The current thread on whether non-Muslims can enter mosques has brought up disagreement among Malikis, Shafe'is, Hannibalis and Hanafis, and for all I know others.

Could someone please explain what these groups are, and indeed what other major different groupings there are within Islam? I know about the origin of the difference between Sunni and Shiah, and I know something about Sufism, but that's as far as it goes.

Its a very long and complicated topic. To be honest i dont fully understand all the types my self. So here goes a summerised version of Islam's branches.

Ofcourse the majority of people know the main two: Sunni (Orthodox) and Shia.

Then many Sunni Muslim's try to follow the Sunnah (example) of the Prophet PBUH by the agreeing to a certain extent to the understanding of four main Imams:

-Hanafi

-Shafii

-Hanbali

-Maliki

The diffrence's are very minor between them four. Often the diffrences are all accepted as being 'Sahih' or correct. Since there are examples of the Prophet PBUH having diffrences. An example of this can be when the Prophet PBUH was praying the Salat, having his arms crossed at chest length (Shafi style) upon getting tired he lowerd his crossed arm to his stomach (Hanafi style) upon feeling more tired he simply put his hands to his (PBUH) side. Thus all methods are correct.

The Shia sect also has many diffrent sub-divisions, although i do not know of many. Except for perhaps the 'Alevi' of which the English translation i think is 'Alewite', there are the Ismaili's and i belive the majority are called the 'Itna Ashariya' or the Twelvers, simply because of their belief in the 12 Imams.

There are modern day divisions such as the Salafi's and the Wahabi's. They are often described as more hardliners. Bin Laden and many of his followers are from these school of thought. Although i must stress that i do not in anyway implying that this school of though teachs such extreme methods of Jihad.

On the whole the majority of Muslim nations are practice the Sunnah (Sunni) Islam. Only two countries are virtually completely Shi'a and these are Iran and Azerbaijan.

It is wrong to blindfully follow any Imam since as Imam Shafi has said " If you find a mistake from my teaching replace it with a more correct method"

I hope i have been helpful. I my self am more inclined to the Hanafi school of thought ( as is the majority of Turkey, TRNC, Pakistan etc), so i will know more about this area.

Regards,

OSMANLI

the four groups me and Mira were talking about were the Sunnie Schools of Math'hab (Sectors).

they dont have much differences and they fully agree on the main principles of Sunnie Branch of islam.

Shafie reffered to people following Imam Al Shafei's way

Hanafi reffered to people following Imam Abu Haneefah.

Maliki refferet to people follwoing Imam Ibn Malik.

Hannibalis refferet to people following Imam Ibn Hannibal.

as i said the differences are small such as the "entering mosques"

there are no Major differences between them and Many sunnies dont know if they belong to which sector.

in Malaysia.. shafie..

Maybe you are bektashi?

lol mila ismaelis are shia

                                      The Ahmadiyya 'Qadiani'

Mirza Ghulam , the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Qadian, India,He also claimed that he is Son of god, and according to sayings of one of his friends, God once requested Mirza Qadyani to have sexual relations. He claimed that he once was Marry, he became pregnent, and gave birth to himself as "Jesus". Some of his members consider him to be a prophet.

Due to this, and other reasons, the unanimous consensus of Muslim scholars (both Sunni and Shia) vehemently denounces Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and his followers as being outside the fold of Islam.

they were decleared non-muslims in 1973 in pakistan.

                                                            Mu'tazili

The name Mu'tazili meanning "to leave",Mu'tazili  originated  in al-Basrah when Wasil ibn Ata left the teaching lessons of al-Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute; thus he and his followers were labelled Mu'tazili.

I won't be very long in this topic,Their belief based on the theory which said "The Qur'an could not be eternal,but created by Allah",It became the official doctrine in abbasid court during the era between Al-Ma'mon to the dath of Al-Wathiq.

But there's certainly a branch at least pf the Ahmadiyya movement that denies Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ever claimed to be even a prophet, let alone the son of God.

http://www.muslim.org/noclaim/intro.htm - http://www.muslim.org/noclaim/intro.htm

How much of what you wrote is in fact just anti-Ahmadiyya propaganda?

Originally posted by Mila I don't really understand what the differences are either. I was told growing up I'm a Sunni Muslim with Hanafi and Sufi heritage and roots. Most people I've talked about Islam with have, after I've given my impression on a few things, all said, "Pfft...Ismaeli you are!" So, whatever that means.

You could impossible be ismaili, they are shii.

Well i was shia asna ja'fari

Well, those Druz in Israel are actually active citizens including military servicemen. Most of secret policemen who dress like regular Palestinians and walk the streets are Arab Druz, especially in IDF and the Shabak. For some reason, they are easily assembled to Israel than even Arab Muslim or Christian Israelis. A famous case that shows their isolation from the Palestinian majority is the case of an Israeli officer pumping the body of a 13-year-old girl full of bullets.  He later said that he would have shot her even if she had been three years old. Most Palestinians I met too would consider them a seperate identity than Muslims for clear reasons on both sides.

Turkish Alevites and Arab Alevites (Nusairis) are almost completely different. In fact if one is Alevite it means that other is not.

The Turkish Alevites belief is mainly a mixture of Central Asian shaman and Islamic belief systems. It was once supported by nomadic Turcomans of Anatolia and Iran. Finally, they establised Safavid state as a rival to Ottomans. They are considered Shia but they are very different than Iranian Shia at the present. For example women do not wear hadscarf, women and men's status are equal in terms of religion, they are completely secular and strong supporters of Ataturk. Bektashi order is the urban version of Alevites. They are almost the same in terms of philoshopy. But Bektashi order is much more sophisticated in terms of rituals.  Bektashi order was the most important religious way along with Sunni Mevlevi order in Ottoman Empire.

In modern Turkey there is only one exception of religous symbol used in state affaires; it is Alevites-Bektashi star as it can be seen from the picture below carried by a "Alevite dede" to symbolise Turks.

In Turkish passeports, in every pages we have this Alevite-Bektashi symbol.

As far as Nusairis are concerned, first most of them are ethnically Arabs and secondly they are heavily influenced by Christianity. From rituals to philoshophy they are different than Turkish Alevites except they are both Mohammed and Ali followers and they are both considered Shia.  But I do not think that it is right to consider Turkish Alevites - Bektashis as Shia if we look at the Iran as Shia. They are so different from each others.

Thank you for your enlightening reply Alparslan.

Turkish Alevites are the original Islamified Turks. Because Turks have learned Islam in Central Asia by Hodja Ahmed Yesevi, and after they entered Khorasan, they formed their own way of Islamic life, a new sect. Anatolia had much more Alevis before the reign of Sultan Selim when a lot of these people were massacred or exiled. But Iran, a dominantly Sunnite society before Haydarogli Shah Ismail, was converted by Turkmens of Ardebil to Shia sect. Some refer these people as "Kizilbash", altough it is a false way of naming them all.

Nusayris are claimed to be from Arabic origin, but their deep origins show that they are assimilated from Turkic roots. According to their belief, they are sons of the Turkish wife of Harun Rashid. They were settled to the borders of the Abbasids with the Byzanthine Empire, just like over 30,000 Turkish soldiers under Abbasid rule. The Turkish commanders who settled Nusayris in southern Turkey once are Ebu Suleym Ferec al hadim et Turki, El Afþin Haydar and others. Their language was assimilated into Arabic in Northern Syria, so most of them know themselves as Arabs today.

Hello to you all

First of all, Again and Again there is no such thing as Wahhabism. Wahhabism was a reform movement that introduced nothing in religion. There are simply puritans who wanted to end certain influences that entered Sunni thought. Same thing goes to salafists.