"WHO ARE 'AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMAA'AH?"

The booklet "Who Are 'Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa'ah?'" stands as a prominent educational and dawah publication issued by the Islamic Ministries and Community Development (IMACD) in the United States. Specially designed to address English speaking communities, this work provides a clear and grounded theological framework regarding the authentic Islamic identity. The booklet opens by revisiting the era of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, emphasizing that during his lifetime, there was only one main group of believers who called themselves "Muslims" without any need for sub-classifications due to the absence of dissent. It then shifts to explain how the Prophet ﷺ, through divine revelation, informed his Ummah about future divisions, reviewing the historical context of the earliest sects that began to surface after his passing and during the caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Within this framework, the booklet cites the famous Hadith concerning the splitting of the Ummah into seventy three sects, all of which are in the Hellfire except one. Consequently, it focuses on defining the characteristics of this "Saved Sect" relying on the prophetic guidance that identifies them as "The Jamaa'ah" and in another narration, as "those who are upon what I and my companions are upon today." Through this analysis, the booklet establishes a clear methodological and doctrinal standard, linking salvation and protection from intellectual deviation directly to the adherence to the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ and the path of the righteous predecessors (Al-Salaf Al-Salih).