Asbat and ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak—both venerable imams among the distinguished leaders of the Muslim community—said: “The foundations (usul) of innovations (bidah) are four: the Rafidah, the Khawarij, the Qadariyya, and the Murjiʿah.” It was said to Ibn al-Mubarak: “What about the Jahmiyya?” He replied that those people are not of Muḥammad’s community, adding, “Indeed, we recount the words of the Jews and Christians, yet we cannot recount the words of the Jahmiyya.” This position was adopted by a group of scholars among Ahmad’s followers and others, who stated: “The Jahmiyya are disbelievers and therefore do not fall within the seventy-two sects, just as the hypocrites who conceal disbelief and profess Islam outwardly—the zindiqs—are not included among them.” Others among Ahmad’s companions and their adherents held that the Jahmiyya do fall within the seventy-two sects, and thus they raised the number of foundations of innovation to five. According to their view, each of these five heretical groups comprises twelve sects; according to the first view, each of the four groups comprises eighteen sects. See: al-Shariʿah by al-Ajurri, p. 15; al-Sunnah by ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Imam Ahmad, pp. 9–10; Bayan Talbis Iblis by Ibn al-Jawzi, pp. 19–23. (1) These are the ones referred to in the hadith narrated by Abū Hurayrah (may God be pleased with him), in which the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: “The Jews split into seventy-one or seventy-two sects, and the Christians likewise, and my community will split into seventy-three sects.” This hadith is recorded in this wording by al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan (5/25), Book of Faith, chapter on the division of this community, hadith no. 2640, where he remarks: “The hadith of Abū Hurayrah is good and authentic.” It is also transmitted in the same chapter from Saʿd, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, and ʿAwf ibn Mālik. Variants of this hadith, with different wordings and many chains, are reported from several Companions; see Sunan Abī Dāwūd (5/4), Book of Sunnah, chapter “Explanation of the Sunnah,” hadith no. 4596; Sunan ibn Mājah (2/1321–1322), Book of Tribulations, chapter on the division of the community; Musnad al-Imām Ahmad (2/332; 3/145); and al-Sunnah by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim (1/32–36). (2) The text enclosed in quotation marks is an insertion. “wan bi-baʿḍ” is an addition found in manuscripts S and T. I have inserted “qawl” to make the sentence coherent. In the original copy, after “ya’khudh” there is a blank space equivalent to one word; in manuscripts S and T, after “bi-baʿḍ” there is a blank space equivalent to two words.