Misguided Sects Apply Quranic Verses About Unbelievers Upon the Believers

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعدى

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Prayers of blessings and peace be upon the One after Whom there is no Prophet

The mainstream of this Ummah is Ahl us-Sunnati wal-Jama’ah, or the Sunni Muslims. This is the one group within the Ummah whose existence has been continuous since the time of the Prophet peace be upon him and his Companions. All other sects and groups that oppose Ahl us-Sunnah have emerged after, usually breaking off from the mainstream Jama’ah, such as the Khawarij, the Shi’ah, the Qadariyah, the Mu’tazilah, and in modern times the liberal reformist groups, the Hadith-rejecters and the like.

These contemporary deviated sects and groups are quite aware that their existence is not ancient or continuous. When, therefore, they are confronted with this fact by Ahl us-Sunnah which is a solid point in refuting them, they respond by citing Ayat of the Quran to justify their dissent from the mainstream Jama’ah of the Muslims. Here I shall present one of those Ayat:

وَاِذَا قِیۡلَ لَہُمُ اتَّبِعُوۡا مَاۤ اَنۡزَلَ اللّٰہُ قَالُوۡا بَلۡ نَتَّبِعُ مَاۤ اَلۡفَیۡنَا عَلَیۡہِ اٰبَآءَنَا ؕ اَوَلَوۡ کَانَ اٰبَآؤُہُمۡ لَا یَعۡقِلُوۡنَ شَیۡئًا وَّلَا یَہۡتَدُوۡنَ

And when it is said to them, ‘Follow that which Allah has sent down,’ they say: ‘Nay, we will follow that wherein we found our fathers.’ What! Even if their fathers had no sense at all and no guidance?

(Surah 2, Ayah 170)

The modus operandi of the modern-day dissenting sects is to accuse the mainstream, Sunni Muslims of having opposed something from the Quran or Revelation that Allah sent down (meaning their flawed interpretation of it), and when the Sunnis respond by citing the Imams and Scholars of the Religion of the past justifying the Sunni belief or practice, these deviants will cite this Ayah or others similar to it to the effect that their fathers (predecessors) were misguided. See how these misguided people cite verses of the Quran that are clearly regarding the polytheist pagans, whose fathers and forefathers were truly misguided and lacked any sense, and apply them upon the Sunnis, whose antecedents were also Sunnis and therefore guided Believers!

For this reason it has been reported that:

وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ ‌يَرَاهُمْ ‌شِرَارَ ‌خَلْقِ ‌اللَّهِ وَقَالَ إِنَّهُمُ انْطَلَقُوا إِلَى آيَاتٍ نَزَلَتْ فِي الكُفَّارِ فَجَعَلُوهَا عَلَى المُؤْمِنِينَ

Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, considered them (the Khawarij) the worst of Allah’s creation, and said: “They apply the Verses revealed about the Unbelievers upon the Believers” (Sahih al-Bukhari; v.9, p.49)