Iftiraq al-Umma ila Nayf wa Sabeen Firqa
- Author died
- 1182 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-ʿĀṣimah
Iftiraq al-Umma ila Nayf wa Sabeen Firqa (The Splitting of the Community into Seventy-Odd Sects) is a hadith treatise by the Yemeni scholar Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-San'ani (1099–1182 AH / 1688–1768 CE), dedicated to the commentary and analysis of the Prophetic tradition regarding the sectarian division of the Muslim community .
Title and Subject Matter
In manuscript catalogs and bibliographic records, the work is known under several titles, including Sharh Hadith Iftiraq al-Umma ila Nayf wa Sabeen Firqa (Commentary on the Hadith of the Community's Splitting into Seventy-Odd Sects), Jawab Su'al 'an Hadith Iftiraq al-Umma (Answer to a Question Concerning the Hadith of the Community's Splitting), and Risala fi Sharh Hadith Sataftariqu Ummati (Treatise Commenting on the Hadith "My Community Shall Divide"), reflecting its format as an explanatory response to a query regarding the narration .
The treatise examines the famous hadith of sectarian splitting (hadith al-iftiraq), in which the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ reported the division of previous nations—the Jews into seventy-one sects and the Christians into seventy-two—and foretold that the Muslim community would split into seventy-three sects . Al-San'ani addressed this tradition across his works, analyzing the authenticity of its variant phrasings, notably the addition stating that كلها في النار إلا فرقة واحدة ("all of them are in the Fire except one") . He noted the theological difficulties raised regarding this addition in relation to mutawatir-in-meaning reports establishing that the Muslim community is a mercy-endowed nation ( أمة مرحومة ) and the best of nations, documenting scholarly interpretations such as restricting the dividing community in the warning to the community of invitation (ummat al-da'wah) rather than the responding community (ummat al-ijabah) .
Manuscripts
Copies of the treatise are preserved in several manuscript repositories in Saudi Arabia, including the Central Library in Riyadh (MS 2558) and the King Abdulaziz Library and al-Mahmudiyya Library in Medina (MS 2585/5) .
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