What Is Sunni Islam? Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world’s Muslims. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. According to Sunni traditions,...
Outline of Islam Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world’s second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world’s population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 50 countries. Islam teaches...
Muslim World The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religion of Islam, or to societies where Islam is practiced. In a modern geopolitical sense, these terms refer to countries where Islam is widespread, although there are...
Second Fitna The Second Fitna or the Second Islamic Civil War was a period of general political and military disorder and conflicts in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu’awiya I in 680 and lasted for about twelve years. The war involved the suppression of two challenges...
Hadith Of Gabriel In Sunni Islam, the Hadith of Gabriel (ḥadīth Jibrīl) is the single most important hadith (report on the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad), of the last prophet of Islam. Its narrative contains the best summary of the core of Islam: Islām (إسلام), which is described with the “Five Pillars of Islam,” Īmān (إيمان), which is described with the...
Shabakism Shabakism is the name given to the beliefs and practices of the Shabaks in the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. Most Shabaks regard themselves as Shia, but some identify as Sunnis. Despite this, their actual faith and rituals differ from Islam, and have characteristics that make them distinct from neighboring Muslim populations. Nevertheless, the Shabak people also go on pilgrimages...
Shahada The Shahada (الشهادة aš-šahādah,”the testimony”) is an Islamic creed, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, declaring belief in the oneness of God (tawhid) and the acceptance of Muhammad as God’s prophet. The declaration, in its shortest form, reads (right to left in Arabic): لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱلله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱلله lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh muḥammadun rasūlu llāh...
Madhhab A madhhab ( مذهب maḏhab, “way to act”; pl. مذاهب maḏāhib) is a school of thought within fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The major Sunni madhhabs are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all jurists aligned themselves with a particular madhhab. These four...
Sunni Islam Sunni Muslims are the larger of the two main branches of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Sunnism or as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of the example (of Muhammad) and the community). The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah (سنة ), which means “example” and refers particularly to the the words and actions...
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world’s second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world’s population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority...
Mahdi The Mahdi (ٱلْـمَـهْـدِي, al-mahdī, meaning “the guided one”) is an eschatological redeemer of Islam who, according to some Islamic traditions, will appear and rule for five, seven, nine or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations) before the Day of Judgment (yawm al-qiyamah, also known as “the Day of Resurrection”) and rid the world of evil....
What Is Islam? Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world’s second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world’s population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a...
Succession To Muhammad The succession to Muhammad is the central issue that split the Muslim community into several divisions in the first century of Islamic history, with the most prominent among these sects being the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. Sunni Islam maintains that Abu Bakr was the legitimate successor to Muhammad on the basis of election. Shia Islam holds that Ali ibn Abi...