Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, Madhhab, and schools of Islamic theology, or Aqidah (creed). Within Sunni Islam, there may be differences, such as different orders ( tariqa) within Sufism, different schools of theology (Atharī, Ashʿarī, Maturidi) and jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shāfiʿī, Hanbali).
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 and religious violence (Barelvism, Deobandism, Salafism, Wahhabism).
Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches are known as non-denominational Muslims.
Overview
The original schism between
Kharijites,
Sunni Islam, and
Shia Islam among
Muslims was disputed over the political and religious succession to the guidance of the
Ummah (
Ummah) after the death of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad.
From their essentially political position, the Kharijites developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims.
Shīʿas believe
Ali is the true successor to Muhammad, while Sunnīs consider
Abu Bakr 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
Takfir (excommunication), whereby they declared both Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims to be either
Kafir (kuffār) or
Munafiq (munafiqun), and therefore deemed them worthy of death for their perceived apostasy (ridda).
In addition, there are several differences within Sunnī and Shīʿa Islam: Sunnī Islam is separated into four main schools of jurisprudence, namely Maliki, Hanafi, Shāfiʿī, and Hanbali; these schools are named after their founders Mālik ibn Anas, Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān, Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, respectively.
Zaydism, 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 and Musta'lī, and the Musta'lī further divided into Ḥāfiẓi and Ṭayyibi.
Similarly, Kharijites were initially divided into five major branches: , Azariqa, Najdat, Adjarites, and Ibadis. Of these, Ibadi Muslims are the only surviving branch of Kharijites. In addition to the aforementioned groups, new schools of thought and movements like Ahmadiyya, Quranism, and African-American Muslims later emerged independently.
Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches are known as non-denominational Muslims.
Main branches or denominations
Sunnī Islam
Sunni Islam, also known as
Ahl as-Sunnah waʾl Jamāʾah or simply
Ahl as-Sunnah, is by far the largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 87-90% 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 and his companions (
ṣaḥāba).
Sunnīs believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Ummah (Ummah) before his death in 632 CE, however they approve of the private election of the first companion, Abu Bakr.
Followers of the classical Sunnī Madhhab and Kalam (rationalistic theology) on one hand, and Islamism and Salafi movement such as Wahhabism 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.
Shīʿa Islam
Shia Islam is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 10–13%
[See:
] of the total Muslim population.
Although a minority in the Muslim world, Shīʿa Muslims constitute the majority of the Muslim populations in
Iran,
Iraq and
Azerbaijan, as well as significant minorities in
Syria,
Turkey, South Asia,
Yemen,
Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia,
Lebanon, as well as in other parts of the
Persian Gulf.
In addition to believing in the supreme authority of the Quran 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, have distinguished spiritual and political authority over the community,[Corbin (1993), pp. 45–51] and believe that Ali, 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.[Sadeq Tabatabaei (1979), pp. 41–44]
Major sub-denominations
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The Twelvers believe in the Twelve Imams and are the only school to comply with the Hadith of the Twelve Successors, where Muhammad stated that he would have twelve successors. This sometimes includes the Alevism and Bektashi Order schools.
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The Isma'ili are an esoteric Shīʿīte branch that accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the sixth Imam. Their thought is heavily influenced by philosophy of Neoplatonism.
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The Zaydism historically derive from the followers of Zayd ibn ʿAlī. In the modern era, they "survive only in northern Yemen".
[
]
Ghulat movements
Shīʿīte groups and movements who either ascribe divine characteristics to some important figures in the history of Islam (usually members of Muhammad's family, the
Ahl al-Bayt) or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shīʿa Muslims were designated as
Ghulat.
-
The Alawites—a distinct Arab ethno-religious group—is the only ghulat sect still in existence today.
Offshoots of Shīʿa Islam
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The Ali-Illahism are a distinct syncretic religious movement which has been practiced in parts of the Luristan region in Iran which combines elements of Shīʿa Islam with older religions. It centers on the belief that there have been successive incarnations of the Deity throughout history, and Ali-Illahis reserve particular reverence for ʿAlī who is considered one such incarnation.
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The Druze are a distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion and ethno-religious group that developed in the 11th century CE, originally as an offshoot of Ismāʿīlīsm.
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The Baháʼí Faith is a distinct monotheistic universal Abrahamic religion that developed in Qajar Iran, originally derived as a splinter group from Bábism, another distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion, itself derived from Twelver Shīʿīsm.
Kharijites
The
Kharijites (literally, "those who seceded") are a branch 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.
It is an extinct sect, except the
Ibadism, whose roots go back to them.
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.
were a major sub-sect of Kharijite in the 7th and 8th centuries, and a part of the Kharijites. Nukkari was a sub-sect of Sufris. Harūrīs were an early Muslim sect from the period of the Rashidun (632–661 CE), named for their first leader, Habīb ibn-Yazīd al-Harūrī. Azariqa, Najdat, and Adjarites were minor sub-sects.
Ibadism
The only Khariji Islam sub-sect extant today is
Ibadism, which developed out of the 7th century CE. There are currently two geographically separated Ibadi groups—in
Oman, where they constitute the majority of the Muslim population in the country, and in North Africa where they constitute significant minorities in
Algeria,
Tunisia, and
Libya.
Similarly to another Muslim minority, the
Zaydism, "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, differ in the methodology they use to derive their Ahkam from the Quran, Hadith, the sunnah (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime), and the Tafsir (exegetical commentaries on the Quran).
Sunnī
Sunni Islam contains numerous schools of Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh) and schools of Islamic theology ( ʿaqīdah).
-
the Hanafi school, named after Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān (8th century CE);
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the Maliki school, named after Mālik ibn Anas (8th century CE);
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the Shāfiʿī school, named after Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (8th century CE);
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the Hanbali school, named after Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (8th century CE);
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the Zahiri school, founded by Dawud al-Zahiri (9th century CE).
In terms of religious creed ( Aqidah), Sunnism contains several schools of theology:
-
the Atharī school, a scholarly movement that emerged in the late 8th century CE;
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the Ashʿarī school, founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (10th century CE);
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the Maturidi school, founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (10th century CE).
The Salafi movement is a conservative reform branch and/or Islamic revival movement within Sunnī Islam whose followers do not believe in strictly following one particular madhhab. They include the Wahhabism, 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-Hadith.
Shīʿa
In Shia Islam, the major Shīʿīte school of jurisprudence is the Jaʿfari or Imāmī school,
Ibadism
The fiqh or jurisprudence of is relatively simple. Absolute authority is given to the Quran and Hadith; new innovations accepted on the basis of qiyas (analogical reasoning) were rejected as bid'ah (heresy) by the Ibadis. That differs from the majority of Sunnīs,[Mansoor Moaddel, Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse, p. 32. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.] and with the Zahiri and early Hanbali schools of Sunnism.[Christopher Melchert, The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law: 9th–10th Centuries C.E., p. 185. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1997.]
Schools of Islamic theology
Aqidah is an Islamic term meaning "creed", doctrine, or article of faith.[J. Hell. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "'Aḳīda", vol. 1, p. 332.]
Sunnism
Classical
Kalam is the Islamic philosophy of seeking theological principles through dialectic. In Arabic, 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 Maturidi 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 Maturidi.
Māturīdīsm
Maturidi 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,
Atharism
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). Ahmad ibn Hanbal is regarded as the leader of the traditionalist school of creed. Western scholars of Islamic studies remark that it would be incorrect to consider Atharism and Hanbalism as synonymous, since there have been Hanbali scholars who have explicitly rejected and opposed the Athari theology.
Muʿtazilism
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 Mu'tazilite resolved many theological and philosophical discourse issues such as whether the Qur'an was created or eternal with God, whether evil was created by God or existed by itself, the problem of destiny versus free will, whether the Qur'an should be interpreted allegorically or literally. In this regard, Mu'tazila places more emphasis on rationality in answering Islamic theological and philosophical questions.
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.[W. Madelung. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Murdji'a", vol. 7, p. 605.] 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 Karamiya and Sawbaniyya.
Qadariyyah
Qadariyya 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.[J. van Ess. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Ķadariyya", vol.4, p. 368.] 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.[Josef van (January 17, 2011). Der Eine und das Andere. Berlin, New York: DE GRUYTER. ISBN 9783110215786] 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.[William Montgomery Watt: "Djabriyya" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Bd. II, S. 365a] The Shiites used the term Jabriyah to describe the Ash'ariyah and Hanbalis.[M. Heidari-Abkenar: Die ideologische und politische Konfrontation Schia-Sunna am Beispiel der Stadt Rey des 10.-12. Jh. n. Chr. Inaugural-Dissertation, Universität Köln, 1992]
Jahmiyya
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
Bāṭiniyyah is a name given to an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the 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, and Alawites practice a similar system of interpretation.[M.G.S. Hodgson. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Bāṭiniyya", vol. 1, p. 1098.]
Sufism
Sufism is Islam's Mysticism-Asceticism 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.[Trimingham (1998), p. 1]
The following list contains some notable Sufi orders:
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The Azeemiyya order was founded in 1960 by Qalandar Baba Auliya, also known as Syed Muhammad Azeem Barkhia.
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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 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.
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The Chishti order () 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.
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The Kubrawiya order was founded in the 13th century by Najmuddin Kubra in Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan.
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The Mevlevi order is better known in the West as the "whirling dervishes".
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Mouride is most prominent in Senegal and The Gambia, with headquarters in the holy city of Touba, Senegal.
[ "Mourides Celebrate 19 Years in North America" by Ayesha Attah. The African magazine. (n.d.) Retrieved November 13, 2007.]
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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 Süleymani and Khalidiyya orders are offshoots of the Naqshbandi order.
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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 circle.
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The Noorbakshia order,
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The Oveysi (or Uwaiysi) order claims to have been founded 1,400 years ago by Uwais al-Qarni from Yemen.
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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. 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'Alawi order is an offshoot of Qadiriyyah.
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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.
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The Shadhili order was founded by Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili. Followers ( Arabic: seekers) of the Shadhiliyya are often known as Shadhilis.
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The Suhrawardiyya order () is a Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi (1097–1168).
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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 slaves brought from Africa to the Western Hemisphere were Muslims,
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Moorish Science Temple of America, founded in 1913 by Noble Drew Ali (born Timothy Drew).
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Moorish Orthodox Church of America
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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 and the world.[Elijah Muhammad. History of the Nation of Islam. BooksGuide (2008). pp. 10.] 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.
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American Society of Muslims: Warith Deen Mohammed established the American Society of Muslims in 1975.
[ Evolution of a Community, WDM Publications, 1995.][Lincoln, C. Eric. (1994) The Black Muslims in America, Third Edition, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) page 265.]
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Five-Percent Nation
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United Nation of Islam
Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam
The Ahmadiyya was founded in British India in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who claimed to be the promised Messiah ("Second Coming of Christ"), the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims as well as a "subordinate" prophet to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
There are a wide variety of distinct beliefs and teachings of Ahmadis compared to those of most other Muslims,
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. (1970). 052107567X, Cambridge University Press. 052107567X
Barelvi / Deobandi split
Sunni Muslims of the Indian subcontinent comprising present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are overwhelmingly Hanafi by fiqh have split into two schools or movements, the Barelvi 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,[ Portrait of Fethullah Gülen, A Modern Turkish-Islamic Reformist] Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks.
Islamic modernism
Islamic modernism, also sometimes referred to as "modernist Salafism",[ Salafism Modernist Salafism from the 20th Century to the Present][ Salafism Tony Blair Faith Foundation][ Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, Thomson Gale (2004)]
Islamism
Islamism is a set of political Ideology, derived from various 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 الإخوان 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 Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (with alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi) in 1941 and is 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 () (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, Pan-Islamism 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)
Quranism
Quranist Islam [Brown, Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought, 1996: p.38-42] or Quraniyya (; al-Qur'āniyya) is a quran only[ al-Manar 12(1911): 693-99; cited in Juynboll, Authenticity, 30; cited in D.W. Brown, Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought, 1996: p.120]
Liberal and progressive Islam
Liberal Islam originally emerged from the Islamic revival of the 18th–19th centuries.
Mahdavia
Mahdavia, or Mahdavism, is a Mahdiist sect founded in late 15th century India by Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri, who declared himself to be the Hidden Twelfth Imam of the Twelver Shia tradition.["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 after .]
Non-denominational Muslims
"Non-denominational Muslims" () is an umbrella term that has been used for and by Muslims who do not belong to a specific Islamic denomination, do not self-identify with any specific Islamic denomination, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches.
Non-denominational Muslims constitute the majority of the Muslim population in seven countries, and a plurality in three others: Albania (65%), Kyrgyzstan (64%), Kosovo (58%), Indonesia (56%), Mali (55%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (54%), Uzbekistan (54%), Azerbaijan (45%), Russia (45%), and Nigeria (42%).
In 1947, the non-sectarian movement Jama'ah al-Taqrib bayna al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah was founded in Cairo, Egypt.
Salafism and Wahhabism
Ahle Hadith
Ahl-i Hadith (, : ) 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 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 Wahhabism and hence often classified as being synonymous with the "Wahhabis" by its adversaries. However, its followers reject this designation, preferring to identify themselves as "Salafis".[Alex Strick Van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan, p. 427. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2012. "Ahl-e Hadith: Literally translates as 'People of the traditions of the Prophet,' and refers to a branch of Salafi Muslims who seek to emulate the traditions practiced by the Prophet (rather than the various actions referred to as accretions that had been added since). The Ahl-e Hadith tradition is antithetical, for instance, to the ideas and practice of Sufism."][Rabasa, Angel M. The Muslim World After 9/11 By Angel M. Rabasa, p. 275, 256 "Ahl-e-Hadith is heavily influenced by Wahhabism"][Ahl-i Hadith, a movement founded in the nineteenth century and classified as "Wahhabi" by the British, wrongly so at the time.... For example, the Ahl-i Hadith which "have been active since the nineteenth century on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan ... though designated as Wahhabis by their adversaries, they prefer to call themselves 'Salafis.'" (from The Failure of Political Islam, by Olivier Roy, translated by Carol Volk, Harvard University Press, 1994, pp. 118–9, ISBN 0-674-29140-9)]
Salafiyya movement
The Salafi movement is a conservative,[ The Salafi movement is often divided into three categories: the largest group are the purists (or quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group are the Islamism, who get involved in politics; the third and last group are the Salafi jihadism, who constitute a minority.]
Wahhabism
The Wahhabism was founded and spearheaded by the Ḥanbalī scholar and theologian Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab,
Wahhabism has been described as a conservative, strict, and fundamentalist branch of Sunnī Islam,
22 months after the September 11 attacks, when the FBI considered al-Qaeda as "the number one terrorist threat to the United States", journalist 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 U.S. Senate that "Wahhabism is the source of the overwhelming majority of terrorist atrocities in today's world".
Population of the branches
See also
External links
