Alsalamu Alaykom, According to the prophet'S PBUH hadith, muslims will be divided into 72 sects, all will go to hell, except one which is ahl al sunnah and jama'a. 1- Does it mean that the other sects will remain in hell for eternity or will just receive some punishment in hell fire? 2- How many deviant sects do we know in this day? Please name some of them. 3- What is the percentage of these deviant sects of the entire muslim population knowing that sunni muslims form around 85-90 % of the muslim community? 4-How can we relate this hadith with the saying of Allah subhanahu wata'ala that the followers of prophet Mohamed PBUH are the best nation among all nations? Thank you

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The saying of the Prophet about the deviated sects ‘all of them will be in Hellfire’ is considered a threat to those sects, but the narration does not state whether they will be eternally in Hellfire, or that they will be punished and then they will be admitted to Paradise. The issue of eternity in Hellfire is not mentioned in the narration, as stated by the scholars .

However, it is known that the threat of being punished in Hellfire was mentioned regarding non-Muslims as well as disobedient Muslims. Therefore, those (sects) who committed an innovation that takes them out of the fold of Islam, like Al-Jahmiyyah sect and other deviated sects, then they will be eternally in Hellfire, and those who committed an innovation which does not take them out of the fold of Islam, are considered amongst the disobedient Muslims and their matter is to Allaah; He will punish them if He Wills, and He will forgive them if He so Wills.

It is not possible for us to precisely determine all these sects. Nonetheless, it is important to mention the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah about these sects as he said: “…As regards determining these sects, then people have written books about it. However, in order to authoritatively assert that the described (the mentioned) sect is among the 72 sects, then there must be evidence proving it, as Allaah forbade speaking without knowledge in general, and forbade speaking on His behalf without knowledge. …In addition to this, many people label certain sects based on what they think in order to fulfill their desires, and so, they consider the sect which they follow and the followers of their leader as being Ahlus-Sunnah wal-jamaa’ah, while they consider all those who differ from it as innovators, and this is indeed a clear misguidance. The people who are upon the truth only follow the Prophet who does not speak from his own inclination and desires, rather, he only follows the revelation which was revealed to him. We are obliged to believe in him in relation to any matter which he informed us about, and obey him in all his orders….”

Moreover, it is not possible to determine the number of sects that exist today as they are so many, and it is equally difficult to mention all their affiliation and names. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 81262 and 81638.

You should know that the narration in question does not contradict the saying of Allaah (which means): {You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind.}[Quran 3:110] This verse refers to the nation that existed at the time the verse was revealed, (i.e. the companions ) and the nation that came after them and followed their steps, (i.e. the saved sect). Ibn ‘Abbaas said (in relation to this saved sect): “They are those who migrated from Makkah to Madeenah, and fought in the battles of Badr and Al-Hudaybiyyah.” ‘Umar said: “Whoever does like them, will be like them.” It was also said that this sect refers to the nation of the Prophet meaning the pious and the people of excellence amongst them. In any case, the deviated sects are not meant by the verse and there is no contradiction between the Prophetic narration and the verse. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 83162 and 81413.

Allaah Knows best.