By Editorial Staff
Ahl As-Sunnah wa Al-Jama`ah are the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), those who succeeded them perfectly and those who adhered to their approach and adopted their way from believers till the end of time.
They are the most adhering people to the Sunnah, which the Prophet (peace be upon him) intended in his saying, “Indeed the children of Isra’il split into seventy-two sects, and my nation will split into seventy-three sects. All of them are in the hell except one sect.” They said, “And which is it O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “What I am upon and my Companions.” (At-Tirmidhi)
They were called Ahlu As-Sunnah because they observed the Sunnah of the Prophet and followed in his steps. Sheikh Ibn `Uthaimeen said, “Ahl As-Sunnah wa Al-Jama`ah are those who stick to the Sunnah (in its broad sense), unite upon it and paid no attention to other than the view of the Muslim mainstream and Sunnah in both the matters of faith and practice. They are called Ahl As-Sunnah (people of Sunnah) because they adhere to the Sunnah, and they called Ahl Al-Jama`ah because they are united upon following it.” (see Majmu` Al-Fatawa wa Ar-Rasa’il by Ibn `Uthaimeen)
Enjoy watching this interesting video by brother Waleed Basyouni in which he explains the terms of Ahl As-Sunnah wa Al-Jama`ah both linguistically and terminologically. He touches on the creedal dimension of the term which characterizes the most correct ideology from among the whole Islamic school of thought.
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Source: The video is taken from the Amjaonline.org