Wahhabi

How do the wahhabis fit into the sectarian dynamic of the middle east? From my understanding, both the shias and sunnis have problems with this sect? Are they considered true muslims by the other denominations?
AFAIK these are the different groups:
Sunni
Shi'ite
Sufi
Wahhabi
Did I miss any?
Anyways, my main question is what distinguishes this group from the others in terms of their core beliefs? I would search the net but I can't read arabic.


Title is meant to say "Wahhabism"
If you can contribute, it would be much appreciated

Wahhabism to Islam seems to be similar to the relation of the Westboro Baptist Church to Christianity... but instead of protesting and pitiful litigation, the wahabi's blow stuff up. Another difference is that Wahhabism found very strong political strength through it's allying with the family of Saud, right around the time the Saud family took over what was left of the Arab lands. Westboro seems to be all talk, a clever way for a family of lawyers to get money through litigation by causing controversy, while the Wahhabis truly scare me.

reply to post by HamrHeed


Alawites,
Druze,
Ibadis,
Ismailis,
Shafis,
Kalam,
Kharijite,
Hanafi,
Hanbali,
Maliki,
Twelvers,
Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsan) ,
Ahmadiyya,
Salafism

some more for you.
please do check as some of these are not recognised by mainstream muslims, however they are out there.

f.

It is a little more complicated than your list shows.

GENERALLY, There are two major divisions or sects among muslims today: Shia and Sunni. The majority of both these groups accept the Quran, their divisions occur more from conflicts involving succession rather than any actual theology. The shi'ites believe that Ali (the Prophet Muhammad's nephew) should've been the first Caliph (vicegerent of Islam), while Abu Bakr was chosen and accepted by the others.

The only major theological point here is (and if some Shi'a person could pop in and explain better than I understand it, then that'd be great) the Shi'ite belief in the holiness of the seed of Abraham, thus all the Caliphs should be descendants or from the same line as the Prophet Muhammad. Sunnis on the other hand, believe that any muslim can be the Caliph.

Aside from these two, there are some minor sub-groups that don't identify as either Sunni or Shia, such as the Ibadis. Most of the remaining subgroups of muslims in the world are either derived from Sunnis or Shias.

Sunnis have 4 or 5 major "madhabs" (meaning schools of thought or interpretation)- the hanafi, hanbali and shafi. Many madhabs were formed by their relevant teachers or scholars using different methods (some interpreted some hadith one way, some interpreted it another way), but then they were later whittled down to these ones. You can't REALLY consider these separate sects, because they all acknowledge the validity of the others, they just have minor differences in the interpretations of certain sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, like one group saying shellfish is not permitted to be eaten, while another saying it is okay.

Groups that were derived from Sunni Islam, but are not anymore, and some muslims don't consider them even to be Muslim are Ahmadiyahs.

Aside from these madhabs, among the Sunnis there are also, the salafis, or the "ahl-as-sunnah" or "ahl-al-hadith" ("People of the Sunnah" or "People of the Hadith") as they sometimes like to be called. These people sometimes disregard the madhabs, and say they only follow what is known of up to the generation or two after the Prophet Muhammad. Wahabis are one group of the Salafis (although they don't really use the name "Wahabi" to self-identify).

Among the Shi'ites the major madhabs are the Twelvers/Jafari, Ismaili and Zaidi. I'm not to familiar with the details of these individual groups, but again, most acknowledge the validity of the others, so you can't really classify them as separate sects.

Groups that sprang from Shi'ites, but are not generally considered so anymore (and in some cases are not considered muslims, or do not self-identify as muslims) are, for example, the Alevi, the Druze, and Baha'i.

Sufiism and Sufis can be both Sunni OR Shi'ite. They follow the traditional practices and understandings, but along with that focus on the esoteric.

I've only talked about groups present today. Groups like the kharjites haven't existed in centuries, and thus aren't really relevant in today's world.

Muslim

• Sunni:
  
  • 4 Major Madhabs:
    
    1. Hanafi
       
    2. Hanbali
       
    3. Shaf'i
       
    4. Maliki
    
    
  • Minor Sunni Madhabs, eg. Zahiri
    
  • Salafis (may or may not also adhere to specific madhabs) eg. Wahabis
    
  • Completely separated groups:
    
    • Ahmediyyah
      
    • Tolu-e-Islam
      
    • Mahdavi and Zikri
      
  
  
• Shi'ite:
  
  • 3 Major Madhabs:
    
    1. Twelvers
       
    2. Zaidi
       
    3. Ismaili:
       
       • Nizari (largest group of Ismailis, they follow the Agha Khan)
         
       • Mustalis/Tayabis:
         • Bohras:
           • Dawoodi Bohra
             
           • Sulaimani Bohra
             
           • Alavi Bohra
             
           • Hebtiahs Bohra
             
           • Atba-i-Malak:
             • Atba-i-Malak Badra
               
             • Atba-i-Malak Vakil
  • Completely separated groups:
    • Alevi (derived from Twelvers)
      
    • Ahl-e Haqq/Yarsan (mostly Kurdish Group)
      
    • Druze (derived from Ismailis, some do not self-identify as muslims)
      
    • Baha'i (also derived from Twelvers, but do not self-identify as muslims)
• Others:
  • Ibadi
    
  • Minor Groups which may or may not be accepted within the general muslim body:
    • Submitters (Do not accept Hadith, only the Quran)
      
    • RAGS International/Messiah Foundation International
      
    • African-American Centric Groups:
      • Nation of Islam
        
      • Moorish Science Temple of America

Apologies for any missing, and apologies for any incorrect impressions by listing fairly minor (numbering in the thousands) groups along with major ones.

I've also not included the Sufis in this list, as that would really complicate the whole thing. There are specific Shi'ite Sufis, there are specific Sunni Sufis, there are Sufis that have chains from both Shi'ite and Sunni scholars. While many Sunni and Shi'ite groups divided up and split up from their "parent groups" due to who they considered to be their leader, in Sufiism, the divisions are more according to the chain of teachers going back to the Prophet Muhammad. So the different branches are divided up according to different "spiritual lineages".

Major Sufi groups are: Ba 'Alawiyya, Chishti, Naqshbandi, Jerrahi, Nimatullahi, Uwaissi, Qadiriyyah, Qalandariyya, Sarwari Qadiri, Shadhliyya and Suhrawardiyya. Most of these follow some specific Shi'ite or Sunni Madhab. These can be further subdivided depending on which student of which teacher in which chain the person follows. Again, none of this involves theological differences, it is mostly about having a chain going back to the Prophet.

These chains go all the way from student to teacher, to teacher of that teacher, etc. all the way back to the Prophet, usually through his nephew Ali, or through Abu Bakr (or both), or one of the other companions, or (in the case of Uwaissi Sufiism), through Uwais Qarni, who although he lived during the Prophet Muhammad's time, he never met him, but had a "spiritual connection" with him.

Whew...that was a long one...

Originally posted by Syyth007
Wahhabism to Islam seems to be similar to the relation of the Westboro Baptist Church to Christianity... but instead of protesting and pitiful litigation, the wahabi's blow stuff up. Another difference is that Wahhabism found very strong political strength through it's allying with the family of Saud, right around the time the Saud family took over what was left of the Arab lands. Westboro seems to be all talk, a clever way for a family of lawyers to get money through litigation by causing controversy, while the Wahhabis truly scare me.

Wahhabism is a 300 year old sect in Islam . Fund by west to blow Muslims from Inside.

Like in Christianity they divided people in different groups and they blame them for their division , they wanted to blame and corner Muslims by this mean

The Wahabbi are the extremely religiously Conservative group within Islam. They are the Muslim equivalent of hardcore Right-wing Christians in America. Most mainstream Muslims do not like them or their interpretation of Islam but they are the most vocal Muslim group. Wahabbism (aka Salafism) is a sect of Sunni Islam.

They are mainly funded by the Saudi Royal Family (much like how hardcore Right-wing Christian groups are funded by rich Conservatives in America). Wahabbism (much like Conservative Western Christianity) is a tool used to keep the population distracted by promoting Conservative social issues and hatred of other groups. While the population is distracted, TPTB keep making money hand over fist. Meanwhile the masses remain largely poor and starving.

Basically the Saudi Royal family are a Middle Eastern branch of the Illuminati. Hope this helps. Any questions feel free to send my way. I was a Muslim for 6 years.

reply to post by Syyth007


WBC are not christians. Theyre all of the Phelps' family and their goal is to piss someone off enough where they come over and punch them in the face just so the Phelps' can sue for money.

reply to post by babloyi


Thanks.

I've known for a long time that Islam had almost as many divisions and interpretations as Christianity but never had it explained in quite so simple and straight forward terms.

I dare say even the most tolerant claims to be the sole true interpretation of Islam etc.

It's incredibly sad, and to me totally bewildering, that an arguement that was essentially purely over the order of succession nearly 1500 years ago can be the source of so much misery and hatred today between people who are by and large of the same religion.

Organised religion, regardless of brand, truly has a lot to answer for.

Good posts from all of you! Thanks. I knew there were obviously further tribal and racial/political divisions but that list from FakeDirt is immaculate.
AFAIK the 2 largest factions are sunnis and shias which represent a fundamental fracture of the islamic caliph in the early days/
Now that we have global travel, surely islamic shariah law is going to clash with modern law practices in the west.

The Wahabbi are a tribe/clan of people, not a religion or religious sect, nor are they a division of Islam.

Generally, some say that Salafism and Wahhabism are interchangable. Both Salafisi's and Wahhabi's are conservative islamic sects, with preponderance in the Arab Peninsuala (i.e. Saudi Arabia), but with strong demographics all over the middle east, for instance in Egypt.

Wahhabi's are Sunni muslims, and most of the alleged 9/11 suicide bombers were Wahhabi (if not all). Some of their views on women, minorities and other religions is despicable.

Originally posted by fakedirt
reply to post by HamrHeed

 

Alawites,
Druze,
Ibadis,
Ismailis,
Shafis,
Kalam,
Kharijite,
Hanafi,
Hanbali,
Maliki,
Twelvers,
Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsan) ,
Ahmadiyya,
Salafism

some more for you.
please do check as some of these are not recognised by mainstream muslims, however they are out there.

f.

edit on 16-6-2012 by fakedirt because: comma

edit on 16-6-2012 by fakedirt because: plus

Most of these aren't sects.

Some of these are schools of thought, which can be followed by any sect, predominately the sunni sect. Salafism, is a methodology within sunni islam. Twelvers are a school of thought among the shi'a sect.

Originally posted by SpeachM1litant
Generally, some say that Salafism and Wahhabism are interchangable. Both Salafisi's and Wahhabi's are conservative islamic sects, with preponderance in the Arab Peninsuala (i.e. Saudi Arabia), but with strong demographics all over the middle east, for instance in Egypt.

Wahhabi's are Sunni muslims, and most of the alleged 9/11 suicide bombers were Wahhabi (if not all). Some of their views on women, minorities and other religions is despicable.

edit on 23-6-2012 by SpeachM1litant because: (no reason given)

They are interchangeable - just as interchangeable as homosexual is with the F word..

Wahhabi is the derogatory term for salafi muslims, because salafiyya as an ideology originated with Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhab.

It's become more and more known to a lot of muslims as the cult of Wahhab, or Wahhabism.

I was raised upon those teachings for about 6 years, until my parents decided to practice a more balanced form of Islam.

reply to post by My.mind.is.mine


apologies if i implied they were all sects. speed posting the list to allow the op further material to search with left quite a few holes in the reply.
i am in appreciation for babloyi for the fantastic contribution he/she made which gave mine the quality of a scrap of paper scribbled on in a storm!
best wishes f.