Hmmmmm!

Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

assalamu alaikum

>>>There are several Haddiths which mentions division of Ummah into 72 or so, sects.<<<

Yes but it seems your understaning of the term sect in islam is not correct. It does not mean any group in the muslims ummah, it is rediculous to say every muslim group is a sect.  Sunni islam is not a sect in Islam , The mahdhabs which consist of roughly 90% of all sunni muslims can not be called a sect no matter how much "spin" you put on the term. The scholars of islam have all followed a madhhab even those the salafi's follow so unless you are not sunni i dont see from what angle you are making this point.

>>>The word "Madhab" has different meanings in different languages - for example in Persian and Urdu, it means 'religion'.<<<

That is not relavent. Do you know what a madhhab is?

>>>The 'four' are not 'madhabs', but "Schools of Fiqah (Jurisdiction)" - the fifth being "Fiqah-e-Ja'afariah".<<<

There is no such thing as a Ja'fariah madhhab from sunni point of view, Obviously you are shia then br?

>>>As I posted earlier - Sufi could belong to Shi'ite or Sunni denomination of Islam. Historically, it were the Sufi Safvid dynasty, which converted Sunni majority into a minority in Iran, over a few centuries ago.<<<

Sufi's can be shia or sunni that is true, but a person can only understand how if he knows what Sufism/Tassawuf is. If you understand that then you know that calling sufis a sect is like saying anyone who practised Usul al fiqh belongs to a sect which is rediculous.

Rehmat wrote: Angel wrote: ...but then again I don't know how many there are today there could be 72 That's really interesting observation - I mean someone 'dosn't know' but still like to criticize others' opinion

hehehe

Yes Muslims have 72 sects; Christians have 73, while Jews have 71. Now please spare me to list all of them

someone has done their homework  ok I spare you the job of listing them all but it would be interesting to see , maybe one day

And by the way, there's another hmmmm...72 sects, 72 virgins - a conspiracy going on  nausheen should have left the conspiracy forum

Also

Variants of Shi'a Islam

The variants of Shi'a Islam differ regarding the rights of succession after the death of Prophet Muhammad, but they agree that the Imams were usurped from their rightful position.

Sevener Shi': The Ismailis are the largest group among Sevener Shi'as.

Fiver Shi'as or Zaidis: A group that is found mostly in Yemen that believes in the four Caliphs of Islam like the Sunnis, and thereafter Hasan and Hussayn and Ali ibn Husayn thereafter they hold to the Imamate of Zayd bin Ali bin Hussayn. Zaydis also reject the notion of divinely appointed Imams.

Both major Shi'a sects believe that the last Imam (either the seventh or the twelfth) has been hidden alive by God. Beliefs vary as to what will happen when the last Imam, called the Mahdi ("the guided one"). It is generally believed that the last Imam will be accompanied by Jesus and will affirm Muhammad's message to mankind from God.

The number 72 is not to be taken literally. It only denotes a large number of sects. This is a device of the Classical Arabic language that is frequently encountered; they say a number but what they mean is only 'a large number'.