Islamic schools and branches

The religion of Islam has many divisions, sects, schools, traditions, and related faiths.

This page attempts to record and summarize these various beliefs.

Major Branches

Sunni

Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam - the Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'ah. According to most sources, present estimates indicate that approximately 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and approximately 15% are Shi'a. ^[1]

Unlike the Shia belief, Sunni believe that Muhammad died without appointing a successor to lead the Muslim community. After an initial period of confusion, a group of his most prominent companions gathered and elected Abu Bakr, the Prophet's close friend and father-in-law, as the first Caliph.

Sunnis initially believed that the position of Caliph should be democratically chosen, but after the first four Rightly Guided Calliphs the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another Caliph.

Shi'a

Shi'a Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam.

Shi'a Muslims believe that Ali was appointed by Muhammad to be the direct successor and leader of the Muslim community. They regard him as the first Imam, which continued as a hereditary position through Ali's descendants. The largest group of Shi'a Muslims believe in a total of twelve Imams. The twelfth Imam is believed to have gone into occulation, and will appear again just before the end times. The Shi'a Hadiths include the sayings of the Imams.

Sufi

An umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam, Sufism is the school of esoteric Islamic philosophy, based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as a definite goal to attain. This is not precisely a branch of its own since there are Sufis who are primarily Sunni-oriented and others who are primarily Shia-oriented. The primary difference that all Sufis share in common is the mystic, esoteric view of faith and God.

Sunni schools of thought

Madhhab is an Islamic term that refers to a school of thought or religious jurisprudence, or fiqh, within Sunni Islam. Each of the Ashaab had a unique school of jurisprudence, but these schools were gradually consolidated or discarded so that there are currently four recognized schools

Hanafi

Founded by Imam Abu Hanifa, Hanafi is considered to be the school most open to modern ideas. It is predominant among Sunni Muslims in northern Egypt, the Indian subcontinent, Iraq, Turkey and in many western countries.

Hanbali

Hanbali is considered to be the most conservative of the four schools. The school was started by the students of Imam Ahmad, whose name was Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 855). Hanbali jurisprudence is predominant among Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula

Maliki

The Maliki school derives from the work of Imam Malik. Maliki is practiced in North Africa and West Africa. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims.

Shafi'i

Shafi'i was founded by Imam Shafi'i. It is practiced throughout the Ummah, but is most prevalent in Egypt, Somalia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, and is the school of thought officially followed by the government of Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia. It is followed by approximately 15% of Muslims world-wide.

Shi'a Sects

Jafari

Twelvers are members of the group of Shi'a Islam who believe in twelve Imams. They are the largest Shi'a school of thought (80%), predominant in Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain.

Ismailiyah

The Ismailis and Twelvers both accept the same initial Imams from the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and therefore share much of their early history. However, a dispute arose on the succession of the Sixth Imam, Ja'far as-Sadiq. The Ismailis became those who accepted Ja'far's eldest son Ismail as the next Imam, whereas the Twelvers accepted a younger son, Musa al-Kazim.

Zaiddiyah

Zaiddiyahs separated from the Twelver and Ismaili sects of Shi'a Islam over a disagreement as to who the fifth Imam was. Twelvers and Ismailis believe it was Muhammad al-Baqir, while Zaidis hold that it was his half-brother, Zayd ibn Ali.

Alawi

The Alawi are classified under Twelver Shi'a Islam, but differ in a special regard for Ali as a Manifestation of God. Alawites are considered a secretive group, and do not accept converts or openly publish their texts. They are prominent in Syria.

Alevi

Alevis are sometimes categorized as part of Twelver Shi'a Islam, and sometimes as its own religious tradition. They have many Sufi characteristics and express belief in the Qur'an and the Shi'a Imams, but reject polygamy and accept religious traditions predating Islam, like Turkish Shamanism. They are significant in East-Central Turkey.

Dawoodi Bohras

Dawoodi Bohras are the main branch of the Bohras (a Musta'li subsect of Ismaili Shi'a Muslims) based in Pakistan and India. The Bohras believe that the 21st Imam, Imam Taiyab abi al-Qasim (a direct descendant of Muhammad via his daughter Fatima_Zahra) went into seclusion and established the offices of the Da'i al-Mutlaq (داعي المطلفق), Ma'zoon (مأذون) and Mukasir (مكاسر).

Kharijite Sects

Kharijite is a general term embracing a variety of Islamic sects which reject the Caliphate of Ali as invalid. They first emerged in the late 7th century, concentrated in today's southern Iraq, and are distinct from Sunni or Shi'a.

Ibadi

The only surviving Kharijite sect is the Ibadi, which is concentrated principally in Oman, being formed there less than 50 years after the death of Muhammad. They believe that non-Ibadi Muslims are unbelievers, and follow a line of caliphs that goes from Abu Bakr, to Umar, to Uthman, to Ali, then to Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi. Specific beliefs include: friendship and unity with the practicing true believers, dis-association and hostility towards unbelievers and sinners, and reservation towards those whose status is unclear.

Sufri

Kalam Schools

Kalam is one of the 'religious sciences' of Islam. In Arabic the word means "speech" or "discourse", and refers to the Islamic tradition of seeking theological principles through dialectic. The term is usually translated as 'theology'.

Ash'ari

Ash'ari is a school of early Muslim philosophy founded in the tenth century. It was instrumental in drastically changing the direction of Islam and laid the groundwork to "shut the door of ijtihad" centuries later in the Ottoman Empire. The Asharite view was that comprehension of unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability.

Maturidi

A Maturidi is one who follows Abu Mansur Al Maturidi's theology, which is a close variant of the Ash'ari school. Points which differ are the nature of belief and the place of human reason. The Maturidis state that belief (iman) does not increase nor decrease but remains static; it is piety (taqwa) which increases and decreases. The Ash'aris say that belief does in fact increase and decrease. The Maturidis say 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 Ash'aris say that the unaided human mind is unable to know if something is good or evil, lawful or unlawful, without divine revelation.

Murjite

Mu'tazili

Mu'tazili theology originated in the 8th century in al-Basrah when Wasil ibn Ata left the teaching lessons of al-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 Mu'tazili debated philosophical questions such as whether the Qur'an was created or eternal, whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination versus 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 hell.

Sufi Orders

Bektashi

The Bektashi Order was founded in the 13th century by the Islamic saint Hajji Bektash Wali, and greatly influenced during its fomulative period by the Hurufi Ali al-'Ala in the 15th century and reorganized by Balim Sultan in the 16th century. Bektashi are concentrated in Turkey and Albania.

Qadiri

The Qadiri Order is one of the oldest Sufi tariqahs, derives its name from Abdul Qadir Jilani (1077-1166), a native of the Iranian province of Gilan. In 1134 he was made principal of a Hanbalite school in Baghdad.

The order is one of the most widespread of the Sufi orders in the Islamic world and can be found in India, Pakistan, Turkey and the Balkans and much of East and West Africa. The Qadiriyyah has not developed any distinctive doctrines or teachings outside of mainstream Islam. They believe in the fundamental principles of Islam, but interpreted through mystical experience.

Naqshbandi

Suhrawardiyya

Chishti Order

Other sects

The followers of these sects consider themselves to be Muslim, but are considered Non-Muslims by the mainstream Muslims of all sects.

Zikri

Zikri is based around the teachings of Syed Mohammad Jaunpuri, a 15th century Mahdi claimant. In religious practice, the Zikris differ greatly from mainstream Muslims, and there is debate about whether to call them Sunni, Sufi, or a sect of their own. Zikris perform five times daily prayers called Zikr in which sacred verses are recited, as compared to the orthodox practice of Salah. Most Zikris live in Balochistan, but a large number also live in Karachi, interior Sindh and Iran.

Ahmadiyyah

Members of the Adhmadiyya (also called Qadiani and Mirzai) movement are followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the promised Messiah, and Mahdi at end of the nineteenth century. The followers are divided into two groups, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, the former believing that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a non-law bearing Prophet, and the latter believing that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was only a revivalist. Most Ahmadiyyah consider themselves Muslims but they are condired non-Muslim by the other Muslims because of the issue of prohpehthood of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Moorish Science

This faith was founded by Timothy Drew in 1913 in the United States. Its main tenet is that African Americans were descended from the Moors and thus were originally Islamic. Its followers claim it to be a sect of Islam but it also has almost equal influences in Buddhism, Christianity, Freemasonry, Gnosticism and Taoism. They have their own version of Qur'an, known as the "Circle Seven Koran".

Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam was founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 with a declared aim of "resurrecting" the spiritual, mental, social and economic condition of the black man and woman of America and the world. The expressed teachings of the Nation of Islam have been subject to many changes, with at one point believing Fard to be God incarnate, being re-named the Muslim American Society, having a major division, and then a reconciliation. It is viewed by almost all Muslims as a heretical cult.

Submitters

Dr. Rashad Khalifa founded this faith. It is regarded by most Muslims as heretical for its rejection of hadith and sunnah as a source of religious doctrine and practice, and the belief that Rashad Khalifa was the consolidating and purifying Messenger of the Covenant prophesied in the Bible (Malachi 3:1-21, Luke 17:22-36, & Matthew 24:27) and Qur'an (3:81). The original group attended the Tucson, Arizona mosque founded by Khalifa. However, the majority of Submitters are scattered throughout the world.[1].

Movements within sects

Barelwi

The Barelwis are followers of a movement within Sunni Islam that started in India, who follow the fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa. They maintain the correctness of popular Sunnism, i.e. the form of folk Sunnism that is practiced by the majority of the Sunni Muslims of the world. This, at times, may even include visiting graves, limited veneration the Prophet or saints/walis, Milad, etc., all of which are held to be correct by Barelwis. The fiercest opponents of the Barelwis are Sunni reformationist movements such as Deobandism in India, and Wahabbism in Saudi Arabia. Generally Barelwis call themselves the Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamaah, or often, sipmply Sunnis.

Deobandi

Deobandi are Muslims of South Asia and Afghanistan who follow the fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa. The Taliban are reputed to follow the teachings of the Deoband school, although a strict and simplistic version of the school's teachings.

Salafism

Salafis preach Islamic monotheism, or tawhid, and gained significant teachings from Ibn Taymiya, a 14th century Syrian scholar. Salafism is in general opposed to Sufism and Shi'a Islam, which they regard as heresies. Salafi theology advocates a puritanical and legalistic stance in matters of faith and religious practice. They see their role as a movement to restore Islam from what they perceive to be innovations, deviances, heresies and idolatries.

Wahhabism

Salafism was revived by the 18th-century teacher Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab in Arabia, and was instrumental in the rise of the House of Saud to power. Wahhabism is a puritanical and legalistic Islamic movement under the Sunni umbrella, and is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the Qur'an and hadith, it also accepts various commentaries including Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Kitab al-Tawhid ("Book of Monotheism"), and the works of the earlier scholar Ibn Taymiyya. They are often associated with the Hanbali maddhab.

Liberals

Liberal and progressive movements have in common a religious outlook which depends mainly on ijtihad or re-interpretations of scriptures. Liberal Muslims believe in greater autonomy of the individual in interpretation of scripture, a critical examination of religious texts, gender equality, and a modern view of culture, tradition, and other ritualistic practices in Islam.

Islamism

Islamism is a term that refers to a set of political ideologies derived from various fundamentalist views, which hold that Islam is not only a religion, but a political system governing the legal, economic and social imperatives of the state. The religious views of Islamist organizations vary. The most prominent group is probably Al-Qaeda, which is believed to be responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks. Other groups include the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party in Egypt, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Although violence is often employed by some organizations as a means to an end, not all Islamist movements are violent.

Tablighi Jama'at

Originating in India in the Mewat province, Tablighi Jama'at aims to bring spiritual awakening to the world Muslims. It was Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas who laid the spiritual foundation of the Movement.

Related Faiths

The followers of these religions do not consider themselves to be Muslim, but have a strong connection to the religion of Islam.

Yazidi

The Yazidi are adherents of a small Middle Eastern religion whose followers are sometimes called "devil worshippers" by mainstream Muslims. This is because they sometimes refer to their god as "Shatan". They are primarily ethnic Kurds, and most Yazidis live near Mosul, Iraq. Yazidi theology is complex, and in fact it's a closely guarded secret. They are crypto-pagans. They venerate a great leader they call Sheik Adi, a supreme creator, and another deity called "Melek Taus", variably translated as 'King Peacock' or 'The Peacock Angel'. Like the Druze and other crypto-pagan groups, they have suffered persecution from the dominant Muslims, and have, as a result, taken up Islamic and Arabic practices as a cover for their pagan religion.

Druze

The Druze are a small distinct community whose religion resembles Islam, with aspects of Greek philosophy. Many Muslims consider them to be Muslims, but Druze do not consider themselves to be Islamic. The religion developed in the 11th century around the figure of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, a Caliph who claimed to be God. The Druze keep the tenets of their Faith secret, and very few details are known. They neither accept converts nor recognize conversion from their religion to another. They are located primarily in the Levant.

Bábism

In 1844 a young man from Shiraz, Iran proclaimed to be the Mahdi and took on the title of "The Báb". The religion he began officially broke away from Islam, and gained a significant following in Iran. His followers were called heretics by the state, and in 1850 the Báb was publicly executed. Most Babis accepted the claims of Bahá'u'lláh, henceforth considering themselves Bahá'ís. ^[2]

Bahá'í

Following the death of the Báb the majority of Bábís turned to Bahá'u'lláh, a respected leader of that community, eventually calling themselves Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís believe that the Bábí and Islamic prophecies of the end times and the return of the Mahdi and Jesus were fulfilled. Bábís believe Bahá'u'lláh to be a Manifestation of God, a messenger on par with Muhammad. It is sometimes categorized as a sect of Islam, which is denied by its adherents and the Muslim mainstream. Bahá'ís are persecuted as apostates in some Islamic countries, especially Iran.

Five Percenters

A branch of the Nation of Islam, this group formed in Harlem, New York in the 1960s. Their beliefs focus on bringing justice to African-American youth, and they believe God is black. They have little relation to mainstream Islam, except that they use the expression Allahu Akbar.

References

^ Sunni and Shia Islam, Country Studies, retrieved April 04, 2006
^ Religious Dissidence and Urban Leadership: Bahais in Qajar Shiraz and Tehran, by Juan Cole, originally published in Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 37 (1999): 123-142

External links

Schisms and Heterodoxy Among Muslims

[1] Sunni and Shia Islam, Country Studies, retrieved April 04, 2006

[colebabi-2] Religious Dissidence and Urban Leadership: Bahais in Qajar Shiraz and Tehran, by Juan Cole, originally published in Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 37 (1999): 123-142

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