A Guide To Islamic Sects

The Commercial Appeal/September 23, 20001

The world's second-largest faith, Islam is hardly monolithic. Schisms, focusing first on disagreements over who should lead the new faith and later on matters of doctrine, began developing soon after the prophet Muhammad's death in the year 632.

Here are some of the major sects within Islam, which has 1.3 billion followers:

Sunni:

Accounting for at least 85 percent of the Islamic world, the Sunni claim to be the direct continuation of the faith as defined by Muhammad. For many years they acknowledged the religious authority of a ruling caliph, the major point of contention with the breakaway Shiite movement. The Sunni derive their name through reliance on the "Sunnah" or the observed sayings, lifestyle and practices of Muhammad as recorded in a collection of writings called the Hadith. The Sunni accept the "Sunnah" as a source of spiritual wisdom, while the Shiite insist on the primacy of the Koran.

Shiite:

The smaller of the two principal branches of Islam, the Shiite account for at least 10 percent of all Muslims. They originally were followers of the fourth caliph, Ali, who was Muhammad's son-in-law through the prophet's daughter Fatima. Ali claimed that Muhammad on his deathbed selected Ali as leader of the faith, but Ali was murdered during the fifth year of his reign. The Shiite formally broke away from Muslim leaders recognized by the Sunni around 680. A principal belief of the Shiite is that no caliph since Ali has been legitimate. The movement became popular among disaffected non-Arab Muslims who feared they were held in lower esteem within the faith.

Kharijis:

Accounting for less than 1 percent of all Muslims, the Kharijis were the first major schism within Islam. They broke away in 658 when they rejected the use of arbitrators empowered to decide major issues within the faith.

Druze:

A secretive Islamic breakaway group concentrated in Lebanon around Mt. Hermon and in the mountains near Beirut and Sidon. They refer to themselves as the Mowahhidoon. Most Muslims consider the sect blasphemous since it declared that God was manifested in human form as the Egyptian caliph al Hakim Bi-amr Allah 1,000 years ago. They number at least 250,000. The Druze do not accept new members, virtually never discuss their faith and often pose as members of the dominant religion where they live.

Alawi:

A small branch of Islam that broke away from the Shiite in the Ninth Century under the leadership of Ibn Nucair Namin Abdi. Almost exclusively found on the Syrian coast plains, the Alawi have 1.5 million members including Syrian President Hafez Assad.

Ismali:

A Shiite sect that believes the succession of spiritual leadership should have continued through the sons of Muhammad Ibn Isma'il. The Ismali believe that Islam has never been without a living Imam, even though clearly recognized spiritual authority became increasingly rare as Islam matured.

Ahmadiyyah:

Founded in Qadian, India, by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908. Ahmadis believe their founder was a renovator of Islam, a position most of the world's Muslims consider to be heretical. The group has many enthusiastic missionaries.

Sufi:

These are the mystics within the Muslim faith, a religious order that follows mystical interpretations of Islamic doctrines and practices.

Wahhabi Movement:

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab began a campaign of spiritual renewal in the smaller city states of Arabia in the mid- 1700s. His extremely traditional group opposed all innovations within Islam, often using violence to enforce its views. The group threatened to become the first nation state in Arabia, prompting a crackdown by the Egyptian army in 1818. Today, Wahhabism is quite strong in Saudi Arabia. It demands punishment for those who enjoy any form of music except the drum and severe punishment up to death for drinking or sexual transgressions. It condemns as unbelievers those who do not pray, a view that never previously existed in mainstream Islam. Wahhabism has been an inspiration to Osama bin Laden.
To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.