Islamic schools and branches

Part of a series on Sunni Islam
Beliefs God Prophets and Messengers Holy books Succession to Muhammad Angels Judgement Day Predestination Sahaba
Five Pillars Declaration of Faith Prayer Charity Fasting Pilgrimage
Rightly-Guided Caliphs Abu Bakr Umar ibn al-Khattab Uthman ibn Affan Ali ibn Abi Talib
Sunni schools of law Hanafi Maliki Shafi'i Hanbali Others Zahiri Awza'i Thawri Laythi Jariri
Sunni schools of theology Ahl al-Hadith (Atharis) Ahl al-Kalam (Ash'aris and Maturidis) In terms of Ihsan Ahl al-Wijdan wa al-Kashf (Sufis)
Contemporary movements al-Ahbash Ahl-i Hadith Barelvi Deobandi Islamic modernism Islamic neo-traditionalism Salafism and Wahhabism
Holy sites Mecca Medina Quds
Lists Literature Kutub al-Sittah History Persecution
Islam portal

Sunnī Islam, also known as Ahl as-Sunnah waʾl Jamāʾah or simply Ahl as-Sunnah, is by far the largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 85% of the Muslim population in the world. The term Sunnī comes from the word sunnah, which means the teachings, actions, and examples of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions (ṣaḥāba).

Sunnīs believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim community (Ummah) before his death in 632 CE, however they approve of the private election of the first companion, Abū Bakr.[7][8] Sunnī Muslims regard the first four caliphs—Abū Bakr (632–634), ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (Umar І, 634–644), ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (644–656), and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—as al-Khulafā'ur-Rāshidūn ("the Rightly-Guided Caliphs"). Sunnīs also believe that the position of caliph may be attained democratically, on gaining a majority of the votes, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule because of the divisions started by the Umayyads and others. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the Muslim world.

Followers of the classical Sunnī schools of jurisprudence and kalām (rationalistic theology) on one hand, and Islamists and Salafists such as Wahhabis and Ahle Hadith, who follow a literalist reading of early Islamic sources, on the other, have laid competing claims to represent the "orthodox" Sunnī Islam.[9] Anglophone Islamic currents of the former type are sometimes referred to as "traditional Islam".[10] Islamic modernism is an offshoot of the Salafi movement that tried to integrate modernism into Islam by being partially influenced by modern-day attempts to revive the ideas of the Muʿtazila school by Islamic scholars such as Muhammad Abduh.

Part of a series on Shia Islam
Beliefs and practices Monotheism Holy Books Prophethood Succession to Muhammad Imamate Angels Judgment Day Mourning of Muharram Intercession Clergy The Four Companions Arbaʽeen Pilgrimage
Days of remembrance Ashura Arba'een Mawlid Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Adha Eid al-Ghadir Eid al-Mubahala Mourning of Muharram Omar Koshan
History Verse of Purification Two things Mubahala Khumm Fatimah's house First Fitna Second Fitna Battle of Karbala Origin Persecution
Branches and sects Twelvers Ja'fari Akhbari Usuli Shaykhi Alawites Zaydi Shi'a Isma'ili Musta'li Tayyibi Alavi Dawoodi Sulaymani Hafizi Nizari Khoja Satpanth Batini Alevism Bektashi Bektashism and folk religion Qizilbash Alians Hurufism Extinct Shi'a sects
Ahl al-Kisa Muhammad Ali Fatimah Hasan Husayn
Holy women Fatimah Khadija bint Khuwaylid Umm Salama Zaynab bint Ali Umm Kulthum bint Ali Umm ul-Banin Fatimah bint Hasan Sukayna bint Husayn Rubab Shahrbanu Fatimah bint Musa Hakimah Khātūn Narjis Fatimah bint Asad Umm Farwah bint al-Qasim Sayyida Ruqayya bint Ali Sayyida Nafisa
Shia Islam portal

Shīʿa Islam is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 10–15%[11] of the total Muslim population.[12] Although a minority in the Muslim world, Shīʿa Muslims constitute the majority of the Muslim populations in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, as well as significant minorities in Syria, Turkey, South Asia, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, as well as in other parts of the Persian Gulf.[13]

In addition to believing in the supreme authority of the Quran and teachings of Muhammad, Shīʿa Muslims believe that Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("People of the Household"), including his descendants known as Imams, have distinguished spiritual and political authority over the community,[14] and believe that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and the rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three Rāshidūn caliphs.[15]

• The Twelvers believe in the twelve Shīʿīte Imams and are the only school to comply with the Hadith of the Twelve Successors, where Muhammad stated that he would have twelve successors. This sometimes includes the Alevi and Bektashi schools.
• Ismāʿīlīsm, including the Nizārī, Sevener, Musta‘lī, Dawudi Bohra, Hebtiahs Bohra, Sulaymani Bohra, and Alavi Bohra sub-denominations.
• The Zaydīs historically derive from the followers of Zayd ibn ʿAlī. In the modern era, they "survive only in northern Yemen".[16] Although they are a Shīʿa sect, "in modern times" they have "shown a strong tendency to move towards the Sunni mainstream".[16]
• The Alawites are a distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion and ethno-religious group that developed between the 9th and 10th centuries CE. Historically, Twelver Shīʿīte scholars such as Shaykh Tusi didn't consider Alawites as Shīʿa Muslims while condemning their beliefs, perceived as heretical.[17] The medieval Sunnī Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah also pointed out that the Alawites were not Shīʿītes.[18]
• The Druze are a distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion and ethno-religious group that developed in the 11th century CE, originally as an offshoot of Ismāʿīlīsm.[19] The Druze faith further split from Ismāʿīlīsm as it developed its own unique doctrines, and finally separated from both Ismāʿīlīsm and Islam altogether;[19] these include the belief that the Imam Al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh was God incarnate.[20] Thus, the Druze don't identify themselves as Muslims,[19][21][22][23][24] and aren't considered as such by Muslims either (See: Islam and Druze).[19][25][26][27] According to the medieval Sunnī Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah, the Druze were not Muslims, neither ′Ahl al-Kitāb (People of the Book), nor mushrikin (polytheists); rather, he labeled them as kuffār (infidels).[28][29][30][31]
• The Baháʼí Faith is a distinct monotheistic universal Abrahamic religion that developed in 19th-century Persia, originally derived as a splinter group from Bábism, another distinct monotheistic Abrahamic religion, itself derived from Twelver Shīʿīsm.[32][33] Baháʼís believe in a utterly transcendent and inaccessible Supreme Creator of the universe,[32] nevertheless seen as conscious of the creation,[32] with a will and purpose that is expressed through messengers recognized in the Baháʼí Faith as the Manifestations of God (all the Jewish prophets, Zoroaster, Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and ultimately Baháʼu'lláh).[32] Baháʼís believe that God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through his intermediaries, the prophets and messengers who have founded various world religions from the beginning of humankind up to the present day, and will continue to do so in the future.[32] Baháʼís and Bábis don't consider themselves as Muslims, since both of their religions have superseded Islam, and aren't considered as such by Muslims either; rather, they are seen as apostates from Islam.[32][33] Since both Baháʼís and Bábis reject the Islamic dogma that Muhammad is the last prophet, they have suffered religious discrimination and persecution both in Iran and elsewhere in the Muslim world due to their beliefs.[33] (See: Persecution of Baháʼís).

Shīʿīte groups and movements who either ascribe divine characteristics to some important figures in the history of Islam (usually members of Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt) or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shīʿa Muslims were designated as Ghulat.[34]

Part of a series on Muhakkima
Beliefs and practices Monotheism Kitman Takfir Theology
History Early First Fitna Battle of Siffin Battle of Nahrawan Dynasties Rustamids Nabhanids Ya'rubids Zanzibar Oman Ibadi Hadith Canon Jami Sahih Tartib al-Musnad
Notable individuals Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam Nafi ibn al-Azraq Najda ibn Amir al-Hanafi Abu Bilal Mirdas Abu Qurra Abdullah ibn Ibadh Jabir ibn Zayd Abu Yazid Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Fazari
Branches and sects Khawarij Ajardi Azariqah Bayhasiyyah Najdat Sūfrīyyah Ibadiyyah Wahbiyyah Nukkari Azzabas
Islam portal

Kharijite (literally, "those who seceded") are an extinct sect who originated during the First Fitna, the struggle for political leadership over the Muslim community, following the assassination in 656 of the third caliph Uthman.[35][2] Kharijites originally supported the caliphate of Ali, but then later on fought against him and eventually succeeded in his martyrdom while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree.

Sufris were a major sub-sect of Kharijite in the 7th and 8th centuries, and a part of the Kharijites. Nukkari was a sub-sect of Sufris. Harūrīs were an early Muslim sect from the period of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs (632–661 CE), named for their first leader, Habīb ibn-Yazīd al-Harūrī. Azariqa, Najdat, and Adjarites were minor sub-sects.

The only Kharijite sub-sect extant today is Ibadism, which developed out of the 7th century CE. There are currently two geographically separated Ibadi groups—in Oman, where they constitute the majority of the Muslim population in the country, and in North Africa where they constitute significant minorities in Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Similarly to another Muslim minority, the Zaydīs, "in modern times" they have "shown a strong tendency" to move towards the Sunnī branch of Islam.[16]

Sunnī schools of thought[1]

Sunnī Islam contains numerous schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and schools of Islamic theology (ʿaqīdah).[1] In terms of religious jurisprudence (fiqh), Sunnism contains several schools of thought (madhhab):[1]

• the Ḥanafī school, founded by Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān (8th century CE);
• the Mālikī school, founded by Mālik ibn Anas (8th century CE);
• the Shāfiʿī school, founded by Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī
 (8th century CE);
• the Ḥanbalī school, founded by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (8th century CE);
• the Ẓāhirī school, founded by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī (9th century CE).[37]

In terms of religious creed (ʿaqīdah), Sunnism contains several schools of theology:[1]

• the Aṯharī school, a scholarly movement that emerged in the late 8th century CE;
• the Ashʿarī school, founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (10th century CE);
• the Māturīdī school, founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (10th century CE).

The Salafi movement is a conservative reform branch and/or revivalist movement within Sunnī Islam whose followers don't believe in strictly following one particular madhhab. They include the Wahhabi movement, an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, and the modern Ahle Hadith movement, whose followers call themselves Ahl al-Ḥadīth.

In Shīʿa Islam, the major Shīʿīte school of jurisprudence is the Jaʿfari or Imāmī school,[38] named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Shīʿīte Imam. The Jaʿfari jurisprudence is further divided into two branches: the Usuli school, which favors the exercise of ijtihad,[39] and the Akhbari school, which holds the traditions (aḵbār) of the Shīʿīte Imams to be the main source of religious knowledge.[40] Minor Shīʿa schools of jurisprudence include the Ismāʿīlī school (Mustaʿlī-Fāṭimid Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs) and the Zaydī school, both of which have closer affinity to Sunnī jurisprudence.[38][41][42] Shīʿīte clergymen and jurists usually carry the title of mujtahid (i.e., someone authorized to issue legal opinions in Shīʿa Islam).

The fiqh or jurisprudence of Ibadis is relatively simple. Absolute authority is given to the Quran and ḥadīth literature; new innovations accepted on the basis of qiyas (analogical reasoning) were rejected as bid'ah (heresy) by the Ibadis. That differs from the majority of Sunnīs,[43] but agrees with most Shīʿa schools[44] and with the Ẓāhirī and early Ḥanbalī schools of Sunnism.[45][46][47]

Kalām is the Islamic philosophy of seeking theological principles through dialectic. In Arabic, the word literally means "speech/words". A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim (Muslim theologian; plural mutakallimūn). There are many schools of Kalam, the main ones being the Ashʿarī and Māturīdī schools in Sunni Islam.[50]

Ashʿarīsm is a school of theology founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the 10th century. The Ashʿarīte view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability. Ashʿarī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Māturīdī theology.[50] Historically, the Ashʿarī theology prevails in Sufism and was originally associated with the Ḥanbalī school of Islamic jurisprudence.[50]

Māturīdism is a school of theology founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī in the 10th century, which is a close variant of the Ashʿarī school. Māturīdī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Ashʿarī theology,[50] and prevails in the Ḥanafī school of Islamic jurisprudence.[50] Points which differ are the nature of belief and the place of human reason. The Māturīdites state that imān (faith) does not increase nor decrease but remains static; rather it's taqwā (piety) which increases and decreases. The Ashʿarītes affirm that belief does in fact increase and decrease. The Māturīdites affirm that the unaided human mind is able to find out that some of the more major sins such as alcohol or murder are evil without the help of revelation. The Ashʿarītes affirm that the unaided human mind is unable to know if something is good or evil, lawful or unlawful, without divine revelation.

Traditionalist theology, sometimes referred to as the Aṯharī school, derives its name from the word "tradition" as a translation of the Arabic word hadith or from the Arabic word aṯhar, meaning "narrations". The traditionalist creed is to avoid delving into extensive theological speculation. They rely on the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and sayings of the Sahaba, seeing this as the middle path where the attributes of Allah are accepted without questioning their nature (bi-la kayf). Ahmad ibn Hanbal is regarded as the leader of the traditionalist school of creed. The modern Salafi movement associates itself with the Aṯharī creed.[51][52][53][54]

Muʿtazilite theology originated in the 8th century in Basra when Wasil ibn Ata left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute. He and his followers expanded on the logic and rationalism of Greek philosophy, seeking to combine them with Islamic doctrines and show that the two were inherently compatible. The Muʿtazilites debated philosophical questions such as whether the Qur'an was created or co-eternal with God, whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination versus free will, whether God's attributes in the Qur'an were to be interpreted allegorically or literally, and whether sinning believers would have eternal punishment in hell.

Murji'ah was a name for an early politico-religious movement which came to refer to all those who identified faith (iman) with belief to the exclusion of acts.[55] Originating during the caliphates of Uthman and Ali, Murijites opposed the Kharijites, holding that only God has the authority to judge who is a true Muslim and who is not, and that Muslims should consider all other Muslims as part of the community.[56] Two major Murijite sub-sects were the were Karamiya and Sawbaniyya.[57]

Qadariyyah is an originally derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who asserted that humans possess free will, whose exercise makes them responsible for their actions, justifying divine punishment and absolving God of responsibility for evil in the world.[58][59] Some of their doctrines were later adopted by the Mu'tazilis and rejected by the Ash'aris.[58]

In direct contrast to the Qadariyyah, Jabriyah was an early islamic philosophical school based on the belief that humans are controlled by predestination, without having choice or free will. The Jabriya school originated during the Umayyad dynasty in Basra. The first representative of this school was Al-Ja'd ibn Dirham who was executed in 724.[60] The term is derived from the Arabic root j-b-r, in the sense which gives the meaning of someone who is forced or coerced by destiny.[60] The term Jabriyah was also a derogatory term used by different Islamic groups that they considered wrong,[61] The Ash'ariyah used the term Jabriyah in the first place to describe the followers of, Jahm ibn Safwan who died in 746, in that they regarded their faith as a middle position between Qadariyah and Jabriya. On the other hand, the Mu'tazilah considered the Ash'ariyah as Jabriyah because, in their opinion, they rejected the orthodox doctrine of free will.[62] The Shiites used the term Jabriyah to describe the Ash'ariyah and Hanbalis.[63]

Jahmis were the alleged followers of the early Islamic theologian Jahm bin Safwan who associated himself with Al-Harith ibn Surayj. He was an exponent of extreme determinism according to which a man acts only metaphorically in the same way in which the sun acts or does something when it sets.[64]

The Bāṭiniyyah is a name given to an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the bāṭin (inward, esoteric) meaning of texts. It has been retained by all branches of Isma'ilism and its Druze offshoot. Alevism, Bektashism and folk religion, Hurufis and Alawites practice a similar system of interpretation.[65]

Many slaves brought from Africa to the Western Hemisphere were Muslims,[76] and the early 20th century saw the rise of distinct Islamic religious and political movements within the African-American community in the United States,[77] such as Darul Islam,[76] the Islamic Party of North America,[76] the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB),[76] the Muslim Alliance in North America,[76] the Moorish Science Temple of America,[77] the Nation of Islam (NOI),[77][78][79][80] and the Ansaaru Allah Community.[81] They sought to ascribe Islamic heritage to African-Americans, thereby giving much emphasis on racial and ethnic aspects[78][77][79][80][82] (see black nationalism and black separatism).[76][81][83] These black Muslim movements often differ greatly in matters of doctrine from mainstream Islam.[77][79][81][83] They include:

• Moorish Science Temple of America, founded in 1913 by Noble Drew Ali (born Timothy Drew).[80] The Moorish Science Temple of America is characterized by a strong African-American ethnic and religious identity.[77][80][84]
  • Moorish Orthodox Church of America
• Nation of Islam, founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad in Detroit in 1930,[85] with a declared aim of "resurrecting" the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the black man and woman of America and the world.[77][78][79] The Nation of Islam believes that Wallace Fard Muhammad was God on earth.[83][85][86] The Nation of Islam doesn't consider the Arabian Muhammad as the final prophet and instead regards Elijah Muhammad, successor of Wallace Fard Muhammad, as the true Messenger of Allah.[77][78][79]
  • American Society of Muslims: Warith Deen Mohammed established the American Society of Muslims in 1975.[76] This offshoot wanted to bring its teachings more in line with mainstream Sunni Islam, establishing mosques instead of temples, and promoting the Five pillars of Islam.[87][88]
  • Five-Percent Nation[76]
  • United Nation of Islam

Part of a series on Ahmadiyya
Beliefs and practices Tawhid Five Pillars of Islam Six articles of faith Bay'ah
Distinct views Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Prophethood Jesus Jihad Evolution
Days of remembrance Caliphate Day Eid al-Adha Eid al-Fitr Promised Messiah Day Promised Reformer Day
Foundational texts and sciences Quran Sunnah (Hadith, Sirah) Aqidah (creed) Tafsir (exegesis) Fiqh (jurisprudence) Sharia (law)
Key literature Rūhānī Khazā᾽in Malfūzāt Tafsīr-e-Kabīr Haqā'iq al-Furqān Review of Religions Al Fazl (newspaper) The Muslim Sunrise Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
Organizational structure Caliphs: I II III IV V Majlis al-Shura Lajna Khuddām Ansār Jalsa Salana Mosques Jamia MTA
Key sites Hijaz Kaaba Masjid al-Haram Al-Masjid an-Nabawi United Kingdom Mubarak Mosque Fazl Mosque Qadian Aqsa Mosque Minaret-ul-Masih Mubarak Mosque Rabwah Aqsa Mosque Jamia
Miscellaneous Persecution Ahmadiyya by country Ahmadiyya and other faiths List of Ahmadis Humanity First (NGO Charity) Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Ahmadiyya translations of the Quran Roza Bal (Tomb of Jesus) Mai Mari da Ashtan (Tomb of Mary)

The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam was founded in British India in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who claimed to be the promised Messiah ("Second Coming of Christ"), the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims as well as a "subordinate" prophet to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[89][90][91][92] Ahmadis claim to practice the pristine form of Islam as followed by Muhammad and his earliest followers.[93][94] They believe that it was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's task to restore the original sharia given to Muhammad by guiding the Ummah back to the "true" Islam and defeat the attacks on Islam by other religions.[89][90][91][92][95]

There are a wide variety of distinct beliefs and teachings of Ahmadis compared to those of most other Muslims,[89][90][91][92] which include the interpretation of the Quranic title Khatam an-Nabiyyin,[96] interpretation of the Messiah's Second Coming,[90][97] complete rejection of the abrogation/cancellation of Quranic verses,[98] belief that Jesus survived the crucifixion and died of old age in India,[90][91][99] conditions of the "Jihad of the Sword" are no longer met,[90][100] belief that divine revelation (as long as no new sharia is given) will never end,[101] belief in cyclical nature of history until Muhammad,[101] and belief in the implausibility of a contradiction between Islam and science.[95] These perceived deviations from normative Islamic thought have resulted in severe persecution of Ahmadis in various Muslim-majority countries,[90] particularly Pakistan,[90][102] where they have been branded as Non-Muslims and their Islamic religious practices are punishable by the Ahmadi-Specific laws in the penal code.[103]

The followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam are divided into two groups: the first being the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, currently the dominant group, and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam.[90] The larger group takes a literalist view believing that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the promised Mahdi and a Ummati Nabi subservient to Muhammad, while the latter believing that he was only a religious reformer and a prophet only in an allegorical sense.[90] Both Ahmadi groups are active in dawah or Islamic missionary work, and have produced vasts amounts of Islamic literature, including numerous translations of the Quran, translations of the Hadith, Quranic tafsirs, a multitude of sirahs of Muhammad, and works on the subject of comparative religion among others.[90][92] As such, their international influence far exceeds their number of adherents.[90][92][104] Muslims from more Orthodox sects of Islam have adopted many Ahmadi polemics and understandings of other religions,[105] along with the Ahmadi approach to reconcile Islamic and Western education as well as to establish Islamic school systems, particularly in Africa.[106]

Sunni Muslims of the Indian subcontinent comprising present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are overwhelmingly Hanafi by fiqh have split into two schools or movements, the Barelvi and the Deobandi. While the Deobandi is revivalist in nature, the Barelvi are more traditional and inclined towards Sufism.

The Gülen movement, usually referred to as the Hizmet movement,[107] established in the 1970s as an offshoot of the Nur Movement[108] and led by the Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen in Turkey, Central Asia, and in other parts of the world, is active in education, with private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as with many American charter schools operated by followers. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue.[109][110] The Cemaat movement's structure has been described as a flexible organizational network.[111] Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks.[112] Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely; it appears there are about 300 Gülen movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide.[113][114]

Islamic modernism, also sometimes referred to as "modernist Salafism",[115][116][117][118][119] is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response"[120] attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism, democracy, and science.[121]

Part of a series on Islamism
Fundamentals Islam History Culture Economics Politics Secularism
Ideologies Islamism Qutbism Salafi movement International propagation by country/region Shia Islamism Islamic fundamentalism
Concepts Apostasy in Islam Takfir Caliphate Islam and democracy Islamic socialism Islamic state Islamic monarchy Islamic republic Islamization (of knowledge) Jihad Islamic terrorism Jihadism Pan-Islamism Political Islam aspects Post-Islamism Sharia Shura Two-nation theory Ummah
Influences Anti-communism Anti-imperialism Anti-Zionism Islamic Golden Age Islamic revival
Movements Scholastic Barelvi Dawat-e-Islami Ahl-i Hadith Deobandi Madkhalism Nurcu Sahwa movement Wahhabism International propagation by country/region Political Hizb ut-Tahrir Iranian Revolution Jamaat-e-Islami Millî Görüş Muslim Brotherhood Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan List of Islamic political parties Militant Militant Islamism based in MENA region South Asia Southeast Asia Sub-Saharan Africa
Key texts The Caliphate or the Grand Imamate (Rashīd Rīďha 1922) Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Iqbal 1930s) Principles of State and Government (Asad 1961) Ma'alim fi al-Tariq ("Milestones") (Qutb 1965) Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist ("Velayat-e faqih") (Khomeini 1970)
Heads of state Ali Khamenei Omar al-Bashir Muammar Gaddafi Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ruhollah Khomeini Mohamed Morsi Alija Izetbegović Mohammed Omar House of Saud House of Thani Hibatullah Akhundzada Zia-ul-Haq
Key ideologues Muhammad Abduh Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī Qazi Hussain Ahmad Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani Muhammad Asad Hassan al-Banna Rached Ghannouchi Safwat Hegazi Muhammad Iqbal Ali Khamenei Ruhollah Khomeini Necip Fazıl Kısakürek Abul A'la Maududi Abul Hasan Nadwi Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani Yusuf al-Qaradawi Sayyid Qutb Tariq Ramadan Ata Abu Rashta Rashid Rida Navvab Safavi Ali Shariati Haji Shariatullah Hassan Al-Turabi Ahmed Yassin Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
Criticism of Islamism Criticism of Islamism Criticism of Islam Liberal and reform movements within Islam in Europe in North America Khaled Abu al-Fadl Farag Foda Abdelwahab Meddeb Maryam Namazie Maajid Nawaaz Olivier Roy Bassam Tibi
Related topics Islam and modernity Modernism Islam and other religions Islamophobia
Islam portal  Politics portal

Islamism is a set of political ideologies, derived from various fundamentalist views, which hold that Islam is not only a religion but a political system that should govern the legal, economic and social imperatives of the state. Many Islamists do not refer to themselves as such and it is not a single particular movement. Religious views and ideologies of its adherents vary, and they may be Sunni Islamists or Shia Islamists depending upon their beliefs. Islamist groups include groups such as Al-Qaeda, the organizer of the September 11, 2001 attacks and perhaps the most prominent; and the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest and perhaps the oldest. Although violence is often employed by some organizations, most Islamist movements are nonviolent.

The Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun (with Ikhwan الإخوان brethren) or Muslim Brotherhood, is an organisation that was founded by Egyptian scholar Hassan al-Banna, a graduate of Dar al-Ulum. With its various branches, it is the largest Sunni movement in the Arab world, and an affiliate is often the largest opposition party in many Arab nations. The Muslim Brotherhood is not concerned with theological differences, accepting both, Muslims of any of the four Sunni schools of thought, and Shi'a Muslims. It is the world's oldest and largest Islamist group. Its aims are to re-establish the Caliphate and in the meantime, push for more Islamisation of society. The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and sunnah as the "sole reference point for... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community... and state".

The Jamaat-e-Islami (or JI) is an Islamist political party in the Indian subcontinent. It was founded in Lahore, British India, by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (with alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi) in 1941 and is the oldest religious party in Pakistan. Today, sister organizations with similar objectives and ideological approaches exist in India (Jamaat-e-Islami Hind), Bangladesh (Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh), Kashmir (Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir), and Sri Lanka, and there are "close brotherly relations" with the Islamist movements and missions "working in different continents and countries", particularly those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (Akhwan-al-Muslimeen). The JI envisions an Islamic government in Pakistan and Bangladesh governing by Islamic law. It opposes Westernization—including secularization, capitalism, socialism, or such practices as interest based banking, and favours an Islamic economic order and Caliphate.

Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabic: حزب التحرير) (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, pan-Islamist political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Islamic ways of life in the Muslim world. The caliphate would unite the Muslim community (Ummah)[122] upon their Islamic creed and implement the Shariah, so as to then carry the proselytizing of Islam to the rest of the world.[123]

Quranism[124] or Quraniyya (Arabic: القرآنية; al-Qur'āniyya) is a protestant[125] branch of Islam. It holds the belief that Islamic guidance and law should only be based on the Quran, thus opposing the religious authority and authenticity of the hadith literature.[126][127] Quranists believe that God's message is already clear and complete in the Quran and it can therefore be fully understood without referencing outside texts.[128] Quranists claim that the vast majority of hadith literature are forged lies and believe that the Quran itself criticizes the hadith both in the technical sense and the general sense.[129][126][130][131][132][133]

Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th-19th centuries.[134] Liberal and progressive Islamic organizations and movements are primarily based in the Western world, and have in common a religious outlook which depends mainly on ijtihad or re-interpretation of the sacred scriptures of Islam.[134] Liberal and progressive Muslims are characterized by a rationalistic, critical examination and re-interpretation of the sacred scriptures of Islam;[134] affirmation and promotion of democracy, gender equality, human rights, LGBT rights, women's rights, religious pluralism, interfaith marriage,[135][136] freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and freedom of religion;[134] opposition to theocracy and total rejection of Islamism and Islamic fundamentalism;[134] and a modern view of Islamic theology, ethics, sharia, culture, tradition, and other ritualistic practices in Islam.[134]

Mahdavia, or Mahdavism, is a Mahdiist sect founded in late 15th century India by Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri, who declared himself to be the Hidden Twelfth Imam of the Twelver Shia tradition.[137] They follow many aspects of the Sunni doctrine. Zikri Mahdavis, or Zikris, are an offshoot of the Mahdavi movement.[138]

Non-denominational Muslims is an umbrella term that has been used for and by Muslims who do not belong to or do not self-identify with a specific Islamic denomination.[139][140][141][142] A quarter of the world's Muslims are non-denominational Muslims.[143]

Tolu-e-Islam ("Resurgence of Islam") is a non-denominational Muslim organization based in Pakistan, with members throughout the world.[144] The movement was initiated by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez.

Ahl-i Hadith (Persian: اهل حدیث, Urdu: اہل حدیث: transl. People of the traditions of the Prophet) is a movement which emerged in the Indian subcontinent in the mid-19th century. Its followers call themselves Ahl al-Hadith and are considered to be a branch of the Salafiyya school. Ahl-i Hadith is antithetical to various beliefs and mystical practices associated with folk Sufism. Ahl-i Hadith shares many doctrinal similarities with the Wahhabi movement and hence often classified as being synonymous with the "Wahhabis" by its adversaries. However, its followers reject this designation, preferring to identify themselves as "Salafis".[145][146][147][148]

Part of a series on: Salafi movement
Sab'u Masajid, Saudi Arabia
Theology and Influences Ahl al-Hadith Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ibn Hazm Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya Ibn Kathir Al-Dhahabi Ibn Abd al-Hadi Ibn Muflih Muhammad Hayaat Al-Sindhi Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab Shah Waliullah Dehlawi Al-Shawkani
Founders and key figures Syed Nazeer Husain Siddiq Hasan Khan Jamal al-Din Qasimi Sayyid Muhammad Rashid Ridha Abd ar-Rahman Al Mu'allami Muhammad Bahjat al Baytar Muhammad Al-Amin al Shanqeeti Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz Ibn al Uthaymeen Nasiruddin Albani Badi' ud-Din Shah al-Rashidi al-Sindhi Zubair Ali Zai Ameenullah Peshawari Muhammad Ibn Salih al-Munajjid 'Abd al Aziz al-Ťarifi Muhammad Musa Al-Sharif List of Salafi scholars
Notable universities Umm al-Qura University Islamic University of Madinah
Related ideologies Ahl-i Hadith movement Islamism Islamic fundamentalism Madkhalism Qutbism Sahwa movement Salafi jihadism Wahhabism International propagation by country/region Hazimism
Associated organizations Al-Nour Party Authenticity Party People Party Takfir wal-Higra Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant al-Qaida
Politics portal  Islam portal

The Salafiyya movement is a conservative,[149] Islahi (reform)[150] movement within Sunni Islam that emerged in the second half of the 19th century and advocate a return to the traditions of the "devout ancestors" (Salaf al-Salih). It has been described as the "fastest-growing Islamic movement"; with each scholar expressing diverse views across social, theological, and political spectrum. Salafis follow a doctrine that can be summed up as taking "a fundamentalist approach to Islam, emulating the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers—al-salaf al-salih, the 'pious forefathers'....They reject religious innovation, or bidʻah, and support the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law)."[151] The Salafi movement is often divided into three categories: the largest group are the purists (or quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group are the militant activists, who get involved in politics; the third and last group are the jihadists, who constitute a minority.[151] Most of the violent Islamist groups come from the Salafi-Jihadist movement and their subgroups.[152] In recent years, Jihadi-Salafist doctrines have often been associated with the armed insurgencies of Islamic extremist movements and terrorist organizations targeting innocent civilians, both Muslims and Non-Muslims, such as al-Qaeda, ISIL/ISIS/IS/Daesh, Boko Haram, etc.[153][154][151][152] The second largest group are the Salafi activists who have a long tradition of political activism, such as those that operate in organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's major Islamist movement. In the aftermath of widescale repressions after the Arab spring, accompanied by their political failures, the activist-Salafi movements have undergone a decline. The most numerous are the quietists, who believe in disengagement from politics and accept allegiance to Muslim governments, no matter how tyrannical, to avoid fitna (chaos).[151]

The Wahhabi movement was founded and spearheaded by the Ḥanbalī scholar and theologian Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab,[155][156][157] a religious preacher from the Najd region in central Arabia,[158][159][160][161][162] and was instrumental in the rise of the House of Saud to power in the Arabian peninsula.[155] Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab sought to revive and purify Islam from what he perceived as non-Islamic popular religious beliefs and practices by returning to what, he believed, were the fundamental principles of the Islamic religion.[159][160][161][162] His works were generally short, full of quotations from the Quran and Hadith literature, such as his main and foremost theological treatise, Kitāb at-Tawḥīd (Arabic: كتاب التوحيد; "The Book of Oneness").[159][160][161][162] He taught that the primary doctrine of Islam was the uniqueness and oneness of God (tawḥīd), and denounced what he held to be popular religious beliefs and practices among Muslims that he considered to be akin to heretical innovation (bidʿah) and polytheism (shirk).[159][160][161][162]

Wahhabism has been described as a conservative, strict, and fundamentalist branch of Sunnī Islam,[163] with puritan views,[163] believing in a literal interpretation of the Quran.[155] The terms "Wahhabism" and "Salafism" are sometimes evoked interchangeably, although the designation "Wahhabi" is specifically applied to the followers of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his reformist doctrines.[155] The label "Wahhabi" was not claimed by his followers, who usually refer themselves as al-Muwaḥḥidūn ("affirmers of the singularity of God"), but is rather employed by Western scholars as well as his critics.[155][156][160] Starting in the mid-1970s and 1980s, the international propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism within Sunnī Islam[163] favored by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia[158][164][165] and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf has achieved what the French political scientist Gilles Kepel defined as a "preeminent position of strength in the global expression of Islam."[166]

22 months after the September 11 attacks, when the FBI considered al-Qaeda as "the number one terrorist threat to the United States", journalist Stephen Schwartz and U.S. Senator Jon Kyl have explicitly stated during a hearing that occurred in June 2003 before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security of the U.S. Senate that "Wahhabism is the source of the overwhelming majority of terrorist atrocities in today's world".[167] As part of the global "War on Terror", Wahhabism has been accused by the European Parliament, various Western security analysts, and think tanks like the RAND Corporation, as being "a source of global terrorism".[167][168] Furthermore, Wahhabism has been accused of causing disunity in the Muslim community (Ummah) and criticized for its followers' destruction of many Islamic, cultural, and historical sites associated with the early history of Islam and the first generation of Muslims (Muhammad's family and his companions) in Saudi Arabia.[169][170][171][172]