AboutDrs. Kersten Expertise Islamic History Islamic Philosophy Contemporary Islamic Thought Jihad Doctrine Islam in Southeast Asia Sufism Mysticism Political Islam Islam in the Netherlands Progressive Muslims Moderate Muslims Contemporary Muslim Thinkers Islamic Studies Islamicists or Islamologists
Experience Tertiary educator and academic researcher. Contributing Author to a textbook on world religions (Linda Chisholm (ed.) VISIONS OF SERVICE. New York: IPS-L Press, 2004).
Degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies, as well as Southeast Asian Studies; Sworn translator of Arabic.
More than fifteen years experience as an expatriate studying, working and teaching in four countries on three different continents.
Academic and journalistic writings have appeared in learned journals, current affairs periodicals, and the news media in the USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
I would like to know what are the major branches/sects/denominations of Islam, how they were formed, and what are some of the prominent distinctives of each one. Thank you.
Regards,
Kenneth
Answer There have been written libraries full about Islam's branches, schisms, etc.
However, it would be fair to say that the most significant split is the one between the Sunnis and Shi'is.
The dispute between these two segments of Muslims was over the succession of Muhammad, and originally there were no great theological differences between the two. These only started to occur as each group had its own historical experience.
The difference of opinion occure actually immediately after the death of Muhammad in 632AD, but would not turn into an outright and open crisis until 656AD.
The Prophet Muhammad had left no clear indications regarding his succession. the matter was further complicated by the fact that in the last ten years of his life, Muhammad had not only been a prophet, but also a statesman, as he developed the initially small Muslim community into a political power force.
the majority of Muslims was of the opinion that, since Muhammad had been the last prophet as it says in the Qur'an, there was no issue regarding his succession as such. But that left the matter of his succession as a statesman unresolved. Most Muslims were of the opinion that the Muslim community should elect the most suitable person from their midst, who was to be called the 'khalifa' (successor) or caliph.
There was however een minority, which thought the successor should come from the Prophet's direct family and the attention centered around Muhammad's cousin and foster brother Ali ibn Abi Talib, who had married Muhammad's daughter Fatima, so he was also his son-in-law. The supporters of Ali were known as the 'Shi'a Ali' -- or party of Ali -- hence the term 'Shi'is'. The term Sunnis refers to the description 'Ahl al-Sunna' or 'people following tradition'.
The Shi'is were originally not very powerful and therefore forced to accept that the Sunnis elected the first three successors of Muhammad from outside the immediate family of the prophet.
But in 656, after the murder of Caliph Uthman, the supporter of Ali were strong enough to push for his election as the fourth caliph. That is the moment when things started to go wrong. The relatives of the murdered caliph, from a recently converted very powerful family from Mecca, were not willing to accept Ali. They blamed him for not punishing those suspected of plotting against Uthman and they even suspected Ali had been involved himself.
During the caliphate of Ali (656-661) there was effectively a civil war between Ali's supporters and the powerful relatives of Uthman, led by the then governor of Syria.
The matter ended with the violent death of Ali in 661 and the governor of Syria became the new caliph, founding a new dynasty called the Umayyads (662-750AD).
The relatives and supporters or Ali refused to give up and continued to oppose the Umayyads until a dramatic showdown in 680, when the son of Ali, Husayn, was martyred during the battle of Kerbela.
After that the political power of the shi'is was temporarily broken, but they would continue to select successors, not called caliphs but 'imams', through the line of Husayn bin Ali.
Among the Shi'is there would be further splits. Some recognize a total of only seven imams, starting with Ali. They are known as Seveners or Ismailis. The larger group are the Twelvers or Imamis, who recognize a total of twelve imams.
The position of the imam in shi'ism is different from the Sunni caliphs, in the sense that they are thought to be endowed with special spiritual power, being direct descendants of the prophet. It sometimes goes to the extent that they are thought to have a special connection with God.
The Shi'is also believe that the last imam (whether he was the seventh of twelfth) did not die, but went into 'occultation' and that he will return at the end of times, almost like a second coming.
As a result, even today, religious scholars among the Shi'is, who can claim descent of the prophet and who are recognized as great religious leaders are given a status that is much higher than any religious scholar among the Sunnis could ever achieve. A good example in recent times is the Ayatollah Khomeiny, whom some even referred to as an imam.
History has wanted it that the Shi'is geographical spread is limited to certain concentrations. Iraq and Iran are the only countries were Shi'is are majority. But there are very significant minorities in Lebanon, Syria, the eastern province and southern border regions of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, certain areas in Yemen, Pakistan, India, and East Africa. There have also been occasions that Shi'is succeeded in temporarily holding power in countries that were in majority Sunni. For example, in Egypt during the reign of the Fatimids (9th-11th centuries) -- which was a Ismaili or Sevener Shi'i dynasty.
Another important aspect within Shi'ism is that it appears to have more tolerant toward the mystical, spiritual and philosophical aspects of religion. Although they have been persecuted by the Sunnis for centuries, research by scholars of Islam is making increasingly evident that they have made tremendously important contributions to the intellectual heritage of Islam.
When reading about Islam, you will see also names of other 'sects' or 'schools' etc. But often these are connected with political issues or intepretational issues related to Islamic law etc.
For example, in 656 there was an earlier split-off than the Shi'is. This was a group named the Kharijites, who blamed Ali for not being forceful enough as a leader. From the Kharijites have over time emerged splinter groups that held very extremist ideas and were prone to violence, but few of them lasted very long. An Exception were, for example, the Qaramata or Qarmatians, who for a while held power in Eastern Arabia (9/10th centuries), and the Ibadis, which are still a sect of some significance in Oman.
Within sunni Islam, one often sees distinctions being made between the so-called four orthodox law schools. In the course of the 8-10th centuries Muslim scholars were debating the formation of the body of Islamic law or Sharia. Eventually there were four 'schools' which were recognized as orthodox and valid interpreters of Islamic law, although there were differences in accent and severity.
The oldest is the Hanafi school, which is quite moderate and allows room for individual opinion of scholars. Then there was the Maliki school, which paid specific attention to information that could be derived from the so-called traditions of the Prophet (words and acts of Muhammad) as a source in addition to the Qur'an. These traditions were used for analogous reasoning to take decisions. The Hanbali school is rather strict and severe and holds that only a literalist adherence to Qur'an and traditions of the prophet can lead to valid intepretations. The Shafi'i school is usually recognized as very sophisticated in that it tries to find a synthesis for all these different approaches.
In recent times we read about Wahhabis. This is a very strict Hanbali-inspired doctrine that emerged in 18th century Arabia and which has succeeded in taking political power in what is now Saudi Arabia. Backed by oil wealth it has become enormously influetial since the 1970s and 1980s, although it must be regarded as rather extremist in its severity, which makes one wonder what is the appeal it has to so many Muslims, who come from more tolerant traditions. It is probably a combination of political power, money, and clever PR that has made them so successful.
This is by no means a complete and detailed overview, but it should give you a flavor of the enormous diversity among Muslims.
