Sects and Islam are mutualy exclusive

 

 SECT GAMES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_schools_and_branches

"The Children of Israa’eel divided into seventy-one sects and the Christians divided into seventy-two sects. And my Ummah shall divide into seventy-three sects, all of them being in the Fire except one sect."

So the report goes. The problems start when some among us abandon the principles of moderation and on top of that commit the mistake of assuming that there is "something" outside of the clearly worded text of the Quran and assign a certain "fixed" implied meaning to God's word(s) by using that "outside something", the result is a sect like rigidity. The same rigidity when forced on others creates friction and ultimately Fitna. Since these "outside somethings" have different origins hence different sects is not a surprise

Besides the absurdity of the number game, the whole thing smacks of a morbid sense of competition. So to prove the Prophet wrong all one has to do is announce a new sect when the 73 have been "properly identified" lol I had to go back and put the words in quotes after realizing how on earth will all the 73 bitterly divided groups agree on this particular point when they are inherently different from each other because they don't agree on even the clear worded message of God. The real question is; what is authenticity or validity of any sects/madhab/group beyond "my scholars are better than yours"nonsense?

It is not very difficult to get into the mind of a sect member, instead of defining oneself in the light of Quran and the Prophets Pbuh who acted out the Quran and earlier books, the sect members start to fixate on the sect leaders. The leaders of all sects are manipulators and their only objective is to have a following over which they want to exercise power which in turn is used for the accumulation of Power and/or Wealth.

When the members of sects like Shia, Sunnis or Sufi face off, the results are predictable, the member's self-image is defined by the careful manipulation of information and thought stopping slogans deployed to ensure obedience. The otherness of the members of the rival (s) sect is emphasized and all perceived rewards and punishments are directly linked to the otherness of the competing sect (s) members, the result is a natural clash and the determination to preserve their respective realities which were shaped by the sects cultures in the first place.

The controlled information combined with the otherness of the carefully defined "enemy" results in a perfect hate bomb as predicted by the Quran;

Say, "He is the [one] Able to send upon you affliction from above you or from beneath your feet or to confuse you [so you become] SECTS شِيَعًا and make you taste the violence of one another." Look how We diversify the signs that they might understand. Quran 6:65

Targeting other sects is a sure sign that you belong to one yourself, not to be confused with opposition to sects as such. Sects have no justification in Islam whatsoever. None. There is no such thing as a "good reason" to form one, especially not the one about differentiating yourself from other Muslims who also believe in One God, His books, His messengers, the Day of Judgment and His Angels/spirits. When God forbid the forming of sects do you think He was unaware of these ''good reasons''? What arrogance to the first state that sects are bad but .... (insert your favorite reason here). No buts in God's injunctions, He is/was aware of any ''Good reason" you can dream up. No sects. Period.

Those who run after labels besides theological absurdity are short on logic :)

Sect members try and defend themselves when challenged, that the "reason" they don't call themselves just Muslims (as per the clear instructions of the Quran) is because there are other individuals and groups calling themselves Muslim and they want to distance themselves from these ''liars''. So now if other individuals/groups start to call themselves Sunni, Shias, Sufi (which they do) then you will have to relabel yourself into something else, right? By the original logic you should, in fact, keep on doing it till you reach a logical conclusion of the argument, the individual, a sect of one.

Guess what? After logically painting themselves in a corner, some predictably continue the slippery slope and keep on adding more outrageous labels when perceiving themselves, while others are so seduced by the ''Groupthink'' tricks of their respective sect leaders (read handlers) that they settle down and shape their lives around the new reality which has been carefully constructed for them.

One would think a more logical approach would have been to stick to ''Muslim'' yourself and simply label those people out who renounce the basic teachings of the Quran. But since that option is much more difficult and not easy to make it stick hence removing themselves from the Ummah becomes the default route. But the sad fact is this latter option and the dynamics of sects hold greater promise for those who want to distort the original message and bank on personal worldly gains. The same dynamics seduce vulnerable foot soldiers into a false sense of righteousness and the accompanying false sense of security, incidentally the real attraction of any sect.

Those who are trying to justify their sect by bringing in the ''the Obey the messenger'' argument, I have news for them, those who ''Obey God AND obey the messenger'' are called ''Muslims'' :) This fact has not changed since the time of Prophet Abraham, how do we know this? God told us so, in the Quran.
Here are some of the relevant verses on the issue which obviously had zero effect on the "one true Paradise bound sect".

Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects - you are not with them in anything. Their affair is only [left] to Allah ; then He will inform them about what they used to do.. Quran 6:159

[Or] of those who have divided their religion and become sects, every faction rejoicing in what it has. Quran 30:32

And is it not ironic that these divisions are post Revelation as per the following verse;

And they did not become divided until after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord [postponing the penalty] until a specified time, it would have been concluded between them. And indeed, those who were granted inheritance of the Scripture after them are, concerning it, in disquieting doubt. Quran 42:14

Then this;

Those who conceal any part of the book that God has revealed, and thus make a little profit thereby, take nothing but fire as food; and God will not turn to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor nourish them for growth; and their doom will be painful. (174) They are those who bartered away good guidance for error, and pardon for punishment: How great is their striving for the Fire (175) That is because God has revealed the Book containing the truth; but those who are at variance about it have gone astray in their contrariness. (176) Quran 2:174-176

Three short verse explains the motive of the people and the reasons for forming sects.

There is an urgent need to highlight the guidelines of interpretation embedded in the Quran itself in order to avoid and minimize different interpretation. A source of discord and opposition which results in sects. Those who are hellbent on discord and division use the excuse of different interpretation to gain influence, power and wealth.

And here is the verse relevant to Prophet Abraham;

Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim. And he was not of the polytheists. Quran 3:67