atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/islam/blfaq_islam_sects.htm
Islam does not have nearly as many sects and divisions as does Christianity, but there are a few and it is worth knowing something about them. The two biggest are the Sunnis and the Shi'ites, with the Sunnis being the largest of all and representing the vast majority of Muslims. Shi'ites are a minority everywhere except Iran.
After them, the two most influential sects are the Sufis and the Wahhabis. The Sufis represent a mystical tradition in Islam, whereas the Wahhabis are a strict traditionalist tradition which is dominant on the Arabian peninsula, but has little support elsewhere.
Unlike churches, mosques are not denominational. Despite the differences among Muslims, traditional Friday prayer services are largely similar and Muslims of any background are welcome to attend services at any mosque.
Who are the Sunnis?
Sunnis are Muslims who are considered the more "orthodox" believers. Sunnis follow all of the most traditional beliefs and actions.
Who are the Shi'ites?
The term Shi'a is a shortened form of Shi'at Ali, which means "the party of Ali" - and at the time of Ali's death in 661, that is probably all it was: a party or tendency of people who supported Ali's claims to the caliphate. Over time, they became the largest non-Sunni sect in Islam.
Who are the Sufis?
Sufism is important to the development of Islam because it is in this tradition that the more spiritual and mystical aspects were preserved. This stands in contrast to the mainstream of Islam which, through its first centuries, was more concerned with the expansion and organization of the general community.
Who are the Kahrijites?
In Arabic, their label means "to go out" - they were, in effect, the first Mulism dissidents and rebels, being present almost from the dawn of Islam. Like later dissidents, they chose to separate themselves from the main body of believers, feeling that the majority of Muslims had lost the "true path."
Who are the Wahhabis?
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab could be considered the first modern Islamic fundamentalist. He made the central point of his reform movement the idea that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era was false and should be eliminated.
Who are the Ismailis?
An early Shi'a sect which split from the main group because of a dispute over who should be considered the next Imam.
Who are the Zaidis?
Formed by Zaid, a grandson of Husain, the Zaidis have believed that the true Imam must publicly assert his claim to the title and seek to overthrow the corrupt regime run by unacceptable rulers.
Who are the Fatimids?
The Fatimids are a successor movement to the Isma'ilis and are descendants of Fatima and Ali through the line of Isma'il. In the tenth century, those descendants asserted themselves as caliphs in North Africa, and ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171.
Who are the Nizari?
This sect is actually very well known around the world, but under a different name: the Assassins.
Who are the Alawis?
Also known as Nusayris, the Alawis are a branch of Isma'ilism which has gone so far along its own path that many Muslims no longer even regard it as a form of Islam. The term Alawis actually just means "followers of Ali," which is used in some countries to refer to all Shi'a in general. Some think that they worship Ali as God, but that isn't entirely accurate.
Who are the Druze?
The Druze comprise another sect which is not widely regarded as being "truly" Muslim. This group diverged from mainstream Islam in the eleventh century when some Isma'ilis started to believe that God became manifest in the personality of a prophet or imam.
Who are the Baha'i?
Baha'i is another movement which is descended from Islam, but which most Muslims today no longer regard as authentically Islamic. |
www.religionfacts.com/islam/sects.htm
Islamic sects are not simply "denominations," if that word is understood to mean various valid approaches to the same religion. Members of one Islamic group do not usually recognize members of other groups as fellow Muslims, and open conflict between sects is not uncommon.
Yet, as a whole, Islam is less divided than Christianity and Judaism — the vast majority of the world's Muslims are Sunnis.
Sunnah (Sunni) Islam
With 940 million adherents out of about 1.1 billion Muslims, Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic sect. Followers of the Sunni tradition are known as Sunnis or Sunnites; they sometimes refer to themselves as Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa'h, "adherents to the Sunnah and the assembly."
Sunnis have their historical roots in the majority group who followed Abu Bakr, an effective leader, as Muhammad's successor instead of the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law Ali. The Sunnis are so named because they believe themselves to follow the sunnah ("custom" or "tradition") of the Prophet.
Some general statistics: Algeria is nearly 99% Sunni (Sunni Islam is the state religion), Kuwait is 70% and Afghanistan is 80% Sunni. Sunnis also outnumber Shi'ites in Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Sudan (70%), Syria (80%), Tajikistan (85%), Libya (97%), Jordan (92%) and certain islands like the Maldives, Comoros (98%) and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (80%).
Contrastingly, Iraq is only about 45-60% Sunni, who are concentrated mostly in the central and northern parts of the country. Sunni Muslims are a smaller minority in Iran (10%) and Bahrain (30%).
Sunnis base their religion on the Quran and the Sunnah as understood by the majoroty of the community under the structure of four schools of thought. The four Sunni schools of law (madhahib) - the Hanafi, the Maliki, the Shafi'i and the Hanbali - are sometimes mistakenly understood as different sects, but they are not. These four schools of religious law associate themselves with four great scholars of early Islam: Abu Haneefah, Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad bin Hanbal. These scholars were known for their knowledge and piety throughout the Muslim world. They differed only in minor issues of application of certain principles in the religion and were not in opposition to each other. In fact, Ahmad bin Hanbal was a student of Shafi'i, who was a student of Malik.
Sunnis view Shi'ites as from the ahlul-bidah — the people of innovation. Sunnis oppose Shi'ite beliefs concerning some of the companions of the Prophet, the belief in the Imamate and difference on the Caliphate, and others. Other groups considered to be outside Islam by Sunnis are Nation of Islam, Ahmadiyya, and Ismailis.
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam includes most of the Muslims that are not counted among the Sunni. The primary division within Islam, between Sunni and Shi'a, dates to the death of the Prophet Muhammad when his followers were faced with the decision of who would be his successor as the leader of Islam. Shi'ites are those who followed Ali, the closest relative of Muhammad, as Muhammad's successor. Today there are approximately 120 million Shi'ite Muslims in the world.
The Shia consist of one major school of thought known as the Jafaryia or the "Twelvers," and a few minor schools of thought, as the "Seveners" or the "Fivers." These names all refer to the number of imams they recognize after the death of Muhammad. The term Shi'a is usually meant to be synonymous with the Jafaryia/Twelvers. |
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