From Mouths to Sects: The Formation of Religious Division in Light of Qur’anic Discourse

Introduction

The Noble Qur’an presents a recurring conception of the structure of deviation after the descent of revelation, not as a sudden event but as a gradual process that takes shape over time within human consciousness and the accumulation of religious discourse. This process begins with the production of utterance, then develops into a redirection of meaning, then into the fixing of this understanding in written form, and finally reaches the stage of attributing this content to God, after which multiple religious entities with distinct sources of authority emerge.

Mouths → utterance → distortion → writing → claiming it is from God = divided sects (denominations)

This model does not offer an external explanation; rather, it attempts to trace the mechanisms through which religious plurality takes shape from within the Qur’anic text itself, as the text describes it in the moments following revelation.

First: The Stage of Mouths — Producing the Initial Discourse

﴿يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ﴾ (They wish to extinguish the light of God with their mouths.) [التوبة: ٣٢]

At this stage, an initial human discourse takes shape in opposition to revelation, remaining at the level of oral production, without being fixed, recorded, or transformed into a textual structure. This is the stage of producing an idea before it enters the cycle of accumulation and structural formation.

Second: The Stage of Utterance — The Formation of a Position and Meaning

Discourse shifts from mere verbal expression to an “utterance” that carries meaning and a position: “they said,” “they say.” At this stage, human understanding of the text or idea crystallizes, differences in reception begin to emerge, and multiple positions take shape in relation to a single source; yet this discourse remains within the realm of unfixed oral circulation.

Third: The Stage of Distortion — Reshaping Meaning

﴿يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَوَاضِعِهِ﴾ (They distort words away from their proper places.) [النساء: ٤٦]

At this stage, the text is not eliminated; rather, its signification or orientation is altered, or it is removed from its original context and placed in new contexts. Here the separation between the text and its original meaning begins, through the reproduction of signification rather than merely its transmission.

Fourth: The Stage of Writing — Fixing Human Understanding

﴿يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتَابَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ﴾ (They write the Book with their own hands.) [البقرة: ٧٩]

At this stage, human interpretation is fixed in textual form, so that understanding becomes a source of authority capable of transmission and continuity, and a stable epistemic structure takes shape that extends beyond oral circulation. Here knowledge moves from a state of fluid interpretation to a state of fixed text.

Fifth: The Stage of Claiming — Attributing the Text to God

﴿ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَذَا مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ﴾ (Then they say, “This is from God.”) [البقرة: ٧٩]

At this moment, the human product is attributed to divine revelation, the divine original becomes intermingled with the human addition, and the text acquires absolute religious authority within collective consciousness. Here the transformation from human understanding into a “sacralized religion” is completed.

Sixth: The Outcome — The Formation of Divided Sects

﴿فَتَقَطَّعُوا أَمْرَهُم بَيْنَهُمْ زُبُرًا ۖ كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ﴾ (But they divided their affair among themselves into fragments, each faction rejoicing in what it possessed.) [المؤمنون: ٥٣]

The final outcome, then, is divided sects: each group has its own textual or interpretive system, each denomination its own source of authority, and each faction its own certainty, which it regards as self-sufficient.

From Revelation to Division: The General Structure

Qur’anic discourse presents a graduated conception of the transformation of religious unity into plurality and division, not as a sudden occurrence but as a cumulative process: a single revelation presumed to be the source of guidance and unity, followed by human intervention through understanding, interpretation, and addition, then the accumulation of this understanding in the form of interpretations and schools of thought, then the transformation of these interpretations into independent sources of authority, and finally the formation of distinct religious identities.

﴿إِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً﴾ (Indeed, this community of yours is one community.) [المؤمنون: ٥٢]

This meaning is also affirmed by ﴿وَمَا اخْتَلَفَ فِيهِ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ﴾ (None differed concerning it except those who had been given it, after clear proofs had come to them), and ﴿وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا﴾ (And do not be like those who became divided and differed).

The Involvement of Satan and His Steps

In Qur’anic discourse, the concept of “the steps of Satan” is presented as a gradual process that does not occur all at once, but through a series of cumulative influences beginning with inward whispering that affects motives and conceptions:

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ﴾ (O you who believe, enter into peace, all of you, and do not follow the steps of Satan; indeed, he is a manifest enemy to you.) [البقرة: ٢٠٨]

In this context, the process can be understood as a gradual movement beginning with the whispering that directs and impels an idea, then moving to the production of discourse through mouths, then becoming an utterance that carries meaning and a position, then entering the stage of distortion, where signification is reshaped away from its original intent, then being fixed in writing that becomes a stable source of authority. This product is then attributed to God or to the Messenger as a sacred source, before the process ends in the formation of divided sects and multiple religious schools.

Conclusion

According to this Qur’anic conception, religious division appears not as a random event or a single moment, but as a complex, gradual process that begins with the production of utterance, passes through distortion, then fixation in writing, then attribution to God, and ends in a plurality of distinct religious schools and sects.

Mouths → utterance → distortion → writing → claiming it is from God = divided sects (denominations)

This model reflects the image of division after unity as portrayed by Qur’anic discourse, in which a single revelation is transformed over time into multiple systems as a result of the interaction between human utterance, recording in writing, interpretation, and attribution to the divine.