Download Sects of Islam

Sects of Islam
July 6, 2013 version
In discussing any religion, it is important to
differentiate between the original teaching and the
offshoots. Many Muslims might not be aware of the
interesting diversity of teaching in the world of Islam.
Christians too should know about the people in
different sects of Islam to better understand how they
think. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22b, “I have
become all things to all men so that by all possible
means I might save some.” Simply speaking, one can
see three very broad categories of Muslims.
Conservatives
Faithful to the original
teaching
others, you would have to conclude that if they read
the Bible at all, they must be reading it upside down!
It is befitting that they burn crosses, because their
symbol that mocks Jesus’ peaceful teaching better
symbolizes their fiery end in Hell.
What about “holy warriors” and terrorists today?
Since early Muslims chronicled that Mohammed
ordered assassinations, ‘Ali burned people to death,
and Mohammed said to kill polytheists, every Muslim
extremist is not necessarily an innovator. Most
actually are in the conservative group.
One modernist Muslim told me, “conservative
Christians and conservative Muslims are basically the
same.” I have to take strong exception to that. People
who read their Bibles and really follow what Jesus
taught are not trying to murder others, and we are not
to hate anyone. Equating either Muslims extremists or
the KKK with those who are serious about following
Jesus’ teaching shows just how far some will distort
the truth.
The Practice of Islam
Liberals
Adapt what they think
is of benefit
Innovators
Faithful to their new
and different teaching
Conservative Muslims believe that all the Qur’an and
(usually) the Hadith traditions are for all times, except
for parts specifically abrogated.
Liberal Muslims want a changed, mellowed-down
Islam adapted to their modern lifestyle. Some still read
the Qur’an a lot, and others are more secular. They do
not pray five times a day, and ignore what the Hadiths
say about Muslim women having to wear veils. Sahih
Muslim vol.2 no.2789 p.606-607
Innovative groups have strange theology that is
different from the Qur’an. At an extreme, the Nation
of Islam (Black Muslim group) taught the black race
was superior and the white race was created by devils.
Comparison with Christianity
If a Muslim looked briefly at what is called
Christianity, they might see the same three categories.
One Muslim told me that Christians themselves are
disagreed on whether Jesus died for our sins and rose
from the dead. Well, it is just as proper to say that
Muslims (including ‘Alawites) disagree on whether
Mohammed is God or not.
Where would an extremist group like the KKK (Klu
Klux Klan) fit? The Bible commands us to love
others, and there is no Jew nor Greek in Christ. If you
compare their racist teaching, their violent hate of
In discussing this with a Isma’ili friend of mine, he
thought this classification of Muslims were a bit too
simplistic, as there are many very different groups
under the conservative category. He has a good point.
A second shortcoming is the broad lines show it is
hard to sharply delineate between groups and there are
degrees of liberalism. So, let’s move on to a less
simplified model.
Only a few groups in Islam, the modern Wahhabis
and ancient Kharijites, claim to follow the Qur’an and
also consciously downplay all tradition. You can
remember the classic Muslims and other categories by
the acronym SCHISM, meaning division.
Modern
Muslims
reject veil
Spiritual
Mystics
Sufis
Inventors
Ghulat
Cultural
only
Successors
Shi'ites
Classic, downplay
tradition
Kharijites, Wahhabis
Human
tradition
Sunnis
Successors and traditions have prominence in Shi’ite
Islam. For example, when at Khomeini’s funeral,
crowds were trying to pull off parts of his body to
take home and reverence. Pilgrimages to holy
shrines to revere their saints are important for
them.
Cultural Muslims know little about Islam, and may
not care. Some cultural Muslims drink beer, and
after seeing what Islam is about, they are Muslims
because they just want to be left alone.
Human traditions of Mohammed and others (the
Hadiths) are paramount in Sunni Islam.
Inventors of new beliefs. Some “Muslims” say it is
fine to drink wine, there is no need to go to Mecca,
or fast or pray as prescribed. God appeared as a
“Trinity” of Allah, Mohammed, and ‘Ali, and
people who do not recognize ‘Ali as God will be
reincarnated as animals.
Spiritual mysticism, called Sufism, teaches one can be
absorbed in the divine, and be God themselves.
They focus on experience, including smoking
hashish, and flagellating themselves with whips,
because pain can bring them closer to God.
Modern Muslims are liberals who, personally
“abrogate” things in the Qur’an they disagree with,
even if neither Mohammed nor any early Muslim
ever said they were abrogated. Since September 11,
2001, many modern Muslims were disgusted with
conservative Muslims trying to follow what
Mohammed originally said, and the feeling
apparently is mutual.
In which group do what are termed “Muslim
extremists” fit? Mohammed led a surprise attack at
dawn, ordered assassinations, and Mohammed himself
fought in either 19 or 26 of the 56 or so battles.
However Mohammed did not advocate suicide, and he
preferred to enslave women and children rather than
kill them.
Conservative Muslims castigate the modern
Muslims as denying everything in Islam that offends
their western sensibilities. Modern Muslims look
down on conservatives as ill-educated embarrassments
who want the world to turn back the clock to the 13th
century. Following is a brief synopsis of some of the
sects.
Wahhabis / Salafis - Focus on the Original
Source
The Wahhabi sect is a strict, conservative sect that
tries to follow the original teaching of Mohammed.
They emphasize tawheed, or the oneness of God.. It
was derived from Sunni Hanbalism via Ibn
Taymiya/Taymiyya (d.1328). Later it spread from
Mecca to Punjab, India via Ismail Hadji MaulviMohammed and Sayd Ahmed. The Saudi Arabian
government came to power as a result of a Wahhabi
revolt. Within Saudi Arabia Wahhabis are considered
Sunnis.
Many of the Muslims in the World Trade Center
plane crashes and the al-Qaeda were Wahhabis. Early
Muslims tortured people and gouged out their eyes, so
if an extremist is one who greatly deviates from the
original teaching, peaceful liberal Muslims are at least
as much “extremists” in Islam as the violent
Wahhabis.
Kharijites – Violent Idealists
The Kharijites, (=Khawarij) in early Islam were the
third most important group, after the Sunnis and
Shi’ites. Like the Wahhabis, they only wanted the
pure, original teaching, but unlike the Wahhabis an
essential part of their teaching was obedience to ‘Ali
as the rightful caliph. Indeed, they were
indistinguishable from Shi’ites, until ‘Ali submitted to
arbitration. After that, Kharijites fought against both
Sunnis and Shi’ites. Their main leaders were Abu
Bilal Mirdas (died 681 A.D.) and Abu Hamza (died
747 A.D.) Note the early dates.
The Kharijite key distinctives were that
 “God is sole judge and arbiter”.
 After disappointment with ‘Ali, they said the
Caliphate was open to anyone, even a black slave.
 Deeds are an essential part of the fruit
 Man is free and responsible, as opposed to the
fatalistic views of many other Muslims.
The Kharijites split into the Sufriyya/Saffriyah (alTabari vol.39 p.217), Azarika, Bayhasiyya, Nadjadat,
and Ibadiyya groups. The Kharijites are almost extinct
today. Surviving ones are in Oman, Zanzibar, north
and east Africa. Many of the Kharijites are the more
moderate Ibadites, who do not believe in
assassination.
Sunnis - Traditionalists
About 300,000 individual traditions (most of them
universally acknowledged as bogus) were allegedly
preserved. Bukhari, Tirmidhi, and others sifted
through these a couple of centuries after Mohammed
and came up with volumes of the collections of what
they regarded as genuine. Undoubtedly many of these
are accurate, but fake ones did slip in. When Sunni
Muslims speak of living under Muslim Law (Sharia),
they mean these traditions and the interpretation of
them and the Qur’an. Many Sunnis accept Shi’ites and
Sufis, but Shi’ite Islam is outlawed in Malaysia.
Shi’ites - 7 or 12 Successors
The Shi’ites split with the Sunnis over succession.
They say ‘Ali, whom traditions say had superhuman
strength, should have been caliph after Mohammed,
and that the Caliphate is hereditary. The Sunnis said
the Caliphate was elective for anyone of the Quaresh
tribe. Here is a comparison of the two groups.
Pillar / Doctrine Vast majority Vast majority
of Sunni
of 12’er Shi’ite
Statement of
“No God but
“No God but
Faith
Allah, and
Allah, and
Mohammed is
Mohammed is
his prophet”.
his prophet”.
Sunnis also
Shi’ites also
belief that
believe that ‘Ali
Mu’awiyah was is Allah’s vicea rightful
regent.
caliph.
Fasting, Alms,
Fasting, both
Same on fasting
and Flagellation required zakat
and alms. Differ
and optional
among Shi’ites
alms. No
on flagellation.
flagellation.
Prayer direction
Toward Mecca for both
Pilgrimage
Should travel to Should travel to
Mecca once in
Mecca once in
their life.
their life. They
Hadiths forbid
also travel to
pilgrimages to
holy shrines and
tombs.
tombs too.
Jihad
Same for both
Qur’an
From Allah but Created. Sunnis
uncreated: no
have invented
errors
things about it
though.
Hadiths
People live or
Sunni hadiths
die based on
have many
what they say.
errors, including
anti-Shi’ite
bias. They also
have other
traditions.
Temporary
Was OK until
Is permissible
marriage
Khaibar, but
today.
most Sunnis say
forbidden since
then.
Additional
No more added can add
tradition
traditions valid traditions later
Final Prophet /
Mohammed
Mohammed
Messenger
was the final
was the final
prophet.
prophet. The
Shi’ites and
12th Imam, the
others are
Mahdi, will
wrong if they
return; he is no
say there are
prophet though.
any more.
forerunner for the 12th imam returned in 1844 A.D.
He was executed in 1850 A.D., and his group split
into two parts: Azalis, and Baha’is (1863), who
believe the Bahaullah is the 12th imam returned as
well as Christ returned. They do not really claim to be
Muslim. Ahmadiyyas, which are now two sects, were
started in 1879 in Punjab when Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
claimed to be the Mahdi and the Messiah. They
redefine Jihad as peaceful only. They believe Jesus
was really crucified, but taken down alive, escaped to
Kashmir, and was buried in Srinigar.
Ghulat Sects - The Most Innovative Ones
Liberal Muslims
‘Alawites drink wine and believe in a Trinity of
Mohammed, ‘Ali, and Saliman al-Farisi. Babis
followed the “Bab” (Gate) who was a man named ‘Ali
Muhammad, born in 1821 who claimed to be the
Sufi Muslims – Mystics
Sufism is the mystic branch of Islam. While regular
Islam emphasizes actions, including prayer and
fasting, it say little about heart experience. Sufism
says the external actions do not matter, it is the
internal that counts. Using frequent examples of wine,
and less frequently illicit sex, they speak of not just
experiencing God, but becoming God themselves by
annihilation and being absorbed in the divine. A
famous Sufi saying is “Praise be to me.” One of the
most widely read Sufi author today, nicknamed Rumi,
even teaches mystical truth by teaching a story of two
women who have sex with a donkey (The Mathnawi
5:1333-1405).
Not only were Sufis heavily persecuted in Iran under
Khomeini, but historically they have also suffered
persecution until the Ottomans took over. (Many
Janissaries were Sufis.) Some Sufi groups talk of a
doctrine of “survival” complementing the doctrine of
“annihilation”, saying that some parts of a completed
Sufi are still separate, they are not actually Allah, and
so other Muslims should not kill them. It is difficult to
count Sufis, because a Sufi Muslim can also be a
Sunni or Shi’ite. One estimate is that after the Iranian
persecutions there are about 5 million of them, and
they are growing in California.
Cultural Muslims
Cultural Muslims are Muslim in the sense that many
westerners are Christian: they know more about the
religion they profess to be than any other. In genuine
Christianity, one is not a Christian if they have not
given over their life to Christ. However, a person can
be a Muslim as long as they say the right things, and
do not get too out of line. As a matter of fact, in
Austin I heard of an atheist who was also a Muslim.
He did not believe Allah was real, but thought that
Islam was a lifestyle he wanted to have.
Modern, liberal Muslims differ from cultural
Muslims in that liberal Muslims can be very serious
about their religion. They are not trying to lie when
they say Islam is a religion of peace; they sincerely
believe that. This is in spite of the way the majority of
the Muslim world has been throughout the ages. They
are not ignorant of what has gone on, but believe that
most of the Muslim world is filled with ill-educated
people that have only a caricature of true Islam. On
the other hand, conservative Muslims deplore
modernists who bow Islam before the modern world.
What they are ignorant of, or have rationalized away,
is that the source of Islam, Mohammed himself, was a
violent person who led raids on caravans, ordered
assassinations, and commanded his followers to kill
pagans and fight Christians and Jews.
Liberal Muslims say that conservatives are in the
minority; conservatives say that liberals are in the
minority. Some newspaper articles about protests and
schools in Muslim lands indicate that there are
substantial numbers of both conservatives and liberals.
Yes, the conservative Muslims says that non-Muslims
are to be killed (with some protection for Jews and
Christians living in Muslim lands who pay an extra
tax for being non-Muslim). All of the “reasonable”
arguments of liberal Muslims and non-Muslims will
not sway them, because Mohammed was clear on this.
Comparison with Christianity
Of course, the previous categories of Islam cry for
comparison with Christianity. Curiously, the “Classic
plus Schism” model works for Christianity too.
Christianity has
Successor group (Catholics)
Cultural Christians (Many in the western world)
Human tradition (Orthodox)
Inventors (Mormons, JW’s, Moonies, etc.)
Spiritual Mystics (Medieval Mysticism)
Modern Christians (Liberals and Neoorthodox)
Since Mohammed claims Islam was compatible with
the original teaching of Jesus, if Christ’s teaching has
been preserved reliably today, then Islam would be in
an invented cult of Christianity.
A Muslim was correct who told me, you cannot
judge a religion by its practitioners. You do have to
look to the original founder, and the original
scriptures, to see if a religion is worthwhile to
“achieve the goal”. But what is the goal?
The goal is not to be religious; even the Aztecs were
religious. The goal is right relationship with God; to
listen to his words, love Him, please Him with your
life, and live forever with Him in Heaven. I have
heard a Muslim say, “we like Jesus, but we love
Islam.” Neither Islam nor Christianity should be your
first love. Your first love should be God.
Thoughts to Ponder
Regardless of what kind of Muslim a person might
be, there are “Muslim” teachings to disagree with.
How would an objective person know which sect, if
any, was correct? Indeed, how would anyone know
which group of any world religion was correct?
Many Shi’ites say that ‘Ali had secret teaching from
God that is not in the Qur’an. Hadiths of Sunni
Muslims clearly deny that. New Sufi groups led by a
charismatic leader pop up in the Mideast, Africa, and
India almost as frequently as New Age Movement
groups in Europe and North America. Perhaps there is
no end to these deceptions because there is not even a
beginning of discernment. If people could ask one
question, “How do we know if this is true?”, spiritual
deception might not be so widespread.
The Bible
“The Bible says…,” – let’s stop right here. Most deep
conversations with a Muslim, sooner or later, will get
back to the reliability of the Bible. Mohammed said
that Jesus, Abraham, Moses, David, and others were
true prophets of God. Mohammed said that Jesus was
taught the Torah, and that Jesus taught the Gospel. Yet
the Bible has so much that goes against the core of
Islam (God being a Father, Jesus being God, saved by
grace, not works, etc.) that if the Bible we have is all
true, then Islam would be a false religion. If you are a
Muslim do you agree that the Bible today and the
Qur’an cannot both be true? If you are a Muslim,
unless you are ready to sing praises to Jesus, you
probably do agree that either the bible today, or the
Qur’an, must be very, very wrong.
Can Muslims and Christians Agree?
Old Testament In Jesus’ Time: Jesus validated that
the Old Testament was given from God and was
reliably preserved (at least up through His time). Sura
3:48 says, “And Allah will teach him [Jesus] the book
and Wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel.” Jesus was
sent “confirming the Torah that had come before him”
in Sura 5:46. For a Muslim to deny this would be to
deny the Qur’an itself.
Old Testament Scrolls: We have many copies of the
Old Testament from the time of Jesus and earlier.
There are 175 to 200 Dead Sea Scrolls (250 B.C. to 70
A.D.). There is the Nash Papyrus (150 B.C.) and a
scroll at Masada (169-93 B.C.). There is a scroll at
Nahal Hever (50 B.C. to 50 A.D.) and a later scroll
Wadi Muraba’at at c.132 A.D.
New Testament in Mohammed’s Time: Mohammed
was read the gospels in Arabic according to his wife
‘Aisha in Bukhari vol.4 book 55 ch.18 no.605 p.395.
While the Qur’an says Jews and Christians were
hypocrites (Sura 5:61-63) who perverted what they
heard (Sura 2:75), the Qur’an never says every copy of
God’s scriptures were corrupted. As a matter of fact,
Christians are called the people of the Gospel in Sura
5:46. Since Sura 5:47 says, “Let the People of the
Gospel Judge by what Allah hath revealed Therein....”
it accepts that the gospels, in Mohammed’s time, had
the truth.
Finally, Sura 5:48 says, “To thee (People of the
Book) We sent the scripture in truth, confirming the
scripture that came before it, and guarding it in
safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath
revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging
from the truth that hath come to thee....”. If you are a
Muslim who disagrees with these words, then how
does Allah differentiate between His words, which He
allows devout worshippers to learn only in corrupted
form, and His words that remain uncorrupted?
New Testament Scrolls: We have copies of the New
Testament from 100 A.D. onwards. Not only do we
have the John Rylands fragment (117-138 A.D.), but
the Bodmer II manuscript (p66) contains most of John
and is dated 125-175 A.D. The Chester Beatty
manuscript contains most of the New Testament and
is 100-150 A.D. Other fragments are p6 (Luke) 100
A.D. and p104 (Matthew) 125-175 A.D.
Conclusion
Every major world religion has sects, and you must
understand something of them to understand the
people. When any group claims prior teaching is from
God, if it has no consistency with that teaching, that it
is self-contradictory.