{"id":775,"date":"2017-05-11T05:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T23:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mapsofworld.com\/answers\/?p=775"},"modified":"2021-03-12T07:26:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T11:26:42","slug":"islam-divided-two-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofworld.com\/answers\/religion\/islam-divided-two-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Islam Divided into Two Groups?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\"World<\/a>No. Islam is divided into several branches and sub-sects.<\/p>\n

There are four major branches of Islam; Sunni, Shia, Sufi, and Ahmadiyya. Khawarij was a branch in the early centuries of Islam but later became extinct.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sunni Islam<\/h3>\n

There are around 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide with around 941 million being Sunni followers. The term \u2018Sunni\u2019 is derived from the word \u2018Sunnah\u2019 \u2013 the word of Prophet Muhammad. Sunnis also happen to be followers of Abu Bakr Siddique, who was a close friend and father-in-law of Prophet Muhammad.<\/p>\n

After the death of Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakr was elected as the first Caliph and leader of Islam and was followed by three other Caliphs, all of whom were referred as \u2018al-Khulaf\u0101\u2019ur-Rashid\u016bn\u2019 or the \u2018Rightly Guided Caliphs\u2019.<\/p>\n

Sunnis follow four schools of law (Madhahib) as taught by four leading scholars:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Hanafi \u2013 named after Abu Haneefah an-Nu\u2019man<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Maliki \u2013 named after Malik ibn Anas<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Shafi\u2019i \u2013 named after Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi\u2019i<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Hanbali \u2013 named after Ahmad bin Hanbal<\/p>\n

Shia Islam<\/h3>\n

There are around 121 million Shia Muslims around the world with most living in Iran and Iraq. The Shia branch of Islam dates back to the period after the death of Prophet Muhammad, when a successor to him was to be chosen.
\nWhile Sunnis chose to follow Abu Bakr, the Shias believed that the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad should come from the family and therefore they chose to follow Ali ibn Abi Talib as the next Imam, rejecting the Rashid\u016bn Caliphs chosen by the Sunnis. Ali was the Prophet\u2019s cousin and son-in-law.<\/p>\n

The Shia faith got further strengthened after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, son of Ali and Prophet Muhammad\u2019s grandson, at Karbala.<\/p>\n

Sub-sects of Shia Islam:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ismaili<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jafri<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zaidiyyah<\/p>\n

Ismailism<\/strong> further evolved into the Seveners, Nizari and Musta\u2019li sub-sects.<\/p>\n