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Sunni Islam
Schools of Law

Hanafi • Shafi`i • Maliki
Hanbali
Schools of Theology

Maturidi • Ash'ari • Athari • Mu'tazili
Movements

Deobandi • Barelwi • Salafi
Five Pillars

Shahada • Salah
Zakah • Sawm • Hajj
Rightly Guided Caliphs

Abu Bakr • Umar ibn al-Khattab
Uthman ibn Affan • Ali ibn Abi Talib

Hadith Collections

Sahih Bukhari • Sahih Muslim
Al-Sunan al-Sughra
Sunan Abi Dawood
Sunan al-Tirmidhi
Sunan ibn Maja • Al-Muwatta
Sunan al-Darami
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Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam . Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic Fiqh ( Arabic: فقه, fɪqəh is Islamic Jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the The Hanafi ( Arabic حنفي school is the oldest of the four schools of thought ( Madhhabs The Shāfi‘ī Madhab ( ar شافعي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh, or religious law within The Maliki Madhhab ( Arabic مالكي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam Hanbali ( حنبلى) is one of the four schools ( Madhhabs of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (the other three being Islamic theology is a branch of Islamic studies regarding the beliefs associated with the Islamic faith In Islam, a Maturidi ( Arabic: الماتريدي) is one who follows Abu Mansur Al Maturidi 's theology which is a close variant of the The Ash'ari theology ( Arabic الأشاعرة al-asha`irah) is a school of early Muslim speculative theology founded by the theologian Abu al-Hasan Athari ( al-Athariyya) in English is translated as textualism which is derived from the Arabic word Athar, which means "Narrations" Muʿtazilah ( Arabic المعتزلة al-mu`tazilah) is a theological school of thought within Sunni Islam. The Deobandi ( Urdu: دیو بندی devbandī) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist movement which started in India and has more recently Barelwi or Barelvi ( Hindi: बरेलवी Urdu: بریلوی is a movement of Sunni Sufism in South Asia that was founded by The Five Pillars of Islam (Arabic أركان الإسلام is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. The Shahada ( Arabic: ar الشهادة, from the verb ar شهد "to testify" is the Islamic Creed. Ṣalāt ( Arabic: صلاة‎, pl ṣalawāt, Qur'anic Arabic: صلوة ṣalawah) (also munz in Pashto and This is a sub-article of Islamic economical jurisprudence. Zakaat ( زكاة zækæːh zakaat or zakāh, has the implied Sawm ( Arabic: صوم is an Arabic word for Fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. The Hajj (حج is a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs ( ar الخلفاء الراشدون) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first Early life Abu Bakr was born at Mecca some time in the year 573 CE, in the Banu Taym branch of the Quraysh tribe Umar (a=عمر بن الخطاب|t=`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c 581-83 CE &ndash 7 November, 644) also known as Umar the Great or Omar the Great Early life Uthman was born in Ta’if, which is situated on a hill and the presumption is that Uthman was born during the summer months since wealthy Meccans ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a=علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب|t=ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib 13th Rajab, 24 BH – 21st Ramaḍān, 40 AH The six major Hadith collections (Arabic Al-Sihah al-Sittah) are the works of some individuals from Islamic scholars who by their Sahih Muslim ( Arabic: صحيح مسلم ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, full title "Al-Musnadu Al-Sahihu bi Naklil Adli" is one of the Six major collections as-Sunan as-Sughra (السنن الصغرى also known as Sunan an-Nasa'i (Arabic سنن النسائي is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections Sunan Abu Da'ud (سُنن أبو داوود is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections, collected by Abu Da'ud. Jami al-Tirmidhi (جامع الترمذي popularly Sunan al-Tirmidhi (سُـنَن الترمذي is one of the Sunni Six major Hadith collections Sunan Ibn Maja (سُنن ابن ماجه is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections collected by Ibn Maja. The Muwaṭṭa (الموطأ is an early statement of Muslim law compiled and edited by Imam Malik. Sunan al-Darami by Al-Darami (181H-255H is a Hadith collection considered by Sunnis to be among the nine the Six major Hadith collections The following table analyzes the Demographics of Islam as of mid-year 2005 For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Sunnism or as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of the example (of Muhammad) and the community), or Ahl as-Sunnah (Arabic: أهل السنة ) for short. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah (Arabic : سنة ), which means the words and actions [1] or example of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sunnah ar (سنة plural سنن Sunan literally means “trodden path” and therefore the sunnah of the prophet means “the way and the manners of the prophet” Muslims regard as Prophets of Islam ( Arabic: نبي) those non-divine humans chosen by Allah as Prophets IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics

Historically, Sunni Islam has often been defined only in contrast with other denominations or schools of thought, such as Shia Islam, hanafiyah, Mu'tazila and others, considering itself to be the orthodox form of Islam. Muʿtazilah ( Arabic المعتزلة al-mu`tazilah) is a theological school of thought within Sunni Islam. The word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion" from orthos ("right true straight" + doxa ("opinion As such, a case is sometimes made that Sunnism is as old as Islam itself, or at least dates back to the first civil war in Islam from 656 to 661 AD. The First Islamic Civil War (656–661 also called the First Fitna (a=فتنة مقتل عثمان|t=Fitnah Maqtal Uthmān was the first major Civil However, in terms of doctrine and theology, and in the sense of considering itself a separate denomination, Sunni Islam is younger than that, making it somewhat misleading to talk about Sunnites in a 7th century AD context.

Sunni Islam was under the authority of the Caliph from Muhammad's death in 632 AD until the abolition of the caliphate by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1924. The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (19 May 1881 &ndash 10 November 1938 was an army officer revolutionary Statesman Since then, no central international authority exists; many countries have a Grand Mufti or other official who holds the highest religious authority in the country. This page is about the title and persons carrying the title For the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (from 1921-1948 see Mohammad Amin al-Husayni However, during all of Islam's history, independent religious scholars - the ulama - have held great influence in religious matters. Ulema ( ar علماء,, singular ar عالِم,, "scholar" refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several During the first centuries of Islam, when the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs were the worldly rulers of the Muslim world as well as the highest religious authorities of Sunni Islam, this led to some power struggles between the caliphate and the ulama. The Mihna (محنة miḥnah) is an episode that took place in classical Islamic history starting in 218 A As the worldly power of the caliphate declined from the 9th and 10th century onwards, and as the religious law became more codified and exhaustive due to the efforts of the ulama, the caliphate's religious influence decreased as well. Fiqh ( Arabic: فقه, fɪqəh is Islamic Jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the

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Demographics

Distribution of Sunni and Shia populations
Distribution of Sunni and Shia populations
Main article: Demographics of Islam

There are many challenges to demographers attempting to calculate the proportion of the world's Muslim population who adhere to each of the main traditions. The following table analyzes the Demographics of Islam as of mid-year 2005 For instance, there is no Sunni–Shi'a breakdown available for many countries, and the CIA World Factbook gives a Sunni–Shi'a breakdown only for countries where Shi'a are a significant minority. The World Factbook ( ISSN; also known as the CIA World Factbook) is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the When no breakdown is given, all the country's Muslims have been enrolled, provisionally, in the Sunni column. Thus, the exact percentage of the world's Muslim population that adheres to the various Shi'a sects, as opposed to the majority Sunni groups, is indeterminate. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic Therefore, using various sources, one can arrive at an estimate of anywhere from a low of 7. 5% [2] to a high of 10% Shi'ite depending on the sources one looks at.

Sunni schools of law (Madhhab)

Islamic law is known as the Shari'ah. Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. The Shari'ah is based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and those who ascribe to different interpretations of the law can often be found attending the same mosques. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran Sunnah ar (سنة plural سنن Sunan literally means “trodden path” and therefore the sunnah of the prophet means “the way and the manners of the prophet” A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger

The four major Sunni schools of law are as follows, and their respective founders:

Abu Hanifa (d. The Hanafi ( Arabic حنفي school is the oldest of the four schools of thought ( Madhhabs Al-Imam al-A'zam ( الامام الاعظم) "The Greatest Imam" Nu’man bin Thabit bin Zuta bin Mahan ( النعمان بن ثابت‎) better known by 767), was the founder of the Hanafi school. He was born in Iran. Muslims of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine follow this school. ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

Malik ibn Anas(d. The Maliki Madhhab ( Arabic مالكي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi ( Arabic مالك بن أنس 795) developed his ideas in Medina, where he allegedly knew one of the last surviving companions of the Prophet. Medina mɛˈdiːnə (المدينة المنورة ælmæˈdiːnæl muˈnɑwːɑrɑ or المدينة ælmæˈdiːnæ also transliterated into English as His doctrine is recorded in the Muwatta which has been adopted by most Muslims of Africa except in Lower Egypt, Zanzibar and South Africa. The Muwaṭṭa (الموطأ is an early statement of Muslim law compiled and edited by Imam Malik. The Maliki legal school is the branch of Sunni that dominates most of the Muslim areas of Africa, except Egypt and the Horn of Africa. The Maliki Madhhab ( Arabic مالكي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam The Horn of Africa (alternatively Northeast Africa, and sometimes Somali Peninsula; shortened to HOA) is a Peninsula in East Africa

Al-Shafi'i (d. The Shāfi‘ī Madhab ( ar شافعي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh, or religious law within TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Al-Shafi'i, Arabic Jurist (150 AH/767 AD - 204 AH/820 AD 820) was considered a moderate in most areas. He taught in Iraq and then in Egypt. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Muslims in Indonesia, Lower Egypt, Malaysia, Somalia and Yemen follow this school. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Somalia ( Soomaaliya; الصومال) officially the Somali Republic ( Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, جمهورية الصومال) and formerly known Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya Al-Shafi'i placed great emphasis on the Sunnah of the Prophet, as embodied in the Hadith, as a source of the Shari'ah. Hadith ( ar الحديث, pl aḥadīth; lit. "narrative" are oral Traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. Hanbali ( حنبلى) is one of the four schools ( Madhhabs of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (the other three being Ahmed ibn Hanbal ( Arabic: ‏‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎أحمد بن حنبل‏‎‎‎‏‎‎‎ ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎ Ahmad bin Hanbal) (780 - 855) was born in Baghdad. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous He learned extensively from al-Shafi'i. Despite persecution, he held to the doctrine that the Qur'an was uncreated. The Mihna (محنة miḥnah) is an episode that took place in classical Islamic history starting in 218 A The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran This school of law is followed primarily in the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab)

These four schools are somewhat different from each other, but Sunni Muslims generally consider them all equally valid. There are other Sunni schools of law. However, many are followed by only small numbers of people and are relatively unknown due to the popularity of the four major schools; also, many have died out or were not sufficiently recorded by their followers to survive.

Interpreting the Shari'ah to derive specific rulings (such as how to pray) is known as fiqh, which literally means understanding. Fiqh ( Arabic: فقه, fɪqəh is Islamic Jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the A madhhab is a particular tradition of interpreting fiqh. Madhhab or Mazhab ( Arabic مذهب mæðhæb pl مذاهب mæðæːhıb) is an Islamic school of thought, or These schools focus on specific evidence (Shafi'i and Hanbali) or general principles (Hanafi and Maliki) derived from specific evidences. The schools were started by eminent Muslim scholars in the first four centuries of Islam. An imam (إمام plural ائمة A'immah, امام is an Islamic leader often the leader of a Mosque and/or community As these schools represent clearly spelled out methodologies for interpreting the Shari'aa, there has been little change in the methodology per se. However, as the social and economic environment changes, new fiqh rulings are being made. For example, when tobacco appeared it was declared as 'disliked' because of its smell. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. When medical information showed that smoking was dangerous, that ruling was changed to 'forbidden'. Tobacco Smoking is the inhalation of smoke from burned dried or cured leaves of the Tobacco plant most often in the form of a Cigarette. Current fiqh issues include things like downloading pirated software and cloning. To download is to receive data from a remote or central system such as a Webserver, FTP server, mail server or other similar systems Cloning in Biology is the process of producing populations of genetically-identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as Bacteria, Insects The consensus is that the Shari'ah does not change but fiqh rulings change all the time.

A madhhab is not to be confused with a religious sect. In the Sociology of religion a sect is generally a smaller religious or political group that has broken off from a larger group for example from a There may be scholars representing all four madhhabs living in larger Muslim communities, and it is up to those who consult them to decide which school they prefer.

Many Sunnis advocate that a Muslim should choose a single madhhab and follow it in all matters. However, rulings from another madhhab are considered acceptable as dispensations (rukhsa) in exceptional circumstances. Some Sunnis, however, do not follow any madhhab,. Indeed, some Salafis reject strict adherence to any particular school of thought, preferring to use the Qur'an and the Sunnah alone as the primary sources of Islamic law. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran Sunnah ar (سنة plural سنن Sunan literally means “trodden path” and therefore the sunnah of the prophet means “the way and the manners of the prophet”

Sunni theological traditions

Some Islamic scholars faced questions that they felt were not specifically answered in the Qur'an, especially questions with regard to philosophical conundra like the nature of God, the existence of human free will, or the eternal existence of the Qur'an. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. The question of free will Various schools of theology and philosophy developed to answer these questions, each claiming to be true to the Qur'an and the Muslim tradition (sunnah). Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Among Sunnites, the following were the dominant traditions:

Sunni view of hadith

The Qur'an as we have it today was compiled by Muhammad's companions (Sahaba) in approximately 650 AD, and is accepted by all Muslim denominations. In Islam, the Ṣaḥābah (الصحابة "Companions" were the companions of the Islamic prophet Muḥammad. However, there were many matters of belief and daily life that were not directly prescribed in the Qur'an, but were actions that were observed by the prophet and the community. Later generations sought out oral traditions regarding the early history of Islam, and the practice of Muhammad and his first followers, and wrote them down so that they might be preserved. Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law and other Knowledges These recorded oral traditions are called hadith. Hadith ( ar الحديث, pl aḥadīth; lit. "narrative" are oral Traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Muslim scholars sifted through the hadith and evaluated the chain of narration of each tradition, scrutinizing the trustworthiness of the narrators and judging the strength of each hadith accordingly. Most Sunni accept the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim as the most authentic (sahih, or correct), and grant a lesser status to the collections of other recorders. Abul Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Qushayri al-Nisapuri ( Arabic: أبو الحسين مسلم بن الحجاج القشيري النيشابوري (lived c Sahih is an Islamic term that means authentic. It is commonly used to describe the authenticity of a Hadith. There are, however, four other collections of hadith that are also held in particular reverence by Sunni Muslims making a total of six:

There are also other collections of hadith which, although less well-known, are still thought to contain many authentic hadith and are frequently used by specialists. Sahih Muslim ( Arabic: صحيح مسلم ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, full title "Al-Musnadu Al-Sahihu bi Naklil Adli" is one of the Six major collections as-Sunan as-Sughra (السنن الصغرى also known as Sunan an-Nasa'i (Arabic سنن النسائي is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections Sunan Abu Da'ud (سُنن أبو داوود is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections, collected by Abu Da'ud. Jami al-Tirmidhi (جامع الترمذي popularly Sunan al-Tirmidhi (سُـنَن الترمذي is one of the Sunni Six major Hadith collections Sunan Ibn Maja (سُنن ابن ماجه is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections collected by Ibn Maja. Examples of these collections include:

References

  1. ^ Sunna - Definitions from Dictionary.com
  2. ^ "How Many Shia Are in the World?". The Muwaṭṭa (الموطأ is an early statement of Muslim law compiled and edited by Imam Malik. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi ( Arabic مالك بن أنس Ahmed ibn Hanbal ( Arabic: ‏‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎أحمد بن حنبل‏‎‎‎‏‎‎‎ ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎ Ahmad bin Hanbal) (780 - Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain or Mustadrak al-Hakim ( Arabic: المستدرك على الصحيحين Al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahîhayn) is a five volume Abu Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah al-Hakim al-Nishaburi (d The Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq is a very early book of Hadith that was collected by ‘Abd ar-Razzaq. IslamicWeb. com. Retrieved on 2006-10-18. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid
  3. ^ Bülent Þenay. Ash'ariyyah Theology, Ashariyyah. 'BELIEVE Religious Information Source'. Retrieved on 2006-04-01. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne
  4. ^ Maturidiyyah. 'Philtar'. Retrieved on 2006-04-01. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne
  5. ^ Reported by ibn al-Jawzi in Manaaqib Imam Ahmad, pg. 155-156.

See also

External links

Sunni and Shia (or Shiite are the two major denominations of Islam. The dispute over the right successor to Muhammad resulted in the formation of two main sects the Sunni, and the Shia.
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