No doubt there have to be differences among you........1 Cor 11 v19

Different branches of Islam 

The Muslims you might meet and talk with  will probably not all hold the same set of beliefs and doctrines.  Just as within Christianity there are different denominations, and varying individually held beliefs within each. 

However several main denominations can be identified.  

Many Muslims are very peaceable and friendly.   During a recent conversation with a young Muslim, he told me he believes all three monotheistic faiths lead to God and that all who sincerely seek Him will be prepared for heaven by a time in Hell after we die.   Some Muslims are very interested in Jesus.   (see Muslims and Jesus )

You might be interested in Dr. Tawfik Hamid, who has developed his own understanding of Islam that is peaceful and promotes love to every human being irrespective of his or her religion.  He started to preach in Mosques to promote his message of peace and as a result became a target of many fanatics who threatened his life.    "As a Muslim, I am willing to speak out against the hate filled Islamic Fundamentalism that prevails in the world today," he says.

Sunni Islam

Generally speaking, Sunni Islam is closest to the form taught in the Qur'an, with emphasis on individual access to Allah. Sunni is the majority form of Islam world-wide - approximately 85%.

Differences between Sunni and Shia are initially about the succession from the Prophet. The Sunni believe that Abu Bakr Siddique, Muhammad's close friend and a father-in-law, was rightly chosen as the first Caliph of Islam.

Shia Islam

Shia Muslims believe that, similar to the appointment of prophets, Imams after Muhammad are chosen by Allah. According to Shia muslims, Ali ibn Abu Talib was chosen by Allah and thus appointed by Muhammad to be the direct successor and leader of the Muslim community. They regard him as the first Shia Imam. Ali and ten subsequent Imams were all killed, but the twelfth disappeared and is expected to reappear in the last days as the Mahdi. This belief is the essence of Ahmadinijad's policies in Iran.

Sunnis still mourn the death of Ali and, according to Sunnis, his heir. This rememberance is accompanied by adherents striking their heads, flogging themselves with chains and cutting themselves with knives or swords. Shia belief allows images of Ali and encourages prayer to Ali (like Catholics and Orthodox Christians who pray to saints). Neither practice is acceptable to Sunni Islam.

Shia Islam has a hierarchy of Imams and in the city of Qum, in Iran a centre that could be viewed as a Shia Islam equivalent of Vatican City.

Apart from these matters the differences of doctrine are not great, but bitterness and persecution can be extreme.  It is reckoned that more Muslim blood has been spilled by Muslims than by the Crusaders and Gulf War forces. (eg under Saddam Hussein in Iraq) (Shia governed Iran executes more people per capita than even China)

Visit www.nationmaster.com for a table of statistics, explaining which denomination is the majority in every nation with a Muslim presence. (very interesting data)

Sufi Islam

Sufi Islam is a strain of belief and practice that might be found in both Sunni and Shia. It is more mystical and concerned with a personal relationship with the almighty. Sufi worship can appear somewhat "charismatic" in chanting and meditating on the name of Allah. Sufis are more friendly and open to Christians.

Wahabi Islam

Wahabi Islam is not a separate denomination but a strain of teaching that arose in the 18th century in Saudi Arabia, and would probably have remained insignificant, and considered heretical by the mainstream, but for twentieth century oil wealth.  Wahabiism adopts a much more hard-line interpretation of the Qur'an and Hadith,  and indeed added requirements such as the covering of women and prohibition on them driving cars.  The excesses of the Taliban in Afghanistan originated in Wahabiism, as does the al Quaeda terror campaign against the western world. Wahabi teaching might be found in the mosques of both Shia and Sunni Islam.

Wahabi Islam has a hierarchy of Imams and other clerics and an organisation based in Saudi Arabia. This powerbase is strongly associated with the Saudi royal family.

Although Wahabi Islam is a smaller and later strain of Islam, it has disproportionate influence because of its base in Saudi Arabia which gives it control of vast oil wealth and of Islam's holy sites.  Saudi Wahabiism is exported around the Islamic world by sponsorship of schools, colleges, universities and mosques through which their doctrines are advanced.  

The hostility and anti-western activity that you encounter will probably be from Wahabi Muslims. It can be helpful to check where the funding for new mosques and other initiatives comes from. If it comes from Saudi Arabia, hard line wahabi teaching is likely to follow shortly!

Patrick Sookhdeo (Barnabas Fund) commented that the Saudi wahabis have spent 100 billion pounds advancing their brand of Islam around the world. Them distribute many copies of the Qur'an, in various languages, heavily subsidised or even free. These are not the unchanging, incorruptable word of Allah, but have commentaries inserted advancing their hard line, anti Israel, anti-west, militarist, patriarchal viewpoint.

Druze and Ba'hai are offshoots of Islam, but are now separated from mainstream.

Wikipedia has a page on the denominations wiki/Divisions_of_Islam

(See "Beyond Iraq" by Mike Evans  and  9/11 and the War on Terror and Books )

 

Islamists and Moderate Muslims

How can we be on our guard against Muslims who seek to destroy our civilisation and subjugate our Christian (or Jewish) faith whilst having an open and loving approach to our Muslim neighbours who abhor terrorism practiced in the name of Islam and wish to live in peace with us?

Caroline Cox and John Marks have produced an excellent study addressing this problem. "The West, Islam and Islamism" -"Is ideological Islam compatible with liberal democracy?" published by CIVITAS, ISBN 13 978-1-903386-54-5.

"The aim of this book is to encourage mutual understanding between Islamic and Western worlds. The majority of Muslims are peacable, law abiding citizens. However, Muslim fundamentalists, described here as Islamists, present a challenge to the valuse of Western Democarcies.

With many lapses, modern Western societies strive to uphold values such as tolerance, pluralism, and individual freedom. Islamism is monolithic, intolerant of dissent and hostie to individual liberty.

'Islamic' societies and militant 'islamism' need to be distinguished. Islamism is not compatible with liberal democracy, but it is the hope and intention of the authors that through this book non-Muslims may develop a better understanding of Islam and better relationships with moderate, peaceable Muslims."

Traditional and Progressive Muslims

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director, Barnabas Fund, wrote in October 2009,

Recent months have seen a number of unexpected and extremely encouraging statements coming out of the Muslim world. Respected, mainstream Muslim leaders in a variety of countries have voiced opinions which are at odds with traditional, conservative Islam. They have challenged aspects of shari‘a and are calling for a liberal, modernist, enlightened Islam compatible with Western norms. Perhaps the most significant of all is a comment by a group of British Muslims calling for an end to the apostasy law and for full freedom in all religious matters.

The article concludes,

It is time Western governments and Christian Churches implemented a policy of rejecting traditional Muslim and Islamist demands and that they shifted to a position of active support for the new voices of reason and moderation within Islam.

Barnabas Fund applauds these encouraging moves and the courageous Muslims advocating them.

Read the complete article at http://barnabasfund.org/UK/News/Articles-research/Islam-at-war-within-itself

 

Updated 30/10/09

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