Core Curriculum
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Topic 1.1 - God, Allah and Religion
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Topic 1.2 - What is “Religion” and What’s the Point of it Anyways?
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Topic 1.3 - Introduction to Islam
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Topic 1.4 - A Brief Introduction to the Prophet Muhammad (s), the Prophet of Islam
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Topic 2.1 - Satan, Jinns and Angels: Their Influence in the World
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Topic 2.2 - The Islamic Concept of the Nafs: Battling the Human Ego
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Topic 2.3 - The Sharīʿa: Purpose and Practice
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Topic 2.4 - Nubuwwa: The Purpose of Prophethood in Islam
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Topic 2.5 - Tawhīd: The Unity and Oneness of God in Islam
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Topic 2.6 - The Usūl al-Dīn: The Fundamental Beliefs of Islam
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Topic 2.7 - Adala: Divine Justice in Islam
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Topic 2.8 - Entering Islam: The Shahada
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Topic 2.9 - Maʿād: The Day of Judgment in Islam
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Topic 2.10 - Imāmah or divinely guided leadership in Islam after the Prophet Muhammad.
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Topic 3.1 - Accepting Islam: Putting Faith into Action
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Topic 3.2 - The Furūʿ al-Dīn: The Fundamental Practices of Islam
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Topic 3.3 - Salāt: Obligatory Ritual Prayers in Islam
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Topic 3.4 - Fasting in Islam, its Purpose, Dos and Don’ts
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Topic 3.5 - The Hajj Pilgrimage
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Topic 3.6 - The Purpose of Zakat and Khums in Islamic Law
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Topic 3.7 - Jihād in Islamic Law and Spirituality
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Topic 3.8 - Commanding the Good and Forbidding Evil in Islam
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Topic 3.9 - Tawalla and Tabarra, its Basics and Purpose
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Topic 3.10 - The Five Categories of Islamic Law
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Topic 3.11 - Niyya: Religious Intention as the Foundation of Islamic Practice
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Topic 3.12 - Ritual Purity in Islamic Law: Understanding Tahāra and Najāsa
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Topic 3.13 - Other Obligatory and Forbidden Acts in Islam
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Topic 4.1 - A Brief Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (s): The Prophet’s Childhood (PART I of III)
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Topic 4.2 - Bio: The Prophet Muhammad as a Prophet of God (PART II of III)
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Topic 4.3 - A Brief Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (s): The Prophet’s Character (PART III of III)
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Topic 4.4 - The Prophet Muhammad (s) as Messenger and Teacher
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Topic 4.5 - The Prophet and his Relationships
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Topic 4.6 - The Prophet’s Sunnah and Hadith
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Topic 4.7 - Ghadīr and Arafah: The Two Last Sermons of the Prophet
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Topic 4.8 - Jesus and Mary in Islam
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Topic 5.1 - Islam and Other Religions
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Topic 5.2 - What is the Qur’an? A Short Introduction to Islam’s Holy Book
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Topic 5.3 - The Structure of the Holy Qur’an
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Topic 5.4 - The Quran and Islamic law
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Topic 5.5 - The Qur’an, Allah and Humankind
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Topic 5.6 - Hadith and Sunnah, difference and variations
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Topic 5.7 - The Reliability of Hadiths
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Topic 5.8 - A Reflection on Verses of the Holy Qur’an
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Topic 5.9 - Hadith al-Thaqalayn
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Topic 5.10 - Imam Ali (as) and Nahj al-Balagha.
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Topic 5.11 - Taqlid and Tawḍih Al Masail Genre of Literature
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Topic 6.1 - Guidance According to Islam
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Topic 6.2 - Life and Death in Islam
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Topic 6.3 - Heaven and Hell in Islam
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Topic 6.4 - The Effects of Our Actions in this World
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Topic 6.5 - The Gray Areas of Islamic Law and Morality
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Topic 6.6 - Benefits of Islamic Law in this World
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Topic 6.7 - Good and Bad Deeds: The Spiritual Consequences of our Choices
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Topic 6.8 - The Effect of Culture and Environment in Shaping our Religious Choices
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Topic 6.9 - Fate and the Consequences of our Choices in Islam
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Topic 6.10 - Trivializing the Harām
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Topic 6.11 - Sinning Against Others and their Delayed Punishment
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Topic 6.12 - The Three Kinds of Rights in Islam
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Topic 6.13 - Major Sins in Islam
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Topic 6.14 - Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins in Islam
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Topic 6.15 - Kufr in Islam
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Topic 6.16 - Why Allah Allows People to Sin
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Topic 7.1 - Islam and Knowledge: the Importance of Islamic Education
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Topic 7.2 - The Ahl al-Kisa
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Topic 7.3 - Imamah in the Qur’an
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Topic 7.4 - Fatima al-Zahrah (as)
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Topic 7.5 - A Brief Look at the Lives of the Imams (Imam al-Hasan until Imam Muhammad al-Baqir)
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Topic 7.6 - A Brief Look at the Lives of the Imams (Imam Jafar al-Sadiq until Imam Hasan al-Askari)
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Topic 7.7 - A Brief Look at the Life and Importance of Imam al-Mahdi (aj)
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Topic 7.8 - Salawat and Atonement in Islam
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Topic 7.9 - The Companions (Sahaba) of the Prophet According to the Qur’an
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Topic 7.10 - Clerical Hierarchies in Muslim Communities
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Topic 7.11 - Mosques in Islam
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Topic 7.12 - The Philosophy of Karbala and Majalis
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Topic 7.13 - A Brief Biography of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as)
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Topic 7.14 - The Battle of Karbala: A Brief History
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Topic 8.1 - Islam and Rights
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Topic 8.2 - Islam and Religious Conflicts
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Topic 8.3 - Major Sects of Islam
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Topic 8.4 - Sunnism and Shi’ism, beginnings and historical developments.
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Topic 8.5 - Misconceptions about Shi’ism
Special Topics
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Topic 9.1 - Muslim Converts – Welcome to Islam!
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Topic 9.2 - Basic Dos and Don’ts of Being a Muslim
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Topic 9.3 - Halal Food and Zabiha
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Topic 9.4 - Modesty in Islam
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Topic 9.5 - Family, Parents and Marriage in Islam
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Topic 9.6 - Marriage in Islam
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Topic 9.7 - Islam and Sex
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Topic 9.8 - Women’s Menstruation in Islam
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Topic 9.9 - Music, Alcohol, Drugs and Pork in Islam
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Topic 9.10 - Islam and Science
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Topic 9.11 - A Reading List of Islamic Knowledge
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Topic 9.12 - Islam and Sufism
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Topic 9.13 - Ritual Prayers and Supplications in Islam
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Topic 9.14 - Death & Burial Rituals in Islam
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Topic 9.15 - The Battle of Armageddon: An Islamic View
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Topic 9.16 - The Muslim Calendar
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Topic 9.17 - Muslims and non-Muslims in the Shariah
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Topic 9.18 - A Timeline of Major Events in Islamic History
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Topic 9.19 - Introducing the Qur’an: Why it is the way it is
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Topic 9.20 - The School of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
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Topic 9.21 - Major Fields in Islamic Studies
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Topic 9.22 - The Caliphate in Sunni and Shia Islam
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Topic 9.23 - The Spread of Islam: After the Prophet until the Ottoman Empire
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Topic 9.24 - Islam, Racism and Anti-Semitism
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Topic 10.1 - Modern Fallacies about God: where Theists and Atheists Agree
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Topic 10.2 - Tawhīd: The Muslim God according to the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahl al-Bayt (as)
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Topic 10.3 - God’s Existence: The Argument From Being (Wujūd)
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Topic 10.4 - God’s Existence: The Kalam Cosmological Argument
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Topic 10.5 - God’s Existence: The Argument From Design
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Topic 10.6 - The Problem of Evil, Suffering and Pain
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Topic 10.7 - Why did God Create Us? The Purpose of our Creation
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Topic 10.8 - Why Humans Need Religion according to Islam
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Topic 10.9 - Jahl and Spiritual Ignorance in Islam
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Topic 10.10 - Faith in Islam: Belief without Evidence?
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Topic 10.11 - Do Non-Muslims Go to Hell?
Major Sects of Islam
Abstract
Islam, like other religions, has many sects. Some of the major sects of Islam today are Twelver (Imami) Shi’ism, Sunnism and Wahhabism. But how do we know which one is the right one?
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome back to the Muslim Converts Channel!
In this lesson, we will overview some of the major denominations of Islam. We will also discuss how one’s zeal in faith does not mean that a person is on the right path. Finally, we will also look at how unity can still be achieved despite differences.
BODY OF TEXT
O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true. (Chapter 9, verse 119 of the Holy Qur’an)
Islam has many different sects and schools. The following are the major ones:
Sunni Islam: Sunni Islam is the majority sect of Islam today. Sunnis believe in the legitimacy of the first era Caliphs which include Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman. Sunnis also acknowledge Imam Ali (as) as the legitimate fourth Caliph. They believe that the companions of the Prophet as well as his wives were the primary sources of understanding Islam and the Prophet’s (s) Sunnah.
Shia Islam: The most popular and dominant version of Shia Islam is 12ver Shi’ism and hence why when Shia Islam is mentioned, people usually mean Imami or 12ver Shi’ism (Imami and 12ver are just different names for the same thing).
Shia Islam believes that God chose twelve successors to succeed the Prophet Muhammad (s). These twelve successors were to be from his Holy Household, or known as the Ahl al-Bayt in Arabic.
The Ahl al-Bayt (as), as Shi’ism believes, were the infallible sources of understanding Islam, the Qur’an and conveying the Prophet’s Sunnah and teachings.
Wahhabism: Wahhabism is a fundamentalist movement that was born out of Saudi Arabia in the 18th century by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792 AD). We have separated out Wahhabism from Sunnism as many mainstream Sunnis consider it to be a movement that is distinct from traditional Sunnism.
Wahhabism was born out of the British colonial project in the Arabian peninsula. The goal of British imperialism in the region was to destroy Ottoman power. One of the methods that the British employed was to created so-called reformist movements to subvert the traditional Islamic religious establishments that existed at that time. These establishments or institutions were important as they kept Muslim communities intact.
Wahhabism was one of these reformist movements. Wahhabism is different from other Islamic denominations today in that it holds a belief in an anthropomorphic God, that is, a God that is physical and holds physical features like hands and feet. Wahhabism also holds that God literally sits on a throne. It also has a high propensity to excommunicate other Muslims from Islam and is not shy to encourage the killing of Muslims who hold different opinions.
As such, violence and intolerance are some of the prominent features of the Wahhabi movement today of which ISIS and other terrorist groups are an intellectual offshoot of. The greatest victims of Wahhabism are primarily Sunnis and then Shias.
We’ve only mentioned two major sects in Islam. There are, of course, other sects in Islam, like the Ismaʿilis, the Zaidis, and many other groups but we cannot cover them here due to time constraints.
All of these sects can be quite confusing for people. Finding the “right” sect (show quotation marks with your hands) may seem to be an arduous task. However, the Qur’an gives us the solution to this problem:
(Remember) the day when We will call every people with their Imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly. (Chapter 17, verse 71 of the Holy Qur’an)
The central mechanism of human guidance is the kind of religious leader and role model you choose for yourself. So the question one should ask is the following: who is the right leader? Did the Prophet Muhammad (s) leave anyone behind as leaders for us? As we’ve seen previously, we know this answer to be in the affirmative.
The Prophet (s), as evident from the event of Ghadeer and Hadith al-Thaqalyn, left us with two sources of guidance, one being the Qur’an and the other being his Ahl al-Bayt (as). As the Prophet (s) explained to us, if we follow these two we will never be deviated.
So by choosing the right leaders or Imams, that is, the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (as), one can be assured that he or she will be part of the right sect.
Until Next Time, Thank you for watching. As-salāmu ʿAlaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh
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What are the two major sects or denominations of Islam?
Twelver (Imami) Shi’ism and Sunnism
Does Shi’ism have subsects?
Yes, in addition to Twelver Shi’ism, there is Ismailism, Zaydism and other branches.
How do we know what the right sect or denomination is in Islam?
The Qur’an teaches us that on the Day of Judgment, people will be resurrected with their Imams or Leaders. This means that by following the right leader, one can follow the right sect. The Prophet taught us that these leaders are the Ahl al-Bayt (as).
Who are the right Imams or Leaders one should follow according to Islam? Are they the companions of the Prophet (s) ?
The Prophet (s) taught us in Hadith al-Thaqalayn as well as in the hadith of Ghadeer that his Ahl al-Bayt (as) (Prophet's Holy Household) were the right leaders of guidance.
How many rightful sects can we have?
As truth is one, there can be one truthful sect.
Is it possible that there are no right sects in Islam? That is, they are all deviant?
No, as the inevitable result of this would be a crisis in divine providence. If Islam is the last religion, and there are no right sects, then this means that the earth will be locked out of access to the truth. However, the teachings of the Prophet (s) tell us otherwise as he explicitly taught that the earth will always have a guide until the Day of Judgment.
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Further Reading From Islamiclibrary.com