The Urgency Of Science In Maintaining The Unity Of The Ummunity: A Study Of The Hadith Concerning The Division Of The Islamic Ummah

Abstract

This study examines the hadith concerning ignorant people and knowledgeable individuals based on the hadith of the fragmentation of the Muslim community, employing a scientific approach to hadith research that includes takhrīj, iʿtibār al-sanad, sanad criticism, matn criticism, and analysis of the hadith’s substantive meaning. This research is motivated by the reality of fragmentation within the Muslim ummah, which necessitates a strategic role for knowledgeable individuals as well as awareness among the ignorant in maintaining communal unity. The study adopts a qualitative descriptive method using classical hadith analysis as developed by prominent hadith scholars such as Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Suyūṭī, and al-Tirmidhī. The findings indicate that the hadith of the fragmentation of the ummah is transmitted through multiple chains of narration, including those from Companions such as Abū Hurayrah, Anas ibn Mālik, ʿAwf ibn Mālik, and Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, thereby classifying it as a mashhūr hadith in terms of meaning. Based on iʿtibār analysis and sanad criticism, the hadith is assessed as ḥasan li-ghayrihi and even ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi according to some scholars due to the mutually reinforcing transmission routes, while from the perspective of matn criticism it consider not contradict the Qur’an nor other authentic hadiths. Substantively, this hadith emphasizes that knowledgeable individuals bear a significant responsibility in preserving the purity of Islamic teachings and the unity of the ummah, whereas ignorant individuals are urged to seek knowledge so as not to become a source of deviation and division. Thus, this hadith contains important educational and moral values that remain relevant to contemporary Muslim religious life.