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Divisions
within Islam
Because of Islam's great growth geographically in
the first two centuries of its inception, there needed to be a larger set
of Islamic laws capable of handling the different needs of Muslims
throughout the Empire. The Qur'an and the Hadith were not detailed
enough to provide all the answers. Therefore, in the 8th century
A.D., there arose a school of legal experts who interpreted and applied
Islamic principles to different situations throughout the Empire.
However, different scholars disagreed with these experts in various
areas. This led to a variety of legal schools of thought within
Islam.
These different schools became different sects
within Islam. The largest of the sects is the Sunni which comprises
about 90% of all Muslims. The next two largest are the Shi'i and
Sufi. After these, there are numerous splinter groups which are
often named after the individual scholars who began them: Hanifa,
after Abu Hanifa; Maliki, after Malik ibn Anas; Shafi'i, after Muhammad
ibn Idris al-Shafi'i; Zaydi, after Zayd ibn Ali; the Nusayri, Ismaili,
Murji'ah, etc.
Sunni Muslims
Sunni
Muslims These are followers of the Hanifa, Shafi, Hanibal and Malik
schools. They constitute a 90% majority of the believers, and are
considered to be main stream traditionalists. Because they are comfortable
pursuing their faith within secular societies, they have been able to
adapt to a variety of national cultures, while following their three
sources of law: the Qur'an, Hadith and consensus of Muslims.
The Sunni emphasize the power and sovereignty of
Allah and his right to do whatever he wants with his creation. Strict determinism is taught. Its rulership is through the
Caliphate, the office of Muslim ruler who is considered the successor to
Muhammad. This successor is not through hereditary lineage.
Shi'ite Muslims
The
Shi'ites (also known as the Ja'firi school) split with the Sunni over the
issue of the successor to Muhammad. This split occured after the
assassination of the fourth caliph in 661. Shi'ites believe that the
successor to Muhammad should have been Ali, his son in law, and that
subsequent successors should have been through his lineage through his
wife Fatima.
Shi'ism is broken into three main sects: the
Twelve-Imam; Persia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Syria), the
Zaydis (Yemen), and the Ismailis (India, Iran, Syria, and East
Africa). Each group, of course, has differences of doctrine.
"Shi'ite theology includes a doctrine known
as the five supports: these are Divine Unity (tawhid), prophecy (nubuwwah),
resurrection of the soul and body at the Judgment (ma'ad), the Imamate1
(imamah), and justice ('adl). The first three are found in Sunni
Islam, albeit with some differences of emphasis; the Imamate, however , is
the essence of Shi'ism, and the last, justice, is an inheritance from the
Mu'tazilites, or rationalists, whose system is in many ways perpetuated in
Shi'ite theology..."1 The
Imamate, fom the word "Imam", in the Shi'ite traditions is the
political and religious leader of the Shi'ite sect. This person
possess great power and influence. According to Shi'ite doctrine,
the Imam must be a biological successor of Ali. The Imam is also
sinless and infallible on all matters of Islamic doctrine and will
intercede for Muslims in the afterlife. The Shi'i and the Sunni
differ in some interpretations of the Qur'an and Hadith
and even have a different canon of Hadith and the Sunni.
Sufi Muslims
The
Sufi are a mystical tradition where the followers seek inner mystical
knowledge of God. This sect "officially" developed around the
10th century and has since fragmented into different orders:
Ahmadiyya, Qadariyya, Tijaniyya, etc. Of course, the Sufi
believe their roots can be traced back to the inception of Islam in the
early 7th century.
The Sufi mystic must follow a path of deprivation
and meditation. There are various forms of abstinence and
poverty. Worldly things are renounced and a complete trust in God's
will is taught. The goal is to attain to a higher knowledge and
experience of Allah. The mystical focus meant that the Qur'an could
be interpreted in different ways and so Sufism taught that the Qur'an had
mystical meanings hidden within its pages. Out of this mysticism a
type of pantheism developed among some Sufi believers. Pantheism is
the teaching that God and the universe are one. Of course, the
orthodox Muslims, called the Sunni, reject this idea since they claim that
Allah is the creator of the universe and distinct from it.
In part, Sufism arose as a reaction to the
growing Islamic materialism that had developed in the Empire at that
time. Islam had achieved great power and geographical scope and with
it, the material gain was great.
Conclusion
As
you can see, Islam is not the united religious system it claims to
be. There are divisions among its ranks and even those divisions
have divisions. But what is interesting is that the Qur'an tells the
Muslims to have no such divisions.
"The same religion
has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - the [sic]
which we have sent by inspiration to thee - and that which we enjoined
on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: namely, that ye should remain
steadfast in religion and make no divisions therein: to those who
worship other things than Allah, hard is the (way) to which thou callest
them..." (42:13)
If
this is the case, then the Muslim must admit that the divisions within
Islam are sinful. But, such is the nature of humanity, to divide and
set ourselves against one another.
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1.Glasse, Cyril, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Harper
& Row, Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, 1989, page 368.
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