I am curious about the different schools of thought within Islam

[ZooGirl02]

Hey everyone. I was curious about the different schools of thought within Islam. I know there is the Hanafi, Hanbali, and others. Do members of one school view the others as heretics? Do members of one school look down upon members of other schools? What do members of one school typically think of members of other schools and how do they get along with each other? Do the different schools within Islam cause conflict within Islam? Also, which school of thought within Islam is widely considered to be the most correct or orthodox.

 

[LuisDantas]

What about the Quranist movement and those controversies about which Hadiths to accept (if any)?

How meaningful exactly is the Shia-Sunni division in practice, and in theory?

 

[ZooGirl02]

Hi everyone. I wasn't really talking about the Sunni and Shia divide. I was mainly talking about the Schools of Jurisprudence, especially those within Sunni Islam. I am more interested in Sunni Islam than Shia.

 

[seeking4truth]

Do members of one school view the others as heretics? Do members of one school look down upon members of other schools? What do members of one school typically think of members of other schools and how do they get along with each other? Do the different schools within Islam cause conflict within Islam? Also, which school of thought within Islam is widely considered to be the most correct or orthodox.

heretics - yes, often they do, although some may argue differently.

look down - they shouldn't - all are created by God and are His.

thinking - you'd have to ask them but they should behave in a civilised way to all God's creatures.

conflict - yes, you can see it everyday on the news

widely accepted - none

 

[ZooGirl02]

heretics - yes, often they do, although some may argue differently.

look down - they shouldn't - all are created by God and are His.

thinking - you'd have to ask them but they should behave in a civilised way to all God's creatures.

conflict - yes, you can see it everyday on the news

widely accepted - none

Oh okay. So if I understand correctly, there is some conflict within the different schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam, right?

 

[Matemkar]

Salam. There are different schools in Islam. The main ones are;

Ahl Sunnah (People of Tradition) i.e. sunnis. And it has different theological and jurisprudential schools. Main theological sunni beliefs are, Maturidi and Ashari (There was also Mutazili school but it faded away in time because of the opression on the followers of this school. They were very close shia in beliefs.) And main jurisprudential schools in sunnism are Hanafi, Shafi, Hanbali and Maliki. (It must be noted that there were more than four. It was king Baibars of the Mamluk Dynasty that interfered jurisprudential schools and opened a madrasah/school where four bought scholars taught religion as he liked. Later after Ottomans invaded Egypt, they took this and spread it to the whole world. The accusation of other sects with herecy started then. Especially against shiites, because only shiites question islamic history, especially kings, sheikhs, sultans, etc. of ancient times and today. Thus the Ottoman Sultans and the kings of dynasties would not like this.)

Ahl Tasawwuf, i.e. sufis. (People of Woolen Cloack) (Their signs were the clothes they wore. And wool represented not caring about material things.) They have orders named after the famous sheikhs they follow. i.e. Qadiris, Nakshibandis, Ajzimandis, etc. and beliefs of each one in slight issues might vary from one order to another. And they have a certain lifestyle. However, they don't have different jurisprudential schools. (In ancient times they had. Like the jurisprudential school of Sufyan ath-Thawri. However as stated above, they faded away in time due to the opression on them.) Today's sufis follow either sunni jurisprudential schools or shia ones. The ones following shiite jurisprudential schools are usually referred as Arifan (gnostics), their school is referred as irfan.

Ahl Tashayyu, i.e. shiites [the Partisans (of Ali as a successor after the Prophet)]. And they have different schools also. Imamis (Twelver in beliefs, Jafari in jurisprudential school. This one I emraced with the exception of disagreements on very few theological beliefs and historical matters), Zaydis, Ismailis, etc.

Apart from these three common denominations of Islam, there is also Ahl Hadith, Salafism, Wahabism, Quranism, Ahmadism, etc. A can of worms, eh?

My daughter, I would suggest studying the main beliefs of Islam first. They do not change from one sect to another. And here, I listed some of booklets you might like to read: http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...tures/153272-invitation-islam-short-book.html (Please ignore the imamah topic in one booklet there as it is related to just shia islam.) Later you can dive into slight differences in faith and jurisprudence and make your mind on every topic (and it is possible that on one issue you might agree on something with a school of thought and it is possible on another issue you might agree with another. You don't have to limit Islam to just one school of thought). And you need to study any faith with the subscribers of that faith. Otherwise, sadly, misinformation/disinformation will always haunt you. The differences cause problems today because people do not know the beliefs of each other well. Otherwise co-existence would be much easier today. I hope I make sense. ma salam

 

[ZooGirl02]

Salam. There are different schools in Islam. The main ones are;

Ahl Sunnah (People of Tradition) i.e. sunnis. And it has different theological and jurisprudential schools. Main theological sunni beliefs are, Maturidi and Ashari (There was also Mutazili school but it faded away in time because of the opression on the followers of this school. They were very close shia in beliefs.) And main jurisprudential schools in sunnism are Hanafi, Shafi, Hanbali and Maliki. (It must be noted that there were more than four. It was king Baibars of the Mamluk Dynasty that interfered jurisprudential schools and opened a madrasah/school where four bought scholars taught religion as he liked. Later after Ottomans invaded Egypt, they took this and spread it to the whole world. The accusation of other sects with herecy started then. Especially against shiites, because only shiites question islamic history, especially kings, sheikhs, sultans, etc. of ancient times and today. Thus the Ottoman Sultans and the kings of dynasties would not like this.)

Ahl Tasawwuf, i.e. sufis. (People of Woolen Cloack) (Their signs were the clothes they wore. And wool represented not caring about material things.) They have orders named after the famous sheikhs they follow. i.e. Qadiris, Nakshibandis, Ajzimandis, etc. and beliefs of each one in slight issues might vary from one order to another. And they have a certain lifestyle. However, they don't have different jurisprudential schools. (In ancient times they had. Like the jurisprudential school of Sufyan ath-Thawri. However as stated above, they faded away in time due to the opression on them.) Today's sufis follow either sunni jurisprudential schools or shia ones. The ones following shiite jurisprudential schools are usually referred as Arifan (gnostics), their school is referred as irfan.

Ahl Tashayyu, i.e. shiites [the Partisans (of Ali as a successor after the Prophet)]. And they have different schools also. Imamis (Twelver in beliefs, Jafari in jurisprudential school. This one I emraced with the exception of disagreements on very few theological beliefs and historical matters), Zaydis, Ismailis, etc.

Apart from these three common denominations of Islam, there is also Ahl Hadith, Salafism, Wahabism, Quranism, Ahmadism, etc. A can of worms, eh?

My daughter, I would suggest studying the main beliefs of Islam first. They do not change from one sect to another. And here, I listed some of booklets you might like to read: http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...tures/153272-invitation-islam-short-book.html (Please ignore the imamah topic in one booklet there as it is related to just shia islam.) Later you can dive into slight differences in faith and jurisprudence and make your mind on every topic (and it is possible that on one issue you might agree on something with a school of thought and it is possible on another issue you might agree with another. You don't have to limit Islam to just one school of thought). And you need to study any faith with the subscribers of that faith. Otherwise, sadly, misinformation/disinformation will always haunt you. The differences cause problems today because people do not know the beliefs of each other well. Otherwise co-existence would be much easier today. I hope I make sense. ma salam

Thank you Matemkar. I already know the basic beliefs of Islam such as the 5 Pillars of Islam. That's about all I know though. I know a few other things but not much.

Anyway, which jurisprudence schools are the most liberal in each sect of Islam?

 

[Matemkar]

You are welcome. You ask about being liberal. I don't know why. To me being liberal does not mean being the (most or all) truth, just like being hard does not mean being truth either. Yet, I agree, most of the time, people make it hard themselves.

The verse in Quran about Wudhu (Ablution) says "Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful." (Quran 5:6) It is interesting the same verse describes ablution as "washing of the faces and forearms to the elbows and wiping over heads and feet to the ankles", yet except the shia/jafari, all jurisprudence schools believe in washing of the feet and not just once or twice but three times. They even change the Quran in English and other translations. See: Surat Al-Ma'idah [5:6] - The Noble Qur'an (some add the term washing in paranthesis and some do not even do that. They add the term wash instead of wipe). I mean God doesn't forbid someone from washing their feet, but saying "washing is what is ordered by God instead of wiping" is a great sin. It is changing of the fact. And it is as the verse states against the intention of God.

I really do not want to adress the differences in jurisprudential schools as my intention is not "My madhab/school is better than yours/theirs". But my intention is to say that, one needs to find what is ordered by God (and study its philosophy. If it makes sense, you accept it. If not, you don't lose anything.) instead of trying to find what is easy and what is not and if it is what he likes and what he doesn't.

If you have time, may I suggest you study Islam with the links on my blog, in order to add to what you already know? Like an article a day, a book a week maybe?

If yes, here are the articles:

A list of Islamic PDF Articles on Spirituality | Black Light 79

And here are the books:

Islamic Books | Black Light 79

ma salam

 

[dynavert2012]

a Muslim shouldn't have a school that he's following from A to Z, these schools are man made, it's few men who did their best to ease the understanding of quran and hadith.

for sunni the main four schools, are hanfi "the most liberal", maleki, shafei and hanbli

these schools share the most basics but they are different in the details, so they agreed that we had to do ablution b4 praying, but they are different in is it a must to put water in your nose in the ablution or it;s just a recommendation and not a MUST

what i see a muslim should do while learning something, is to see the proofs and evidences of what every schools used for their point and he compares and select the way he sees it's the one that allah and his messenger wills him to follow whatever the school,

 

[DawudTalut]

Hi everyone. I wasn't really talking about the Sunni and Shia divide. I was mainly talking about the Schools of Jurisprudence, especially those within Sunni Islam. I am more interested in Sunni Islam than Shia.

Peace be on you. Others may have their opinion,

" There are four distinct orthodox law schools recognized by the Sunnis. These are: the Malikis, Hanafis, Shafi and Hanbalis. These schools are based on the interpretation of Islamic law by the four well known Islamic jurists and theologians of the first three centuries of Islam: Imam Malik bin Anas, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Muhammad bin Idris al Shafi and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. ..."
Source: A Book of Religious Knowledge -- in Ahmadiyya Muslim site

Here are details [disclaimer] http://www.academia.edu/2310961/The_background_and_formation_of_the_Four_Schools_of_Islamic_Law