An Inquiry into "Hadith of Separation" According to Wahhabism

The "Hadith of Separation" has been narrated in the hadith collections of all the major Islamic denominations suggesting the existence of separation and schism in the Islamic Ummah. In some versions of this narration, there are clauses which have been exploited by Wahhabis. The narration includes, for example, "all of them will be in Hell-fire except for one" and “(Those who follow) that which I and my companions follow" which they use to legitimze their salafist appraoch and to consider only the followers of this cult as the ones who are saved. Thus, according to them all of those denominations that do not suscribe to their way of thinking are infidels and will suffer divine punishments in hell. In this article, the writer examines the purport and chain of the transmission of the hadith and concludes that not only the extra clause in the hadith is criticizable but its purport also does not substantiate the claim of Wahhabis.