What are the conditions for a community (jama'ah) that a Muslim must follow according to Islamic law (shar'an)?

A Muslim must follow the truth and join the victorious group (Al-Ta'ifa Al-Mansoura), the People of Sunnah (definition) and Community (Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah), who follow the righteous predecessors (Salaf Saliḥ). Several hadiths describe this group, among them: "A section of my people will remain on God's command, unharmed by those who betray them or oppose them, until God's command comes to them while they are in that state."

These hadiths indicate that the victorious group is a faction within the Muslim community, unharmed by those who oppose them, and they are promised victory and prominence in this world.

The characteristics of the victorious group are: they are upon truth (upon God's command and the correct religion), standing by God's command (carrying the banner of da'wah, enjoining good and forbidding evil), manifest until the Day of Judgment (clear, firm on the truth, and dominant), and patient.

Scholars have differed in identifying the members of this group. Some said they are the people of knowledge, others said they are the people of hadith (definition). Al-Nawawi mentioned that they might include various types of believers such as the brave, the jurists, the hadith scholars, the ascetics, and those who enjoin good and forbid evil. It is not a condition for them to be gathered in one place. Those engaged in religious sciences are most worthy of this description.