| SUNNI ISLAM |
| SHIA ISLAM |
| Islam al-'isl?m is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (Saww), a seventh century Arab religious and political figure. The word Islam means "submission", or the total surrender of oneself to God An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning "one who submits (to God)".There are between 1 billion to 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world after Christianity. Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad (Saww), God's final prophet, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad (Saww)) as the fundamental sources of Islam. They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham (AS), Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Jews and Christians distorted the revelations God gave to these prophets by either altering the text, introducing a false interpretation, or both. Islam includes many religious practices. Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community. In addition to the Five Pillars, Islamic law (sharia) has developed a tradition of rulings that touch on virtually all aspects of life and society. This tradition encompasses everything from practical matters like dietary laws and banking to warfare. Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, the Sunni (85%) and Shi'a (15%). The schism developed in the late 7th century following disagreements over the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community. Islam is the predominant religion throughout the Middle East, as well as in parts of Africa and Asia. Large communities are also found in China, the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe and Russia. There are also large Muslim immigrant communities in other parts of the world such as Western Europe. About 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries, 30% in the Indian subcontinent and 15.6% in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country by population |
| Shia Islam (Sh?�a) is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. Shi'a comes from the phrase "Shi'at `Ali (AS)" meaning "Party of Ali (AS)." Shias attribute themselves to the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (SAWW), his family (the Ahl al-Bayt), and his descendants known as Shi'a Imams, whom they consider the infallible instructors of Qur'an and Sunnah.Unlike Sunnis, Shias believe Ali ibn Abi Talib (Muhammad's (SAWW) cousin and son-in-law) was the divinely ordained successor to Muhammad (SAWW), and thus Shi'as reject the legitimacy of the first three caliphs who succeeded him. Shia is one of the two main branches of Islam which has its own theologies, systems of jurisprudence, philosophies and mysticisms. Shia embodies a completely independent system of religious and political authority and religious interpretation. Thus it makes a minority in the Muslim history that has made a considerable contribution to Islamic civilization. Shia identity emerged in the first Islamic century, Shia theology and Fiqh were formulated in the second century [opinion needs balancing] and the first Shia governments and societies were established by the end of the third century. There are an estimated 130 to 190 million Shi'ites, 10-15% of the world's Muslims. Shia Islam has at times been divided into many branches, however only three of these currently have a significant number of followers. By far the largest and most well known is the Twelvers which form a majority of the population in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain. They are also the largest religious sect inside Lebanon. Other branches include the Ismaili or Sevener, and Zaidiyyah. In addition, the Alawite and Druze movements off-shoots of Shi'ism, and many of their adherents still consider themselves Shia. The Alawi sect is known to deify Ali, which is considered to be heresy among mainstream Shias. Moreover, the Druze faith differs greatly from Islam in general. The Sufi orders among the Shias are the Alevi, Bektashi, Kubrawiya, Noorbakhshi, Oveyssi, Qizilbashi, Hamadani , Gardezi (SYED) and Fatimid orders and denominations. |
| Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Sunnism or as Ahl as-Sunnah wa�l-Jam?�h (people of the example (of Muhammad SAWW) and the community), or Ahl as-Sunnah for short. The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah , which means the words and actions or example of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Historically, Sunni Islam has often been defined only in contrast with other denominations or schools of thought, such as Shia Islam, Mu'tazila and others, considering itself to be the orthodox form of Islam[citation needed]. As such, a case is sometimes made that Sunnism is as old as Islam itself[citation needed], or at least dates back to the first civil war in Islam from 656 to 661 CE. However, in terms of doctrine and theology, and in the sense of considering itself a separate denomination, Sunni Islam is younger than that, making it somewhat misleading to talk about Sunnites in a 7th century CE context. Sunni Islam was under the authority of the Caliph from Muhammad's (SAWW) death in 632 CE until the abolition of the caliphate by Mustafa Kemal Atat�rk in 1924. Since then, no central international authority exists; many countries have a Grand Mufti or other official who holds the highest religious authority in the country. However, during all of Islam's history, independent religious scholars - the ulama - have held great influence in religious matters. During the first centuries of Islam, when the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs were the worldly rulers of the Muslim world as well as the highest religious authorities of Sunni Islam, this led to some power struggles between the caliphate and the ulama. As the worldly power of the caliphate declined from the 9th and 10th century onwards, and as the religious law became more codified and exhaustive due to the efforts of the ulama, the caliphate's religious influence decreased as well. |
| Syed Mahboob Hussain Gardezi |
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