The Hadith of the Seventy-three Sects: Its Chain and Meaning

Question

Question: [According to the hadith,] the Jews split into seventy-one sects, the Christians into seventy-two, and this umma [will split] into seventy-three sects, all of them astray except one. What is the standing of this hadith with regard to its chain of transmission, and what is its meaning? Please explain with evidence.

Answer

This hadith is found in “Mishkat al-Masabih”, in the chapter “Adherence to the Book and the Sunna” (Bab al-I‘tisam bi’l-Kitab wa’l-Sunna), in the second section. Al-Suyuti transmitted it citing the four Sunan collections; al-‘Alqami, with regard to its chain of transmission, called it hasan sahih (good and authentic).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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