Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims, and simultaneously the largest religious denomination in the world. 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, Muhammad left no successor and the participants of the Saqifah event appointed Abu Bakr as the next-in-line. This contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad appointed his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor.
Abu Hanifa was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, which remains the most widely practiced to this day. His school predominates in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, the Balkans, Russia, Circassia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and some parts of the Arab world.
In Shia Islam, the Imamah is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imams possess divine knowledge and authority (Ismah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Quran as well as guidance.
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism is a branch of Islam. It has been called by some the third branch of Islam, along with Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Murji'ah, also known as Murji'as or Murji'ites, were an early Islamic sect. Murji'ah held the opinion that God alone has the right to judge whether or not a Muslim has become an apostate. Consequently Muslims should practice postponement (ʾirjāʾ) of judgment on committers of major sins and not make charges of disbelief (’takfir’) or punish accordingly anyone who has professed Islam to be their faith. They also believed that good deeds or omission of them do not affect a person's faith, and a person who did no other act of obedience would not be punished in the afterlife as long as they held onto pure faith. They used to say that "disobedience does not harm faith as good deeds do not help with disbelief."
Aqidah is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed or Islamic theology.
Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit ibn Aḥmad ibn Māhdī al-Shāfiʿī, commonly known as al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī or "the lecturer from Baghdad", was a Sunni Muslim scholar known for being one of the foremost leading hadith scholars and historians at his time. He is widely considered an important authority in hadith, fiqh and history.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabāʾ al-Ḥimyarī, sometimes also called Ibn Sabāʾ, Ibn al-Sawdāʾ, or Ibn Wahb, was a 7th-century figure in Islamic history associated with a group of followers called the Sabaʾiyya (سبئية).
Religious exclusivism, or religious exclusivity, is the doctrine or belief that only one particular religion or belief system is true. This is in contrast to religious pluralism.
Baghdadi or Al-Baghdadi may refer to:
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyya, also known as Abū Hāshim was a member of the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraish tribe in Mecca. He was one of the Salaf and a narrator of hadith. After Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya died, his son Abu Hashim claimed the Imamate. According to medieval mystic Jami, Abu Hashim was the first person to be called a "Sufi".
The Mahdi is a prominent figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the End of Time to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad, who will appear shortly before Jesus and will lead the Muslim Ummah to rule the entire world.
Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn Ṭāhir bin Muḥammad bin ʿAbd Allāh al-Tamīmī al-Shāfiʿī al-Baghdādī was an Arab Shafi'i scholar, Usul Imam, heresiologist and mathematician.
Abu al-Walid al-Baji, full name Sulayman ibn Khalaf ibn Saʿdibn Ayyub al-Qadi Abu al-Walid al-Tujaybi al-Andalusi al-Qurtubi al-Baji al-Tamimi al-Dhahabi al-Maliki, was a Sunni scholar from Beja in al-Andalus. He was an eminent Mālikī jurist (faqih), hadith master (muhaddith), theologian (mutakallim), poet and a man of letters. He was an accomplished debater, prolific writer in numerous scientific works and was a meticulous scholar whose high calibre of knowledge and religious merit are widely acknowledged. He and Ibn Ḥazm were "the two most important literary figures in eleventh-century al-Andalus".
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones include the Qadari, Jahmi, Murji', and Batini schools.
Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini was a renowned Sunni scholar, jurisconsult, legal theoretician, hadith expert, Qur'anic exegete, theologian and a specialist in the Arabic language. Al-Isfara'ini's scholarship was focused on the sciences of Aqidah, Hadith and Fiqh. He was the foremost leading authority in the Shafi'i school of his time. He was along with Ibn Furak the chief propagator of Sunni Ash'ari theology in Nishapur at the turn of the 5th Islamic century.
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Karram al-Sijistani was an ascetic, hellfire preacher, hadith narrator, and a literalist theologian who founded the Karramiyya sect. His views were considered heretical, schismatic, and abominable by the majority of Sunni scholars. He was accused of holding the doctrine of anthropomorphism, and that his chief theological doctrine was that God is a substance (jawhar) and that he had a body (jism); for which reason his followers were commonly called the "Mujassima" (corporealists) and "Mushabbiha" (anthropomorphists).
Al-ʽArsh is the throne of God in Islamic theology. It is believed to be the largest of all the creations of God.
Abu Ali ibn al-Banna, full name Abū 'Alī al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn 'Abd Allāh ibn al-Bannā' al-Baghdādī al-Ḥanbalī, was an 11th-century author, scholar, and diarist from Baghdad. According to Ibn al-Sam'ani, he was one of the leading Islamic scholars of his day and a prolific author. Ibn al-Banna kept a diary during his lifetime, part of which survives today and is valuable as a primary source about life in 11th-century Baghdad. He was a member of the Hanbali legal guild.
The hadith attributed to Muhammad and known as the hadith of 73 sects states that there will be 73 different sects and groups within Islam, and that only one of these groups will reach salvation or heaven, while the others will be destined for hell.
