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Sunni Islam
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One of the essential pillars of Sunni Islam is the Shahadah (Testimony, Witness), otherwise known as the Kalimah (Kalima) (Creed, Statement). It is actually the first pillar of Sunni faith, and is basically a statement of faith regarding the person’s belief in Allah and Muhammad as his messenger. The confession is a fixed formula that is to be repeated in the following manner:
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Shia Islam, like Sunni Islam, has at times been divided into many branches; ... only three of these currently have a significant number of followers. The best known and the one with most adherents is the Twelvers (
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Sunni Islam itself became the dominant form of Islam as a result of historical developments. Its early centre was Iraq, which, from 750 onwards, was ... the centre of the caliphate. At first, the caliphs regarded themselves as possessing authority in Islam, but they needed the support of those scholars who were elaborating the idea of the Sunna. By the early 9th century the scholars had become confident enough to claim that religious authority belonged to themselves, not to the caliphs. A struggle for power between the scholars and the caliphs ensued, centred around a theological doctrine which the caliphs wished to establish as “orthodoxy” but which the scholars opposed. This was the dispute known as the mihna, in which the caliphs tried to enforce the doctrine that the Koran had been created in time.
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Sunni Islam does not possess clerical hierarchies and centralized institutions. The absence of a hierarchy has been a source of strength that has permitted the faith to adapt to local conditions. However, it ... has been a weakness that makes it difficult for Sunni Muslims to achieve any significant degree of solidarity. Despite some very minor disputes there are many Sub-Groups in the four groups like Kharjiites, Wahabis, Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamat, Ahle Hadith, Ghurba Ahle Hadits, Sunnis of Green Turban, Sunnis of Brown Turbans etc. etc. They declare each other wrong and seldom offer prayer behind each other.
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Sunni Islam was defined during the early Abbasid period (beginning in AD 750), and it included the followers of four legal schools (the Malikis, Hanafis, Shafi'is, and Hanbalis). In contrast to the Shias, the Sunnis believed that leadership was in the hands of the Muslim community at large. The consensus of historical communities, not the decisions of political authorities, led to the establishment of the four legal schools. In theory a Muslim could choose whichever school of Islamic thought he or she wished to follow and could change this choice at will. The respect and popularity that the religious scholars enjoyed made them the effective brokers of social power and pitched them against the political authorities.
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The doctrines of Sunni Islam were formed toward the end of the 9th century, and its theology was developed as a complete system during the 10th century. Both developments occurred, in large measure, as reactions to early schismatic movements, such as the Kharijites, Mutazilites, and Shias. The inclusive Sunni definition of a Muslim, for instance, was conceived in reaction to the narrow extremism of the Kharijites. The strong Sunni emphasis on God's power, will, and determination of human fate developed in reaction to the Mutazilite insistence on the absolute freedom of the human will. Sunni political doctrines emerged in the struggle against the legitimism espoused by the Shias in the dispute over the succession to Muhammad (see Caliphate). Various nuances of interpretation and different schools have developed within Sunni theology, the Sunni tendency having been to accommodate minor differences of opinion and to affirm the consensus of the community in doctrinal matters.
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Sunni Islam