Muʿāwiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“The people of the two previous scriptures split in their religion into seventy-two sects, while this nation will split into seventy-three sects—meaning divergent desires. All of them will be in the Fire except one: the Jamāʿah.”
He also said:
“From my community there will emerge people in whom those desires will course just as rabies courses through its host, leaving no vein or joint unaffected. By Allah, O assembly of Arabs, if you do not uphold what Muḥammad has brought, others among humankind are even more likely to uphold it.”
This ḥadīth is soundly preserved through the chain of Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr, from al-Azhar ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥarāzī, from Abū ʿĀmir ʿAbdullāh ibn Laḥī, from Muʿāwiyah, and it was narrated by
(1) Reported by Ahmad, al-Musnad 4:102; Abu Dawud (abridged) in the Book of Sunnah, chapter “Clarification of the Sunnah,” no. 4597 (5/5–6); Ibn Abi Asim, Kitab al-Sunnah, section “Reprehensible Passions,” nos. 1–2 (1/7–8) through two isnads, omitting the phrase, “By Allah, O assembly of Arabs…,” and by al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak 1:128.
(2) Safwan ibn Amr ibn Hirm al-Saksaki al-Himsawi (Abu Amr), deemed trustworthy; a fifth-tier transmitter from whom Muslim and others narrate. He died in 155 AH/772 CE. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:368, no. 109.
(3) Azhar ibn Abd Allah al-Harazi al-Himsawi, rated truthful but accused of nasb (anti-Alid bias). Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’i, and al-Tirmidhi narrate from him; he is classed as fifth tier. See: Khulasa al-Tahdhib, p. 25; Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:52, no. 351.
(4) Copies C and D read “al-Harami,” a copyist’s corruption.
(5) The printed edition reads “Ibn Yahya,” which is erroneous; the correct reading is “Ibn Lahi.” He is Abd Allah ibn Lahi al-Hawzani al-Shami al-Himsawi (Abu Amir), trustworthy, a second-generation Successor. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:444, no. 573.