Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is covered here in 6 connected parts: Sunni Islam, Sunni: key facts and timeline, Culture and traditions of Sunni, History of Sunni, Sunni in the Philippines, Sunni Region.

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Muslim community, being appointed at the meeting of Saqifa.^[1]

Sunna

The Arabic term sunnah, which Sunnis are named after, dates back to pre-Islamic language. It was used for "the right path that has always been followed". The term gained greater political significance after the murder of the third caliph, Uthman (r.^[1]

Ahl as-Sunna

One of the earliest supporting documents for ahl as-sunna derives from the Basric scholar Muhammad Ibn Siri (died 728). His is mentioned in the Sahih of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, and quoted having said: "Formerly one did not ask about the Isnad. But when the fitna started, one said: 'Name us your informants'.^[1]

Ahl as-Sunna wa l-Jamāʻah

The first appearances of the expression 'ahl as-sunna wa l-jama'ah are entirely clear. In his Mihna edict, the Abbasite Caliph Al-Ma'mūn (reigned 813–33) criticized a group of people who related themselves to the sunnah (nasabū anfusa-hum ilā s-sunna) and claimed they are the "people of truth, religion and community" (ahl al-ḥaqq wa-d-dīn wa-l-jamāʿah). Sunna and jamāʿah are already connected here.^[1]

Transition of caliphate into dynastic monarchy of Banu Umayya

The seeds of metamorphosis of caliphate into kingship were sown, as the second caliph Umar had feared, as early as the regime of the third caliph Uthman, who appointed many of his kinsmen from his clan Banu Umayya, including Marwān and Walid bin Uqba on important government positions, becoming the main cause of turmoil resulting in his murder and the ensuing infighting during Ali's time and rebellion by Muāwiya, another of Uthman's kinsman. This ultimately resulted in the establishment of firm dynastic rule of Banu Umayya after Husain, the younger son of Ali from Fātima, was killed at the Battle of Karbalā.^[1]

Caliphate and the dynastic monarchy of Banu Abbās

The rule of and "caliphate" of Banu Umayya came to an end at the hands of Banu Abbās a branch of Banu Hāshim, the tribe of Muhammad, only to usher another dynastic monarchy styled as caliphate from 750 CE. This period is seen as formative in Sunni Islam as the founders of the four schools viz, Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, Shāfi'i and Ahmad bin Hanbal all practised during this time, so also did Jafar al Sādiq who elaborated the doctrine of imāmate, the basis for the Shi'a religious thought. There was no clearly accepted formula for determining succession in the Abbasid caliphate.^[1]

Sunni Islam in the contemporary era

The fall, at the end of World War I of the Ottoman Empire, the biggest Sunni empire for six centuries, brought the caliphate to an end. This resulted in Sunni protests in far off places including the Khilafat Movement in India, which was later on upon gaining independence from Britain divided into Sunni-dominated Pakistan and secular India. Pakistan, the most populous Sunni state at its dawn, was later partitioned into Pakistan and Bangladesh.^[1]

Adherents

Sunnis believe the companions of Muhammad to be reliable transmitters of Islam, since God and Muhammad accepted their integrity. Medieval sources even prohibit cursing or vilifying them. This belief is based upon prophetic traditions such as one narrated by Abdullah, son of Masud, in which Muhammad said: "The best of the people are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them".^[1]

Three group doctrines

There is no agreement among Muslim scholars as to which dogmatic tendencies are to be assigned to Sunni tradition. Since the early modern period, is the idea that a total of three groups belong to the Sunnis: 1. those named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (died 935) Ash'arites, 2. those named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (died 941) named Maturidites and 3. a differently named third group, which is traditionalistic-oriented and rejects the rational discourse of Kalām advocated by the Maturidites and Ashʿarites. The Syrian scholar ʿAbd al-Baqi Ibn Faqih Fussa (died 1661) calls this third traditionalist group the Hanbalites.^[1]

Related: Sunni: key facts and timeline · Culture and traditions of Sunni · History of Sunni

External references: ^[1][2][3]

Sunni: key facts and timeline

History

One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammad's death, and that Sufism and Shi'ism developed out of Sunni Islam. This perception is partly due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works, and also because the vast majority of the Muslim population is Sunni. Both Sunnism and Shiism are the end products of several centuries of competition between ideologies.^[1]

Related: Sunni Islam · Culture and traditions of Sunni · History of Sunni

External references: ^[1][4][5]

Culture and traditions of Sunni

Sunni Islam in Iraq (Arabic: الإسلام السني في العراق) is the second-largest sect of Islam in Iraq after Shia Islam. The majority of Iraqi Sunni Muslims are Arabs with the second largest being Kurds. Iraqi Sunni Arabs are mostly situated in the western and northern regions bordering Kurdistan.^[6]

Iraqi Sunni Arabs

Iraqi Sunni Arabs (Arabic: العرب السنة العراقيين), historically referred to as the Arabs of Al-Jazira (Arabic: عرب الجزيرة), are an Iraqi Arab ethnoreligious group. Iraqi Sunni Arabs mainly inhabit the provinces of Al-Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and areas of Baghdad with Sunni Bedouin inhabiting the desert regions of the south, the border with Kuwait and the Jordanian steppe. In the modern era, Iraqi Sunni Arabs are often mistaken by outsiders as simply Iraqi Arabs who follow Sunni Islam rather than Shia but constitute a distinct Arab people with a unique history and origin tied to the region of West Iraq they primarily inhabit.^[6]

History

Iraqi Sunni Arabs largely originated as a mixture of Arab Muslims who settled in Iraq after the Islamic conquest of the Sasanian Empire, as well as natives who were Arabized. In the early Islamic period, Iraq was a key center of the Abbasid Caliphate, with the city of Baghdad serving as its capital from the 8th to the 13th century. Sunni Arabs played a significant role in the administration (including the ruling Abbasid dynasty) and cultural life of the caliphate, and many important figures of Islamic scholarship and literature emerged from Iraq during this time and during the Islamic Golden Age.^[6]

Culture

Sunni Iraqi Arab culture, particularly in cities such as Tikrit, Fallujah, Samarra, and Mosul, is characterized by a combination of tribal traditions and conservative Sunni Islamic practices. Common clothing includes the white dishdasha and red-and-white keffiyeh with a black agal, shared with other Arab groups. Regional food traditions vary, Mosul is known for Ottoman-influenced dishes such as baked sambusak with spiced lamb, dolma prepared with pomegranate molasses, and ćevapi (known locally as kebab hindi), a grilled minced meat dish of Balkan origin uncommon in other parts of Iraq.^[6]

Related: Sunni Islam · Sunni: key facts and timeline · History of Sunni

External references: ^[6][7][8]

History of Sunni

The succession to Muhammad in 632 led the Muslims to be split into two camps: the Sunnis, who believed that the caliphs of the Islamic community should be chosen by a council, as in Saqifa; and a second group, the Shia, who believed that Muhammad had named his successor to be Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law. Today there are differences in religious practice and jurisprudence, traditions, and customs between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Although all Muslim groups consider the Quran to be divine, Sunni and Shia have different opinions on interpretations (hadith) of the Quran.^[9]

Demographics

Sunni Muslims are the vast majority of Muslims in most Muslim communities in Central Asia (including China). Within Shia Islam about 85% are Twelver, and within Twelver Shia, the overwhelming majority follow the Usuli school of jurisprudence. In Iran, an officially Shia country since 1501, around 90–95% of Muslims are Shia.^[9]

Mahdi

The Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam. While Shia and Sunnis differ on the nature of the Mahdi, many members of both groups believe that the Mahdi will appear at the end of the world to bring about a perfect and just Islamic society.^[9]

Hadith

The Shia accept some of the same hadiths of Muhammad used by Sunnis as part of the sunnah and the basis of divine law and religious practice. In addition, they consider the sayings of Ahl al-Bayt that are not attributed directly to Muhammad as hadiths. Shia do not accept many Sunni hadiths unless they are also recorded in Shia sources or the methodology of how they were recorded can be proven.^[9]

Related: Sunni Islam · Sunni: key facts and timeline · Culture and traditions of Sunni

External references: ^[9][10][11]

Sunni in the Philippines

The succession to Muhammad in 632 led the Muslims to be split into two camps: the Sunnis, who believed that the caliphs of the Islamic community should be chosen by a council, as in Saqifa; and a second group, the Shia, who believed that Muhammad had named his successor to be Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law. Today there are differences in religious practice and jurisprudence, traditions, and customs between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Although all Muslim groups consider the Quran to be divine, Sunni and Shia have different opinions on interpretations (hadith) of the Quran.^[9]

Demographics

Sunni Muslims are the vast majority of Muslims in most Muslim communities in Central Asia (including China). Within Shia Islam about 85% are Twelver, and within Twelver Shia, the overwhelming majority follow the Usuli school of jurisprudence. In Iran, an officially Shia country since 1501, around 90–95% of Muslims are Shia.^[9]

Mahdi

The Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam. While Shia and Sunnis differ on the nature of the Mahdi, many members of both groups believe that the Mahdi will appear at the end of the world to bring about a perfect and just Islamic society.^[9]

Hadith

The Shia accept some of the same hadiths of Muhammad used by Sunnis as part of the sunnah and the basis of divine law and religious practice. In addition, they consider the sayings of Ahl al-Bayt that are not attributed directly to Muhammad as hadiths. Shia do not accept many Sunni hadiths unless they are also recorded in Shia sources or the methodology of how they were recorded can be proven.^[9]

Related: Sunni Islam · Sunni: key facts and timeline · Culture and traditions of Sunni

External references: ^[9][12][13]

Sunni Region

The Sunni Region (Arabic: الإقليم السني), also called the Arab-majority Sunni Region, or in secular usage as West Iraq (Arabic: غرب العراق), is a proposed autonomous federal region of Iraq that would encompass all Arab Sunni-majority governorates of the country. The purpose of which is to allow the Sunni Arab population mainly located in the west of Iraq to exercise a degree of local self-rule, akin to the Kurdistan Region. Also proposed is the Anbar Region (Arabic: إقليم الأنبار), a proposed federal region that encompasses solely the Anbar Governorate.^[14]

History

Before 2003, Iraq's Sunni-majority regions were politically dominant under the Arab Socialist Union and later Ba'ath Party under Saddam Hussein, and many urban Sunnis were relatively wealthy and secular, identifying primarily as culturally "Arabs" or "Iraqi Arabs" in a pan-Arab, Iraqi nationalist or Nasserist sense rather than along sectarian lines. Formal proposals for Sunni autonomy were largely absent, as Sunni Arabs controlled much of the country's political, military, and economic structures and had little incentive for regional self-rule. The closest model of federal autonomy in Iraq was the 1970 Iraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement, which applied only to the Kurdish north.^[14]

Federal government opposition and killings

The Shia Muslim-led central government's opposition to federal autonomy is rooted in a deep-seated fear that a decentralized Sunni region would lead to the country's fragmentation. Under the leadership of successive Shia-dominated administrations, the state has viewed these federalist ambitions as a fundamental threat to national sovereignty. To limit the movement, the government has frequently deployed Iraqi Armed Forces to stop protests and arrest activists, often under the pretense of maintaining public order.^[14]

Conflict with Assyrian Christian autonomy

While Sunni federalist groups advocate for a federal region to shield and protect their interests from central government overreach, Assyrians and other Christian groups fear that such an arrangement would effectively swallow their ancestral lands (and the Assyrian-majority city of Qaraqosh), leaving them as a vulnerable minority within a larger sectarian government arrangement. Although the Nineveh Governorate has a large Christian minority, it still has a Sunni Arab majority and is considered a crucial part of the Iraqi Sunni Arab homeland. Regions of Nineveh are also claimed by Kurdistan and Turkmeneli regional movements.^[14]

Tikrit Region and Iranian Involvement

In 2011, the Provincial Council of Saladin Governorate attempted to establish an autonomous Tikrit federal region by invoking Article 119 of the Iraqi Constitution. This proposal, which sought to create a standalone Sunni Arab entity separate from broader initiatives in Anbar or Nineveh, was immediately blocked by the central government. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki denounced the move as a sectarian plot and a "Ba'athist project," alleging it was designed to transform the province into a safe haven for former regime members.^[14]

Arab Gulf Involvement

Shia-aligned actors in Iraq's federal government have criticized Gulf-led engagement around western Iraq as an attempt to institutionalize a theoretical autonomous Sunni region to be more closely aligned with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council than with Baghdad. Supporters of the region emphasize Western Iraq's distinct identity, noting that the majority of Iraqi Sunni tribes have historical roots and familial ties in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as broader Bedouin and cultural connections across the Arab Gulf.^[14]

Reception

In 2024, Abdul-Hamid al-Hassan, an influential senior member of Dulaym, categorically rejected any calls to create new federal regions in the country and called on all Sunni Arab tribes of Iraq to "renounce anyone who attends conferences that aim to divide the country into disintegrated states that are subject to external interference". On the other hand, Raad Sulayman, another senior member of Dulaym, and an ardent supporter of the proposal has claimed that 90% of Iraq’s Arab Sunni population support the idea and that there is international support in this regard as well.^[14]

Related: Sunni Islam · Sunni: key facts and timeline · Culture and traditions of Sunni

External references: ^[14][15][16]