The greatest misconception of non-Muslims especially Christians on Islam, is the notion that Islam and Muslims remain a wholly homogeneous group religion. This is far from the truth. The aim of this thread is to present the various differing sect and branches of Islam and how the violent history and political upheavals (both now and in earliest Islamic times ) have influenced the carving out of differing Islamic sects which hold on to differing political and global outlooks.

It is in this regard I have chosen to open this thread here on this section and not in the Religion section.

The ongoing Sunni persecution of minority Shiias in Nigeria should be a pointer that Islamic variations usually spring up and the violent suppression that arise is as a result of differing Political outlooks and views held by the varying sects.

The Sunni-Shiite Divide

Few non-Muslims know the first thing about the Sunni-Shiite rift, which flows from a doctrinal dispute that might seem trivial to modern outsiders. When Mohammed died in the 7th Century, there was a profound disagreement among the early followers of Islam about who should succeed him as leader.

The heart of the Sunni-Shiite conflict is that the Sunnis thought the new leader or “caliph” should be elected and chose Mohammed’s close friend Abu Bakr. The leader of the Islamic State, who styles himself as “caliph” or ruler of all true Muslims, calls himself “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi” in homage to the first caliph. His real name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri.

The dissident group we now know as Shiites insisted that only a blood relative of Mohammed was fit to lead, rallying behind Ali bin Abu Talib, who was both Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law. Ali actually took a turn as caliph after Abu Bakr died, so it would be more precise to say the enduring rift within Islam was caused by Ali’s assumption of leadership and the argument over his successor.

A great deal of 7th-century tribal politics swirled around this conflict, making it more complex than any brief summary could capture. Among other factors, there was Islam’s development into a warrior religion, leading to clan rivalries and vicious arguments over plunder. Personal loyalties to Ali or his rivals played a role as well.

But this is a religious schism, not a matter of stimulating debate between historians. Shiites believe stealing leadership away from the lineal descendants of Mohammed was apostasy, a sin against the true faith.

Ali was assassinated, stabbed in the forehead with a poison sword while praying. Modern Shiites still make a pilgrimage to the mosque where they believe he died and is entombed, located in what is now Iraq. The city where it is located, Najaf, has been the scene of much sectarian bloodshed. The Sunni government of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein enraged a generation of Shiites by abusing the Imam Ali mosque.

Ali did not win the title of “caliph” in an election, either. Abu Bakr only reigned for a few years before he died. Ali got the job after Abu Bakr’s second successor, Caliph Uthman, was killed by his own troops in the Muslim holy city of Medina. One reason the Sunni-Shiite divide is so bitter is that Sunnis of the time were furious at Ali for accepting the title of caliph instead of punishing Uthman’s killers.

Followers of Uthman thought Ali committed acts of blasphemy and arrogance against true Islam, and Ali’s followers felt the same way about the Sunni elite. A major point of contention was, and remains, whether Ali swore and broke a binding oath of loyalty to the Sunni hierarchy and the caliphs that came before him.

This is not a minor dispute over the life and times of a long-dead historical personage, but a profound question of religious legitimacy.

Iran still believes its theocracy has rightful authority over Islam under the Shiite model of descent from Mohammed, for example. One of the candidates in the recent Iranian presidential election, cleric Ebrahim Raisi, wears a black turban to signify he is a sayed, a descendant of Mohammed. Raisi choose green as his campaign color because he wanted to take the color back from the secular “Green Movement” demonstrators and restore its “real meaning” as the color of “the revolutionary grandsons of the Prophet.” Those grandsons attempted a revolution against the early Sunni caliphs. They did not die of old age.

Sunni and Shia share many essential beliefs, but even their shared beliefs can be sources of tension. Both Sunnis and Shiites make pilgrimages to the holy cities in Saudi Arabia. Iran frequently castigates the Sunni Saudis over their management of the hajj pilgrimage, alleging discrimination against Shiites along with poor event management. The Saudis supply plenty of poor event management to complain about.

The royal family of Jordan is seen by some analysts as key to bridging the Sunni-Shiite divide, because the Hashemite ruling dynasty of Sunni Jordan claims direct descent from Mohammed’s family, satisfying the Shiite criteria for authentic leadership of Islam. Unfortunately, this also means the Jordanian regime gets to enjoy the violent hatred of both Sunni and Shiite extremists. The Sunni Islamic State infamously burned a captured Jordanian pilot alive in a cage and spread the image across the Internet as one of its favorite propaganda videos. Jordanian officials have nevertheless said they regard the Islamic Republic of Iran as a greater threat to their security than ISIS or other Sunni extremists.

Ironically, the Sunni House of Saud invalidates the core Sunni belief system which forbids a monarchical styled leadership among Muslims. The Fulani ruling class in Nigeria also invalidates the Sunni doctrine of doing away with Islamic blood line monarchies. EL Zackzacky, the self styled leader of Shia movement in Nigeria was a serial critic of the monarchical emirate system which so happens is restricted to the Fulani ethnic group. The Shia leader had had series of longstanding confrontation with the Emir of Zazau over his legitimacy as ruler and leader of the Muslims withing the Zaria emirate. It was then no surprise that the Sunni establishment will clampdown viciously on the Shiia sect. Apparently, the Sunni establishment is ever ready to clampdown on any group which opposes its legitimacy to rule over Islam. The Maitasine sect - a mahdist movement- is another good example of how the Sunni establishment will do the needful to sustain their power and positions. With Boko Haram, a Sunni wahabist movement, the Emirates and Amirs where not threatened but rather their legitimacy and authority strengthened by the terrorist group which replicated models of the Emirate system over conquered Kafuri lands.

Sunni Minorities

A school of Sunni Islam that has become increasingly important to American and European politics is Hizmet, a highly organized group founded and led by an imam named Fethullah Gulen. The government of Turkey sees Hizmet as far too organized, prosecuting it (literally) as a vast criminal conspiracy that attempted to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year. The Turkish government refers to Hizmet as “FETO,” an acronym for “Fethullah Terrorist Organization.” Turkey’s diplomatic relations with both Europe and the United States have been rocked by its pursuit of Hizmet and Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania.

Sunni Islam also includes a movement known as the Salafi, the Islamic fundamentalists. Salafists believe Mohammed, and to a lesser extent his first two generations of descendants, were perfect human beings who should be emulated in every way, including dress and personal hygiene. Salafism includes its own, even more primitive and regressive sub-sects, including the Wahabbi Islam promoted by Saudi Arabia and the Islamic State’s apocalyptic belief system.

“Primitive” is not a pejorative term – Wahabbi Muslims literally embrace the primitive lifestyle of the 7th Century, when Mohammed lived. Their hostility to modernity is one of their defining attributes. Another is their hostility to all other variations of Islam, most definitely including Shiites.

The rapid spread of Salafist beliefs through well-financed overt and covert networks — Salafist madrassas, and agents of influence sent to infiltrate more moderate Islamic schools — is one of the major security concerns of our age, for those analysts and officers who have not been intimidated out of discussing it.

Non-Sunni Minorities

Syria’s dictator, Bashar Assad, is a member of the small Alawite subsect of Shia Islam. Alawites only make up about ten percent of Syria’s population, but the Assad regime, under both Bashar and his father Hafez, consolidated power by appointing Alawites to high government positions. The vast majority of the Syrian population is not Alawite, or even Shiite, but Sunni. Bashar Assad frequently responds to criticism of his brutality by pointing to his history of protecting Syrian religious minorities, including Christians, and noting he belongs to a minority himself.

What is the difference between an Alawite and a Shiite? There are many minor differences in custom and tradition, but the major difference concerns Imam Ali. Recall that Shiites revere Ali as the rightful leader of Islam who should have succeeded Mohammed, and was divinely martyred in death, while Sunnis regard him as a traitor. The Alawites believe he was God incarnate. Some Sunni religious leaders consider them “worse infidels than Christians and Jews,” as one prominent cleric of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood put it in 2013 when calling for a Sunni jihad against them.

Another branch of Islam that often suffers discrimination and violence from other Muslims is the Sufi sect. The Sufis are neither Sunni nor Shiite — or they might say they are both, since both Sunni and Shiite Islam have Sufi chapters. This makes them an abused minority in both Shiite nations like Iran and Sunni countries like Egypt.

Sufism is more defined by its approach than specific doctrines, unlike the way Sunni and Shia or Shia and Alawite are distinguished. Modern Sufi have a reputation for gentleness and moderation, although they were a formidable military force in the past. The famed “whirling dervish” swordsmen of antiquity were a Sufi invention. Dervishes still whirl, but now the practice is seen as performance art or a form of moving meditation, like tai chi.

Sufi are generally less interested in strict interpretations of the Koran and Islamic sharia law, which makes them despised by hardcore Islamist sects. They are sometimes accused of diluting pure Islam with mystical mumbo-jumbo, or serving as agents for Western powers, seeking to subvert and “tame” true Islam as part of a Western imperialist agenda.

None of these branches of Islam are themselves homogeneous. There are dozens of different Sufi orders, for instance. Some of them are militant or political in nature, contrary to the general impression of Sufis as peaceable mystics.

The Sufis are endangered species among them..

They are all confused anyway! Confuselims!

What side does Osama bin laden, and shekau abi ISIS belong to??

How can there be peace in islam? They don't even have peace amongst themselves.

The growing divide among Muslims as seen with the different sects has led to a brutal history of Islamic civil wars.

This invalidates the claim that Boko Haram are not Muslims because they kill other Muslims.

Muslims have no problem killing each other back then and now

BishopMagic:
The growing divide among Muslims as seen with the different sects has led to a brutal history of Islamic civil wars.

This invalidates the claim that Boko Haram are not Muslims because they kill other Muslims.

Muslims have no problem killing each other back then and now

Bump

I forgot to add, the useless afonja oyoruba Muslims who every Muslim rejects wholeheartedly as nothing but heathen pagans masquerading as Muslims.

Islam is a dangerous religion of head cutting, bloodshed, war, hatred, rape, plundering, knife, sword, guns, child marriage, divorce, killings, baby factory (almajiri), sex, addiction, terror, bomb, suicide, kidnapping, lies, perdition, and many evil things.
This religion is very bad

BishopMagic:
The growing divide among Muslims as seen with the different sects has led to a brutal history of Islamic civil wars.

This invalidates the claim that Boko Haram are not Muslims because they kill other Muslims.

Muslims have no problem killing each other back then and now

What Islamic sect do yellowber mudslimes practice sef?

Bishop Come ad continue biko

Ardar:


What Islamic sect do yellowber mudslimes practice sef?

Obviously Sufi... mystical (diabolical), moderate, political