In recent years, the Middle East has not left the headlines of news agencies around the world. The region is in a fever; the events taking place here largely determine the global geopolitical agenda. In this place, the interests of the largest players on the world stage are intertwined: the USA, Europe, Russia and China.
To better understand the processes taking place today in Iraq and Syria, it is necessary to look into the past. The contradictions that led to bloody chaos in the region are associated with the characteristics of Islam and the history of the Muslim world, which today is experiencing a real passionary explosion. Every day, events in Syria more and more clearly resemble a religious war, uncompromising and merciless. This has happened before in history: the European Reformation led to centuries of bloody conflicts between Catholics and Protestants.
And if immediately after the events of the “Arab Spring” the conflict in Syria resembled an ordinary armed uprising of the people against authoritarian regime, then today the warring parties can be clearly divided along religious lines: President Assad in Syria is supported by Alawites and Shiites, and most of his opponents are Sunnis ( both of these branches are recognized as illegal on the territory of the Russian Federation). The units of the Islamic State (ISIS), the main “horror story” of any Westerner, are also made up of Sunnis - and of the most radical kind.
Who are Sunnis and Shiites? What is the difference? And why is it now that the difference between Sunnis and Shiites has led to armed confrontation between these religious groups?
To find answers to these questions, we will have to travel back in time and go back thirteen centuries, to a period when Islam was a young religion in its infancy. However, before that a little general information, which will help you better understand the issue.
Currents of Islam
Islam is one of the world's largest religions, which is in second place (after Christianity) in terms of the number of followers. The total number of its adherents is 1.5 billion people living in 120 countries. In 28 countries, Islam has been declared the state religion.
Naturally, such a massive religious teaching cannot be homogeneous. Islam includes many different movements, some of which are considered marginal even by Muslims themselves. The two largest sects of Islam are Sunnism and Shiism. There are other, less numerous movements of this religion: Sufism, Salafism, Ismailism, Jamaat Tabligh and others.
History and essence of the conflict
The split of Islam into Shiites and Sunnis occurred soon after the emergence of this religion, in the second half of the 7th century. Moreover, its reasons concerned not so much the tenets of faith as pure politics, and to be even more precise, a banal struggle for power led to the split.
After the death of Ali, the last of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, the struggle for his place began. Opinions about the future heir were divided. Some Muslims believed that only a direct descendant of the Prophet’s family could lead the caliphate, to whom all his spiritual qualities should pass.
Another part of the believers believed that any worthy and authoritative person chosen by the community could become a leader.
Caliph Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet, so a significant part of the believers believed that the future ruler should be chosen from his family. Moreover, Ali was born in the Kaaba, he was the first man and child to convert to Islam.
Believers who believed that Muslims should be ruled by people from the clan of Ali formed a religious movement of Islam called “Shiism”; accordingly, its followers began to be called Shiites. Translated from Arabic, this word means “adherents, followers (Ali).” Another part of the believers, who considered the exclusivity of this kind of doubtful, formed the Sunni movement. This name appeared because Sunnis confirmed their position with quotations from the Sunnah, the second most important source in Islam after the Koran.
By the way, Shiites consider the Koran, recognized by Sunnis, to be partially falsified. In their opinion, information about the need to appoint Ali as Muhammad's successor was removed from it.
This is the main and fundamental difference between Sunnis and Shiites. It caused the first civil war, which happened in the Arab Caliphate.
However, it should be noted that the further history of relations between the two branches of Islam, although it was not too rosy, Muslims managed to avoid serious conflicts on religious grounds. There have always been more Sunnis, and a similar situation continues today. It was representatives of this branch of Islam that founded such powerful states in the past as the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, as well as the Ottoman Empire, which in its heyday was a real threat to Europe.
In the Middle Ages, Shiite Persia was constantly at odds with the Sunni Ottoman Empire, which largely prevented the latter from completely conquering Europe. Despite the fact that these conflicts were rather politically motivated, religious differences also played an important role in them.
The contradictions between Sunnis and Shiites reached a new level after the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1979), after which a theocratic regime came to power in the country. These events put an end to Iran's normal relations with the West and its neighboring states, where mostly Sunnis were in power. The new Iranian government began to pursue an active foreign policy, which was regarded by the countries of the region as the beginning of Shiite expansion. In 1980, a war began with Iraq, the vast majority of whose leadership was occupied by Sunnis.
Sunnis and Shiites reached a new level of confrontation after a series of revolutions (known as the “Arab Spring”) that swept across the region. The conflict in Syria has clearly divided the warring parties along religious lines: the Syrian Alawite president is protected by the Iranian Islamic Guard Corps and the Shiite Hezbollah from Lebanon, and is opposed by detachments of Sunni militants supported by various states in the region.
How else do Sunnis and Shiites differ?
Sunnis and Shiites have other differences, but they are less fundamental. So, for example, the shahada, which is a verbal expression of the first pillar of Islam (“I testify that there is no God but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah”), sounds somewhat different among the Shiites: at the end of this phrase they add “... and Ali - friend of Allah."
There are other differences between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam:
- Sunnis exclusively revere the Prophet Muhammad, while Shiites, in addition, glorify his cousin Ali. Sunnis revere the entire text of the Sunnah (their second name is “people of the Sunnah”), while Shiites only respect the part that concerns the Prophet and his family members. Sunnis believe that strictly following the Sunnah is one of the main duties of a Muslim. In this regard, they can be called dogmatists: the Taliban in Afghanistan strictly regulate even the details of a person’s appearance and behavior.
- If the largest Muslim holidays - Eid al-Adha and Kurban Bayram - are celebrated equally by both branches of Islam, then the tradition of celebrating the day of Ashura among Sunnis and Shiites has a significant difference. For Shiites, this day is a memorial day.
- Sunnis and Shiites have different attitudes towards such a norm of Islam as temporary marriage. The latter consider this a normal phenomenon and do not limit the number of such marriages. Sunnis consider such an institution illegal, since Muhammad himself abolished it.
- There are differences in the places of traditional pilgrimage: Sunnis visit Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and Shiites visit Najaf or Karbala in Iraq.
- Sunnis are required to perform five namaz (prayers) a day, while Shiites can limit themselves to three.
However, the main thing in which these two directions of Islam differ is the method of electing power and the attitude towards it. Among Sunnis, an imam is simply a clergyman who presides over a mosque. The Shiites have a completely different attitude to this issue. The head of the Shiites, the imam, is a spiritual leader who governs not only matters of faith, but also politics. He seems to stand above government structures. Moreover, the imam must come from the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
A typical example of this form of governance is today's Iran. The head of Iran's Shiites, the Rahbar, is higher than the president or the head of the national parliament. It completely determines the policy of the state.
Sunnis do not at all believe in the infallibility of people, and Shiites believe that their imams are completely sinless.
Shiites believe in twelve righteous imams (descendants of Ali), the fate of the last of whom (his name was Muhammad al-Mahdi) is unknown. He simply disappeared without a trace at the end of the 9th century. Shiites believe that al-Mahdi will return to the people on the eve of the Last Judgment to restore order in the world.
Sunnis believe that after death a person’s soul can meet with God, while Shiites consider such a meeting impossible both in a person’s earthly life and after it. Communication with God can only be maintained through an imam.
It should also be noted that Shiites practice the principle of taqiyya, which means pious concealment of one's faith.
Number and places of residence of Sunnis and Shiites
How many Sunnis and Shiites are there in the world? The majority of Muslims living on the planet today belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. According to various estimates, they make up from 85 to 90% of the followers of this religion.
Most Shiites live in Iran, Iraq (more than half the population), Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Yemen and Lebanon. In Saudi Arabia, Shiism is practiced by approximately 10% of the population.
Sunnis are in the majority in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia, Indonesia and the North African countries of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. In addition, the majority of Muslims in India and China belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. Russian Muslims are also Sunnis.
As a rule, there are no conflicts between adherents of these movements of Islam when living together in the same territory. Sunnis and Shiites often attend the same mosques, and this also does not cause conflicts.
The current situation in Iraq and Syria is rather an exception caused by political reasons. This conflict is associated with the confrontation between the Persians and Arabs, which has its roots in the dark depths of centuries.
Alawites
In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about the Alawite religious group, to which Russia’s current ally in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, belongs.
Alawites are a movement (sect) of Shiite Islam, with which it is united by the veneration of the Prophet’s cousin, Caliph Ali. Alawism originated in the 9th century in the Middle East. This religious movement absorbed the features of Ismailism and Gnostic Christianity, and the result was an “explosive mixture” of Islam, Christianity and various pre-Muslim beliefs that existed in these territories.
Today, Alawites make up 10-15% of the Syrian population, their total number is 2-2.5 million people.
Despite the fact that Alawism arose on the basis of Shiism, it is very different from it. Alawites celebrate some Christian holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, perform only two prayers a day, do not attend mosques, and may drink alcohol. Alawites revere Jesus Christ (Isa), the Christian apostles, the Gospel is read at their services, they do not recognize Sharia.
And if radical Sunnis from among the fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) do not have a very good attitude towards Shiites, considering them “wrong” Muslims, then they generally call Alawites dangerous heretics who must be destroyed. The attitude towards Alawites is much worse than towards Christians or Jews; Sunnis believe that Alawites insult Islam by the mere fact of their existence.
Not much is known about the religious traditions of the Alawites, since this group actively uses the practice of taqiya, which allows believers to perform the rituals of other religions while maintaining their faith.
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The Muslim Ummah has been divided into many different currents and directions for 1,400 years. And this despite the fact that in the Holy Quran the Almighty tells us:
“Hold onto the rope of Allah and do not be separated” (3:103)
The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) warned about the division of the Muslim community, saying that the ummah would be divided into 73 movements.
In the modern Muslim world, we can distinguish two of the largest and most influential directions of Islam that were formed after the death of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) - Sunnis and Shiites.
History of the schism
The death of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) raised the question of a possible successor to the Muslim ummah as the ruler of a Muslim state, as well as the spiritual leader of believers. The majority of Muslims supported the candidacy of the closest companion of the Messenger of Allah (s.g.w.) - (r.a.), who was one of the first to accept Islam and was a companion of the Messenger of Allah (s.g.w.) throughout his prophetic mission. In addition, during the life of Muhammad (s.g.w.), Abu Bakr replaced him as an imam at collective prayers when he was not well.
However, not most of believers saw his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abu Talib (r.a.) as the successor of the Final Prophet (s.a.w.). In their opinion, Ali, who grew up in the house of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and was his relative, has more rights to become their ruler than Abu Bakr.
Subsequently, that part of the believers who came out in support of Abu Bakr began to be called Sunnis, and those who supported Ali - Shiites. As you know, Abu Bakr was chosen as the successor of the Messenger of God (s.g.w.), who became the first righteous caliph in the history of Islam.
Features of Sunnism
Sunnis (full name - Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'a - “People of the Sunnah and Community Harmony”) are the largest and most influential movement in the Islamic world. The term comes from the Arabic "sunnah", which refers to the life of the Prophet Muhammad (s.g.w.), and means following the path of God's Messenger (s.g.w.). That is, the main sources of knowledge for Sunni Muslims are the Koran and the Sunnah.
Currently, Sunnis make up about 90% of Muslims and live in most countries of the world.
In Sunni Islam, there are many different theological and legal schools, the largest of which are 4 madhhabs: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. In general, the Sunni madhhabs do not contradict each other, since the founders of these legal schools lived at approximately the same time and were students and teachers of each other, and therefore the Sunni madhhabs rather complement each other.
There are some minor disagreements between madhhabs on certain issues, which are related to the specifics of each legal school. In particular, these disagreements can be examined using the example of the permissibility of eating the meat of certain animals from the point of view of various Sunni legal schools. For example, eating horse meat, according to the Hanafi madhhab, belongs to the category of undesirable actions (makrooh), according to the Maliki madhhab - forbidden acts (haram), and according to the Shafi'i and Hanbali madhhabs, this meat is permitted (halal).
Features of Shiism
Shiism is an Islamic movement in which, together with their descendants, they are recognized as the only legitimate successors of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s.w.). The term “Shiite” itself comes from the Arabic word “shi`a” (translated as “followers”). This group of Muslims consider themselves followers of Imam Ali (r.a.) and his righteous descendants.
Now the number of Shiites is estimated at approximately 10% of all Muslims in the world. Shiite communities operate in most states, and in some of them they constitute an absolute majority. These countries include: Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain. In addition, quite large Shiite communities live in Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
Within Shiism today there are many trends, the largest of which are: Jafarism, Ismailism, Alawism and Zaydism. Relations between their representatives cannot always be called close, since on some issues they take opposing positions. The main point of disagreement between Shiite movements is the issue of recognizing certain descendants of Ali ibn Abu Talib (ra) as immaculate imams. In particular, the Jafarites (Twelver Shiites) recognize 12 righteous imams, the final one of which is Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, according to Jafarite teaching, who went into “concealment” as a child. In the future, Imam Mahdi will have to fulfill the role of the Messiah. The Ismailis, in turn, recognize only seven imams, since this part of the Shiites recognizes the imamate of the first six imams, like the Jafarites, and they recognized the seventh imam as the eldest son of the sixth imam, Jafar al-Sadiq, Imam Ismail, who died before his father. Ismailis believe that it was the seventh Imam Ismail who went into hiding and that it was he who would become the Messiah in the future. The situation is similar with the Zaydis, who recognize only five righteous imams, the final of which is Zeid ibn Ali.
Main differences between Sunnis and Shiites
1. The principle of power and continuitySunnis believe that Muslims who have the right to be the ruler of the faithful and their spiritual guide have necessary level knowledge and unquestioned authority in the Muslim environment. In turn, from the point of view of the Shiites, only the direct descendants of Muhammad (s.g.w.) have such a right. In this regard, the legitimacy of the rise to power of the first three righteous caliphs - Abu Bakr (r.a.), Umar (r.a.) and Uthman (r.a.), recognized along with Ali (r.a.) is not recognized with them .), in the Sunni world. For Shiites, only the authority of immaculate imams, who, in their opinion, are sinless, is authoritative.
2. The special role of Imam Ali (r.a.)
Sunnis revere the Prophet Muhammad (s.g.w.) as the Messenger of the Almighty (s.g.w.), sent by the Lord as a mercy for the worlds. Shiites, along with Muhammad (s.g.w.), equally reverence Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (r.a.). When pronouncing the azan - the call to prayer - Shiites even pronounce his name, indicating that Ali is a ruler from the Almighty. In addition, some extreme Shiite movements even recognize this companion as an incarnation of a deity.
3. Approach to considering the Sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.)
Sunnis recognize the authenticity of those hadiths of the Prophet (s.a.w.) contained in 6 collections: Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Daud, Nasai, Ibn Majah. For Shiites, such an indisputable source is the hadiths from the so-called “Quadrateuch”. That is, those hadiths that were transmitted by representatives of the family of the Prophet (s.g.w.). For Sunnis, the criterion for the reliability of hadiths is the compliance of the chain of transmitters with the requirements of honesty and truthfulness.
Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites - the names of these and other religious groups of Islam can often be found in the news today, but for many these words mean nothing.
The widest movement in Islam.
What does the name mean?
In Arabic: Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamaa ("people of the Sunnah and the harmony of the community"). The first part of the name means following the path of the prophet (ahl al-sunnah), and the second part is recognition of the great mission of the prophet and his companions in solving problems by following their path.
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The Sunnah is the second fundamental book of Islam after the Koran. This is an oral tradition, later formalized in the form of hadiths, sayings of the prophet's companions about the sayings and actions of Muhammad.
Despite its initially oral nature, it is the main guide for Muslims.
When did it arise
After the death of Caliph Uthman in 656.
How many followers
About one and a half billion people. 90% of all professing Islam.
Main areas of residence
Ideas and customs
Sunnis are very sensitive to following the sunnah of the prophet. The Koran and Sunnah are the two main sources of faith, however, if life problem is not described in them, you should trust your wise choice.
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Six collections of hadiths (Ibn-Maji, an-Nasai, Imam Muslim, al-Bukhari, Abu Daud and at-Tirmidhi) are considered reliable.
The reign of the first four Islamic princes - caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali is considered righteous.
Islam also has developed madhhabs - legal schools and aqidas - “concepts of faith”. Sunnis recognize four madhhabs (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi and Shabali) and three concepts of faith (Maturidism, Ash'ari teachings and Asariyya).
What does the name mean?
Shiya - “adherents”, “followers”.
When did it arise
After the death of Caliph Uthman, revered by the Muslim community, in 656.
How many followers
According to various estimates, from 10 to 20 percent of all Muslims. The number of Shiites may number around 200 million.
Main areas of residence
Ideas and customs
The prophet's cousin and uncle, Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib, is recognized as the only righteous caliph. According to the Shiites, he is the only one who was born in the Kaaba, the main shrine of the Mohammedans in Mecca.
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Shiites are distinguished by the belief that the leadership of the ummah (Muslim community) should be carried out by the highest clerics chosen by Allah - imams, mediators between God and man.
The first twelve imams from the clan of Ali (who lived in 600 - 874 from Ali to Mahdi) are recognized as saints.
The latter is considered to have mysteriously disappeared (“hidden” by God); he must appear before the End of the World in the form of a messiah.
The main movement of Shiites are the Twelver Shiites, who are traditionally called Shiites. The school of law that corresponds to them is the Jafarite madhhab. There are a lot of Shiite sects and movements: these are Ismailis, Druze, Alawites, Zaydis, Sheikhites, Kaysanites, Yarsan.
Holy places
Imam Hussein and al-Abbas mosques in Karbala (Iraq), Imam Ali mosque in Najaf (Iraq), Imam Reza mosque in Mashhad (Iran), Ali-Askari mosque in Samarra (Iraq).
What does the name mean?
Sufism or tasawwuf comes in different versions from the word “suf” (wool) or “as-safa” (purity). Also, originally the expression “ahl al-suffa” (people of the bench) meant the poor companions of Muhammad who lived in his mosque. They were distinguished by their asceticism.
When did it arise
VIII century. It is divided into three periods: asceticism (zuhd), Sufism (tasawwuf), and the period of Sufi brotherhoods (tariqa).
How many followers
The number of modern followers is small, but they can be found in a wide variety of countries.
Main areas of residence
Ideas and customs
Muhammad, according to the Sufis, showed by his example the path of spiritual education of the individual and society - asceticism, contentment with little, contempt for earthly goods, wealth and power. The Ashabs (companions of Muhammad) and Ahl al-Suffa (people of the bench) also followed the right path. Asceticism was characteristic of many subsequent hadith collectors, reciters of the Koran and participants in jihad (Mujahideen).
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The main features of Sufism are a very strict adherence to the Koran and Sunnah, reflection on the meaning of the Koran, additional prayers and fasts, renunciation of all worldly things, the cult of poverty, and refusal to cooperate with the authorities. Sufi teachings have always focused on the individual, his intentions and awareness of truths.
Many Islamic scholars and philosophers were Sufis. Tariqats are real monastic orders Sufis, glorified in Islamic culture. Murids, students of Sufi sheikhs, were brought up in modest monasteries and cells scattered across the deserts. Dervishes are hermit monks. They could be found very often among Sufis.
Sunni school of belief, most adherents are Salafis.
What does the name mean?
Asar means “trace”, “tradition”, “quote”.
When did it arise
They reject kalam (Muslim philosophy) and adhere to a strict and straightforward reading of the Koran. In their opinion, people should not come up with a rational explanation for unclear places in the text, but accept them as they are. They believe that the Koran was not created by anyone, but is the direct speech of God. Anyone who denies this is not considered Muslim.
Salafis
They are the ones most often associated with Islamic fundamentalists.
What does the name mean?
As-salaf - “ancestors”, “predecessors”. As-salaf as-salihun - a call to follow the lifestyle of the righteous ancestors.
When did it arise
Developed in the 9th-14th centuries.
How many followers
According to American Islamic experts, the number of Salafis around the world could reach 50 million.
Main areas of residence
Belief in an unconditionally one God, non-acceptance of innovations and alien cultural admixtures in Islam. Salafis are the main critics of Sufis. It is considered a Sunni movement.
Famous representatives
Salafis consider Islamic theologians al-Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyya to be their teachers. The well-known organization “Muslim Brotherhood” is cautiously classified as Salafists.
Wahhabis
What does the name mean?
Wahhabism or al-Wahhabiya is understood in Islam as the rejection of innovations or everything that was not in original Islam, the cultivation of strong monotheism and the rejection of the worship of saints, the struggle for the purification of religion (jihad). Named after the Arab theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
When did it arise
In the 18th century.
How many followers
In some countries, the number can reach 5% of all Muslims, however, there are no exact statistics.
Main areas of residence
Not large groups in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and locally throughout the Islamic world. Origin region: Arabia.
They share Salafi ideas, which is why names are often used as synonyms. However, the name "Wahhabis" is often understood as derogatory.
Mu'tazilites
What does the name mean?
“Separated”, “withdrawn”. Self-name - ahl al-adl wa-tawhid (people of justice and monotheism).
When did it arise
VIII-IX centuries.
One of the first major trends in kalam (literally: “word”, “speech”, reasoning on the topic of religion and philosophy). Basic principles:
justice (al-adl): God gives free will, but cannot violate the established best, fair order;
monotheism (al-tawhid): denial of polytheism and human likeness, the eternity of all divine attributes, but the absence of the eternity of speech, from which the creation of the Koran follows;
fulfillment of promises: God certainly fulfills all promises and threats;
intermediate state: a Muslim who has committed a grave sin leaves the ranks of believers, but does not become an unbeliever;
command and approval: a Muslim must fight evil by all means.
Houthis (Zaydis, Jarudis)
What does the name mean?
The name "Jarudites" comes from the name of Abul-Jarud Hamdani, a student of al-Shafi'i. And the “Houthis” according to the leader of the group “Ansar Allah” (helpers or defenders of Allah) Hussein al-Houthi.
When did it arise
The teachings of the Zaydis - the 8th century, the Jarudis - the 9th century.
The Houthis are a movement of the late 20th century.
How many followers
Estimated around 7 million.
Main areas of residence
Ideas and customs
Zaydism (named after the theologian Zeid ibn Ali) is the original Islamic movement to which the Jarudis and Houthis belong. Zaydis believe that imams must be from the line of Ali, but they reject his divine nature. They reject the doctrine of the “hidden” imam, the “prudent concealment of faith,” the human likeness of God and absolute predestination. The Jarudites believe that Ali was chosen as caliph based on descriptive characteristics only. The Houthis are a modern Zaydi-Jarudi organization.
Kharijites
What does the name mean?
“Those who spoke”, “who left”.
When did it arise
After the battle between Ali and Muawiyah in 657.
How many followers
Small groups, no more than 2 million worldwide.
Main areas of residence
Ideas and customs
They share the basic views of the Sunnis, but they recognize only the first two righteous caliphs - Umar and Abu Bakr, they advocate the equality of all Muslims of the ummah (Arabs and other peoples), for the election of caliphs and their possession only of executive power.
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In Islam, there are major sins (polytheism, slander, murder of a believer, flight from the battlefield, weak faith, adultery, committing a minor sin in Mecca, homosexuality, false witness, living on interest, drinking alcohol, pork, carrion) and minor sins (not recommended and prohibited actions).
According to the Kharijites, for a major sin a Muslim is equated with an infidel.
One of the main “original” directions of Islam, along with Shiism and Sunnism.
What does the name mean?
Named after the theologian Abdullah ibn Ibad.
When did it arise
At the end of the 7th century.
How many followers
Less than 2 million worldwide.
Main areas of residence
Ideas and customs
According to Ibadis, any Muslim can be the imam of a community, citing a hadith about the prophet in which Muhammad argued that even if an “Ethiopian slave with his nostrils torn out” established the law of Islam in the community, he must be obeyed.
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Abu Bakr and Umar are considered righteous caliphs. The imam must be the full-fledged head of the community: a judge, a military leader, and an expert on the Koran. Unlike Sunnis, they believe that hell lasts forever, the Koran was created by people, and God cannot be seen even in Paradise or imagined to be similar to a person.
Azraqites and Najdis
It is believed that Wahhabis are the most radical movement of Islam, but in the past there were much more intolerant movements.
What does the name mean?
The name Azrakites is named after the spiritual leader - Abu Rashid Nafi ibn al-Azrak, Najdites - after the name of the founder Najda ibn Amir al-Hanafi.
When did it arise
Ideas and customs of the Azarkites
A radical offshoot of Kharijism. They rejected the Shiite principle of “prudent concealment of one’s faith” (for example, under pain of death and other extreme cases). Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib (revered by many Muslims), Uthman ibn Affan and their followers were considered unbelievers. The Azraqites considered uncontrolled territories to be a “land of war” (dar al-harb), and the population living on it was subject to destruction. The Azrakites tested those who moved to them by offering to kill the slave. Those who refused were killed themselves.
Najdite ideas and customs
The existence of a caliph in religion is not necessary; a community can have self-government. Killing Christians, Muslims and other non-Christians is permitted. In Sunni territories you can hide your beliefs. He who commits a sin does not become an infidel. Only those who persist in their sin and commit it repeatedly can become infidels. One of the sects, which later broke away from the Najdites, even allowed marriages with granddaughters.
Ismailis
What does the name mean?
Named after the son of the sixth Shiite imam Jafar al-Sadiq - Ismail.
When did it arise
End of the 8th century.
How many followers
About 20 million
Main areas of residence
Ismailism contains some features of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and minor ancient cults. Adherents believe that Allah infused his divine spirit into the prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Each prophet is accompanied by a “samit” (silent one), who only interprets the words of the prophet. With each appearance of such a prophet, Allah reveals to people the secrets of the universal mind and divine truth.
Man has complete free will. 7 prophets should come into the world, and between their appearances the community should be governed by 7 imams. The return of the last prophet - Muhammad, son of Ismail, will be last incarnation God, after whom divine reason and justice will reign.
Famous Ismailis
Nasir Khosrow, 11th century Tajik philosopher;
Ferdowsi, the great Persian poet of the 10th century, author of the Shahnameh;
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Rudaki, Tajik poet, 9th-10th century;
Yaqub ibn Killis, Jewish scholar, founder of Cairo Al-Azhar University (10th century);
Nasir ad-Din Tusi, 13th-century Persian mathematician, mechanic and astronomer.
It was the Nizari Ismailis who used individual terror against the Turks who were called assassins.
What does the name mean?
Named after one of the founders of the movement, Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail ad-Darazi, an Ismaili preacher who used the most radical methods of preaching. However, the Druze themselves use the self-name “muvakhhidun” (“united” or “monotheists”). Moreover, they often have a negative attitude towards al-Darazi and consider the name “Druze” offensive.
When did it arise
How many followers
More than 3 million people. The origin of the Druze is controversial: some consider them to be descendants of the oldest Arab tribe, others consider them to be a mixed Arab-Persian (according to other versions, Arab-Kurdish or Arab-Aramaic) population who arrived in these lands many centuries ago.
Main areas of residence
The Druze are considered an offshoot of the Ismailis. A person is considered a Druze by birth and cannot convert to another religion. They accept the principle of “prudent concealment of faith,” while deception of people of other faiths for the sake of the interests of the community is not condemned. The highest clerics are called “ajavid” (perfect). In conversations with Muslims, they usually position themselves as Muslims, however, in Israel they more often define the doctrine as an independent religion. They believe in the transmigration of souls.
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The Druze do not have polygamy, prayer is not obligatory and can be replaced by meditation, there is no fasting, but is replaced by periods of silence (refraining from revealing the truth to the uninitiated). Zakat (charity for the benefit of the poor) is not provided, but is perceived as mutual assistance. Among the holidays, Eid al-Adha (Eid al-Adha) and the day of mourning Ashura are celebrated. As in the rest of the Arab world, in the presence of a stranger, a woman must hide her face. Everything that comes from God (both good and evil) must be accepted unconditionally.
A school of religious philosophy on which the Shafi'i and Maliki legal schools rely.
What does the name mean?
Named after the 9th-10th century philosopher Abul-Hasan al-Ashari
When did it arise
They are located between the Mu'tazilites and supporters of the Asari school, as well as between the Qadarites (supporters of free will) and the Jabarites (supporters of predestination).
The Quran was created by people, but its meaning is the creation of Allah. Man only appropriates the actions created by God. The righteous can see Allah in Paradise, but this cannot be explained. Reason takes precedence over religious tradition, and Sharia only regulates everyday issues, but still any reasonable evidence is based on the basic tenets of faith.
Alawites (Nusayris) and Alevis (Kizilbash)
What does the name mean?
The movement received the name “Alawites” after the name of the prophet Ali, and “Nusairites” after one of the founders of the sect, Muhammad ibn Nusayr, a student of the eleventh imam of the Shiites.
When did it arise
How many followers
About 5 million Alawites, several million Alevis (no exact estimates).
Main areas of residence
Alawite ideas and customs
Like the Druze, they practice taqiya (hiding religious views, mimicry of the rituals of another religion), and consider their religion to be secret knowledge accessible to a select few.
Alawites are also similar to Druze in that they have gone as far as possible from other directions of Islam. They pray only twice a day, are allowed to drink wine for ritual purposes and fast for only two weeks.
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It is very difficult to draw a picture of the Alawite religion for the reasons stated above. It is known that they deify the family of Muhammad, consider Ali to be the embodiment of the Divine Meaning, Muhammad the Name of God, Salman al-Farisi the Gateway to God (a gnostically meaningful idea of the “Eternal Trinity”). It is considered impossible to know God, but he was revealed by the incarnation of Ali in the seven prophets (from Adam, including Isa (Jesus) to Muhammad).
According to Christian missionaries, Alawites venerate Jesus, the Christian apostles and saints, celebrate Christmas and Easter, read the Gospel at services, take communion with wine, and use Christian names.
November 24, 2017 Views: 623GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Shiites (from the Arabic "shi'a" - "adherents, party, faction") are the second largest branch of Islam in terms of the number of adherents, although compared to Sunnis they constitute a clear minority. Like all Muslims, Shiites believe in the messenger mission of the Prophet Muhammad. Distinctive feature Shiites are convinced that the leadership of the Muslim community should belong to the Imams - God-appointed elected officials from among the descendants of the Prophet, to whom they include 'Ali ibn Abi-Talib and his descendants from Muhammad's daughter Fatima, and not elected officials - caliphs. Shiites are critical of the caliphate of the first three caliphs Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, because Abu Bakr was elected by a small number of companions, 'Umar was appointed by Abu Bakr. ‘Uthman was elected from seven candidates appointed by ‘Umar under such conditions that the election of anyone other than ‘Uthman was not possible. According to Shiites, the election of the leader - the Imam - of the Muslim community is similar to the election of prophets and is the prerogative of God. Currently, followers of various Shiite communities exist in almost all Muslim, European and American countries. The Shia faith is adhered to by the overwhelming majority of the population of Iran and Azerbaijan, about two-thirds of the population of Bahrain, a third of the population of Iraq, a significant part of the population of Lebanon and Yemen, in Afghanistan - the Farsi in the west of the country and the Hazaras. The majority of the inhabitants of the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan - the Pamir peoples - belong to the Ismaili branch of Shiism.
The number of Shiites in Russia is insignificant. The Tats living in the Dagestan Republic, the Lezgins of the village of Miskindzha, as well as the Azerbaijani communities of Derbent, who speak the local dialect, belong to this direction of Islam. Azerbaijani language. In addition, the majority of Azerbaijanis living in Russia are Shiites (in Azerbaijan itself, Shiites make up, according to various estimates, up to 65 percent of the population). Shiism is dominated by Twelver Shiites or Imamis. Currently, relations between the Twelvers (as well as the Zaydis) and other Shia movements sometimes take on tense forms. Despite the similarities in doctrine, in fact these are different communities. Shiites are traditionally divided into two large groups: moderate (Twelver Shiites, Zaydis) and extreme (Ismailis, Alawites, Nusayris, etc.). At the same time, since the 70s of the 20th century, a reverse gradual process of rapprochement between moderate Shiites and Alawites and Ismailis began. Shi'ism, one of the two main branches of Islam, is recognized as a rather formal clerical hierarchy, in contrast to Sunni Islam, which emphasizes the authority of certain textual traditions and schools of thought. Many different Shia groups can be found in Europe, including the Khoei community (Sayyid Abu-al-Qasim al-Khoei Organization or al-Khoei Foundation) from South Asia (came through Africa), the Yemeni Ismailis, and the Indian Bohras. But the majority of Shiites belong to the dominant branch of the Twelvers (Isna'ashariyya), which is located in Iran, Lebanon, the Arab Gulf countries and Pakistan.
Unique to Shiism is the position of the marja' al-taqlid (“source of imitation”), a figure regarded by Shiites as a living example of the embodiment of the principles of Islam. One of the most famous and widely revered marjahs of recent times is Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, the Grand Ayatollah of the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, who died in 1992. He founded the al-Khoei Foundation, which serves the interests of the growing Shia diaspora living across the border. outside the Middle East. Based in London with an office in New York, the foundation covers a wide range of activities, including running schools and Shia mosques in Europe, especially the UK, translating Islamic texts into English, providing guidance on Islamic practices in the West, and providing cleric services to prisoners -Shias, assistance to fellow community members in matters of marriage, divorce and funerals. Politically, this foundation is opposed to the theocratic rule of Iran and acts in some sense as a counterweight to the Tehran regime's attempts to influence Shiites in Europe. After the death of al-Khoei, the foundation as a whole was under the leadership of another influential marja' - the Supreme Ayatollah 'Ali Sistani, who lives in Iran. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States and the London bombings, the foundation also worked in the field of propaganda and dialogue to improve the image of Islam in the West. The Foundation has also advised several parts of the British government, including the Foreign Office and the Department of Commons and Local government on Shiism issues. The Trust's management has also worked closely with the National Advisory Council on Mosques and Imams, a recently created British Government advisory body aimed at promoting good administrative practice in the country's mosques and preventing them from being used as centers of Islamic extremism. Shiites actively preach their version of Islam in modern world and are the initiators of the project to bring Islamic madhhabs closer together.
MODERATE SHIITES
Moderate Shiites include Twelver Shiites and Zaydis. Twelver Shiites (Imamits). They are the predominant direction within Shiite Islam, predominantly widespread in Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq and Lebanon, and are also represented in other countries. The twelve Imams of the Prophet's family who are recognized by the Shiites are listed below. ‘Ali ibn Abi-Talib (d. 661), also called “Murtada” by the Shiites, the fourth righteous caliph, cousin of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He was killed in Kufa by the Kharijite ‘Abdurrahman ibn Muljim.
1) Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi-Talib, or Abu Muhammad, called “Mujtaba” (d. 669).
2) Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi-Talib, or Abu-‘Abdallah, called “Shahid”, which he actually is (d. 680).
3) ‘Ali ibn Husayn ibn Abi-Talib, or Abu Muhammad, called “Sajjad” or “Zayn al-‘Abidin” (d. 713).
4) Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Husayn, or Abu Ja'far, called "Bakir" (d. 733).
5) Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali or Abu-'Abdallah, called "As-Sadiq" (d. 765) (he is also the founder of the Jafarite school of Islamic law - the Jafari madhab).
6) Musa ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq or Abu Ibrahim, called "Kazim" (d. 799).
7) 'Ali ibn Musa ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq or Abu Hasan (also Imam Reza), called "Rida" (d. 818).
8) Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Musa or Abu Ja'far, called "Taqi" or "Jawad" (d. 835).
9) ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali or Abu Hasan, called “Naqi” or “Hadi” (d. 865).
10) Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad or Abu Muhammad, called “Zaki” or “‘Askari” (d. 873). 11) Muhammad ibn Hasan al-‘Askari or Abu Qasim, called “Mahdi” or “Hujjatul-Qaim Al-Muntazir”.
According to the Shiites, he was born in 256 AH, and in 260 he was first ascended to heaven, after which, already in 329, he entered an underground passage in his father’s house and has not yet appeared. The Mahdi in Islam is the Messiah who went into hiding at the age of five. This cover-up, according to the Imami Shiites, continues to this day. But before the Day of Judgment he will return and fill the world with justice. The Imamis ask for the speedy coming of the Mahdi. Sunnis also believe in the coming of the Mahdi, but do not consider him the 12th Imam, and expect him from among the descendants of the Prophet's family. The Shia creed is based on the following five main pillars (usul al-din). 1) Belief in One God (Tawhid). 2) Faith in the Justice of God (‘Adl) 3) Faith in Prophets and Prophecies (Nubuvwat). 4) Faith in the Imamate (belief in the spiritual and political leadership of the 12 imams). 5) The afterlife (Ma'ad). Moderate Imami theologians argue that the first, third and fifth pillars are common to all Muslims. The second and especially the fourth pillar are signs of the Shiite madhhab. Most Shiites follow the madhhab of Imam Ja'far in fiqh. The Ja'farite madhhab is one of the madhhabs in Islam, the founder of which is the sixth Imam of the Twelver Shiites and Ismailis, Ja'far al-Sadiq ibn Muhammad al-Baqir. Their sources of law are Holy Quran and Akhbar, ijma‘ and ‘aql (mind). Akhbar is the same as the Sunnah, but Shiites use other texts - this is a collection of hadiths from al-Kulayni, also Bihar al-Anwar, Nahj al-Balyaga, etc. The madhhab has several basic principles that distinguish it from all other madhhabs. This is the open gate of ijtihad and permitted temporary marriage. Very trained ‘ulama, who are called “maraji’” (plural from the singular “marja’”), can use the gates of ijtihad and issue fatwas. The madhhab is divided into two groups - Usuli (usuliyya) and Akhbari (akhbariyya). The Usuls follow the Maraji' in ijtihad, while the Akhbaris proceed to ijtihad in a more limited manner and the Maraji' do not. The Akhbars are mainly inhabitants of extreme southern Iraq and Bahrain, and the rest are Twelver Shiites in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. are usuli. The Usulites are much more moderate than the Akhbarites, who practice a literalist approach. The madhhab is recognized as one of the legitimate (canonical) legal interpretations of Islam by other madhhabs. This was once again confirmed by a fatwa on July 6, 1959 by scholar Mahmoud Shaltut, President of the Al-Azhar Islamic Academy in Egypt. Zaydis (zaydiyya/zaydiyya). The founder of the sect was the grandson of Imam Husayn, Zayd ibn ‘Ali. The Zaydis spread widely in Iran, Iraq and the Hijaz, forming Zaydi states: Idrisids in North Africa in 789 (lasted until 926), in Tabaristan in 863 (lasted until 928), Yemen in 901. A branch of the Zaydis - the Nuktavits - are widespread in Iran. The Zaydis established power in part of Yemen, where their imams ruled until the revolution on September 26, 1962. They make up a significant part of the Yemeni population. In theology, the Zaydis follow the Mu'tazilites. Zaydis, in contrast to other Shiites, do not recognize the doctrine of a “hidden” imam, the “prudent concealment” of one’s faith (taqiyya), and reject anthropomorphism and the doctrine of unconditional predestination. Their number at the end of the 20th century. - 7 million people. The current leader of the Zaydis is Sheikh Husayn al-Houthi. The separation of Zaydism from the general mainstream of the Shiite movement occurred in the 30s of the 8th century, when some of the Shiites supported the desire of Zayd - the son of 'Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad - to prove with the sword his right to the Imamate. In matters of dogma, the Zaydis took a position most loyal to Sunni Islam. Thus, recognizing that the imam (head of the community) must be from the clan of ‘Ali, they denied the divine nature of the imamate and believed that any Alid who openly came out with arms in his hands could be an imam. They also allowed for the simultaneous existence of several imams in different Muslim countries. They also, in order to suppress the unrest, allowed the rule of the caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Umar, although they believed that 'Ali was a more worthy contender.
The Zaydis have their own special madhhab of fiqh. Zaydis are widespread in southern Yemen, where they have long coexisted with Sunnis, mainly representatives of the Shafi'i madhhab. The Yemeni theologian and imam al-Shaukani, the author of important works on theology, was a Zaydi by origin.
EXTREME SHIITES
Extreme Shiites include: Ismailis, Alawites and Kaysanites.
Ismailis are adherents of the Shiite Muslim sect that arose in the Caliphate in the middle of the 8th century and was named after the eldest son of the Shiite imam Ja'far al-Sadiq - Ismail.
In the 9th century, the Ismailis split into the Fatimid Ismailis, who recognized hidden imams, and the Qarmatians, who believed that there should be seven imams. In the 11th century, the Fatimid Ismailis were divided into Nizaris and Musta'lites, and already at the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries, the Qarmatians ceased to exist. The most famous of the Nizari sects were the Hashshashins, better known as the Assassins. In the 18th century, the Shah of Persia officially recognized Ismailism as a movement of Shiism.
Ismailism(Arabic: “al-Ismā‘īliyya”, Persian: “Esmâ‘īliyân”) - a set of religious movements in the Shiite branch of Islam dating back to the end of the 8th century. Each movement has its own hierarchy of imams. The title of the imam of the Nizari, the largest and most famous Ismaili community - Aga Khan - is inherited. Currently, the imam of this branch of the Ismailis is Aga Khan IV. There are now more than 15 million Ismailis of all directions. The emergence of the Ismailis is associated with a split in the Shiite movement that occurred in 765. In 760, Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shia imam, deprived his eldest son Ismail of the right to legitimate succession to the imamate. A number of experts believe that the real reason, according to which the right to inherit the Imamate was transferred to the youngest son, was that Ismail took an extremely aggressive position towards the Sunni caliphs, which could upset the existing balance between the two directions of Islam, beneficial to both Shiites and Sunnis. In addition, the anti-feudal movement began to rally around Ismail, which unfolded against the backdrop of a sharp deterioration in the situation of ordinary Shiites. The lower and middle strata of the population associated hopes for significant changes in social political life Shia communities. The number of Ismail's followers increased, which caused alarm among both the Shiite feudal nobility and Ja'far al-Sadiq himself. Soon Ismail died. There was reason to believe that Ismail’s death was the result of a conspiracy organized against him by the ruling circles of the Shiites. Ja'far al-Sadiq widely publicized the fact of his son's death and allegedly even ordered that Ismail's corpse be put on display in one of the mosques. However, the death of Ismail did not stop the unfolding movement of his followers. Initially, they claimed that Ismail was not killed, but was hiding from enemies, and after a certain period they declared Isma'il the seventh “hidden imam”, who at the right moment would appear as the Messiah-Mahdi and, in fact, after him one should not expect the appearance new imams. The Ismailis, as the adherents of the new teaching began to be called, argued that Ismail, by the will of Allah, passed into an invisible state, hidden from mere mortals, of “gaib” (“gaib”) - “absence.” Some adherents of Ismail believed that Ismail actually died, so his son Muhammad should be declared the seventh imam. It is noteworthy that over time, the majority of the Ismailis began to believe in the seventh imam Muhammad, the son of Ismail. For this reason, the sect began to bear the name “Septenary”. Over time, the Ismaili movement strengthened and grew so much that it began to show signs of an independent religious movement. The Ismailis deployed a well-covered, extensive network of preachers of the new teaching in the territories of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Persia, North Africa and Central Asia. At this initial stage of development, the Ismaili movement met all the requirements of a powerful medieval organization, which had a clear hierarchical model of internal structure, its own very complex philosophical and theological dogma with elements reminiscent of the Gnostic teachings of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and small cults common in the territories of medieval Islam. -Christian world. Gradually the Ismailis gained strength and influence. In the 10th century, they founded the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa. It was during the Fatimid period that Ismaili influence spread to the lands of North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Yemen and the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina. However, in the rest of the Islamic world, including the orthodox Shiites, the Ismailis were considered extreme sectarians and were often brutally persecuted. At the end of the 11th century, the Ismailis were divided into Nizari, who believed that the “hidden imam” was the eldest son of Caliph al-Mustansir Nizar, and Musta'lits who recognized Musta'li, the youngest son of the caliph. The Ismaili organization changed several times during its development. At its most famous stage, it had nine degrees of initiation, each of which gave the initiate specific access to information and its understanding. The transition to the next degree of initiation was accompanied by mystical rituals. Advancement up the Ismaili hierarchical ladder was primarily related to the degree of initiation. With the next period of initiation, new “truths” were revealed to the Ismaili, which with each step were more and more distant from the original dogmas of the Koran. In particular, at the 5th stage it was explained to the initiate that the text of the Koran should be understood not in a literal, but in an allegorical sense. The next stage of initiation revealed the ritual essence of the Islamic religion, which also boiled down to a rather allegorical understanding of rituals. At the last degree of initiation, all Islamic dogmas were actually rejected, even the doctrine of the divine advent, etc. was touched upon. Good organization and strict hierarchical discipline allowed the leaders of the Ismaili sect to manage a huge organization at that time. One of the philosophical and theological dogmas that the Ismailis adhered to stated that Allah from time to time infused his divine essence into the flesh of the “natyq” prophets he sent down (lit. “preacher” or “utterer”): Adam, Abraham, Noah , Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. The Ismailis claimed that Allah sent down to our world the seventh natyk prophet - Muhammad, the son of Ismail. Each of the sent down natyq prophets was always accompanied by the so-called “samit” (lit. “silent man”). Samit never speaks on his own, his essence boils down to the interpretation of the sermon of the natyk prophet. Under Moses it was Aaron, under Jesus it was Peter, under Muhammad it was ‘Ali ibn Abi-Talib. With each appearance of the natyk prophet, Allah reveals to people the secrets of the universal mind and divine truth. According to the teachings of the Ismailis, seven natyq prophets should come into the world. Between their appearances, the world is ruled successively by seven imams, through whom Allah explains the teachings of the prophets. The return of the last, seventh prophet-natyk - Muhammad, son of Ismail, will reveal the last divine incarnation, after which divine reason should reign in the world, bringing universal justice and prosperity to devout Muslims. The religious doctrine of the Ismailis, apparently, is characterized by the concept of unlimited free will, the rejection of determinism and the recognition of the independent existence of the attributes of God, characteristic of the dominant trends in Islam.
List of famous Ismailis:
‘Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah, Nasir Khosrow, Firdousi, ‘Ubaydullah, Hassan ibn Sabbah, al-Hakim bi-Amrillah, Rudaki. Alawites (‘Alawiyya, Alawites) got their name from the name of Imam ‘Ali. They are also called Nusayris - after Ibn Nusayra, considered the founder of the sect. Distributed in Turkey and Syria. They were the main population of the Alawite State. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad1 is of Alawite origin. Turkish Alawites are different from Syrian Arabs (Nusayris). 1. However, Bashar al-Assad, like his father, are Sunnis, at least outwardly. My father officially abandoned Shiism, not just Nusayism, in favor of Sunniism. The late Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Buty read the funeral prayer for Hafiz Assad. Sunnis do not recite the jinazah prayer to the Alawites. Bashar prays in Sunni mosques according to Sunni rites. External signs are sufficient for Muslims to consider him a Sunni. The knowledge that he is a true Sunni or not belongs to Allah. Muslims make judgments based on external signs.
A Lavites are extreme Shiites (gulyat ashshi'a), like the Ismailis. Sunnis do not recognize them as Muslims due to serious deviations in the field of ‘aqida. The main claim is the deification of ‘Ali. There is an opinion that the Syrian Alawites at their 1938 congress abandoned their extreme views in favor of moderate Shiism, the teachings of the Ja'farite Imami.
Kaysanites- a vanished branch of the extreme Shiites. Formed at the end of the 7th century. They proclaimed ‘Ali’s son, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyi, as the imam, but since he was not the son of the Prophet’s daughter, most Shiites rejected this choice. According to one version, they got their name from the nickname of al-Mukhtar ibn Abi-‘Ubaid al-Sakafi - Kaysan, who led the uprising in Kufa under the slogan of defending the rights of Ibn al-Hanafiyya and avenging the blood of Imam Husayn. According to another version - on behalf of the head of the guard al-Mukhtar Abu-'Amr Kaisan. The Kaysanites split into a number of sects: Mukhtarites, Hashemites, Bayanites and Rizamites. The Kaysanite communities ceased to exist in the middle of the 9th century.
Sunni criticism of Shiism
There are several provisions that, according to Sunni theologians, demonstrate the falsity and inconsistency of Shiite beliefs regarding the companions (may Allah be pleased with all of them). As Sheikh Sa'id Fuda, a Jordanian specialist in the field of Sunni kalam, says, the following most important provisions on this issue can be identified. The Shiites themselves cite messages in their books telling that the Sunni authority Caliph ‘Umar ibn Khattab was married to the daughter of Imam ‘Ali, who was not the daughter of his wife Fatima, may Allah Almighty be pleased with both of them. This clearly indicates that Imam ‘Ali, contrary to what the Shiites say, did not tolerate takfir for ‘Umar or Abu Bakr, but, on the contrary, helped them and was their faithful brother. Only a fool can claim that Imam ‘Ali was afraid or was forced to do so, because the courage of Imam ‘Ali is recorded and confirmed by the mutawatir hadiths, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt. How can one say that ‘Ali was afraid of the power and authority of ‘Umar if there is no evidence that he was afraid of anything at all?! If we assume that he was silent and did not express his opinion openly due to some circumstances unknown to us, then why are the Shiites themselves not silent about this? If you believe that imams are sinless and never make mistakes, then how can you explain the fact that Imam Hasan renounced the right to khilaf (caliphate) in favor of Mu'awiyah ibn Abi-Sufyan? One of the greatest Shiite scholars of his time, al-Majlisi, tried to comment on this in his book “Bihar al-Anwar”. Over the course of several volumes, he finds fault with everything and scolds in a way that a reasonable person should not. He is not able to convince even himself that all the actions of Imam Hassan in that situation were correct, let alone convince others! Can it be said that Imam Hassan was wrong? If you give an affirmative answer, then this means that your madhhab (according to which all imams are sinless and never make mistakes) is erroneous. If you claim that Hassan was right, you will again be wrong. But we can say that Hassan is a great companion from the descendants of the noble Messenger, however, despite this, he is a man and, like any person, he could make a mistake and could be right, without being sinless (ma'sum) and without having knowledge of the sacred. You can also say that he did all this for purely political reasons, but then you have to admit that this misleads subsequent generations of Muslims and hides the truth, while the ma'sum is obliged to reveal it, and not to hide it. Allah Almighty said: “Obey what you are commanded and distance yourself from the ignorant. Verily, We have delivered you from the mockers.”
And Allah Almighty said: “Allah protects you from people.” It is not appropriate here to talk in detail about what happened between the companions in that fitna (trouble), however, it should be noted that, according to the 'aqida of Ahl-s-sunnah wal jama'a, Imam 'Ali, karramallahu wajhahu, was right, and Mu 'Awiya ibn Abi-Sufyan was mistaken. Then the sheikhs of Ahl-s-Sunna disagreed regarding Mu'awiya. There are many commentaries and expositions that can be consulted. The opinion of the Shiites regarding the Noble Qur'an clearly shows us that they, the Shiites, have clearly deviated from the path of truth and are deeply mistaken from the point of view of the Sunnis. The vast majority of their scholars (jumhur) believe that the Holy Quran is distorted, since some surahs and verses have been removed (rather than added). Only some (few) Shiites deny that the Koran was distorted both by deleting and by adding surahs and verses. These words refer specifically to the opinion of the overwhelming majority (jumhur), for example, al-Kulaini, al-Majlisi (the author of the book “Bihar al-Anwar”, consisting of more than a hundred volumes), Ni’matullah al-Jazairi and other Shiite scholars who openly declare that the mandatory provisions of their madhhab include the belief that the Koran was distorted by removing suras and verses. Some of them even pointed out examples of distortion, as did al-Bihrani, citing examples of distortion of the Holy Qur'an in his tafsir Al-Burhan. I repeat once again that my words now apply only to these people. There is no doubt that, because of their statements about the distortion of the Quran, they left the Islamic religion (millat al-Islam), one of the greatest signs of which is the Holy Quran, which Allah Almighty Himself protects from distortion. This is stated in the following words of the Almighty: “Verily, We have sent down a reminder, and We are its guardians.” The Almighty also said: “A lie will not approach it (the Quran) either from the front or from the back. He is sent down from the Wise, the Glorious." Thus, anyone who believes that the Koran has been distorted by removing or adding surahs and verses is a kaafir, according to the unanimous opinion of all Muslim groups and movements, except for the Shiites, who never cease to defend their imams who speak of the distortion of the Book. Some Shiites now declare that they personally do not believe that the Qur'an has been distorted, that there is supposedly disagreement on this issue and that the most correct thing is to deny the distortion (tahrif). However, such an excuse, according to Sa'id Fuda, is even more vile than the sin itself, since there is no disagreement among Muslims on this issue and one cannot assume it. It is necessary to reject the ideas of those who discredit Islam with such statements. It cannot be said that the Shiites did not say this. Those Shiites whose names were mentioned above openly declared that the Holy Quran had been corrupted. Their books have been published and are quite well known. At one time, Musa Bigiev also pointed out this in his work “al-Washi’a fi naqd ‘akaid ashshi’a” (“The Promotion Shuttle in the Criticism of Shiite Dogmas”), having studied well-known Shiite sources.
On the other side Sa'id Fuda draws the attention of Muslims to the following: “It is known that some adherents of the true ‘aqida of Ahlu-s-Sunnah are trying to refute the Shiites, attributing to them words that they did not say. They accuse them of beliefs for which the Shiites themselves endure takfir. We are talking, for example, about the opinion that the angel Jibril, alayhi al-salaam, made a mistake in transmitting the Revelation, about the opinion that Imam 'Ali is on the clouds and that the peals of thunder are his voice, and about other opinions expressed by isma 'Ilits, Druze, an-Nusayriyya, who, according to Muslim ijma, are kafirs. It is wrong to attribute to the Shiites something that is not in their books. We should refute only those opinions of the Shiites that they express, so as not to fall into lies and slander.” The above opinion is expressed by many representatives of Sunni Islam. However, in Lately Shia scholars emerged, rejecting some of the Sunni accusations (especially regarding the Koran), linking them with Akhbarites and weak traditions within Shia sources. The Shiites themselves, the Imamis, thus have different points of view, and among them there are moderates who go to resolve conflicts between the two groups, prohibiting scolding the companions of the Prophet and his wives. Just as there are extreme Imamites, who even call themselves Rafidis, who declare openly on satellite channels about the unbelief of the first three caliphs, the two wives of the Prophet ‘Aisha and Hafsa and other companions.
The main Shia shrines are located in Iraq's Karbala. Photo by Larry Jones
In the one and a half billion world of Islam, over 85% of Muslims are Sunnis, while Shiites are about 130 million. The bulk of them live in Iran (more than 75 million, over 80% of the total population, while Sunnis in Iran are 18%), Iraq (more than 20 million) , Azerbaijan (about 10 million). In these three countries, Shiites dominate numerically, culturally and politically.
In a number of Arab countries (Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.) there are numerous Shiite minorities. Shiites inhabit the central, mountainous part of Afghanistan (Hazaras and others - about 4 million) and some areas of Pakistan. There are Shiite communities in India, although there are many more Sunnis here. In the south of India, “black Shiites” live among Hindus.
In the Pamir Mountains (in the Tajik and Afghan parts of the historical region of Badakhshan, in the Sarykol region in the far west of China), several small nations profess Ismailism-Nizarism, a type of Shiism. There are quite a few Nizari Ismailis in Yemen (here, as well as in India, there is another type of Ismailism - Mustalism). The center of Ismaili-Nizarism is located in Mumbai, India, in the Red Palace of their spiritual leader Aga Khan.
Another variety of Ismailism is common in Syria. The most important ethno-confessional group of Shiites in Syria are the Alawites, the peasantry of the mountainous northwestern region. The Shiites also include the Druze, a very distinctive ethno-confessional group inhabiting the Shuf region in Mount Lebanon, the Hauran highlands on the border of Syria and Israel, the mountainous region of Jebel Druz in southeastern Syria and groups of villages along the routes connecting these three regions.
In Turkey, in addition to the majority of Sunni Turks and Sunni Kurds, there are Shiite Turks (a very unique ethnographic community) and Shiite Kurds (some tribes), as well as Alawite Arabs.
In Russia, almost all Shiites are Azerbaijanis and Tats; Of these, only the residents of Derbent in the south of Dagestan and some surrounding villages (including one large Lezgin aul) are the indigenous population.
In the Arab Mashreq (in the East), apart from Iraq, Shiites form a majority only in the small island state of Bahrain, but Sunnis are in power here. In North Yemen, Zaydi Shiites are much more numerous than Sunnis.
Are Shiites the oppressed?
The culture of the Shia part of the ummah is in many ways different from the Sunni one. Its central elements are the especially strict mourning of Ashura on the day of remembrance of Imam Hussein, who died a martyr in 680, a number of other holidays (birthdays and deaths of the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, imams - spiritual leaders and descendants of Caliph Ali), pilgrimages in a row holy cities, a curse on the widow of the prophet Aisha and the caliphs who ruled after Ali.
Shiites (except for the clergy) must observe the rule of taqiyya - hiding, if necessary, their faith among people of other faiths, especially Sunnis. Only the Zaydis, a Shia sect in Yemen (including the Houthis), do not recognize taqiyya.
Everywhere except Iran and Azerbaijan, Shiites have been poorer and more humiliated than their Sunni neighbors for centuries. The only exception is the urban Nizari Ismailis - subjects of the Aga Khan, one of richest people in the world. But the Nizari Ismailis of villages and small towns in Syria, Oman, the Pamir mountains, as well as the Mustalit Ismailis of Yemen, Gujarat and Mumbai (in India, where they live next to the rich Nizari Ismailis) are poor.
In Iraq, the Shiites were poorer than the Sunnis; in Lebanon, the Shiite peasants of the Bekaa Valley were the poorest and most numerous in the country in the middle of the 20th century; in Syria, the Alawites were very poor mountaineer peasants until the second half of the 20th century; in Yemen, the Zaidi mountaineers were much poorer Sunnis, in Afghanistan the Shia Hazaras (Mongols who had lost their language) were poorer than all their neighbors, and in the south of India the “black Shiites” were poorer than all the Muslims in the region.
In recent decades, in various countries (Iraq, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, etc.), Shiites are seeking – including with arms in their hands – power and wealth, which they enjoy (or enjoyed in the recent past ) Sunnis (and in Lebanon – Christians).
In all the countries mentioned above, except Iran (where the Shiites are a single multi-ethnic group) and Azerbaijan, the Shiites constitute ethno-confessional groups with the same clear cultural and political self-identification as in Europe - national identification. This phenomenon is historical, rooted in ancient times and consolidated in the mass consciousness by the orders of the Ottoman and other Muslim empires.
The main cult centers of Shiism are located in the Arab world - in addition to Mecca and Medina, common to all Muslims - in Iraq; The main ritual language of Shiites, like all Muslims, is Arabic, not Farsi. But for the Iranian and non-Iranian peoples of the vast region within the Islamic civilization, including Iran, Kurdistan, Tajikistan, part of Uzbekistan (with the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, etc.), Afghanistan, part of Pakistan (west of the Indus Valley), Farsi is the language of the highly developed Persian culture.
The Shiite Arabs who inhabit the Khuzistan region of Iran and some others are more strongly influenced by Persian culture than other Arabs. All this facilitates the spread of many of its elements, including those related to the sphere of cult, among fellow Shiites in Arab countries. Moreover, this process affects not only the Imamis, but also the Ismailis, Alawites, Zaydis, Shia Kurds to the west of the borders of Iran. In recent years, among the Zaidi Houthis of Yemen, as eyewitnesses say, a pan-Shiite (as in Iraq and Iran) version of Ashura mourning, previously unknown here, has been spreading.
Perhaps this is one of the signs of cultural and political integration of various Shiite communities in Arab countries?
Knots of contradictions
In Iraq, the confrontation between the Sunnis of the North and the more numerous Shiites of the South is the main dominant feature of political life. The situation is similar in Bahrain. The indigenous Baharina Arabs, the Imamites (the main branch of Shiism), make up the majority. Arab Sunni minorities, descendants of settlers from the mainland, from Saudi Arabia: Wahhabis are the ruling minority and Sunnis of the Shafi'i and Maliki madhhabs are the other two minorities, with all Sunni Arabs belonging to certain tribes.
In Kuwait, the indigenous Arab Shiite minority, once unprivileged, now, like the Sunni majority, enjoys many advantages over the numerous foreigners. In Syria there are four Shia ethno-confessional groups of Arabs (ruling Alawites, Imami Mutawali, Ismaili Nizari and Druze), two each in Lebanon (Mutawali and Druze), Yemen (Zaydis and Ismaili Mustalis), Saudi Arabia (Imamits and Zaydis, and also foreigners).
In Lebanon, the ratio of the size and influence of ethno-confessional groups changed significantly after it was enshrined in the constitutional acts of first the autonomy in the 1930s and 1940s, and since 1946 - the independent republic. The small state of Greater Lebanon was created by France after the First World War as part of a mandate territory. Greater Lebanon was formed from several regions of the Ottoman Empire with different ethno-religious compositions.
The core of the state was Mount Lebanon, which consisted of the Land of the Maronites (historically, a vassal emirate, headed by the noble Arab family of al-Sheibani, who was secretly baptized, but was officially considered Sunni). The Maronite Church once entered into a union with the Roman Church. Adjacent to the Maronite land is the Chouf region, where the Maronites live together with the Druze - a very unique syncretic community, headed for centuries by the feudal Jumblatt family. From here the Druze migrated to the rain-watered mountain oases of southern Syria: Hauran, Jebel Druz, etc. The Maronites and Druze were mountain warrior-farmers, whose independence all rulers of the region had to reckon with.
To Mount Lebanon, where Christians made up the overwhelming majority of the population, French politicians annexed the adjacent coastal lowlands, river valleys and foothills. Here, in towns and villages, Sunni Muslims (the relative majority), Christians of different Churches (primarily Orthodox and Uniate Catholics), Druze in the South, and Alawites in the North lived in stripes or in separate neighborhoods. The Shia Mutawali lived compactly in the southeast. They were the poorest of all, their level of education was lower than other ethno-confessional groups, and their rural housing was especially archaic. In the 20-40s of the twentieth century, Sunnis showed all-Syrian patriotism, and Maronites and partly other Christians, as well as Druze (not all) were supporters of an independent Lebanon.
In 1926, Greater Lebanon was renamed the Lebanese Republic, whose political structure formally copied the French Republic. But in reality it was based on an agreement between influential clans that headed the main ethno-confessional groups. The first president of the Lebanese Republic was a Christian, Charles Debbas (Orthodox), but since 1934 all presidents have been elected from among the Maronites. Since 1937, prime ministers have been appointed only from Sunni Muslims. Other ethno-confessional groups were represented in parliament and other government bodies in proportion to their numbers and influence. They created their own political and other organizations (for example, the Druze became social democrats) under the leadership of traditional hereditary leaders.
This system has evolved under the influence of internal and external factors. In the first decades of the existence of the Lebanese Republic, there were slightly more Christians than Muslims, and the Druze were incomparably more influential than the Mutawali Shiites. Over time, the relative numbers and political and economic influence of the Maronites, other Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Armenians, and Druze declined. But the Mutawali Shiites, who in the early 1930s made up 17–18% of the Lebanese population and almost did not live in cities, sharply increased in strength. Poverty and a low level of education were combined among the Mutawali with large families, as a result their numbers grew faster than other groups, and they populated the cities.
Like other groups, the Lebanese Mutawali emigrated to South America, V West Africa, where they engaged in trade, grew rich, and supported their relatives in Lebanon. The emigration of Christian groups began much earlier, heading to different countries and regions of the world (France, USA, Latin America, etc.) and had similar consequences. But Christians, Druze and Sunnis, who had long lived in cities, owned estates and received better education, large families were replaced by small families.
Maronites and other Christian groups were losing their influence, while Muslim groups were gaining strength. Accordingly, the Maronite president gradually ceded his first role to the Sunni prime minister. As the number and political role of Christians decreased, their confrontation with Muslims receded into the background compared to the contradictions between Muslims - Sunnis and Shiites.
Not only Christians and Druze, who had long cast their lot in with the West, but also the Mutawali and Alawites armed themselves - with the help of their coreligionist Iran. Like the Druze, they created their own political and other organizations; The radical Shiite organization Hezbollah (Party of Allah), armed and supported by Iran, was especially active. Like some other Arab militant organizations, it used terrorist actions against its opponents - Sunnis, Christians and Israel.
After the creation of the State of Israel (1947) and the Arab-Israeli wars (1947–1973), Palestinian refugees, mostly Sunnis, poured into Lebanon, becoming a numerically significant and politically influential part of the population. Syria, Iran, Israel and the great powers (including the USSR, France and the USA) had a variety of influences on Lebanon, including the invasion of troops, the arming of local and Palestinian militias (the Christian Army of South Lebanon, etc., the Shiite Hezbollah, etc. .) As a result, Lebanon was rocked by civil war from 1975 to 1990, with Hezbollah fighting Christian and Sunni militias.
Sunnis remained a relative majority, but among them, all-Syrian patriotism and political orientation towards Syria gave way to distancing from the Syrian authorities, whom they considered the patrons of Shiites and Christians. Today, Sunnis are the dominant group in Lebanon. The end of the civil war gradually weakened the confrontation between ethno-confessional groups and transferred them to the socio-political sphere, but events recent years in Syria and Iraq the rivalry between them has again intensified. The Mutawali Shiites continue to grow in numbers and establish themselves in different areas life and challenge the power of the Sunnis.
After the First World War, France, establishing a mandate territory regime in Syria, encountered patriotic resistance from some Sunnis. In contrast, the French tried to rely on Christian and Shiite ethno-confessional groups.
Some of the Alawites who inhabited the mountainous region between Lebanon and the lower reaches of the Nahr al-Kalb River received territorial autonomy (Alawite State, L’Etat des Alaouyes); The French granted the same autonomy to the easternmost of the mountainous regions where the Druze lived - Jebel Druze. In addition, they returned to Turkey the northwestern border region of Hatay (as the Turks called it) with the ancient cities of Antioch and Alexandretta, although all together the Arab communities (including Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, etc.) were more numerous here than the Turks and others ( Kurds, Yezidis, etc.) combined. At the same time, part of the Mutawali Shiites moved to Iraq.
It is paradoxical that the creation of political parties of a formally modern type gave a new impetus to the delimitation of ethno-confessional groups. This can be seen in the evolution of the Baath Party in Syria and Iraq.
United United Arab Emirates(UAE) is the youngest of the Arab countries. About a century ago, there was a conglomerate of alliances of Bedouin tribes and principalities (emirates) of the Pirate Coast - a buffer zone between Wahhabi Saudi Arabia and the Ibadi (Kharijite) Imamate of Oman (and the Muscat Sultanate). Having established a protectorate over the Muscat Sultanate and Qatar, the British also made a group of principalities, which they called Treaty Oman, their protectorate. The vast majority of the local population were Sunni Arabs; Only on the border with mountainous Oman did some branches of local tribes profess Ibadism, and on the seashores Shia Baharina lived in separate fishing villages. Now those Baharina who have UAE citizenship enjoy all the benefits of citizens, receive education, enter public service etc. But many Baharina are foreigners.
In the Bahrain archipelago itself, the Shiite majority is fighting for equal rights. It is associated with the Baharina in other Gulf countries and with Iran, as well as with the Shiite majority Arabs of Iraq. In eastern Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Shia minority (mainland Baharina) are in opposition to the dominant Sunnis. Other Shiite Arabs in the UAE are Iraqis. But the majority of Shiites here are Iranians, some Indians and Pakistanis. In cities they form communities, have their own schools (with education in Farsi, Gujarati and other languages), even branches of universities in their homeland.
In Yemen, Shiism in its Zaydi form throughout the 10th–11th centuries was distinguished by relative religious tolerance, but intransigence towards foreign domination. In 1538 and subsequent years, the Turks tried to conquer Yemen, but the areas inhabited by the Zaydis did not submit to them. Zaydis and Sunnis united in the fight against the invaders, and after a century of domination, Turkish troops left Yemen. Following this, the Zaydi imam al-Mutawakkil Ali Ismail extended his power to Aden and a number of Sunni sultanates, and in 1658 to Hadhramaut. Even at the beginning of the 17th century, the Sultan of Hadhramaut was a follower of Zaydism. But at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 17th centuries, Yemen was again divided into a predominantly Zaydi North and a union of Sunni possessions of South Yemen.
In the 19th century, the entire Arabian Peninsula was divided into spheres of domination by the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. The first went to Northern Yemen, the second to Southern Yemen, as well as the emirates of Eastern Arabia: Kuwait, Muscat, the emirates of Treaty Oman.
First World War led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and caused a new political situation on the Island of the Arabs, which was finally established only in the 1920s and early 1930s. The states of Northern and Central Arabia united into the vast Wahhabi Saudi Kingdom. It also occupied part of the Shiite region on the shores of the Persian Gulf and a small Zaydi region in the north of what was then Yemen. At the same time, the Zaydi Imam Yahya was also proclaimed king and tried to unite all of Yemen, including the sultanates of the South, which were under British protectorate. But Yahya was not successful in this and, according to the 1934 treaty, he recognized the division of Yemen into North - an independent kingdom and South - the British colony of Aden and protectorates. Subsequently, the growth of the city of Aden attracted people from the Zaydi North. The unification of both Yemen into one state took place only in 1990.
Thus, over the vast territory from the Balkans to the Hindustan, ethno-confessional groups are no less important than nations. The Shia community of Muslim peoples is not a union of (ethnic) nations, but a spiritual and political community of ethno-confessional groups of Shiites within the Islamic world. It serves important factor cultural and political life.
