Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of
Islam. There are many different sects or denominations,
schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and
schools of Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Bat ...
, or ''
ʿaqīdah
''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology.
''Aqidah'' go beyond concise statem ...
'' (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different orders (''
tariqa
A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking ''haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth".
...
'') within
Sufism, and within
Sunnī Islam different schools of theology (
Atharī
Atharī theology or Atharism ( ar, الأثرية: / , " archeological"), otherwise referred to as Traditionalist theology or Scripturalist theology, is one of the main Sunni schools of Islamic theology. It emerged as an Islamic scholarly mov ...
,
Ashʿarī,
Māturīdī) and jurisprudence (
Ḥanafī,
Mālikī,
Shāfiʿī,
Ḥanbalī).
Groups in Islam may be numerous (the largest branches are
Shīʿas and
Sunnīs), or relatively small in size (
Ibadis
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
,
Zaydīs,
Ismāʿīlīs). Differences between the groups may not be well known to Muslims outside of scholarly circles, or may have induced enough passion to have resulted in
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
and
religious violence
Religious violence covers phenomena in which religion is either the subject or the object of violent behavior. All the religions of the world contain narratives, symbols, and metaphors of violence and war. Religious violence is violence th ...
(
Barelvi
The Barelvi movement ( ur, بَریلوِی, , ), also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement following the Hanafi and Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, with strong Suf ...
,
Deobandi,
Salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
,
Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
).
There are informal movements driven by ideas (such as
Islamic modernism
Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...
and
Islamism) as well as organized groups with a governing body (
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
,
Ismāʿīlism,
Nation of Islam). Some of the Islamic sects and groups regard certain others as deviant or
accuse them of being not truly Muslim (for example,
Sunnīs frequently discriminate
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
,
Alawites
The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...
,
Quranists
Quranism ( ar, القرآنية, translit=al-Qurʾāniyya'';'' also known as Quran-only Islam) Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42 is a movement within Islam. It holds the belief that traditional religious c ...
, and
Shīʿas).
Some Islamic sects and groups date back to the
early history of Islam
The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims re ...
between the 7th and 9th centuries CE (
Kharijites,
Sunnīs,
Shīʿas), whereas others have arisen much more recently (
Islamic neo-traditionalism
Islamic neo-traditionalism is a contemporary strand of Sunni Islam that emphasizes adherence to the four principal Sunni schools of law (''madhahib''), belief in one of the three schools of theology (Ash'ari, Maturidi, and to a lesser extent the ...
,
liberalism and progressivism,
Islamic modernism
Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...
,
Salafism and Wahhabism) or even in the 20th century (
Nation of Islam). Still others were influential in their time but are not longer in existence (non-Ibadi
Kharijites,
Muʿtazila,
Murji'ah
Murji'ah ( ar, المرجئة, English: "Those Who Postpone"), also known as Murji'as or Murji'ites, were an early Islamic sect. Murji'ah held the opinion that God alone has the right to judge whether or not a Muslim has become an apostate. Conseq ...
).
Overview
![Islam branches and schools](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Islam_branches_and_schools..png)
The original schism between
Kharijites,
Sunnīs, and
Shīʿas among
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
was disputed over the
political and religious succession to the guidance of the
Muslim community
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
(''Ummah'') after the death of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
.
From their essentially political position, the Kharijites developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims.
Shīʿas believe
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is the true successor to Muhammad, while Sunnīs consider
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
to hold that position. The Kharijites broke away from both the Shīʿas and the Sunnīs during the
First Fitna (the first Islamic Civil War);
they were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to ''
takfīr'' (excommunication), whereby they declared both Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims to be either
infidels
An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious.
Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church ...
(''kuffār'') or
false Muslims (''munāfiḳūn''), and therefore deemed them
worthy of death for their perceived
apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
(''ridda'').
In addition, there are several differences within Sunnī and Shīʿa Islam: Sunnī Islam is separated into four main schools of jurisprudence, namely
Mālikī,
Ḥanafī,
Shāfiʿī, and
Ḥanbalī; these schools are named after their founders
Mālik ibn Anas,
Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān,
Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī
, and
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, respectively.
Shīʿa Islam, on the other hand, is separated into three major sects:
Twelvers
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
,
Ismāʿīlīs, and
Zaydīs. The vast majority of Shīʿa Muslims are Twelvers (a 2012 estimate puts the figure as 85%), to the extent that the term "Shīʿa" frequently refers to Twelvers by default. All mainstream Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa Muslims follow the same school of thought, the
Jaʽfari jurisprudence
Jaʿfarī jurisprudence ( ar, الفقه الجعفري; also called Jafarite in English), Jaʿfarī school or Jaʿfarī fiqh, is the school of jurisprudence (''fiqh'') in Twelver and Ismaili (including Nizari) Shia Islam, named after the sixth ...
, named after
Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the
sixth Shīʿīte Imam.
Zaydīs, also known as Fivers, follow the Zaydī school of thought (named after
Zayd ibn ʿAlī).
Ismāʿīlīsm is another offshoot of Shīʿa Islam that later split into
Nizārī
The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent ...
and
Musta‘lī, and the Musta‘lī further divided into
Ḥāfiẓi and
Ṭayyibi.
[Öz, Mustafa, ''Mezhepler Tarihi ve Terimleri Sözlüğü (The History of ]madh'hab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...
s and its terminology dictionary),'' Ensar Publications, İstanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_in ...
, 2011. Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs, also known as "Bohras", are split between
Dawudi Bohras,
Sulaymani Bohras
The Sulaymani branch of Tayyibi Isma'ilism is an Islamic community, of which around 70,000 members reside in Yemen, while a few thousand Sulaymani Bohras can be found in India. The Sulaymanis are sometimes headed by a ''Da'i al-Mutlaq'' from th ...
, and
Alavi Bohras
The Alavi Bohras are a Tayyibi Musta'lavi Isma'ili Shi'i Muslim community from Gujarat, India. In India, during the time of the 18th Fatimid Imam Al-Mustansir Billah around 1093 AD in Egypt, the designated learned people (''wulaat'') wh ...
.
Similarly,
Kharijites were initially divided into five major branches:
Sufri
The Sufris ( ar, الصفرية ''aṣ-Ṣufriyya'') were Khariji Muslims in the seventh and eighth centuries. They established the Midrarid state at Sijilmassa, now in Morocco.
In Tlemcen, Algeria, the Banu Ifran were Sufri Berbers who oppose ...
s,
Azariqa
The Azariqa ( ar, الأزارقة, ''al-azāriqa'') were an extremist branch of Khawarij, who followed the leadership of Nafi ibn al-Azraq al-Hanafi. Adherents of Azraqism participated in an armed struggle against the rulers of the Umayyad Cali ...
,
Najdat
The Najdat were the sub-sect of the Kharijite movement that followed Najda ibn 'Amir al-Hanafi, and in 682 launched a revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate in the historical provinces of Yamama and Bahrain, in central and eastern Arabia.
Among ...
,
Adjarites, and
Ibadis
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
. Of these, Ibadi Muslims are the only surviving branch of Kharijites. In addition to the aforementioned groups, new schools of thought and movements like
Ahmadi Muslims,
Quranist Muslims
Quranism ( ar, القرآنية, translit=al-Qurʾāniyya'';'' also known as Quran-only Islam) Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42 is a movement within Islam. It holds the belief that traditional religious cl ...
, and
African-American Muslims later emerged independently.
Main branches or denominations
Sunnī Islam
Sunnī Islam, also known as ''Ahl as-Sunnah waʾl Jamāʾah'' or simply ''Ahl as-Sunnah'', is by far the largest
denomination of Islam, comprising around 85% of the Muslim population in the world. The term ''Sunnī'' comes from the word ''
sunnah'', which means the teachings, actions, and examples of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
and
his companions (''ṣaḥāba'').
Sunnīs believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the
Muslim community
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
''(Ummah)'' before his death in 632 CE, however they approve of the private election of the first companion,
Abū Bakr. Sunnī Muslims regard the first four caliphs—
Abū Bakr (632–634),
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (Umar І, 634–644),
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish language, Turkish and Persian language, Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and nota ...
(644–656), and
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—as ''
al-Khulafā'ur-Rāshidūn'' ("the Rightly-Guided Caliphs"). Sunnīs also believe that the position of caliph may be attained
democratically
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
, on gaining a majority of the votes, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary
dynastic
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
rule because of the divisions started by the
Umayyads Umayyads may refer to:
*Umayyad dynasty, a Muslim ruling family of the Caliphate (661–750) and in Spain (756–1031)
*Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)
:*Emirate of Córdoba (756–929)
:*Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خ ...
and others. After the fall of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the
Muslim world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
.
Followers of the classical Sunnī
schools of jurisprudence and ''
kalām
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
'' (rationalistic theology) on one hand, and
Islamists
Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...
and
Salafists
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
such as
Wahhabis
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
and
Ahle Hadith, who follow a literalist reading of early Islamic sources, on the other, have laid competing claims to represent the "orthodox" Sunnī Islam. Anglophone Islamic currents of the former type are sometimes referred to as "traditional Islam".
Islamic modernism
Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...
is an offshoot of the
Salafi movement that tried to integrate modernism into Islam by being partially influenced by modern-day attempts to revive the ideas of the
Muʿtazila school by Islamic scholars such as
Muhammad Abduh.
Shīʿa Islam
Shīʿa Islam is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 10–15%
[See:
*
*
* ] of the total Muslim population.
Although a minority in the Muslim world, Shīʿa Muslims constitute the majority of the Muslim populations in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
,
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, and
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
, as well as significant minorities in
Syria,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
,
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, as well as in other parts of the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
.
In addition to believing in the supreme authority of the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and teachings of Muhammad, Shīʿa Muslims believe that Muhammad's family, the ''
Ahl al-Bayt'' ("People of the Household"), including his descendants known as
Imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
, have distinguished spiritual and political authority over the community, and believe that
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and the
rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three ''Rāshidūn'' caliphs.
Major sub-denominations
* The
Twelvers
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
believe in the
twelve Shīʿīte Imams and are the only school to comply with the
Hadith of the Twelve Successors
The Hadith of the Twelve Successors ( ar-at, حَدِيْث ٱلْإِثْنَي عَشَر خَلِيْفَة, ḥadīth al-ithnā ʿashar khalīfah) is a widely-reported prophecy, attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, predicting that the ...
, where Muhammad stated that he would have twelve successors. This sometimes includes the
Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
and
Bektashi
The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
schools.
*
Ismāʿīlīsm, including the
Nizārī
The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent ...
,
Sevener
al-Ismāʿīliyya al-khāliṣa / al-Ismāʿīliyya al-wāqifa or Seveners ( ar, سبعية) was a branch of Ismā'īlī Shīʻa. They broke off from the more numerous Twelvers after the death of Jafar al-Sadiq in 765 AD. They became known as " ...
,
Musta‘lī,
Dawudi Bohra,
Hebtiahs Bohra
The Hebtiahs Bohra are a branch of Mustaali Ismaili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 39th Da'i al-Mutlaq in 1754. They are mostly concentrated in Ujjain in India with a few families who are Heb ...
,
Sulaymani Bohra, and
Alavi Bohra
The Alavi Bohras are a Tayyibi Musta'lavi Isma'ili Shi'i Muslim community from Gujarat, India. In India, during the time of the 18th Fatimid Imam Al-Mustansir Billah around 1093 AD in Egypt, the designated learned people (''wulaat'') who w ...
sub-denominations.
* The
Zaydīs historically derive from the followers of
Zayd ibn ʿAlī. In the
modern era, they "survive only in northern
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
".
Although they are a Shīʿa sect, "in modern times" they have "shown a strong tendency to move towards the Sunni mainstream".
[
* The ]Alawites
The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...
are a distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion and ethno-religious group
An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background.
Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a s ...
that developed between the 9th and 10th centuries CE. Historically, Twelver Shīʿīte scholars such as Shaykh Tusi
Shaykh Tusi ( fa, شیخ طوسی), full name ''Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Hassan Tusi'' ( ar, ابو جعفر محمد بن حسن طوسی), known as Shaykh al-Taʾifah ( ar, links=no, شيخ الطائفة) was a prominent Persian scholar of the ...
didn't consider Alawites as Shīʿa Muslims while condemning their beliefs, perceived as heretical
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. The medieval Sunnī Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah also pointed out that the Alawites were not Shīʿītes.
* The Druze are a distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion and ethno-religious group
An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background.
Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a s ...
that developed in the 11th century CE, originally as an offshoot of Ismāʿīlīsm. The Druze faith further split from Ismāʿīlīsm as it developed its own unique doctrines, and finally separated from both Ismāʿīlīsm and Islam altogether; these include the belief that the Imam Al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh was God incarnate. Thus, the Druze don't identify themselves as Muslims, and aren't considered as such by Muslims either (''See'': Islam and Druze). According to the medieval Sunnī Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah, the Druze were not Muslims, neither ′Ahl al-Kitāb (People of the Book
People of the Book or Ahl al-kitāb ( ar, أهل الكتاب) is an Islamic term referring to those religions which Muslims regard as having been guided by previous revelations, generally in the form of a scripture. In the Quran they are ident ...
), nor '' mushrikin'' (polytheists); rather, he labeled them as '' kuffār'' (infidels).
* The Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
is a distinct monotheistic universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
Abrahamic religion that developed in 19th-century Persia, originally derived as a splinter group from Bábism
Bábism (a.k.a. the Bábí Faith; fa, بابیه, translit=Babiyye) is a religion founded in 1844 by the Báb (b. ʻAli Muhammad), an Iranian merchant turned prophet who taught that there is one incomprehensible God who manifests his will in ...
, another distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion, itself derived from Twelver Shīʿīsm. Baháʼís believe in a utterly transcendent and inaccessible Supreme Creator of the universe, nevertheless seen as conscious of the creation, with a will and purpose that is expressed through messengers recognized in the Baháʼí Faith as the Manifestations of God (all the Jewish prophets, Zoroaster
Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label= Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is ...
, Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
, Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
, Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
, Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, the Báb
The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...
, and ultimately Baháʼu'lláh). Baháʼís believe that God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through his intermediaries, the prophets and messengers who have founded various world religions
World religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the five—and in some cases more—largest and most internationally widespread religious movements. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are always includ ...
from the beginning of humankind up to the present day, and will continue to do so in the future. Baháʼís and Bábis don't consider themselves as Muslims, since both of their religions have superseded Islam, and aren't considered as such by Muslims either; rather, they are seen as apostates from Islam. Since both Baháʼís and Bábis reject the Islamic dogma that Muhammad is the last prophet
The last prophet, or final prophet, is a term used in religious contexts to refer to the last person through whom God speaks, after which there is to be no other. The appellation also refers to the prophet who will induce mankind to turn back to G ...
, they have suffered religious discrimination
Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated u ...
and persecution both in Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and elsewhere in the Muslim world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
due to their beliefs. (''See'': Persecution of Baháʼís
Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...
).
Ghulat movements
Shīʿīte groups and movements who either ascribe divine characteristics to some important figures in the history of Islam
The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims re ...
(usually members of Muhammad's family, the '' Ahl al-Bayt'') or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shīʿa Muslims were designated as ''Ghulat''.
Kharijite Islam
Kharijite (literally, "those who seceded") are an extinct sect who originated during the First Fitna, the struggle for political leadership over the Muslim community, following the assassination in 656 of the third caliph Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
. Kharijites originally supported the caliphate of Ali, but then later on fought against him and eventually succeeded in his martyrdom while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree.
Sufri
The Sufris ( ar, الصفرية ''aṣ-Ṣufriyya'') were Khariji Muslims in the seventh and eighth centuries. They established the Midrarid state at Sijilmassa, now in Morocco.
In Tlemcen, Algeria, the Banu Ifran were Sufri Berbers who oppose ...
s were a major sub-sect of Kharijite in the 7th and 8th centuries, and a part of the Kharijites. Nukkari
The Nukkari or simple Nukkar (also Nakkari or Nakkariyah; in Latin sources named Canarii) were one of the main branches of the North African Ibadi, founded in 784 by Abu Qudama Yazid ibn Fandin al- Ifrani. Led by Abu Yazid al-Nukkari, they rev ...
was a sub-sect of Sufris. Harūrīs were an early Muslim sect from the period of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs (632–661 CE), named for their first leader, Habīb ibn-Yazīd al-Harūrī. Azariqa
The Azariqa ( ar, الأزارقة, ''al-azāriqa'') were an extremist branch of Khawarij, who followed the leadership of Nafi ibn al-Azraq al-Hanafi. Adherents of Azraqism participated in an armed struggle against the rulers of the Umayyad Cali ...
, Najdat
The Najdat were the sub-sect of the Kharijite movement that followed Najda ibn 'Amir al-Hanafi, and in 682 launched a revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate in the historical provinces of Yamama and Bahrain, in central and eastern Arabia.
Among ...
, and Adjarites were minor sub-sects.
Ibadi Islam
The only Kharijite sub-sect extant today is Ibadism
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
, which developed out of the 7th century CE. There are currently two geographically separated Ibadi groups—in Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
, where they constitute the majority of the Muslim population in the country, and in North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
where they constitute significant minorities in Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, and Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
. Similarly to another Muslim minority, the Zaydīs, "in modern times" they have "shown a strong tendency" to move towards the Sunnī branch of Islam.[
]
Schools of Islamic jurisprudence
Islamic schools of jurisprudence, known as ''madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...
'', differ in the methodology
In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for br ...
they use to derive their rulings from the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, ''ḥadīth'' literature, the '' sunnah'' (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
during his lifetime), and the ''tafsīr'' literature (exegetical commentaries on the Quran).
Sunnī
Sunnī Islam contains numerous schools of Islamic jurisprudence (''fiqh'') and schools of Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Bat ...
(''ʿaqīdah''). In terms of religious jurisprudence (''fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
''), Sunnism contains several schools of thought (''madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...
''):
* the Ḥanafī school, founded by Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān (8th century CE);
* the Mālikī school, founded by Mālik ibn Anas (8th century CE);
* the Shāfiʿī school, founded by Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī
(8th century CE);
* the Ḥanbalī school, founded by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (8th century CE);
* the Ẓāhirī
The Ẓāhirī ( ar, ظاهري, otherwise transliterated as ''Dhāhirī'') ''madhhab'' or al-Ẓāhirīyyah ( ar, الظاهرية) is a Sunnī school of Islamic jurisprudence founded by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī in the 9th century CE. It is char ...
school, founded by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī (9th century CE).
In terms of religious creed (''ʿaqīdah
''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology.
''Aqidah'' go beyond concise statem ...
''), Sunnism contains several schools of theology:
* the Atharī
Atharī theology or Atharism ( ar, الأثرية: / , " archeological"), otherwise referred to as Traditionalist theology or Scripturalist theology, is one of the main Sunni schools of Islamic theology. It emerged as an Islamic scholarly mov ...
school, a scholarly movement that emerged in the late 8th century CE;
* the Ashʿarī school, founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (10th century CE);
* the Māturīdī school, founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (10th century CE).
The Salafi movement is a conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
reform branch and/or revivalist movement within Sunnī Islam whose followers don't believe in strictly following one particular ''madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...
''. They include the Wahhabi movement
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, a ...
, an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, and the modern Ahle Hadith movement, whose followers call themselves '' Ahl al-Ḥadīth''.
Shīʿa
In Shīʿa Islam, the major Shīʿīte school of jurisprudence is the Jaʿfari or Imāmī school, named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Shīʿīte Imam. The Jaʿfari jurisprudence is further divided into two branches: the Usuli
Usulis ( ar, اصولیون, fa, اصولیان) are the majority Twelver Shi'a Muslim group. They differ from their now much smaller rival Akhbari group in favoring the use of ''ijtihad'' (i.e., reasoning) in the creation of new rules of ''fiq ...
school, which favors the exercise of '' ijtihad'', and the Akhbari school, which holds the traditions (''aḵbār'') of the Shīʿīte Imams to be the main source of religious knowledge. Minor Shīʿa schools of jurisprudence include the Ismāʿīlī
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-S ...
school ( Mustaʿlī- Fāṭimid Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs) and the Zaydī school, both of which have closer affinity to Sunnī jurisprudence.[ Shīʿīte clergymen and ]jurists
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...
usually carry the title of '' mujtahid'' (i.e., someone authorized to issue legal opinions in Shīʿa Islam).
Ibadi
The ''fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
'' or jurisprudence of Ibadi
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
s is relatively simple. Absolute authority is given to the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and ''ḥadīth'' literature; new innovations accepted on the basis of '' qiyas'' (analogical reasoning) were rejected as ''bid'ah
In Islam, bid'ah ( ar, بدعة; en, innovation) refers to innovation in religious matters. Linguistically, the term means "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy".
In classical Arabic literature ('' adab''), it has been used as a for ...
'' (heresy) by the Ibadis. That differs from the majority of Sunnīs, but agrees with most Shīʿa schools and with the Ẓāhirī
The Ẓāhirī ( ar, ظاهري, otherwise transliterated as ''Dhāhirī'') ''madhhab'' or al-Ẓāhirīyyah ( ar, الظاهرية) is a Sunnī school of Islamic jurisprudence founded by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī in the 9th century CE. It is char ...
and early Ḥanbalī schools of Sunnism.
Schools of Islamic theology
''Aqidah
''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology.
''Aqidah'' go beyond concise stat ...
'' is an Islamic term meaning " creed", doctrine, or article of faith. There have existed many schools of Islamic theology, not all of which survive to the present day. Major themes of theological controversies in Islam have included predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
and free will, the nature of the Quran, the nature of the divine attributes, apparent and esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
meaning of scripture, and the role of dialectical reasoning
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different Opinion, points of view about a subject but wi ...
in the Islamic doctrine.
Sunni
Classical
''Kalām
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
'' is the Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...
of seeking theological principles through dialectic. In Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, the word literally means "speech/words". A scholar of ''kalām'' is referred to as a ''mutakallim'' (Muslim theologian; plural ''mutakallimūn''). There are many schools of Kalam, the main ones being the Ashʿarī and Māturīdī schools in Sunni Islam.
=Ashʿarī
=
Ashʿarīsm is a school of theology founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the 10th century. The Ashʿarīte view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability. Ashʿarī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Māturīdī theology. Historically, the Ashʿarī theology prevails in Sufism and was originally associated with the Ḥanbalī school of Islamic jurisprudence.
=Māturīdī
=
Maturidi, Māturīdism is a school of theology founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī in the 10th century, which is a close variant of the Ashʿarī school. Māturīdī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Ashʿarī theology, and prevails in the Ḥanafī school of Islamic jurisprudence. Points which differ are the nature of belief and the place of human reason. The Māturīdites state that ''Iman (concept), imān'' (faith) does not increase nor decrease but remains static; rather it's ''Taqwa, taqwā'' (piety) which increases and decreases. The Ashʿarītes affirm that belief does in fact increase and decrease. The Māturīdites affirm that the unaided human mind is able to find out that some of the more major sins such as alcohol or murder are evil without the help of revelation. The Ashʿarītes affirm that the unaided human mind is unable to know if something is good or evil, lawful or unlawful, without divine revelation.
Traditionalist theology
Traditionalist theology (Islam), Traditionalist theology, sometimes referred to as the Atharī school, derives its name from the word "tradition" as a translation of the Arabic word ''hadith'' or from the Arabic word ''athar'', meaning "narrations". The traditionalist creed is to avoid delving into extensive theological speculation. They rely on the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and sayings of the Sahaba, seeing this as the middle path where the attributes of Allah are accepted without questioning their nature (''Bi-la kaifa, bi-la kayf''). Ahmad ibn Hanbal is regarded as the leader of the traditionalist school of creed. The modern Salafi movement associates itself with the Atharī creed.
Muʿtazila
Muʿtazila, Muʿtazilite theology originated in the 8th century in Basra when Wasil ibn Ata left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute. He and his followers expanded on the logic and rationalism of Greek philosophy, seeking to combine them with Islamic doctrines and show that the two were inherently compatible. The Muʿtazilites debated philosophical questions such as whether Quranic createdness, the Qur'an was created or co-eternal with God, whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
versus Free will in theology#In Islamic thought, free will, whether God's attributes in the Qur'an were to be interpreted allegorically or literally, and whether sinning believers would have eternal punishment in Jahannam, hell.
Murji'ah
Murji'ah was a name for an early politico-religious movement which came to refer to all those who identified faith (''iman'') with belief to the exclusion of acts. Originating during the caliphates of Uthman and Ali, Murijites opposed the Kharijites, holding that only God has the authority to judge who is a true Muslim and who is not, and that Muslims should consider all other Muslims as part of the community.[Isutzu, Concept of Belief, p. 55-56.] Two major Murijite sub-sects were the were Karamiya and Sawbaniyya.
Qadariyyah
Qadariyyah is an originally derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who asserted that humans possess free will, whose exercise makes them responsible for their actions, justifying divine punishment and absolving God of responsibility for evil in the world. Some of their doctrines were later adopted by the Mu'tazilis and rejected by the Ash'aris.[
]
Jabriyah
In direct contrast to the Qadariyyah, Jabriyah was an early islamic philosophical school based on the belief that humans are controlled by predestination, without having choice or free will. The Jabriya school originated during the Umayyad dynasty in Basra. The first representative of this school was Al-Ja'd ibn Dirham who was executed in 724.[Ибрагим, Т. К. и Сагадеев А. В. ал-Джабрийа // Ислам: энциклопедический словарь / отв. ред. С. М. Прозоров. — М. : Наука, ГРВЛ, 1991. — С. 57-58.] The term is derived from the Arabic root j-b-r, in the sense which gives the meaning of someone who is forced or coerced by destiny. The term Jabriyah was also a derogatory term used by different Islamic groups that they considered wrong, The Ash'ariyah used the term Jabriyah in the first place to describe the followers of, Jahm ibn Safwan who died in 746, in that they regarded their faith as a middle position between Qadariyah and Jabriya. On the other hand, the Mu'tazilah considered the Ash'ariyah as Jabriyah because, in their opinion, they rejected the orthodox doctrine of free will. The Shiites used the term Jabriyah to describe the Ash'ariyah and Hanbalis.
Jahmiyyah
Jahmis were the alleged followers of the early Islamic theologian Jahm bin Safwan who associated himself with Al-Harith ibn Surayj. He was an exponent of extreme determinism according to which a man acts only metaphorically in the same way in which the sun acts or does something when it sets.
Batiniyyah
The ''Batiniyyah, Bāṭiniyyah'' is a name given to an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the ''Batin (Islam), bāṭin'' (inward, esoteric) meaning of texts. It has been retained by all branches of Isma'ilism and its Druze offshoot. Alevism, Bektashism and folk religion, Hurufis and Alawites
The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...
practice a similar system of interpretation.
Sufism
Sufism is Islam's Mysticism, mystical-Asceticism, ascetic dimension and is represented by schools or orders known as ''Tasawwufī-Ṭarīqah.'' It is seen as that aspect of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of inner self. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.
The following list contains some notable Sufi orders:
* The Azeemiyya order was founded in 1960 by Qalandar Baba Auliya, also known as Syed Muhammad Azeem Barkhia.
* The Bektashi order was founded in the 13th century by the Islamic saint Haji Bektash Veli, and greatly influenced during its formulative period by the Hurufism, Hurufi Ali al-'Ala in the 15th century and reorganized by Balım Sultan in the 16th century. Because of its adherence to the Twelve Imams it is classified under Twelver Shia Islam.
* The Chishti order ( fa, چشتیہ) was founded by (Khawaja) Abu Ishaq Shami ("the Syrian"; died 941) who brought Sufism to the town of Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day Afghanistan. Before returning to the Levant, Shami initiated, trained and deputized the son of the local Emir ''(Khwaja)'' Abu Ahmad Abdal (died 966). Under the leadership of Abu Ahmad's descendants, the ''Chishtiyya'' as they are also known, flourished as a regional mystical order. The founder of the Chishti Order in South Asia was Moinuddin Chishti.
* The Kubrawiya order was founded in the 13th century by Najmuddin Kubra in Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan.
* The Mevlevi order is better known in the West as the "whirling dervishes".
* Mouride is most prominent in Senegal and The Gambia, with headquarters in the holy city of Touba, Senegal.
* The Naqshbandi order was founded in 1380 by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. It is considered by some to be a "sober" order known for its silent dhikr (remembrance of God) rather than the vocalized forms of dhikr common in other orders. The Süleymancılar, Süleymani and Khalidiyya orders are offshoots of the Naqshbandi order.
* The Ni'matullahi order is the most widespread Sufi order of Persia today. It was founded by Shah Ni'matullah Wali (d. 1367), established and transformed from his inheritance of the Marufi, Ma'rufiyyah circle. There are several suborders in existence today, the most known and influential in the West following the lineage of Javad Nurbakhsh, who brought the order to the West following the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
* The Noorbakshia Islam, Noorbakshia order, also called Nurbakshia, claims to trace its direct spiritual lineage and chain (silsilah) to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, through Ali, by way of Ali Al-Ridha. This order became known as Nurbakshi after Shah Syed Muhammad Nurbakhsh Qahistani, who was aligned to the Kubrawiya order.
* The Oveysi (or Uwaiysi) order claims to have been founded 1,400 years ago by Uwais al-Qarni from Yemen.
* The Qadiri order is one of the oldest Sufi Orders. It derives its name from Abdul-Qadir Gilani (1077–1166), a native of the Iranian province of Gīlān Province, Gīlān. The order is one of the most widespread of the Sufi orders in the Islamic world, and can be found in Central Asia, Turkey, Balkans and much of East and West Africa. The Qadiriyyah have not developed any distinctive doctrines or teachings outside of mainstream Islam. They believe in the fundamental principles of Islam, but interpreted through mystical experience. The Ba 'Alawiyya, Ba'Alawi order is an offshoot of Qadiriyyah.
* Senussi is a religious-political Sufi order established by Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi. As-Senussi founded this movement due to his criticism of the Egyptian ulema.
* The Shadhili order was founded by Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili. Followers (''murids'' Arabic: seekers) of the Shadhiliyya are often known as Shadhilis.
* The Suhrawardiyya order ( ar, سهروردية) is a Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi (1097–1168).
* The Tijaniyyah order attach a large importance to culture and education, and emphasize the individual adhesion of the disciple (''murid'').
Later movements
African-American movements
Many Atlantic slave trade, slaves brought from Africa to the Western Hemisphere were Muslim slaves in the United States, Muslims, and the early 20th century saw the rise of distinct Islamic religious and political movements within the African-Americans, African-American community in the United States, such as Darul Islam, the Islamic Party of North America, the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB), the Muslim Alliance in North America, the Moorish Science Temple of America, the Nation of Islam (NOI), and the Ansaaru Allah Community. They sought to ascribe Islamic heritage to African-Americans, thereby giving much emphasis on racial and ethnic aspects (see black nationalism and black separatism). These Black Muslims (disambiguation), black Muslim movements often differ greatly in matters of doctrine from mainstream Islam. They include:
*Moorish Science Temple of America, founded in 1913 by Noble Drew Ali (born Timothy Drew). The Moorish Science Temple of America is characterized by a strong African-American ethnic and religious identity.
**Moorish Orthodox Church of America
* Nation of Islam, founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad in Detroit in 1930,[Milton C. Sernett (1999). ''African American religious history: a documentary witness''. Duke University Press. pp. 499–501.] with a declared aim of "resurrecting" the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the African American, black man and woman of America and the world. The Nation of Islam believes that Wallace Fard Muhammad was Allah, God on earth.[ The Nation of Islam doesn't consider the Arabian Muhammad as the final prophet and instead regards Elijah Muhammad, successor of Wallace Fard Muhammad, as the true Messenger of Allah.]
**American Society of Muslims: Warith Deen Mohammed established the American Society of Muslims in 1975. This offshoot wanted to bring its teachings more in line with mainstream Sunni Islam, establishing mosques instead of temples, and promoting the Five pillars of Islam.[''Evolution of a Community'', WDM Publications, 1995.]
**Five-Percent Nation
**United Nation of Islam
Ahmadiyya Movement In Islam
The Ahmadiyya, Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam was founded in British India in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who claimed to be the promised Messiah ("Second Coming of Jesus in Islam, Christ"), the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims as well as a Prophethood (Ahmadiyya), "subordinate" prophet to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ahmadis claim to practice the pristine form of Islam as followed by Muhammad and his Companions of the Prophet, earliest followers. They believe that it was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's task to restore the original ''sharia'' given to Muhammad by guiding the ''Ummah'' back to the "true" Islam and defeat the attacks on Islam by other religions.
There are a wide variety of distinct beliefs and teachings of Ahmadis compared to those of ''most other'' Muslims, which include the interpretation of the Quranic title ''Khatam an-Nabiyyin'', interpretation of the Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam, Messiah's Second Coming, complete rejection of the Naskh (tafsir), abrogation/cancellation of Quranic verses, belief that Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam, Jesus survived the crucifixion and died of old age in India, Ahmadiyya view on Jihad, conditions of the "''Jihad'' of the Sword" are no longer met, belief that Revelation in Islam, divine revelation (as long as no new ''sharia'' is given) will never end, belief in Social cycle theory, cyclical nature of history until Muhammad, and belief in the implausibility of a contradiction between Islamic attitudes towards science, Islam and science. These perceived deviations from normative Islamic thought have resulted in severe persecution of Ahmadis in various Muslim-majority countries, particularly Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, Pakistan, where they have been branded as Non-Muslims and their Islamic religious practices are punishable by the Ahmadi-Specific laws in the Ordinance XX, penal code.
The followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam are divided into two groups: the first being the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, currently the dominant group, and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam. The larger group takes a literalist view believing that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the promised Mahdi and a ''Ummati Nabi'' subservient to Muhammad, while the latter believing that he was only a Mujaddid, religious reformer and a prophet only in an allegorical sense. Both Ahmadi groups are active in ''dawah'' or Islamic missionary work, and have produced vasts amounts of Islamic literature, including Ahmadiyya translations of the Quran, numerous translations of the Quran, translations of the Hadith, Tafsir, Quranic ''tafsirs'', a multitude of List of biographies of Muhammad, ''sirahs'' of Muhammad, and works on the subject of comparative religion among others. As such, their international influence far exceeds their number of adherents. Muslims from more Orthodox sects of Islam have adopted many Ahmadi polemics and understandings of other religions, along with the Ahmadi approach to reconcile Islamic and Western education as well as to establish Islamic school systems, particularly in Africa.
Barelvi / Deobandi split
Sunni Muslims of the Indian subcontinent comprising present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are overwhelmingly Hanafi by fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
have split into two schools or movements, the Barelvi
The Barelvi movement ( ur, بَریلوِی, , ), also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement following the Hanafi and Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, with strong Suf ...
and the Deobandi. While the Deobandi is revivalist in nature, the Barelvi are more traditional and inclined towards Sufism.
Gülen / Hizmet movement
The Gülen movement, usually referred to as the Hizmet movement, established in the 1970s as an offshoot of the Nur Movement and led by the Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, Central Asia, and in other parts of the world, is active in education, with private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as with many American charter schools operated by followers. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue. The Gülen movement, Cemaat movement's structure has been described as a flexible organizational network. Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks. Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely; it appears there are about 300 Gülen movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide.
Islamic modernism
Islamic modernism
Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...
, also sometimes referred to as "modernist Salafism", is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response" attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism, Islamic democracy, democracy, and Islamic attitudes towards science, science.[''Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World'', Thompson Gale (2004)]
Islamism
Islamism is a set of political Ideology, ideologies, derived from various Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist views, which hold that Islam is not only a religion but a political system that should govern the legal, economic and social imperatives of the state. Many Islamists do not refer to themselves as such and it is not a single particular movement. Religious views and ideologies of its adherents vary, and they may be Sunni Islamists or Shia Islamists depending upon their beliefs. Islamist groups include groups such as Al-Qaeda, the organizer of the September 11, 2001 attacks and perhaps the most prominent; and the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest and perhaps the oldest. Although violence is often employed by some organizations, most Islamist movements are nonviolent.
Muslim Brotherhood
The ''Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun'' (with Ikhwan brethren) or Muslim Brotherhood, is an organisation that was founded by Egyptian scholar Hassan al-Banna, a graduate of Dar al-Ulum. With its various branches, it is the largest Sunni movement in the Arab world, and an affiliate is often the largest opposition party in many Arab nations. The Muslim Brotherhood is not concerned with theological differences, accepting both, Muslims of any of the four Sunni schools of thought, and Shi'a Muslims. It is the world's oldest and largest Islamist group. Its aims are to re-establish the Caliphate and in the meantime, push for more Islamisation of society. The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and ''sunnah'' as the "sole reference point for... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community... and state".
Jamaat-e-Islami
The ''Jamaat-e-Islami'' (or JI) is an Islamist political party in the Indian subcontinent. It was founded in Lahore, British India, by Abul A'la Maududi, Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (with alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi) in 1941 and is Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, the oldest religious party in Pakistan. Today, sister organizations with similar objectives and ideological approaches exist in India (Jamaat-e-Islami Hind), Bangladesh (Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh), Kashmir (Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir), and Sri Lanka, and there are "close brotherly relations" with the Islamist movements and missions "working in different continents and countries", particularly those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (Akhwan-al-Muslimeen). The JI envisions an Islamic government in Pakistan and Bangladesh governing by Islamic law. It opposes Westernization—including secularization, capitalism, socialism, or such practices as interest based banking, and favours an Islamic economic order and Caliphate.
Hizb ut-Tahrir
''Hizb ut-Tahrir'' ( ar, حزب التحرير) (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Islamic ways of life in the Muslim world. The caliphate would unite the Muslim community (''Ummah'') upon their Islamic creed and implement the Shariah, so as to then carry the Da'wah, proselytizing of Islam to the rest of the world.
Quranism
Quranist Islam, Quranism[Quranism#DWBRTMIT1996, Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42] or Quraniyya ( ar, القرآنية; ''al-Qur'āniyya'') is a protestant branch of Islam. It holds the belief that Islam, Islamic guidance and law should only be based on the Qur'an, Quran, thus Criticism of Hadith, opposing the religious authority and authenticity of the hadith literature. Quranists believe that God's message is already clear and complete in the Quran and it can therefore be fully understood without referencing outside texts. Quranists claim that the vast majority of hadith literature are forged lies and believe that the Quran itself criticizes the hadith both in the technical sense and the general sense.[''al-Manar'' 12(1911): 693-99; cited in Juynboll, ''Authenticity'', 30; cited in Quranist Islam#DWBRTMIT1996, D.W. Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.120]
Liberal and progressive Islam
Liberalism and progressivism within Islam, Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the Islamic revival, Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th-19th centuries. Liberalism, Liberal and Progressivism, progressive Islamic organizations and movements are primarily based in the Western world, and have in common a religious outlook which depends mainly on '' ijtihad'' or re-interpretation of the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures of Islam. Liberal and progressive Muslims are characterized by a Rationalism, rationalistic, critical examination and re-interpretation of the sacred scriptures of Islam; affirmation and promotion of democracy, gender equality, human rights, LGBT rights, women's rights, religious pluralism, Interfaith marriage in Islam, interfaith marriage, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and freedom of religion; opposition to theocracy and total rejection of Islamism and Islamic fundamentalism; and a modern view of Islamic theology, Islamic ethics, ethics, ''sharia'', Islamic culture, culture, tradition, and other ritualistic practices in Islam.
Mahdavia
Mahdavia, or Mahdavism, is a Mahdiist sect founded in late 15th century India by Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri, who declared himself to be the Muhammad al-Mahdi, Hidden Twelfth Imam of the Twelver Shia tradition. They follow many aspects of the Sunni doctrine. Zikri Mahdavis, or Zikris, are an offshoot of the Mahdavi movement.["Zikris (pronounced 'Zigris' in Baluchi) are estimated to number over 750,000 people. They live mostly in Makran and Las Bela in southern Pakistan, and are followers of a 15th-century mahdi, an Islamic messiah, called Nur Pak ('Pure Light'). Zikri practices and rituals differ from those of orthodox Islam... " Gall, Timothy L. (ed). Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture & Daily Life: Vol. 3 – Asia & Oceania. Cleveland, OH: Eastword Publications Development (1998); p. 85 cited afte]
adherents.com
Non-denominational Islam
Non-denominational Muslims is an umbrella term that has been used for and by Muslims who do not belong to or do not self-identify with a specific Islamic denomination. A quarter of the world's Muslims are non-denominational Muslims.
Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam (organization), Tolu-e-Islam ("Resurgence of Islam") is a non-denominational Muslim organization based in Pakistan, with members throughout the world. The movement was initiated by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez.
Salafism and Wahhabism
''Ahle Hadith''
Ahl-i Hadith ( fa, اهل حدیث, ur, اہل حدیث: ) is a movement which emerged in the Indian subcontinent in the mid-19th century. Its followers call themselves ''Ahl al-Hadith'' and are considered to be a branch of the ''Salafi movement, Salafiyya'' school. Ahl-i Hadith is antithetical to various beliefs and mystical practices associated with folk Sufism. Ahl-i Hadith shares many doctrinal similarities with the Wahhabi movement
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, a ...
and hence often classified as being synonymous with the "Wahhabism#Definitions and etymology, Wahhabis" by its adversaries. However, its followers reject this designation, preferring to identify themselves as "Salafis".
''Salafiyya'' movement
The Salafi movement, ''Salafiyya'' movement is a conservative, ''Islah, Islahi'' (reform) movement within Sunni Islam that emerged in the second half of the 19th century and advocate a return to the traditions of the "devout ancestors" (''Salaf, Salaf al-Salih''). It has been described as the "fastest-growing Islamic movement"; with each scholar expressing diverse views across social, theological, and political spectrum. Salafis follow a doctrine that can be summed up as taking "a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist approach to Islam, emulating the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
and his earliest followers—''al-salaf al-salih'', the 'pious forefathers'....They reject religious innovation, or ''bidʻah'', and support the implementation of ''Sharia'' (Islamic law)."[ The Salafi movement is often divided into three categories: the largest group are the purists (or Political quietism in Islam, quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group are the Islamism, militant activists, who get involved in politics; the third and last group are the Salafi jihadism, jihadists, who constitute a minority.] Most of the violent Islamist groups come from the Salafi jihadism, Salafi-Jihadist movement and their subgroups. In recent years, Jihadi-Salafist doctrines have often been associated with the armed insurgencies of Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist movements and Islamic terrorism, terrorist organizations targeting innocent civilians, both Muslims and Non-Muslims, such as al-Qaeda, Islamic State, ISIL/ISIS/IS/Daesh, Boko Haram, etc. The second largest group are the Salafi activists who have a long tradition of political activism, such as those that operate in organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's major Islamism, Islamist movement. In the aftermath of widescale repressions after the Arab Spring, Arab spring, accompanied by their political failures, the activist-Salafi movements have undergone a decline. The most numerous are the Political quietism in Islam, quietists, who believe in disengagement from politics and accept allegiance to Muslim governments, no matter how tyrannical, to avoid ''Fitna (word), fitna'' (chaos).
Wahhabism
The Wahhabi movement
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, a ...
was founded and spearheaded by the Ḥanbalī scholar and theologian Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, a religious preacher from the Najd region in Arabian Peninsula, central Arabia, and was instrumental in the rise of the House of Saud to power in the Arabian peninsula. Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab sought to Islamic revival, revive and purify Islam from what he perceived as non-Islamic popular religious beliefs and practices by returning to what, he believed, were the Islamic fundamentalism, fundamental principles of the Islamic religion. His works were generally short, full of quotations from the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and Hadith, ''Hadith'' literature, such as his main and foremost theological treatise, ''Kitāb at-Tawḥīd'' ( ar, كتاب التوحيد; "The Book of Oneness"). He taught that the primary doctrine of Islam was the Tawhid, uniqueness and oneness of God (''tawḥīd''), and denounced what he held to be popular religious beliefs and practices among Muslims that he considered to be akin to Bidʻah, heretical innovation (''bidʿah'') and Shirk (Islam), polytheism (''shirk'').
Wahhabism has been described as a conservative, strict, and Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist branch of Sunnī Islam, with Puritanical, puritan views, believing in a literal interpretation of the Quran. The terms "Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
" and "Salafism" are sometimes evoked interchangeably, although the designation "Wahhabism#Definitions and etymology, Wahhabi" is specifically applied to the followers of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his Islah, reformist doctrines. The label "Wahhabi" was not claimed by his followers, who usually refer themselves as ''al-Muwaḥḥidūn'' ("affirmers of the singularity of God"), but is rather employed by Western scholars as well as his critics. Starting in the mid-1970s and 1980s, the international propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism within Sunnī Islam favored by the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf has achieved what the French political scientist Gilles Kepel defined as a "preeminent position of strength in the global expression of Islam."
22 months after the September 11 attacks, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI considered al-Qaeda as "the number one terrorist threat to the United States", journalist Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, Stephen Schwartz and U.S. Senator Jon Kyl have explicitly stated during a hearing that occurred in June 2003 before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security of the United States Senate, U.S. Senate that "Wahhabism is the source of the List of terrorist incidents, overwhelming majority of terrorist atrocities in today's world". As part of the global "War on terror, War on Terror", Wahhabism has been accused by the European Parliament, various Western security analysts, and think tanks like the RAND Corporation, as being "a source of global terrorism". Furthermore, Wahhabism has been accused of causing disunity in the Muslim community
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
(''Ummah'') and criticized for its followers' Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia, destruction of many Islamic, cultural, and historical sites associated with the early history of Islam
The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims re ...
and the first generation of Muslims (Ahl al-Bayt, Muhammad's family and his Companions of the Prophet, companions) in Saudi Arabia.
Population of the branches
See also
* Amman Message
* Aqidah
''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology.
''Aqidah'' go beyond concise stat ...
* Glossary of Islam
* Index of Islam-related articles
* International Islamic Unity Conference (Iran)
* Islamic eschatology
* Islamic studies
* Madhhab
* Outline of Islam
* Schools of Islamic theology
* Shia crescent
* Shia–Sunni relations
* Succession to Muhammad
References
External links
The Four Sunni Schools of Thought
{{Authority control
Islamic branches,
Religious denominations