Who are: Ahl Sunnah wa Jamaah, Khawarij & Murjiaah?

Who is the Ahl-Sunnah-Wa-Jamaah?

Ahl-Sunnah-Wa-Jamaah are in between the Murjiaah and the Khawarij, and do not make Takfir upon a sinner nor do we say that ones Imaan is completed as long a person has pronounced the Shahadah without actions. Actions such as; changing the Sharia, aiding the Kuffar (disbelievers), praying to graves etc., which belongs under the category of al-Kufr-al-Akbar, by which a persons Islam is nullified if believed or acted upon.

Who are the Khawarij?

They do not differ between actions that do not lead to disbelief and those that do. So whoever commits a major sin according to them or constantly commits a minor sin is a Kafir (disbeliever). They also say that whoever differs with them or is not from them is a Kafir (disbeliever) too. Najdah bin 'Amir said: “Whoever looks, a small look, or lies even a small lie, and he insists on it, then he is a Mushrik.” [al-Farqu baynal-Firaq for al-Baghdadi, p 68]

Abdullah bin Yahya al-Abaadi said when he became the ruler over Yemen:
“Whoever commits fornication, then he is a Kafir (disbeliever). Whoever steals then is a Kafir (disbeliever). Whoever drinks alcohol then he is a Kafir (disbeliever), and whoever doubts that he is a Kafir (disbeliever) is a Kafir (disbeliever) too.” Also, it is important to note that the Khawarij - on the whole - do Takfir of Uthmaan, Aisha, az-Zubayr, Talha and Abdullah bin Abbas, radiallahu Ta’ala anhum.

Who are the Murjiaah?

Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymia said; “It has also been narrated by Ibn Shaaheen and Al-lalkaa'iy from Saeed Ibn Jubair that he said: “No statement is accepted without action. And no statement and action is accepted without (pure) intention. And no statement and action and intention are accepted unless it is in accordance with the Sunnah. This statement has also been narrated from Al-Hassan Al-Basry who used the word “is not valid” instead of “is not accepted.”

In this is a rejection of the position of the sect called the Murjiaah, who hold that verbal statement (i.e. the declaration of faith) is sufficient. Rather, he informs us that statement and action are both necessary, since faith (Imaan) is: profession and action. Both are necessary, as we have explained at length elsewhere. And we have explained that “belief” of the heart, and the declaration of the tongue, along with the presence of dislike for Allah and His laws, and arrogance in front of Allah and His laws, cannot be called faith (Imaan) by the consensus of the believers, not until this “belief” is joined by righteous action. The origin of action is the action of the heart, and that is its love, and its overwhelming respect and humility which remove dislike and arrogance.

Then, they went on to say: Statement and action is not accepted except with correct intention. This is clear: statement and action which is not undertaken purely for the sake of Allah is not accepted by Allah.

Then, they went on to say: Statement and action and intention are not accepted except with its being in accordance with the Sunnah, and the Sunnah here means the shari'a (law). And that is what Allah and His Prophet (saws) have ordered. Statement, action, and intention which is not enjoined by the Sunnah, enjoined by the shari'a, i.e. which Allah has ordered is bid'a (innovation), and all innovation is going astray, and is not of that which Allah loves, so Allah does not accept it, and it is not valid. Examples are the actions of the Mushrikeen, and the Christians and Jews.’