37/6. Chapter:
Sunan an-Nasai 4020 — Protecting the Muslim Jama'ah
Killing One Who Splits Away from the Jama'ah (Main Body of Muslims) and Mentioning the Di
Muslim Unity and the Duty to Protect the Jama'ah
Sunan an-Nasai : 4020
Sunan an-NasaiHadith Number 4020
أَخْبَرَنِي أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى الصُّوفِيُّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ مَرْدَانْبَهْ، عَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ عِلاَقَةَ، عَنْ عَرْفَجَةَ بْنِ شُرَيْحٍ الأَشْجَعِيِّ، قَالَ رَأَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ يَخْطُبُ النَّاسَ فَقَالَ " إِنَّهُ سَيَكُونُ بَعْدِي هَنَاتٌ وَهَنَاتٌ فَمَنْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ أَوْ يُرِيدُ تَفْرِيقَ أَمْرِ أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَائِنًا مَنْ كَانَ فَاقْتُلُوهُ فَإِنَّ يَدَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْجَمَاعَةِ فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ مَعَ مَنْ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ يَرْكُضُ " .
'Arfajah bin Shuraih Al-Ashja'I Narrated from:
I saw the Prophet [SAW] on the Minbar addressing the people. He said: 'After me there will be many calamities and much evil behavior. Whoever you see splitting away from the Jama'ah or trying to create division among the Ummah of Muhammad [SAW], then kill him, for the Hand of Allah is with the Jama'ah, and the Shaitan is with the one who splits away from the Ummah, running with him.'
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 4020In-book reference : Book 37, Hadith 55English translation : Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4025
Summary of Sunan an-Nasai Hadith 4020
This hadith about Muslim unity warns that calamities and harmful conduct will appear after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Its main message is the danger of a person deliberately splitting from the Jama'ah or trying to divide the Ummah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. The words connect Allah's support with the united community and describe Shaytan as accompanying the one who separates from it. The teaching is about protecting communal order from deliberate, destructive division, not about ordinary differences of opinion. According to Islamic scholars, commands involving execution or armed force belong to lawful Muslim authority and due legal process; they are not permission for private people to attack anyone. The hadith therefore calls believers to value unity, avoid organized discord, and treat attempts to tear apart a united community as a grave public threat.
What we learn from this hadith
- Remain attached to the Jama'ah and avoid deliberate separation from the Muslim community.
- Creating organized division within a united Ummah is treated as a grave public wrong.
- Allah's help is linked in the text with the Jama'ah, while isolation is linked with Shaytan.
