Conservative Muslims believe that all the Qur'an and (usually) the Hadith traditions are for all times, except for parts specifically abrogated.
Liberal Muslims want a changed, mellowed-down Islam adapted to their modern lifestyle. Some still read the Qur'an a lot, and others are more secular. They do not pray five times a day, and ignore what the Hadiths say about Muslim women having to wear veils. Sahih Muslim vol.2:2789 p.606-607
Innovative groups have strange theology that is different from the Qur'an. At an extreme, the Nation of Islam (Black Muslim group) taught the black race was superior
Only a few groups in Islam, the modern Wahhabis and ancient Kharijites, claim to follow the Qur'an and also consciously downplay all tradition. You can remember the classic Muslims and other categories by the acronym SCHISM, meaning division.
Successors and traditions have prominence in Shi'ite Islam. For example, when at Khomeini's funeral, crowds were trying to pull off parts of his body to take home and reverence. Pilgrimages to holy shrines to revere their saints are important for them.
Cultural Muslims know little about Islam, and may not care. Some cultural Muslims drink beer, and after seeing what Islam is about, they are Muslims because they just want to be left alone.
Human traditions of Mohammed and others (the Hadiths) are paramount in Sunni Islam.
Inventors of new beliefs. Some "Muslims" say it is fine to drink wine, there is no need to go to Mecca, or fast or pray as prescribed. God appeared as a "Trinity" of Allah, Mohammed, and 'Ali, and people who do not recognize 'Ali as God will be reincarnated as animals.
Spiritual mysticism, called Sufism, teaches one can be absorbed in the divine, and be God themselves. They focus on experience, including smoking hashish, and flagellating themselves with whips, because pain can bring them closer to God.
Modern Muslims are liberals who, personally "abrogate" things in the Qur'an they disagree with, even if neither Mohammed nor any early Muslim ever said they were abrogated. Since September 11, 2001, many modern Muslims were disgusted with conservative Muslims trying to follow what Mohammed originally said, and the feeling apparently is mutual.
In which group do what are termed "Muslim extremists" fit? Mohammed led a surprise attack at dawn, ordered assassinations, and Mohammed himself fought in either 19 or 26 of the 56 or so battles. However Mohammed did not advocate suicide, and he preferred to enslave women and children rather than kill them.
Conservative Muslims castigate the modern Muslims as denying everything in Islam that offends their western sensibilities. Modern Muslims look down on conservatives as ill-educated embarrassments who want the world to turn back the clock to the 13th century. Following is a brief synopsis of some of the sects
.Wahhabis - Focus on the Original Source
The Wahhabi sect is a strict, conservative sect that tries to follow the original teaching of Mohammed. It was derived from Sunni Hanbalism via Ibn Taymiya/Taymiyya (d.1328). Later it spread from Mecca to Punjab, India via Ismail Hadji Maulvi-Mohammed and Sayd Ahmed. The Saudi Arabian government came to power as a result of a Wahhabi revolt. They emphasize tawheed, or the oneness of God. Within Saudi Arabia Wahhabis are considered Sunnis.
Kharijites - The Disappointed Ones
The Kharijites, (=Khawarij) in early Islam were the third most important group, after the Sunnis and Shi'ites. Like the Wahhabis, they only wanted the pure, original teaching, but unlike the Wahhabis an essential part of their teaching was obedience to 'Ali as the rightful caliph. Indeed, they were indistinguishable from Shi'ites, until 'Ali submitted to arbitration. After that, Kharijites fought against both Sunnis and Shi'ites. Their main leaders were Abu Bilal Mirdas (died 681 A.D.) and Abu Hamza (died 747 A.D.) Note the early dates.
The Kharijite key distinctives were that
· "God is sole judge and arbiter".
· After disappointment with 'Ali, they said the Caliphate was open to anyone, even a black slave.
· Deeds are an essential part of the fruit
· Man is free and responsible, as opposed to the fatalistic views of many other Muslims.
The Kharijites split into the Sufriyya/Saffriyah (al-Tabari vol.39 p.217), Azarika, Bayhasiyya, Nadjadat, and Ibadiyya groups. The Kharijites are almost extinct today. Surviving ones are in Oman, Zanzibar, north and east Africa. Many of the Kharijites are the more moderate Ibadites, who do not believe in assassination.
Ghulat Sects - The Most Innovative Ones
'Alawites drink wine and believe in a Trinity of Mohammed, 'Ali, and Saliman al-Farisi. Babis followed the "Bab" (Gate) who was a man named Ali Muhammad, born in 1821 who claimed to be the forerunner for the 12th imam returned in 1844 A.D. He was executed in 1850 A.D., and his group split into two parts: Azalis, and Baha'is (1863), who believe the Bahaullah is the 12th imam returned as well as Christ returned. They do not really claim to be Muslim. Ahmadiyyas, which are now two sects, were started in 1879 in Punjab when Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the Mahdi and the Messiah. They redefine Jihad as peaceful only. They believe Jesus was really crucified, but taken down alive, escaped to Kashmir, and was buried in Srinigar.
Sufi Muslims - Mystics
Sufism is the mystic branch of Islam. While regular Islam emphasizes actions, including prayer and fasting, it say little about heart experience. Sufism says the external actions do not matter, it is the internal that counts. Using frequent examples of wine, and less frequently illicit sex, they speak of not just experiencing God, but becoming God themselves by annihilation and being absorbed in the divine. A famous Sufi saying is "Praise be to me." One of the most widely read Sufi author today, nicknamed Rumi, even teaches mystical truth by teaching a story of two women who have sex with a donkey (The Mathnawi 5:1333-1405).
Not only were Sufis heavily persecuted in Iran under Khomeini, but historically they have also suffered persecution until the Ottomans took over. (Many Janissaries were Sufis.) Some Sufi groups talk of a doctrine of "survival" complementing the doctrine of "annihilation", saying that some parts of a completed Sufi are still separate, they are not actually Allah, and so other Muslims should not kill them. It is difficult to count Sufis, because a Sufi Muslim can also be a Sunni or Shi'ite. One estimate is that after the Iranian persecutions there are about 5 million of them, and they are growing in California.
Cultural Muslims
Cultural Muslims are Muslim in the sense that many westerners are Christian: they know more about the religion they profess to be than any other. In genuine Christianity, one is not a Christian if they have not given over their life to Christ. However, a person can be a Muslim as long as they say the right things, and do not get too out of line. As a matter of fact, in Austin I heard of an atheist who was also a Muslim. He did not believe Allah was real, but thought that Islam was a lifestyle he wanted to have.
Liberal Muslims
Modern, liberal Muslims differ from cultural Muslims in that liberal Muslims can be very serious about their religion. They are not trying to lie when they say Islam is a religion of peace; they sincerely believe that. This is in spite of the way the majority of the Muslim world has been throughout the ages. They are not ignorant of what has gone on, but believe that most of the Muslim world is filled with ill-educated people that have only a caricature of true Islam. On the other hand, conservative Muslims deplore modernists who bow Islam before the modern world. What they are ignorant of, or have rationalized away, is that the source of Islam, Mohammed himself, was a violent person who led raids on caravans, ordered assassinations, and commanded his followers to kill pagans and fight Christians and Jews.
Liberal Muslims say that conservatives are in the minority; conservatives say that liberals are in the minority. Some newspaper articles about protests and schools in Muslim lands indicate that there are substantial numbers of both conservatives and liberals. Yes, the conservative Muslims says that non-Muslims are to be killed (with some protection for Jews and Christians living in Muslim lands who pay an extra tax for being non-Muslim). All of the "reasonable" arguments of liberal Muslims and non-Muslims will not sway them, because Mohammed was clear on this.
Islamic schools and branches - Wikipedia
ONE of the enduring topics of Muslim sectarian polemics has been the hadith attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) according to which he had predicted that his ummah would be divided into 73 sects, but only one would be saved.
All Muslim sects happily claim that their sect is the ‘saved one’ (naji) and the ‘others’ are destined for hell. This hadith, if we were to follow the traditional line of argument, divides the Muslim ummah into two sections: the saved ones and the hell-bound ones.
Few people ask why the number 73, and where it comes from. Luckily, there is now a tendency to see this hadith in a more objective way, beyond sectarian interpretations. There is an attempt to see the sects more in a pluralistic and inclusive light than in exclusive ways. In recent times, attempts have been made to unravel the context of this hadith and examine its implications.
The most frequently cited hadith regarding the 73 divisions of the Muslim faith is reported as: the Jews are divided into 71 sects (firqa), the Christians into 72 sects, and my community will divide into 73 sects (Ibn Majah, Abu Daud, al-Tirmidhi and al-Nisa’i). The hadith also occurs in many other versions as well.
This hadith has two parts: one is the number of sects that are to emerge, and the other the salvation part. Often, it was understood that the 72 sects would be condemned while one would be saved. As opposed to this, we have another version of the hadith which tells us a different story.
Muqaddasi (a 10th-century geographer), according to Roy Mottahedeh (Diversity and Pluralism in Islam), tells us that “72 sects are in heaven and one in hell, according to what he considers is a more sound line of transmission (isnad)”. This shows that there is variation of the hadith reported on the 73 sects.
According to Mottahedeh, Fakhruddin Razi (d. 1209) reports that some have questioned the authenticity of this tradition, saying that if by 72 they mean the fundamentals of religious belief (usul), then they do not reach this number and if they mean the practices (furu), then the number passes this number by several multiples.
The other view of this hadith is that the figure 73 is not meant literally, but is a relative and figurative number, identified because of a context. Mottahedeh gives extensive historical examples wherein the figure was used as a symbolic number. The author says that “70 meant ‘a sizeable number’ and 70-odd meant ‘a sizeable number and then some’ is fairly clear. In many cases, the expressions are meant to be pictorial numbers and not exact ‘head counts’”.
He further adds that 70 assumed the role of a metaphor for numerousness and thus is “rhetorically significant”. The author cites a hadith that says, ‘He who helps a believer in distress, God will remove him from 73 afflictions’. Here again, probably what is meant is a generous indication towards God’s reward. Religious language is often couched in symbolic language and not meant to be literally understood.
Two famous personalities, al-Baghdadi (d. 1037) and al-Shahrastani (d. 1153) give different accounts of the sectarian numbers and their backgrounds. There is no standard explanation; each, according to his background and time, has highlighted the sectarian beliefs and backgrounds as they understood them in their times.
Talking about the quarrelling of sects, Hafiz (d. 1389-1390), a great Muslim poet, says, “Forgive the war of the 72 sects; since they did not see the truth they have struck out on the road to fancy”.
Hafiz regards the sectarian quarrels as afsana that preoccupies those who fail to understand the diversity of faith. Similarly, Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi, according to Mottahedeh, thinks that the “deeper religion is the trans-religious mystery of love of God ... This manifests itself in many (ie 72) ‘madnesses’ and takes the soul beyond the world of being. Ultimately, we not only accept pluralism among Muslims, but among all the mysterious paths of the love of God” (Diversity and Pluralism).
Truth cannot be contained and constrained by communities’ quarrels among themselves. When we step outside the narrow confines of our communities, we realise that there is so much to learn from others. This point is reinforced by Abdul Aziz Sachedina in his remarkable book The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism by demystifying the mystery of different religions and sects, and how Islam views this diversity.
Throughout history, communities have learnt much from each other. Today as well, there is an increasing global trend to learn from and celebrate the diversity of faiths in many ways.
This discussion leads us to the realisation that sectarian numbers and who ‘owns’ the truth are complex issues. We need to look at Muslim diversity with respect, humility, responsibility, and celebration rather than through the prism of sectarianism.
Let there be no bloodshed just because one sect believes and practices its faith in a particular way. All are seeking the truth. The Quran refers to this positive outlook in many verses and an example is: “… if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Wouldst thou (Muhammad PBUH) compel men until they are believers? It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah. He hath set uncleanness upon those who have no understanding” (10:99-100).
The writer teaches Histories and Cultures of Muslim Societies at a private university in Pakistan.
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