar, because whoever belongs to a particular class of thing, there is no way except that he obey such a thing, and adhere to it.”
The same test, stated at the end of the introduction in Vol. 1, settles who the Salaf are:
“We say whoever agrees with the Sunnah, then he is a person (Sahib) of the Sunnah and whoever opposes the Sunnah; then he is not a person (Sahib) of the Sunnah. So therefore we say: The Salaf are the People of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah, and this description will never be true about other than them.
they are the Salaf in creed, such that the later one, until the Day of Judgment, when he is upon the path of the Prophet, and his Companions, then he is Salafi.”
Salafi, in that sentence, means a person who follows the Salaf, the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions, and those who followed them, upon their path. The name follows the path. It does not replace it.
One Group, Not Divided
A group gathered upon the Sunnah does not split the way the people of innovation split. The commentary states it whole, across its page turn:
“For this reason, this group does not divide as the people of Bida‘ (innovations) do. We find the people of Bida‘ (innovations), like the Jahmiyyah, the Mu‘tazilah, the Rafidah and others from the people of Ta‘til are divided. As for this group, it is united upon the truth. Even though some disagreements may occur among them, yet they are harmless ones. It is a disagreement where no one accuses the other of having gone astray by it; their chest is widened for it.
while they differ, they never accuse the other of having gone astray, unlike the people of Bida‘ (innovations). Therefore, they are gathered upon the Sunnah, so they are the People of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah.”
The same mark is given in Fiqhul ‘Ibaadaat, in the answer on manners. Ijtihaad is reasoned judgment in a matter where such judgment is allowed:
“So agreement and unity of the hearts are from the most distinguished qualities of the saved group, ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah. In case disagreement amongst them occurs due to Ijtihaad, in matters where Ijtihaad is applicable, then they do not hold enmity, hatred or hostility against each other. Rather, they believe that they are brothers even if this kind of disagreement takes place amongst them.”
And the Shaykh closes that answer by turning the mark into a duty:
“So, I believe that it is incumbent upon ahlus-Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah to unite even though they may dispute in that wherein they have been differing as a result of their understanding of what is necessitated by the texts. What is important is agreement and unity of the hearts. So, the obligatory thing is that we should be distinguished with this distinctive mark and that is we are from the saved sect that agrees to unity.”
The Saved Sect and the Victorious Group Are One
At the end of A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, Shaykh al-Fawzan is asked directly: is there a difference between the Saved Sect and the Victorious Group? His answer is carried here whole, because it closes the question this whole page turns on:
“The Saved Sect is always victorious. It cannot be saved unless it is victorious and it cannot be victorious until it is saved. These are their descriptions: Ahl-us-Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah, the Saved Sect, the Victorious Group.
Whoever seeks to differentiate between these descriptions such that he makes some people from one group and others from another, then such an individual wishes to split up Ahl-us-Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah and make some of them the Saved Sect and others the victorious group. And this is a mistake since they are a single Jamaa’ah, combining all the attributes of perfection and praise. So they are Ahl-us-Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah, the Saved Sect, the Victorious Group, those who remain upon the truth until the establishment of the Hour and they are the strangers during the Final days.”
Key Lessons
One group among the seventy-three is saved, and it is the one upon what the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions were upon. Saved means safe from innovation in this world and safe from the Fire in the Hereafter. The same group is aided and victorious, and it remains upon the truth until the Hour. Its mark is holding to the Prophet’s ﷺ way in creed, worship, manners, and transactions, and a shortfall in Tawheed or falling into innovation is not like a shortfall in manners. It is called Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah because it adheres to the Sunnah and gathers upon it, and no claim to the name stands without that adherence. It does not divide as the people of innovation divide, and its disagreements do not turn into enmity. Saved Sect, Victorious Group, and Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah are one group, and its worship is upon the Book and the Sunnah.
References
- Commentary on Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Dar-us-Salam, Vol. 1: the introduction (printed pp. 65-71): the definition of al-Firqah (printed pp. 65-66), the definition of an-Najiyah and the seventy-three sects hadeeth (printed p. 66), the two safeties, the aided group hadeeth and its aid (printed p. 67), the naming (printed p. 68), what Jama’ah means and that this group does not divide (printed pp. 69-70), and the test of agreeing with the Sunnah and opposing it (printed pp. 70-71).
- Commentary on Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Dar-us-Salam, Vol. 2: The Status of the People of the Sunnah (printed p. 93), and Concerning the Practical Methodology, the creed’s closing naming and its commentary (printed p. 459).
- Fiqhul ‘Ibaadaat, Aqeedah section, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, rendered into English by Dr. Saleh as-Saleh; the held copy names no publisher, edition, or year: Question 52 (printed p. 144), Question 53 (printed pp. 145-146), Question 54 (printed p. 147), and Question 55 (printed pp. 148-149 and p. 151).
- A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, Salafi Publications, translated by Abu Naasir Abid bin Basheer: folio 5, and Questions and Answers, Question 3 (folio 25).
The books cited print “Allaah” and “Allāh”; inside quotations on this page the name is spelled Allah, by the site’s rule.
Further Reading
- Methodology (Manhaj): the way of the saved sect in following the Sunnah
- What Is Salafiyyah?: the Salafi methodology, its reality and its characteristics
- Some of the Deviated Sects in Islam: the sects that departed from the main body, in overview
- What Is the Difference Between Sunni and Shia?: the two groups compared, point by point
Verified on 2026-10-26 against: Commentary on Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, Vols. 1 and 2 (Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen), Fiqhul ‘Ibaadaat, Aqeedah section (Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen), and A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects (Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan).