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107-455: However, the branches of Shia Islam that believe in it differ with regard to the identity of the Mahdi. The mainstream Shia identifies him as Muhammad al-Mahdi , the twelfth imam, who is believed to be responsible for the affairs of men and, in particular, their inward spiritual guidance during the occultation. Twelver Shia is the mainstream branch of Shia Islam, accounting for 85 percent of

214-460: A literalist reading of early Islamic sources, on the other, have laid competing claims to represent the "orthodox" Sunnī Islam. Anglophone Islamic currents of the former type are sometimes referred to as "traditional Islam". Islamic modernism is an offshoot of the Salafi movement that tried to integrate modernism into Islam by being partially influenced by modern-day attempts to revive the ideas of

321-621: A middle position between Qadariyah and Jabriya. On the other hand, the Mu'tazilah considered the Ash'ariyah as Jabriyah because, in their opinion, they rejected the orthodox doctrine of free will. The Shiites used the term Jabriyah to describe the Ash'ariyah and Hanbalis . Jahmis were the alleged followers of the early Islamic theologian Jahm bin Safwan who associated himself with Al-Harith ibn Surayj . He

428-582: A political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th through 12th centuries. Ismailis believe in the oneness of God , as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad , whom they see as "the final Prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity". The Isma'ili and the Twelvers both accept the same six initial Imams; the Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the seventh Imam. Isma'ili thought

535-540: A similar system of interpretation. Sufism is Islam's mystical - ascetic dimension and is represented by schools or orders known as Tasawwuf ī- Ṭarīqah . It is seen as that aspect of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of inner self. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. The following list contains some notable Sufi orders: Many slaves brought from Africa to

642-576: A successor. In this period, which continues today, there is no agent of the Hidden Imam on earth. There were likely early traditions among the Shia that had already predicted the two periods of occultation. These hadiths were previously cited, for instance, by the Waqifites in reference to the two arrests of Musa al-Kazim , the seventh Imam. In the absence of the Hidden Imam, the leadership vacuum in

749-698: Is Ibadism , which developed out of the 7th century CE. There are currently two geographically separated Ibadi groups—in Oman , where they constitute the majority of the Muslim population in the country , and in North Africa where they constitute significant minorities in Algeria , Tunisia , and Libya . Similarly to another Muslim minority, the Zaydīs , "in modern times" they have "shown a strong tendency" to move towards

856-477: Is a branch or sect of Shia Islam . The Isma'ili ( / ˌ ɪ z m ɑː ˈ ɪ l iː / ) get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām ) to Ja'far al-Sadiq , wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia , who accept Musa al-Kazim , the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām . After the death of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the 8th century CE,

963-542: Is a conservative reform branch and/or revivalist movement within Sunnī Islam whose followers do not believe in strictly following one particular madhhab . They include the Wahhabi movement , an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab , and the modern Ahle Hadith movement, whose followers call themselves Ahl al-Ḥadīth . In Shīʿa Islam , the major Shīʿīte school of jurisprudence

1070-410: Is believed that he remains providentially living in his physical body until his reappearance in the end of time. The Twelver theory of occultation crystallized in the first half of the fourth (tenth) century based on rational and textual arguments. This theory, for instance, sets forth that the life of Muhammad al-Mahdi has been miraculously prolonged, arguing that the earth cannot be void of the imam as

1177-531: Is harming a gift from God. After being set free by Yazid, Zaynab bint Ali , the daughter of Fatimah and Ali and the sister of Hasan and Husayn, started to spread the word of Karbala to the Muslim world, making speeches regarding the event. This was the first organized daʿwah of the Shia, which would later develop into an extremely spiritual institution for the Ismāʿīlīs. After the poisoning of Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin by Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 713,

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1284-778: Is heavily influenced by Neoplatonism . The larger sect of Ismaili are the Nizaris , who recognize Aga Khan IV as the 49th hereditary Imam, while other groups are known as the Tayyibi branch. The community with the highest percentage of Ismailis is Gorno-Badakhshan , but Isma'ilis can be found in Central Asia , Afghanistan , India , Pakistan , Yemen , Lebanon , Malaysia , Syria , Iran , Saudi Arabia , Jordan , Iraq , Kuwait , East Africa , Angola , Bangladesh , and South Africa , and have in recent years emigrated to Europe , Russia , Canada , Australia , New Zealand ,

1391-443: Is separated into four main schools of jurisprudence, namely Mālikī , Ḥanafī , Shāfiʿī , and Ḥanbalī ; these schools are named after their founders Mālik ibn Anas , Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān , Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī , and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal , respectively. Shīʿa Islam, on the other hand, is separated into three major sects: Twelvers , Ismāʿīlīs , and Zaydīs . The vast majority of Shīʿa Muslims are Twelvers (a 2012 estimate puts

1498-637: Is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree. Sufris were a major sub-sect of Kharijite in the 7th and 8th centuries, and a part of the Kharijites. Nukkari was a sub-sect of Sufris. Harūrīs were an early Muslim sect from the period of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs (632–661 CE), named for their first leader, Habīb ibn-Yazīd al-Harūrī. Azariqa , Najdat , and Adjarites were minor sub-sects. The only Kharijite sub-sect extant today

1605-723: Is the Jaʿfari or Imāmī school, named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq , the sixth Shīʿīte Imam . The Jaʿfari jurisprudence is further divided into two branches: the Usuli school, which favors the exercise of ijtihad , and the Akhbari school, which holds the traditions ( aḵbār ) of the Shīʿīte Imams to be the main source of religious knowledge. Minor Shīʿa schools of jurisprudence include the Ismāʿīlī school ( Mustaʿlī - Fāṭimid Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs ) and

1712-583: Is the extinct Husaynites in Yemen , who denied the death of al-Husayn ibn al-Qasim al-Iyani and awaited his return. Historically, various Muslim figures were identified with the eschatological Mahdi or used the name as an honorific title with messianic significance. These include the Umayyad Umar II and the Abbasid al-Mahdi , among many others. Similarly, mahdism and occultation are recurring themes in

1819-537: Is your opinion and we are in the palm of your right hand." The early followers of Ali seem to have taken his guidance as "right guidance" deriving from Divine support. In other words, Ali's guidance was seen to be the expression of God's will and the Quranic message. This spiritual and absolute authority of Ali was known as walayah , and it was inherited by his successors, the Imams. In the 1st century after Muhammad,

1926-643: The Ansaaru Allah Community . They sought to ascribe Islamic heritage to African-Americans, thereby giving much emphasis on racial and ethnic aspects (see black nationalism and black separatism ). These black Muslim movements often differ greatly in matters of doctrine from mainstream Islam. They include: The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam was founded in British India in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian , who claimed to be

2033-855: The Assassins . After the decay of the Fatimid political system in the 1160s, the Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo had his general, Saladin , seize Egypt in 1169, forming the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty . This signaled the end of the Hafizi Mustaali branch of Ismailism as well as the Fatimid Caliphate. Very early in the empire's life, the Fatimids sought to spread the Isma'ili faith, which in turn would spread loyalty to

2140-812: The Black Stone from the Kaaba in Mecca in 930 under Abu Tahir al-Jannabi . Following the arrival of the Al-Isfahani, they changed their qibla from the Kaaba in Mecca to the Zoroastrian-influenced fire. After their return of the Black Stone in 951 and a defeat by the Abbasids in 976 the group slowly dwindled off and no longer has any adherents. The political asceticism practiced by

2247-464: The First Fitna , the struggle for political leadership over the Muslim community, following the assassination in 656 of the third caliph Uthman . Kharijites originally supported the caliphate of Ali, but then later on fought against him and eventually succeeded in his martyrdom while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term

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2354-565: The High Middle Ages . The Fatimids promoted ideas that were radical for that time. One was a promotion by merit rather than genealogy. Also during this period, the three contemporary branches of Isma'ilism formed. The first branch ( Druze ) occurred with the al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah . Born in 985, he ascended as ruler at the age of eleven. A religious group that began forming in his lifetime broke off from mainstream Ismailism and refused to acknowledge his successor. Later to be known as

2461-631: The Muʿtazila school by Islamic scholars such as Muhammad Abduh . Shīʿa Islam is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 10–15% of the total Muslim population. Although a minority in the Muslim world, Shīʿa Muslims constitute the majority of the Muslim populations in Iran , Iraq , Bahrain , and Azerbaijan , as well as significant minorities in Syria , Turkey , South Asia , Yemen , and Saudi Arabia , Lebanon as well as in other parts of

2568-615: The Persian Gulf . In addition to believing in the supreme authority of the Quran and teachings of Muhammad, Shīʿa Muslims believe that Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("People of the Household"), including his descendants known as Imams , have distinguished spiritual and political authority over the community, and believe that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib , Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law,

2675-803: The Taiyabi and the Hafizi , the former claiming that the 21st Imam and son of al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah went into occultation and appointed a Da'i al-Mutlaq to guide the community, in a similar manner as the Isma'ili had lived after the death of Muhammad ibn Isma'il. The latter claimed that the ruling Fatimid caliph was the Imām. However, in the Mustaali branch, Dai came to have a similar but more important task. The term Da'i al-Mutlaq ( Arabic : الداعي المطلق , romanized :  al-dāʿī al-muṭlaq ) literally means "the absolute or unrestricted missionary ". This da'i

2782-564: The United States , and Trinidad and Tobago . Ismailism shares its beginnings with other early Shia sects that emerged during the succession crisis that spread throughout the early Muslim community. From the beginning, the Shia asserted the right of Ali , cousin of Muhammad , to have both political and spiritual control over the community. This also included his two sons, who were the grandsons of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima . The conflict remained relatively peaceful between

2889-576: The Zaydī school, both of which have closer affinity to Sunnī jurisprudence. Shīʿīte clergymen and jurists usually carry the title of mujtahid (i.e., someone authorized to issue legal opinions in Shīʿa Islam). The fiqh or jurisprudence of Ibadis is relatively simple. Absolute authority is given to the Quran and ḥadīth literature ; new innovations accepted on the basis of qiyas (analogical reasoning) were rejected as bid'ah (heresy) by

2996-557: The mystical path and nature of God , along with the "Imam of the Time" representing the manifestation of esoteric truth and intelligible divine reality, with the more literalistic Usuli and Akhbari groups focusing on divine law ( sharia ) and the deeds and sayings ( sunnah ) of Muhammad and the Twelve Imams who were guides and a light to God. Isma'ilism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shia Islam, climaxing as

3103-649: The nature of the Quran , the nature of the divine attributes , apparent and esoteric meaning of scripture, and the role of dialectical reasoning in the Islamic doctrine. Including: Kalām is the Islamic philosophy of seeking theological principles through dialectic . In Arabic, the word literally means "speech/words". A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim (Muslim theologian; plural mutakallimūn ). There are many schools of Kalam,

3210-478: The "true" Islam and defeat the attacks on Islam by other religions. There are a wide variety of distinct beliefs and teachings of Ahmadis compared to those of most other Muslims, which include the interpretation of the Quranic title Khatam an-Nabiyyin , interpretation of the Messiah's Second Coming , complete rejection of the abrogation/cancellation of Quranic verses , belief that Jesus survived

3317-438: The 20th century ( Nation of Islam ). Still others were influential historically, but are no longer in existence (non-Ibadi Kharijites , Muʿtazila , Murji'ah ). Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches are known as non-denominational Muslims . The original schism between Kharijites , Sunnīs , and Shīʿas among Muslims

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3424-563: The 2nd century does the Sunni jurist al-Shafi'i first argue that only the sunnah of Muhammad should be a source of law, and that this sunnah is embodied in hadith s. It would take another one hundred years after al-Shafi'i for Sunni Muslim jurists to fully base their methodologies on prophetic hadith s. Meanwhile, Imami Shia Muslims followed the Imams' interpretations of Islam as normative without any need for hadith s and other sources of Sunni law such as analogy and opinion. After

3531-671: The 53rd, is Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, and he and his devout followers tread the same path, following the same tradition of the Aimmat Fatimiyyeen. The Sulaymani are mostly concentrated in Yemen and Saudi Arabia with some communities in the South Asia . The Dawoodi Bohra and Alavi Bohra are mostly exclusive to South Asia, after the migration of the da'wah from Yemen to India. Other groups include Atba-i-Malak and Hebtiahs Bohra . Mustaali beliefs and practices, unlike those of

3638-994: The Ahmadi approach to reconcile Islamic and Western education as well as to establish Islamic school systems, particularly in Africa. Sunni Muslims of the Indian subcontinent comprising present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are overwhelmingly Hanafi by fiqh have split into two schools or movements, the Barelvi and the Deobandi . While the Deobandi is revivalist in nature, the Barelvi are more traditional and inclined towards Sufism . Isma%27ilism States People Centers Other Isma'ilism ( Arabic : الإسماعيلية , romanized :  al-Ismāʿīliyya )

3745-773: The Ahmadi-Specific laws in the penal code . The followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam are divided into two groups: the first being the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community , currently the dominant group, and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam . The larger group takes a literalist view believing that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the promised Mahdi and a Ummati Nabi subservient to Muhammad, while

3852-567: The Ashʿarī theology prevails in Sufism and was originally associated with the Ḥanbalī school of Islamic jurisprudence . Māturīdism is a school of theology founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī in the 10th century, which is a close variant of the Ashʿarī school. Māturīdī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Ashʿarī theology, and prevails in the Ḥanafī school of Islamic jurisprudence . Points which differ are

3959-560: The Da'i al-Mutlaq. Zoeb bin Moosa was first to be instituted to this office. The office of da'i continued in Yemen up to 24th da'i Yusuf who shifted da'wat to India. . Before the shift of da'wat in India, the da'i's representative were known as Wali-ul-Hind. Syedi Hasan Feer was one of the prominent Isma'ili wali of 14th century. The line of Tayyib Da'is that began in 1132 is still continuing under

4066-646: The Da'i teachings, a group that mingled Persian nationalism and Zoroastrianism surfaced known as the Qarmatians. With their headquarters in Bahrain , they accepted a young Persian former prisoner by the name of Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani , who claimed to be the descendant of the Persian kings as their Mahdi, and rampaged across the Middle-East in the tenth century, climaxing their violent campaign by stealing

4173-400: The Da'i, and even acted as Da'i themselves. After raising an army and successfully defeating the Aghlabids in North Africa and a number of other victories, al-Mahdi Billah successfully established a Shia political state ruled by the Imāmate in 910. This was the only time in history where the Shia Imamate and Caliphate were united after the first Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib. In parallel with

4280-685: The Druze, they believe Al-Hakim to be the manifestation of God and the prophesied Mahdi, who would one day return and bring justice to the world. The faith further split from Ismailism as it developed unique doctrines which often class it separately from both Ismailism and Islam. Arwa al-Sulayhi was the Hujjah in Yemen from the time of Imam al Mustansir. She appointed Da'i in Yemen to run religious affairs. Ismaili missionaries Ahmed and Abadullah (in about 1067 CE (460 AH)) were also sent to India in that time. They sent Syedi Nuruddin to Dongaon to look after southern part and Syedi Fakhruddin to East Rajasthan , India. The second split occurred following

4387-482: The Fatimids in the tenth century CE, however, al-Qadi al-Nu'man argued that some of these predictions had materialized by the first Fatimid caliph, Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah , while the rest would be fulfilled by his successors. Henceforth, their literature referred to the awaited eschatological imam only as Qa'im (instead of Mahdi). In Zaydi view, imams are not endowed with superhuman qualities, and expectations for their mahdiship are thus often marginal. One exception

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4494-434: The Ibadis. That differs from the majority of Sunnīs, but agrees with most Shīʿa schools and with the Ẓāhirī and early Ḥanbalī schools of Sunnism. Aqidah is an Islamic term meaning " creed ", doctrine, or article of faith. There have existed many schools of Islamic theology, not all of which survive to the present day. Major themes of theological controversies in Islam have included predestination and free will,

4601-420: The Imamate in Egypt. One of their earliest attempts was taken by a missionary by the name of Hassan-i Sabbah . Hassan-i Sabbah was born into a Twelver family living in the scholarly Persian city of Qom in 1056 CE. His family later relocated to the city of Tehran, which was an area with an extremely active Isma'ili Da'wah. He immersed himself in Ismāʿīlī thought; however, he did not choose to convert until he

4708-435: The Imāms during the period after Muhammad ibn Ismail was to be short-lived and finally concluded with the Imāmate of Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, who was born in 873. After decades of Ismāʿīlīs believing that Muhammad ibn Ismail was in the Occultation and would return to bring an age of justice, al-Mahdi taught that the Imāms had not been literally secluded, but rather had remained hidden to protect themselves and had been organizing

4815-525: The Islamic sects and groups regard certain others as deviant or not being truly Muslim (for example, Sunnīs frequently discriminate against Ahmadiyya , Alawites , Quranists , and sometimes Shīʿas ). Some Islamic sects and groups date back to the early history of Islam between the 7th and 9th centuries CE ( Kharijites , Sunnīs , Shīʿas ), whereas others have arisen much more recently ( Islamic neo-traditionalism , liberalism and progressivism , Islamic modernism , Salafism and Wahhabism ), or even in

4922-458: The Isma'ili Imams according to the Nizari and Mustaali found areas where they would be able to be safe from the recently founded Abbasid Caliphate , which had defeated and seized control from the Umayyads in 750 CE. At this point, some of the Isma'ili community believed that Muhammad ibn Isma'il had gone into the Occultation and that he would one day return. A small group traced the Imamate among Muhammad ibn Isma'il's lineal descendants. With

5029-427: The Ismāʿīlīs argue that either the death of Ismaʻil was staged in order to protect him from Abbasid persecution or that the Imamate passed to Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil in lineal descent. For some partisans of Isma'il, the Imamate ended with Isma'il ibn Ja'far. Most Ismailis recognized Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil as the next Imam and some saw him as the expected Mahdi that Ja'far al-Sadiq had preached about. However, at this point

5136-665: The Musta'lī further divided into Ḥāfiẓi and Ṭayyibi . Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs, also known as "Bohras", are split between Dawudi Bohras , Sulaymani Bohras , and Alavi Bohras . Similarly, Kharijites were initially divided into five major branches: Sufris , Azariqa , Najdat , Adjarites , and Ibadis . Of these, Ibadi Muslims are the only surviving branch of Kharijites. In addition to the aforementioned groups, new schools of thought and movements like Ahmadi Muslims , Quranist Muslims , and African-American Muslims later emerged independently. Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of

5243-416: The Nizari Isma'ili tradition, Hasan was "an Entrusted Imam" ( Arabic : الإمام المستودع , romanized :  al-imām al-mustawdaʿ ) Husayn was the "Permanent Imam" ( Arabic : الإمام المستقر , romanized :  al-imām al-mustaqar ). The Entrusted Imam is an Imam in the full sense except that the lineage of the Imamate must continue through the Permanent Imam. However, the political Caliphate

5350-413: The Nizari and Druze, are regarded as compatible with mainstream Islam, representing a continuation of Fatimid tradition and fiqh . In the 1040s, the Zirid dynasty (governors of the Maghreb under the Fatimids) declared their independence and their conversion to Sunni Islam , which led to the devastating Banu Hilal invasions. After about 1070, the Fatimid hold on the Levant coast and parts of Syria

5457-411: The Qur'an were to be interpreted allegorically or literally, and whether sinning believers would have eternal punishment in hell . Murji'ah was a name for an early politico-religious movement which came to refer to all those who identified faith ( iman ) with belief to the exclusion of acts. Originating during the caliphates of Uthman and Ali, Murijites opposed the Kharijites, holding that only God has

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5564-425: The Qur'an, the Sunnah, and sayings of the Sahaba, seeing this as the middle path where the attributes of Allah are accepted without questioning their nature ( bi-la kayf ). Ahmad ibn Hanbal is regarded as the leader of the traditionalist school of creed. The modern Salafi movement associates itself with the Atharī creed. Muʿtazilite theology originated in the 8th century in Basra when Wasil ibn Ata left

5671-423: The Shia population. The Twelvers believe that their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi , is in occultation. During his Minor Occultation (874-941), the twelfth Imam is believed to have remained in regular contact with four successive agents, collectively known as the Four Deputies ( al-nuwwab al-arba' ). During the Major Occultation (941-present), however, there is no agent of the Hidden Imam on earth, though it

5778-479: The Shīʿas and the Sunnīs during the First Fitna (the first Islamic Civil War); they were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to takfīr (excommunication), whereby they declared both Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims to be either infidels ( kuffār ) or false Muslims ( munafiqun ), and therefore deemed them worthy of death for their perceived apostasy ( ridda ). In addition, there are several differences within Sunnī and Shīʿa Islam: Sunnī Islam

5885-407: The Sunni madhhabs . However, following al-Sadiq's poisoning in 765, a fundamental split occurred in the community. Ismaʻil ibn Jafar , who at one point was appointed by his father as the next Imam, appeared to have predeceased his father in 755. While Twelvers argue that either he was never heir apparent or he truly predeceased his father and hence Musa al-Kadhim was the true heir to the Imamate,

5992-735: The Sunnī branch of Islam. Islamic schools of jurisprudence, known as madhhab , differ in the methodology they use to derive their rulings from the Quran , ḥadīth literature , the sunnah (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime), and the tafsīr literature (exegetical commentaries on the Quran). Sunnī Islam contains numerous schools of Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) and schools of Islamic theology ( ʿaqīdah ). In terms of religious jurisprudence ( fiqh ), Sunnism contains several schools of thought ( madhhab ): In terms of religious creed ( ʿaqīdah ), Sunnism contains several schools of theology: The Salafi movement

6099-408: The Twelver community was gradually filled by the jurists in their new capacity as general deputy ( na'ib al-amm ) to the Hidden Imam. It is also popularly held that the Hidden Imam occasionally appears to the pious in person or, more commonly, in dreams and visions. The accounts of these encounters are numerous and widespread among the Twelvers. Isma'ili Shia branched off from mainstream Shia over

6206-416: The Western Hemisphere were Muslims , and the early 20th century saw the rise of distinct Islamic religious and political movements within the African-American community in the United States , such as Darul Islam, the Islamic Party of North America, the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB), the Muslim Alliance in North America, the Moorish Science Temple of America , the Nation of Islam (NOI), and

6313-403: The absence of their imam, Musta'lis take guidance from Da'i al-Mutlaq ( lit.   ' supreme authority ' ). Different branches of Musta'li Shia differ on who the current Da'i al-Mutlaq is. Before the rise of the Fatimid Caliphate , as a major Isma'ili Shia dynasty, the terms Mahdi and Qa'im were used interchangeably for the messianic imam anticipated in Shia traditions. With the rise of

6420-462: The authority to judge who is a true Muslim and who is not, and that Muslims should consider all other Muslims as part of the community. Two major Murijite sub-sects were the Karamiya and Sawbaniyya. Qadariyya is an originally derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who asserted that humans possess free will, whose exercise makes them responsible for their actions, justifying divine punishment and absolving God of responsibility for evil in

6527-527: The cities, where they would be able to blend in with the rest of the population. While he was unable to do this, he nonetheless defeated their forces in subsequent battles. Regardless of these defeats, the Kharijites survived and became a violently problematic group in Islamic history. After plotting assassinations against Ali, Mu'awiya, and the arbitrator of their conflict, a Kharijite successfully assassinated Ali in 661 CE. The Imāmate then passed on to his son Hasan and then later his son Husayn . According to

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6634-562: The citizens of the empire. However, he was stopped by Yazid's army in Karbala during the month of Muharram . His family was starved and deprived of water and supplies, until eventually the army came in on the tenth day and martyred Husayn and his companions, and enslaved the rest of the women and family, taking them to Kufa. This battle would become extremely important to the Shia psyche. The Twelvers as well as Musta'li Isma'ili still mourn this event during an occasion known as Ashura . The Nizari Isma'ili, however, do not mourn this in

6741-470: The closest associate of al-Askari, most of al-Askari's local representatives continued to support Uthman. He later introduced his son, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Uthman ( d.  916-17 ), as the next representative of al-Mahdi. In turn, as his replacement, Abu Ja'far nominated Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti ( d.  937-38 ). This period, later termed the Minor Occultation ( al-ghaybat al-sughra ), ended after about seventy years with

6848-437: The complete occultation would continue until God granted him permission to manifest himself again in a time when the earth would be filled with tyranny. This and similar letters to the four agents and other Shia figures are said to have had the same handwriting, suggesting that they were written by the Hidden Imam. The Major Occultation, a later term, began with the death of the fourth agent in 329 (940-941), who did not designate

6955-418: The conversion of his student as well as the mental and spiritual well-being. The Da'i was a guide and light to the Imam. The teacher-student relationship of the Da'i and his student was much like the one that would develop in Sufism . The student desired God, and the Da'i could bring him to God by making him recognize the Imam, who possesses the knowledge of the Oneness of God. The Da'i and Imam were respectively

7062-613: The crucifixion and died of old age in India , conditions of the " Jihad of the Sword" are no longer met , belief that divine revelation (as long as no new sharia is given) will never end, belief in cyclical nature of history until Muhammad, and belief in the implausibility of a contradiction between Islam and science . These perceived deviations from normative Islamic thought have resulted in severe persecution of Ahmadis in various Muslim-majority countries , particularly Pakistan , where they have been branded as Non-Muslims and their Islamic religious practices are punishable by

7169-456: The death of al-Mustansir Billah in 1094 CE. His rule was the longest of any caliph in both the Fatimid and other Islamic empires. After he died, his sons Nizar , the older, and al-Musta'li , the younger, fought for political and spiritual control of the dynasty. Nizar was defeated and jailed, but according to Nizari sources his son escaped to Alamut , where the Iranian Isma'ilis had accepted his claim. The Musta'li line split again between

7276-422: The death of Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn and his family were increasingly worried about the religious and political persecution that was becoming commonplace under the reign of Mu'awiya's son, Yazid . Amidst this turmoil in 680, Husayn along with the women and children of his family, upon receiving invitational letters and gestures of support by Kufis, wished to go to Kufa and confront Yazid as an intercessor on part of

7383-416: The death of the fourth agent, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri ( d.  940-41 ), who is said to have received a letter from al-Mahdi shortly before his death. The letter predicted the death of Abu al-Hasan in six days and announced the beginning of the complete ( tamma ) occultation, later called the Major Occultation ( al-ghaybat al-kubra ). The letter, ascribed to al-Mahdi, added that

7490-489: The dynasty's claim of descent from ʻAlī and Fāṭimah , the empire was named "Fatimid". However, this was not without controversy, and recognizing the extent that Ismāʿīlī doctrine had spread, the Abbasid Caliphate assigned Sunni and Twelver scholars the task to disprove the lineage of the new dynasty. This became known as the Baghdad Manifesto , which tries to trace the lineage of the Fatimids to an alleged Jewish blacksmith . The Fatimid Caliphate expanded quickly under

7597-412: The earliest text of the Ismaili school of thought is said to be the Umm al-kitab (The Archetypal Book), a conversation between Muhammad al-Baqir and three of his disciples. This tradition would pass on to his son, Ja'far al-Sadiq , who inherited the Imāmate on his father's death in 743. Ja'far al-Sadiq excelled in the scholarship of the day and had many pupils, including three of the four founders of

7704-508: The eleventh Imam had a young son, named Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation due to the threat to his life from the Abbasids. As the special representative of al-Askari, Uthman also claimed that he had been appointed to represent the son of the eleventh Imam. Possibly the only public appearance of Muhammad was to lead the funeral prayer for his father instead of his uncle, Ja'far . In his new capacity, Uthman received petitions and made available their responses, sometimes in writing. As

7811-568: The figure as 85%), to the extent that the term "Shīʿa" frequently refers to Twelvers by default. All mainstream Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa Muslims follow the same school of thought, the Jaʽfari jurisprudence , named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq , the sixth Shīʿīte Imam . Zaydīs , also known as Fivers, follow the Zaydī school of thought (named after Zayd ibn ʿAlī ). Ismāʿīlīsm is another offshoot of Shīʿa Islam that later split into Nizārī and Musta'lī , and

7918-775: The first succession crisis of the Shia arose with Zayd ibn ʻAlī 's companions and the Zaydīs who claimed Zayd ibn ʻAlī as the Imām, whilst the rest of the Shia upheld Muhammad al-Baqir as the Imām. The Zaidis argued that any sayyid or "descendant of Muhammad through Hasan or Husayn" who rebelled against tyranny and the injustice of his age could be the Imām. The Zaidis created the first Shia states in Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. In contrast to his predecessors, Muhammad al-Baqir focused on academic Islamic scholarship in Medina , where he promulgated his teachings to many Muslims, both Shia and non-Shia, in an extremely organized form of Daʿwah. In fact,

8025-417: The groups may not be well known to Muslims outside of scholarly circles, or may have induced enough passion to have resulted in political and religious violence ( Barelvi , Deobandi , Salafism , Wahhabism ). There are informal movements driven by ideas (such as Islamic modernism and Islamism ), as well as organized groups with governing bodies ( Ahmadiyya , Ismāʿīlism , Nation of Islam ). Some of

8132-484: The help of revelation. The Ashʿarītes affirm that the unaided human mind is unable to know if something is good or evil, lawful or unlawful, without divine revelation. The Atharī school derives its name from the word "tradition" as a translation of the Arabic word hadith or from the Arabic word athar , meaning "narrations". The traditionalist creed is to avoid delving into extensive theological speculation. They rely on

8239-442: The highest proof ( hujja ) of God. As another example, while the Abbasid threat might have initially forced the twelfth imam into occultation, according to this doctrine, his absence continues until initial conditions are met for his reappearance, including humankind's readiness for the message of the Hidden Imam. Immediately after the death of Hasan al-Askari in 260 (873-874), Uthman al-Amri ( d.  874-875 ) claimed that

8346-1365: The history of Shia. For instance, long-standing Shia traditions were appropriated by the now-extinct Waqifites to argue that Musa al-Kazim , the seventh imam, had not died but was in occultation. Even earlier, the now-extinct Kaysanites denied the death of Muḥammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and awaited his return as the Mahdi. The Qarmatians , an extinct branch of Isma'ili Shia, believed in the mahdiship of Muhammad ibn Isma'il and his imminent return. Similar figures in Shia history are Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya , Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Alawi , Yahya ibn Umar , and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi . Islamic schools and branches#Shīʿa Islam Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam . There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence , and schools of Islamic theology , or ʿaqīdah (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different orders ( tariqa ) within Sufism , and within Sunnī Islam different schools of theology ( Atharī , Ashʿarī , Māturīdī ) and jurisprudence ( Ḥanafī , Mālikī , Shāfiʿī , Ḥanbalī ). Groups in Islam may be numerous ( Sunnīs make up 85-90% of all Muslims), or relatively small in size ( Ibadis , Zaydīs , Ismāʿīlīs ). Differences between

8453-412: The identifiable Islamic schools and branches are known as non-denominational Muslims . Demographic distribution of the main three Islamic branches: Others In terms of Ihsan : Sunnī Islam , also known as Ahl as-Sunnah waʾl Jamāʾah or simply Ahl as-Sunnah , is by far the largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 85% of the Muslim population in the world. The term Sunnī comes from

8560-695: The latter believing that he was only a religious reformer and a prophet only in an allegorical sense. Both Ahmadi groups are active in dawah or Islamic missionary work, and have produced vasts amounts of Islamic literature, including numerous translations of the Quran , translations of the Hadith, Quranic tafsirs , a multitude of sirahs of Muhammad , and works on the subject of comparative religion among others. As such, their international influence far exceeds their number of adherents. Muslims from more Orthodox sects of Islam have adopted many Ahmadi polemics and understandings of other religions, along with

8667-567: The main ones being the Ashʿarī and Māturīdī schools in Sunni Islam. Ashʿarīsm is a school of theology founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the 10th century. The Ashʿarīte view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability. Ashʿarī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Māturīdī theology . Historically,

8774-588: The main sect known as Dawoodi Bohra (see list of Dai of Dawoodi Bohra ). The Musta'li split several times over disputes regarding who was the rightful Da'i al-Mutlaq, the leader of the community within The Occultation . After the 27th Da'i, Syedna Dawood bin Qutub Shah, there was another split; the ones following Syedna Dawood came to be called Dawoodi Bohra, and followers of Suleman were then called Sulaimani. Dawoodi Bohra's present Da'i al Mutlaq,

8881-424: The nature of belief and the place of human reason. The Māturīdites state that imān (faith) does not increase nor decrease but remains static; rather it's taqwā (piety) which increases and decreases. The Ashʿarītes affirm that belief does in fact increase and decrease. The Māturīdites affirm that the unaided human mind is able to find out that some of the more major sins such as alcohol or murder are evil without

8988-582: The partisans of Ali and those who asserted a semi-democratic system of electing caliphs, until the third of the Rashidun caliphs , Uthman was killed, and Ali, with popular support, ascended to the caliphate. Soon after his ascendancy, Aisha , the third of Muhammad's wives, claimed along with Uthman's tribe, the Umayyads , that Ali should take qisas (blood for blood) from the people responsible for Uthman's death. Ali voted against it, as he believed that

9095-725: The position of caliph may be attained democratically, on gaining a majority of the votes, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule because of the divisions started by the Umayyads and others. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the Muslim world . Followers of the classical Sunnī schools of jurisprudence and kalām (rationalistic theology) on one hand, and Islamists and Salafists such as Wahhabis and Ahle Hadith , who follow

9202-404: The post of hujjah long before by Imām Mustansir at the death of her husband. She ran the da'wat from Yemen in the name of Imaam Tayyib. She was instructed and prepared by Imam Mustansir and ran the dawat from Yemen in the name of Imaam Tayyib, following Imams for the second period of Satr. It was going to be on her hands, that Imam Tayyib would go into seclusion, and she would institute the office of

9309-566: The promised Messiah (" Second Coming of Christ "), the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims as well as a "subordinate" prophet to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ahmadis claim to practice the pristine form of Islam as followed by Muhammad and his earliest followers . They believe that it was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's task to restore the original sharia given to Muhammad by guiding the Ummah back to

9416-489: The relationship of esoteric Shia with early Islamic mysticism. Likewise is the book an important source of information regarding the various movements within tenth-century Shīa leading to the spread of the Fatimid-Isma'ili da'wa throughout the medieval Islamicate world and the religious and philosophical history of post-Fatimid Musta'li branch of Isma'ilism in Yemen and India. While many of the Isma'ili were content with

9523-606: The same way because of the belief that the light of the Imam never dies but rather passes on to the succeeding Imām, making mourning arbitrary. However, during commemoration they do not have any celebrations in Jama'at Khana during Muharram and may have announcements or sessions regarding the tragic events of Karbala . Also, individuals may observe Muharram in a wide variety of ways. This respect for Muharram does not include self-flagellation and beating because they feel that harming one's body

9630-501: The side of Mu'awiya held copies of the Quran against their spears and demanded that the issue be decided by Islam's holy book. Ali accepted this, and an arbitration was done which ended in his favor. A group among Ali's army believed that subjecting his legitimate authority to arbitration was tantamount to apostasy, and abandoned his forces. This group was known as the Khawarij and Ali wished to defeat their forces before they reached

9737-594: The situation at the time demanded a peaceful resolution of the matter. Though both parties could rightfully defend their claims, due to escalated misunderstandings, the Battle of the Camel was fought and Aisha was defeated, but was respectfully escorted to Medina by Ali. Following this battle, Mu'awiya I , the Umayyad governor of Syria, also staged a revolt under the same pretences. Ali led his forces against Mu'awiya until

9844-509: The spiritual mother and spiritual father of the Isma'ili believers. Ja'far bin Mansur al-Yaman's The Book of the Sage and Disciple is a classic of early Fatimid literature, documenting important aspects of the development of the Isma'ili da'wa in tenth-century Yemen. The book is also of considerable historical value for modern scholars of Arabic prose literature as well as those interested in

9951-630: The status and location of the Imams not known to the community, the concealed Isma'ili Imams began to propagate the faith through Da'iyyun from its base in Syria. This was the start of the spiritual beginnings of the Daʿwah that would later play important parts in the all Ismaili branches, especially the Nizaris and the Musta'lis. The Da'i was not a missionary in the typical sense, and he was responsible for both

10058-656: The subsequent Imams. Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa , Sicily , Palestine , Syria , the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen , Hejaz and the Tihamah . Under the Fatimids, Egypt flourished and developed an extensive trade network in both the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean , which eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during

10165-523: The succession of Isma'il , who predeceased his father, Ja'far al-Sadiq , the sixth imam. This group either believed that Isma'il was still alive but in concealment or instead recognized the imamate of Isma'il's son, Muhammad , and his descendants. Today, Isma'ilis are divided into two groups, Nizari and Musta'li . The Nizarite imam is the present Aga Khan IV , their forty-ninth imam in the line of succession. The Musta'lis, however, believe that their twenty-first imam and his progeny went into occultation. In

10272-524: The teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute. He and his followers expanded on the logic and rationalism of Greek philosophy , seeking to combine them with Islamic doctrines and show that the two were inherently compatible. The Muʿtazilites debated philosophical questions such as whether the Qur'an was created or co-eternal with God , whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination versus free will , whether God's attributes in

10379-445: The teachings of Ismailism further transformed into the belief system as it is known today, with an explicit concentration on the deeper, esoteric meaning ( batin ) of the Islamic religion. With the eventual development of Usulism and Akhbarism into the more literalistic ( zahir ) oriented, Shia Islam developed into two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismaili, Alevi , Bektashi , Alian , and Alawite groups focusing on

10486-511: The term 'sunnah' was not specifically defined as " Sunnah of the Prophet", but was used in connection to Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and some Umayyad Caliphs. The idea of hadith , or traditions ascribed to Muhammad, was not mainstream, nor was hadith criticised. Even the earliest legal texts by Malik b. Anas and Abu Hanifa employ many methods including analogical reasoning and opinion and do not rely exclusively on hadith . Only in

10593-700: The word sunnah , which means the teachings, actions, and examples of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions ( ṣaḥāba ). Sunnīs believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim community (Ummah) before his death in 632 CE, however they approve of the private election of the first companion, Abū Bakr . Sunnī Muslims regard the first four caliphs— Abū Bakr (632–634), ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (Umar І, 634–644), ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (644–656), and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—as al-Khulafāʾ ur-Rāshidūn ("the Rightly-Guided Caliphs"). Sunnīs also believe that

10700-525: The world. Some of their doctrines were later adopted by the Mu'tazilis and rejected by the Ash'aris . In direct contrast to the Qadariyyah , Jabriyah was an early Islamic philosophical school based on the belief that humans are controlled by predestination , without having choice or free will. The Jabriya school originated during the Umayyad dynasty in Basra . The first representative of this school

10807-450: Was Al-Ja'd ibn Dirham who was executed in 724. The term is derived from the Arabic root j-b-r, in the sense which gives the meaning of someone who is forced or coerced by destiny. The term Jabriyah was also a derogatory term used by different Islamic groups that they considered wrong, The Ash'ariyah used the term Jabriyah in the first place to describe the followers of, Jahm ibn Safwan who died in 746, in that they regarded their faith as

10914-494: Was an exponent of extreme determinism according to which a man acts only metaphorically in the same way in which the sun acts or does something when it sets. Bāṭiniyyah is a name given to an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the bāṭin (inward, esoteric) meaning of texts. It has been retained by all branches of Isma'ilism and its Druze offshoot. Alevism , Bektashism and folk religion , Hurufis and Alawites practice

11021-731: Was challenged by first Turkish invasions, then the First Crusade , so that Fatimid territory shrunk until it consisted only of Egypt. Damascus fell to the Seljuk Empire in 1076, leaving the Fatimids only in charge of Egypt and the Levantine coast up to Tyre and Sidon . Because of the vehement opposition to the Fatimids from the Seljuks, the Ismaili movement was only able to operate as a terrorist underground movement, much like

11128-480: Was disputed over the political and religious succession to the guidance of the Muslim community ( Ummah ) after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . From their essentially political position, the Kharijites developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims. Shīʿas believe ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is the true successor to Muhammad, while Sunnīs consider Abu Bakr to hold that position. The Kharijites broke away from both

11235-423: Was soon taken over by Mu'awiya, the only leader in the empire at that time with an army large enough to seize control. Even some of Ali's early followers regarded him as "an absolute and divinely guided leader", whose demands of his followers were "the same kind of loyalty that would have been expected for the Prophet". For example, one of Ali's supporters who also was devoted to Muhammad said to him: "our opinion

11342-505: Was the first of these Imams and the rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three Rāshidūn caliphs. Shīʿīte groups and movements who either ascribe divine characteristics to some important figures in the history of Islam (usually members of Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ) or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shīʿa Muslims were designated as Ghulat . Kharijite (literally, "those who seceded") are an extinct sect who originated during

11449-399: Was the only source of the Imam's knowledge after the occultation of al-Qasim in Musta'li thought. According to Taiyabi Ismaili tradition, after the death of Imam al-Amir, his infant son, at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim , about 2 years old, was protected by the most important woman in Musta'li history after Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah. She was Arwa al-Sulayhi , a queen in Yemen. She was promoted to

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