Sects and Contemporary Islam
The previous lesson presented the foundations of Islam from the comparative-religions perspective. This lesson examines the major sectarian divisions within Islam, the schools of Islamic law, the Sufi tradition, and the contemporary movements within the Muslim world.
The Sunni-Shia split
The principal division within Islam — between Sunni Muslims (approximately 85% of the global Muslim population) and Shia Muslims (approximately 15%) — originated in a question about the proper succession to the Prophet Muhammad.
The historical question
When the Prophet died in 632 without a designated successor, two views emerged:
- The Sunni view — that the Muslim community should choose its leader through consultation (shura), with the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali) — known as the Rightly-Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa al-Rashidun) — as the legitimate successors.
- The Shia view — that leadership belonged by divine designation to Ali ibn Abi Talib — the Prophet's cousin, son-in-law, and (per Shia interpretation) explicitly designated successor at the event of Ghadir Khumm — and to his descendants through Fatima.
The dispute crystallised after the assassination of Ali in 661 CE and the killing of Ali's son Husayn at Karbala in 680 CE — an event commemorated annually by Shia Muslims at Ashura.
Sunni-Shia differences
Beyond the historical succession question, Sunni and Shia Islam have developed distinctive emphases:
| Dimension | Sunni | Shia (Twelver / Ithna Ashari) |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | Consensus of scholars; four legitimate caliphs | The line of twelve imams beginning with Ali |
| Hadith | Six canonical collections (Sahih al-Bukhari etc.) | Four canonical collections (al-Kafi etc.) |
| Religious leadership | The ulema — religious scholars | The marjiya — senior religious authorities (e.g., Sistani in Najaf) |
| Eschatology | Awaited return of Jesus | Return of the Twelfth Imam (the Mahdi) |
| Jurisprudence | Four schools (madhabs) | Jaf'ari school of jurisprudence |
The major Shia branches
Shia Islam itself is internally diverse:
- Twelver Shia (Ithna Ashari) — the largest Shia tradition (~85% of Shias). Predominant in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, parts of Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, India and elsewhere.
- Ismaili Shia (Seveners) — recognise a different line of imams; subdivided into Nizari (the Aga Khan tradition) and Mustaali branches.
- Zaydi Shia (Fivers) — recognise yet a different succession; predominant historically in Yemen.
The Alawi, Druze, and other groups
Several smaller groups historically classified within or near Shia Islam include the Alawis (Syria), Alevis (Turkey), and Druze (Lebanon, Syria, Israel). The classification of each is contested both historically and in scholarship.
The Khariji tradition
A third early branch, the Kharijis (or Khawarij), emerged in opposition to both the Sunni and Shia mainstreams in the 7th century. They held that any righteous Muslim could be the legitimate caliph, regardless of lineage. The contemporary descendant tradition of the Kharijis is the Ibadi community, predominantly in Oman.
The schools of Islamic law
Within Sunni Islam, four major schools of Islamic law (madhahib) emerged in the 8th-9th centuries. Each is named for its founding scholar:
| School | Founder | Geographic strongholds |
|---|---|---|
| Hanafi | Abu Hanifa (d. 767) | South Asia, Turkey, Central Asia, Egypt |
| Maliki | Malik ibn Anas (d. 795) | North Africa, West Africa, parts of Gulf |
| Shafi'i | Imam al-Shafi'i (d. 820) | Egypt, Yemen, parts of East Africa, Southeast Asia |
| Hanbali | Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855) | Saudi Arabia, parts of Gulf |
The four schools are recognised by Sunni Islam as equally legitimate. Each has its own tradition of jurisprudence (fiqh) and detailed methodology for deriving rulings from the Qur'an, Sunnah and other sources.
The principal Shia school, Ja'fari, is named for Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (d. 765), the sixth Twelver imam.
The sources of Islamic law
Across schools, the principal sources of Sunni Islamic law are:
- Qur'an — the primary source.
- Sunnah — as preserved in the authenticated Hadith.
- Ijma — the consensus of qualified scholars.
- Qiyas — analogical reasoning from established rulings to new situations.
Different schools weigh additional secondary sources differently — istihsan (juridical preference), istislah (consideration of public welfare), urf (local custom) and others.
Sufism
Sufism (Arabic: Tasawwuf) is the mystical, devotional dimension of Islam. It does not constitute a sect distinct from Sunni or Shia Islam — Sufis are members of one or the other — but it represents a distinctive tradition emphasising:
- Personal experience of God beyond formal observance.
- Spiritual discipline (tariqa) under the guidance of a master (shaykh).
- The remembrance of God (dhikr) through repetition of divine names.
- Ascetic practice and detachment from worldly attachments.
- The goal of fana — annihilation of the self in God — and baqa — abiding in God.
Major Sufi orders
Beginning in the 12th-13th centuries, Sufism organised into formal orders (turuq, sing. tariqa) — schools of practice transmitted from master to disciple. The principal orders include:
| Order | Founder | Geographic strongholds |
|---|---|---|
| Qadiriyya | Abdul Qadir Jilani (d. 1166) | Globally widespread |
| Chishtiyya | Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (d. 1236) | South Asia |
| Suhrawardiyya | Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (d. 1234) | South Asia, Middle East |
| Naqshbandiyya | Baha al-Din Naqshband (d. 1389) | Central Asia, South Asia, Turkey |
| Mevlevi (Whirling Dervishes) | Jalaluddin Rumi tradition (d. 1273) | Turkey |
| Tijaniyya | Ahmad al-Tijani (d. 1815) | West Africa |
Sufism has been historically central to Islam in much of the Muslim world, particularly South Asia, where the Chishti order was foundational to the spread of Islam through the subcontinent.
Major Sufi figures
Sufism has produced some of the most influential figures in Islamic history:
- Hasan al-Basri (d. 728) — early ascetic and pietist.
- Rabia al-Adawiyya (d. 801) — early woman Sufi, articulator of pure love of God.
- Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) — synthesiser of Sufism with Sunni orthodoxy.
- Ibn Arabi (d. 1240) — articulator of the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud (unity of being).
- Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273) — Persian Sufi poet whose Mathnawi is among the most influential works of Islamic spiritual literature.
- Bulleh Shah (d. 1757) — Punjabi Sufi poet.
- Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (d. 1752) — Sindhi Sufi poet.
Contemporary movements within Islam
The modern period has seen multiple movements within Islam responding to colonial encounter, modernisation and the internal challenges of the Muslim world.
Islamic modernism
A movement seeking to reconcile Islamic tradition with modern science, democracy and rationality. Major figures include:
- Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) — founder of the Aligarh movement in India.
- Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838–1897) — pan-Islamic intellectual.
- Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) — Egyptian theologian and reformer.
- Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) — Pakistani philosopher and poet.
Islamic revivalism
Movements emphasising the return to a pristine early Islam:
- Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792) — founder of the Salafi/Wahhabi movement in Arabia.
- Shah Waliullah (1703–1762) — Indian reformer.
Political Islam
Movements seeking to apply Islamic principles to political organisation:
- Muslim Brotherhood — founded by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt in 1928.
- Jamaat-e-Islami — founded by Maulana Maududi in India/Pakistan in 1941.
- AKP (Justice and Development Party) — Turkey's contemporary Islamic-democratic party.
Sufi revival
In response to anti-Sufi pressure from some Salafi movements, contemporary scholars and movements have worked to defend and revive Sufi practice — including in Turkey, the Maghreb, South Asia and the Western diaspora.
Liberal and progressive Islam
A range of contemporary thinkers have articulated liberal or progressive interpretations of Islamic tradition, including Fazlur Rahman (Pakistan), Khaled Abou El Fadl (USA), Mohammed Arkoun (Algeria/France), and Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland).
The geographic distribution of Islam
Contemporary Muslim populations:
| Region | Approximate Muslim population |
|---|---|
| Asia-Pacific | ~1.0 billion (Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran) |
| Middle East and North Africa | ~370 million |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | ~330 million |
| Europe | ~50 million |
| Americas | ~10 million |
The four largest Muslim-majority countries by population are Indonesia, Pakistan, India (Muslim minority but large absolute population), and Bangladesh. Pakistan is the second-largest Muslim country by population.
What CSS questions on this topic typically demand
Three exam shapes:
- Sectarian — "Discuss the major sects of Islam — Sunni, Shia and others."
- Mystical — "Discuss Sufism and its role in Islamic religious life."
- Contemporary — "Discuss the major movements in modern Islam."
A strong answer combines historical knowledge with attention to contemporary diversity, presented in the comparative-religions register that is appropriate to this paper.
What you take from this topic
Islam, the youngest of the three Abrahamic traditions, has developed over fourteen centuries into a global religion of remarkable internal diversity — Sunni and Shia, four schools of law, the Sufi tradition, and a wide range of modern reform and revival movements. With this lesson, the comparative survey of the world's major religions in this paper is complete; the discipline of comparative study is to hold all five traditions in attention together, recognising both their shared concerns and their distinctive contributions.