Those who follow whims and desires are the people of dispute and division

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

What should be understood is that Islam
is a religion of unity. It teaches the Oneness of Allah (Tawheed), which is
the fundamental principle of this religion, and it enjoined all people to
unite on that and cast away anything that may lead to conflict and division,
and it emphatically forbade splitting and differing from one another. Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And hold fast, all of you
together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an), and be not divided among
yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favour on you, for you were enemies one to
another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you
became brethren (in Islamic Faith)”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:103]. 

Then after that He, may He be exalted,
said (interpretation of the meaning):

“And be not as those who divided
and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is
they for whom there is an awful torment”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:105].

And He, may He be glorified, said
(interpretation of the meaning):

“And obey Allah and His
Messenger, and do not dispute (with one another) lest you lose courage and
your strength departs, and be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are
As‑Saabiroon (the patient)”

[al-Anfaal 7:46]

“and be not of Al‑Mushrikoon
(the polytheists, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allaah).

Of those who split up their
religion (i.e. who left the true Islamic Monotheism), and became sects,
[i.e. they invented new things in the religion (Bid‘ah), and followed their
vain desires], each sect rejoicing in that which is with it.”

[ar-Room 30:31, 32]. 

Hujjat al-Qiraa’aat
(278) and Tafseer al-Qurtubi (14/32). 

It was narrated from Ibn Mas‘ood that
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not differ,
for verily those who came before you differed and thus they were doomed.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3476). 

Al-Haafiz (may Allah have mercy on him)
said: 

This hadeeth encourages us to be united
and in harmony, and is a warning against division and dissent. It is a
prohibition against arguing about the Qur’an unjustifiably. Even worse than
that is when a verse indicates a meaning that is different to a person’s own
opinion, then you find him trying hard to interpret it in a manner different
from what it appears to mean, so that the meaning will be in harmony with
his own opinion, and he will end up arguing in support of his opinion and
persisting in that. End quote. 

It was narrated that al-Bara’ ibn
‘Aazib said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) used to enter between the rows from one side to the other. He would
touch our chests and shoulders and say: “Do not differ, or else your hearts
will differ.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood (664); classed
as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

Ibn Maajah (85) narrated that ‘Abdullah
ibn ‘Amr said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) came out to his companions when they were disputing about the Divine
decree, and it was as if pomegranate seeds had burst on his face (i.e., it
turned red) because of anger. He said, “Have you been commanded to do this,
or were you created for this purpose? You are using one part of the Qur’an
against another part, and this is what led to the doom of the nations who
came before you.”

Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh Ibn Maajah (1/157) 

It was narrated that ‘Arfajah ibn
Shurayh said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) say: “There will be fitnah and innovations. Whoever wants to
divide this ummah when it is united, strike him with the sword, no matter
who he is.”

Narrated by Muslim (1852). 

The texts that speak of this matter are
too many to be counted. Our aim here is to point out that Islam does not
call for division; rather it calls for the opposite of that, namely harmony
and unity, but that should only be by uniting on the truth. This is the only
way to unite. 

It is stipulated that unity should be
upon the truth and solving disputes should be done on the basis of the
truth, because people are influenced by their whims and desires, and they
have different backgrounds, and therefore their understanding of different
issues of Islam may vary, but the one who seeks the truth on the basis of
sound evidence will find it, clear and free of any defects. 

The Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) spoke of the condition of his ummah after he was gone, as
he said: “I enjoin you to fear Allah and to hear and obey, even if it be an
Abyssinian slave. Whoever among you lives after I am gone will see great
disputes; you must adhere to my Sunnah and the way of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs. Hold on to it and cling fast to it. And beware of newly-invented
matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every
innovation is a going astray.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood (4607) and Ibn
Maajah (44); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah. 

According to the report of Ibn Maajah:
“I am leaving you on a clear day whose night is like its day. No one will
deviate from it after I am gone but one who is doomed. 

So he instructed us to adhere to the
Sunnah as a religious obligation. He affirmed that differences would arise
in the ummah as part of Allah’s decree, but these differences should be
resolved in the light of sharee‘ah, and he described newly invented matters
as misguidance, and this is in harmony with the texts quoted above. 

It is not Islam that is divided into
sects that differ from one another and oppose one another; rather it is the
people who differ according to how far away they are from the religion and
the extent to which they have abandoned the Sunnah of their Prophet and
followed their whims and desires. 

It was narrated Ibn Maajah (3992) and
Ibn Abi ‘Aasim in as-Sunnah (53) that ‘Awf ibn Maalik al-Ashja‘i (may
Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “The Jews split into seventy-one sects, one of
which will be in

Paradise and seventy in Hell. The Christians split into seventy-two sects,
seventy-one of which will be in Hell and one in
Paradise. 
By the One in Whose hand is my soul, my ummah will split into seventy-three
sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy-two in Hell.” It was
said: O Messenger of Allah, who are they? He said: “The jamaa’ah (the main
body of the Muslims).”

Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
as-Saheehah (1492). 

According to another report: “The
(path) on which I and my companions are.” Narrated and classed as saheeh by
at-Tirmidhi (2641). 

Secondly: 

Ahl as-Sunnah, or the Salafis – as
these are synonymous – are the ones who are steadfast in following the Book
of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him), and following the teachings of the righteous early generations in
their words, actions and conduct. This is one of the bases of the
differences between them and other groups. What I mean is that they refer
everything to the text of the Qur’an and Sunnah first of all, especially in
matters of belief, and they follow the approach of the righteous early
generations in all of that. They give precedence to all of that over human
thought and philosophical ideas concerning that which is beyond human minds
of matters of the unseen. 

Please see the answer to questions no.
6280 and 10121 

And Allah knows best.