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Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. They are referred to as Ahl ul-Sunna (Arabic: أهل السنة; "people of the tradition"). The word Sunni comes from the word sunna (Arabic سنة ), which means the tradition of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. Sunnis are also referred to as Ahl ul-Sunna wa-l-Jama'ah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of tradition and congregation) which implies that the Sunnis are united. They represent the branch of Islam that came through the caliphate, which started with Abu Bakr. Sunni (Arabic: سني ) means follower of the sunna of the Prophet, with some details.
Demographics There are many challenges to demographers in calculating the proportion of the world's Muslims who adhere to each of the main traditions. Using various sources of arguable authority, one can arrive at a figure of roughly 15% Shi'ite. However, other calculations indicate an estimate as low as 7.5% Shi'a•. Britannica 2006 says: "The total Shi'ite movement comprises probably less than 10 percent of the Islamic world." Sunni schools of law (Madhab) There are four major Sunni schools of law: There are other Sunni schools of law, although many are followed by only small numbers of people and are relatively unknown due to the popularity of the 4 major schools of law; also many have died out or were not sufficiently recorded by their followers to survive. Islamic law is known as the Shari'ah, though those who ascribe to different schools pray in the same mosques with little to no enmity between them. The Shari'ah is based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Interpreting the Shari'ah to derive specific rulings (such as how to pray) is known as Fiqh, which literally means understanding. A madhab is a particular tradition of interpreting Fiqh. These schools focus on specific evidence (Shafi'i and Hanbali) or general principles (Hanafi and Maliki) derived from specific evidences. The schools were started by eminent Muslim scholars in the first four centuries of Islam. As these schools represent clearly spelled out methodologies for interpreting the Shari'ah, there has been little change in the methodology per se. However, as the social and economic environment changes, new Fiqh rulings are being made. For example, when tobacco appeared it was declared as 'disliked' because of its smell. When medical information showed that smoking was dangerous, that ruling was changed to 'forbidden'. Current Fiqh issues include things like downloading pirated software and cloning. The consensus is that the Shari'ah does not change but Fiqh rulings changes all the time. A madhab is not to be confused with a religious sect. There may be scholars representing all four madhabs living in larger Muslim communities, and it is up to those who consult them to decide which school they prefer. Many Sunnis advocate that a Muslim should choose a single Madhab and follow it in all matters. However, rulings from another Madhab are considered acceptable as dispensations (rukhsa) in exceptional circumstances. Many Sunnis however do not follow any madhhab, indeed some Salafis reject strict adherence to any particular school of thought, prefering to use the Qur'an and the Sunnah alone as the primary sources of Islamic Law. Sunni theological traditions (Kalam) Some Islamic scholars faced questions that they felt were not specifically answered in the Qur'an, especially questions with regard to philosophical conundrums like the nature of God, the possibility of human free will, or the eternal existence of the Qur'an. Various schools of theology and philosophy developed to answer these questions, each claiming to be true to the Qur'an and the Muslim tradition (sunnah). There were the following dominant traditions: Sunni view of hadith The Qur'an as we have it today was compiled by Sahabah in approximately 650 A.D, and is accepted by all Muslim denominations. However, there were many matters of belief and daily life that were not directly prescribed in the Qur'an, but simply the practice of the community. Later generations sought out oral traditions regarding the early history of Islam, and the practice of Muhammad and his first followers, and wrote them down so that they might be preserved. These recorded oral traditions are called hadith. Muslim scholars sifted through the hadith and evaluated the chain of narration of each tradition, scrutinizing the trustworthiness of the narrators and judging the strength of each hadith accordingly. Most Sunni accept the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim as the most authentic (sahih, or correct), and grant a lesser status to the collections of other recorders. These two books (Bukhari and Muslim) are strict in their accuracy and therefore are recognized by all Sunni Muslims. There are however, six collections of hadith that are held in particular reverence by Sunni Muslims: There are also other collections of hadith which, although less well-known, still contain many authentic hadith and are frequently used by specialists such as: Current trends in Sunni thought and practice Web Links See also | ||||||||
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