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.
Biographical evaluation refers to a discipline of Islamic religious studies within hadith terminology in which the narrators of hadith are evaluated. Its goal is to establish the credibility of the narrators, using both historic and religious knowledge, in order to distinguish authentic and reliable hadiths from unreliable hadiths. ʿIlm ar-rijāl is synonymous with what is commonly referred to as al-jarḥ wa al-taʿdīl – the criticism and declared acceptance of hadith narrators.
Abu Hanifa was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence, which remains the most widely practiced to this day. His school predominates in Central and South Asia, Turkey, the Balkans, Russia, 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 inside Islam, which many believe is descended from the Kharijites. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis or, as they call themselves, The People of Truth and Integrity.
Abū Hurayra ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr al-Dawsī al-Zahrānī, commonly known as Abū Hurayra, was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the most prolific hadith narrator in Islam.
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".
Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn Ṭāhir bin Muḥammad bin ʿAbd Allāh al-Tamīmī al-Shāfiʿī al-Baghdādī, more commonly known as Abd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī or simply Abū Manṣūr al-Baghdādī was an Arab Sunni scholar from Baghdad. He was considered a leading Ash'arite theologian and Shafi'i jurist. He was an accomplished legal theoretician, man of letters, poet, prosodist, grammarian, 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".
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).
Ibn al-Samʿānī, full name Abū Saʿd ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī Bakr Muḥammad ibn Abi ʾl-Muẓaffar Manṣūr al-Tamīmī al-Marwazī al-Shafiʿī al-Samʿānī, nicknamed Tāj al-Islām and Qiwām al-Dīn, was an Arab Muslim scholar of biography, history, hadith, Shafi'i jurisprudence and scriptural exegesis. According to Ibn al-Subki, Ibn al-Sam'ani was considered the second greatest hadith scholar of his time after his companion and master, Ibn Asakir
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.
