Allah says,
[وَمَا تَفَرَّقَ
الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَـبَ إِلاَّ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَةُ
]
(And the People of the Scripture differed not until after there came to them
the Bayyinah.) This is similar to Allah's statement,
[وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ
كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاخْتَلَفُواْ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَـتُ
وَأُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ]
(And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the
Bayyinat came to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment.) (3:105)
This refers to the people of those divinely revealed Scriptures that were sent
down to the nations that were before us. After Allah established the proofs and
evidences against them, they divided and differed concerning that which Allah
had intended in their Scriptures, and they had many differences. This is like
what has been reported in a Hadith that has many routes of transmission,
«إِنَّ الْيَهُودَ
اخْتَلَفُوا عَلَى إِحْدَى وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً، وَإِنَّ النَّصَارَى اخْتَلَفُوا
عَلى ثِنْتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً، وَسَتَفْتَرِقُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةُ عَلَى
ثَلَاثٍ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً، كُلُّهَا فِي النَّارِ إِلَّا وَاحِدَة»
(Verily, the Jews differed until they became seventy-one sects. And verily,
the Christians differed until they became seventy-two sects. And this Ummah will
divide into seventy-three sects, and all of them will be in the Fire except
one.) They said, "Who are they, O Messenger of Allah'' He replied,
«مَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ
وَأَصْحَابِي»
((Those who are upon) what I and my Companions are upon.)
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