By Hajiya Maryam Mairo Aminu Tambuwal

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Those evils which befell the Bani Israil shall befall my Ummah, so much so that if there were one amongst them that openly committed fornication with his mother there would be one among my Ummah who would do that too! And the Bani Israil split into seventy-two sects and my Ummah shall split into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in the Fire, except one group.” They (the Sahabah) said: “Which one is that O Rasul Allah?” Whereupon he said: “It is the one to which I and my Companions belong.” [Sahih – Narrated by At-Tirmidhi]
Only one group from the seventy odd groups will go to Jannah while the others will end up in Jahannum. This is precisely because they cast aside the Sunnah and consider it better to formulate and originate religious beliefs and novel ways of worshipping Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) — as if they know better than the very people who surrounded the Messenger (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) and about whom Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) says, “The vanguard (of Islam) – of the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and also those who follow them in good deeds – well pleased is Allah with them, and well pleased are they with Him.” [Quran 9:100]
Throughout the history of Islam many such sects have arisen whose beliefs shake the foundations of Islam. A classical work on the misguidance of various sects, entitled “Talbees Iblees” (The Devil’s Deception), was written by the eminent scholar and perhaps most prolific author in Islamic history, Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (508-597 AH).