Nov

18

Different Sects Of Islam

November 18, 2008 |


In this era it is very evident that the Spirit of God mightily working in the hearts of Our Muslim friends and neighbors and around the Muslim word.

It is very important for us as a being a follower of Jesus Christ to know the different Sects of Islam to have better understand how they think. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22b, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”

Muhammad prophesied that Islam would split into 73 sects BUT ONLY ONE would go to heaven, hence Allah will sentence to hell the majority of Muslims. However Muhammad did not specify which one is the right one, hence Muslims are living in doubt.

Abdullah bin Amar (RA) relates that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said “Surely things will happen to my people as happened earlier to Israelites, they will resemble each other like one shoe in a pair resembles the other to the extent that if anyone among the Israelites has openly committed adultery to his mother there will be some who will do this in my Ummah as well, verily the Israelites were divided into 72 sections but my people will be divided into 73 sections, all of them will be in the fire except one.” The companions asked,’ Who are they O Messenger of Allah,’ Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “They are those who will be like me and my companions.”

Authenticity of this Hadith
http://www.real-islam.org/73_3.htm


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 and the white race was created by devils.
Classic Muslims and other Categories

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.

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. 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.

Sunnis - Traditionalists
About 300,000 individual traditions (most of them universally acknowledged as bogus) were allegedly preserved. Bukhari, Tirmidhi, and others sifted through these a couple of centuries after Mohammed and came up with volumes of the collections of what they regarded as genuine. Undoubtedly many of these are accurate, but fake ones did slip in, such as Mohammed doing miracles when the Qur’an says he did none except recite the Qur’an. When Sunni Muslims speak of living under Muslim Law (Sharia), they mean these traditions and the interpretation of them and the Qur’an. Many Sunnis accept Shi’ites and Sufis.

Shi’ites - 7 or 12 Successors
Two points of disagreement between Shi’ites and Sunnis. First, the Shi’ites place more rigid genealogical restrictions on the Caliph than do the Sunnis. On the one hand, Sunnis believe that the Caliph should be a descendent of Muhammad’s tribe. On the other hand, Shi’ites argue that the Caliph should descend specifically from ‘Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law. In fact, the word Shi’ite means “partisan” and indicates that Shi’ites are “partisans of ‘Ali” (Rood, 1994). Second, the Shi’ites differ with the Sunnis regarding the authority of the Caliph. Unlike the Sunnis, Shi’ite Muslims believe that the Islamic leader, whom they call the imam, is more than merely a guardian of Muhammad’s prophetic legacy. Rather, Muhammad bequeathed ‘Ali with his wilaya (i.e., his “spiritual abilities”), enabling him to interpret the Qur’an and to lead the Islamic community infallibly. Though there are various interpretations, Shi’ites generally believe that the wilaya has been passed down through the subsequent generations of ‘Ali’s descendants. They further believe that this “cycle of the wilaya” will continue until the last day when humankind will be resurrected and judged (see Kerr, 1982, p. 331).
The majority faction within the Shi’a branch, known as the Imamis (most of whom live in Iran), believes that the completion of the wilaya cycle will end with the messianic return of the twelfth imam. According to this sect, the twelfth imam has been in “occultation” (the state of hiding) since the third century of Islam. They believe, however, that the ayatollahs (senior experts in Islamic law) have access to the hidden imam, and thus, have the right to interpret Islamic law and make religious rulings (Kerr, 1982, p. 331). The late Ayatollah Khomeini, perhaps the most widely remembered Shi’ite leader among contemporary Westerners, was considered to be the spokesman for the hidden imam.


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.” 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.

Comparison with Christianity
Of course, the previous categories of Islam cry for comparison with Christianity. Curiously, the “Classic plus Schism” model works for Christianity too. Christianity has

  • Successor group (Catholics)
  • Cultural Christians (Many in the western world)
  • Human tradition (Orthodox)
  • Inventors (Mormons, JW’s, Moonies, etc.)
  • Spiritual Mystics (Medieval Mysticism)
  • Modern Christians (Liberals and Neoorthodox)

Since Mohammed claims Islam was compatible with the original teaching of Jesus, if Christ’s teaching has been preserved reliably today, then Islam would be in an invented cult of Christianity.

Sources from  Muslim Hope

By Sabir Ali


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. aaaa on April 20, 2009 8:28 am

    i think that all of the sects have something wrong with them. All have different ways of belief and knowledge. Islam is the one, true religion that has started dividing. This means that maybe in a few years, people will believe in the wrong things and say to others that they are true muslims. This will lead people astray as they dont know the true religion.

  2. Zashkaser on August 5, 2009 4:56 pm

    Amazing news, thank you!

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