U-1: UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SUNNAH AND JAMA'AT IN LIGHT OF THE HADITH OF IFTIRAQ AND THE IMPORTANCE OF STRONG BONDS WITH THE JAMA'AT

حدیث افتراق کی روشنی میں سنت اور جماعت کا مصداق و مفہوم اور لزوم ِ جماعت کی اہمیت

Abstract

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “The best people of my community are those of my time, then those who come after them, then those who come after them." This quote emphasizes the excellence of the earliest generations of Muslims, those who lived during and shortly after the time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In the light of this Hadith, it becomes clear that as this Ummah moved further away from the time of Prophethood, new trials and tribulations took root among them. Thus, whether it was the Mu'tazilites or the Kharijites, the Qadariyya or the Jahmiyya, the Murji'ah or the Jabriyya, etc., all of these were the result of the distance from the era of Prophethood. Upon closer analysis, it is evident to any person of understanding that the trials and tribulations arising in the Muslim Ummah in the present times are a continuation and extension of the trials mentioned above. Only their forms and manifestations are different. The Prophet ﷺ has bestowed a great favor upon this Ummah by not only identifying these trials but also by showing the Ummah the way to avoid them by following his path and that of his companions. And that is the Muslim Ummah's fourteen hundred years of practice and tradition. By adhering to this we can continue to follow the path of salvation. In the light of the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ, the scholars of the Ummah have suggested that the solution is to adhere to the Sunnah and the Jama’t firmly. In this writing, we have tried to highlight this point so that the unity of the Ummah is preserved and harmful disagreements can be eradicated.