The Islamic world has many religious movements. Each group has its own views on the correctness of faith. Because of this, Muslims who have different understandings of the essence of their religion enter into conflicts. Sometimes they gain great strength and end in bloodshed.
There are even more internal disagreements among different representatives of the Muslim world than with people of other religions. To understand the differences in views in Islam, it is necessary to study who the Salafis, Sunnis, Wahhabis, Shiites and Alawis are. Their characteristic features of understanding of faith become the cause of fratricidal wars, causing resonance in the world community.
History of the conflict
To understand who the Salafis, Shiites, Sunnis, Alawites, Wahhabis and other representatives of Muslim ideology are, one should delve into the beginning of their conflict.
In 632 AD. e. Prophet Muhammad died. His followers began to decide who would succeed their leader. Initially, Salafis, Alawites and other movements did not yet exist. First there were Sunnis and Shiites. The first considered the prophet's successor to be a person chosen in the caliphate. And such people were the majority. In those days there were representatives of a different view in much smaller numbers. The Shiites began to choose Muhammad's successor from among his relatives. The prophet's cousin named Ali became their imam. In those days, adherents of these views were called Shia Ali.
The conflict escalated in 680 when Imam Ali's son, Hussein, was killed by the Sunnis. This has led to the fact that even today such disagreements affect society, the legal system, families, etc. The ruling elites oppress representatives of opposing views. Therefore, the Islamic world is still unsettled to this day.
Contemporary divisions of opinion
Being the second largest religion in the world, Islam over time has given rise to many sects, trends and views on the essence of religion. Salafis and Sunnis, the difference between which will be discussed further, arose in different periods of time. The Sunnis were initially the fundamental movement, and the Salafis appeared much later. The latter are today considered a more extremist movement. Many religious scholars argue that Salafis and Wahhabis can only be called Muslims with great reserve. The emergence of such religious communities comes precisely from sectarian Islam.
In the realities of the modern political situation, it is extremist organizations of Muslims that become the cause of bloody conflicts in the East. They have significant financial resources and can carry out revolutions, establishing their dominance in Islamic lands.
The difference between Sunnis and Salafis is quite big, but this is at first glance. A deeper study of their principles reveals a completely different picture. To understand it, one should consider the characteristic features of each of the directions.
Countries that support Shiism
Those who are followers of Ali are considered to be small in number relative to Sunnism; there are no more than ten percent of them in the world. However, in some cases they occupy entire countries. The Shiites who live, for example, in Iran, occupy almost its entire territory in terms of their numbers.
In addition, Ali’s followers are more than half of the population of Iraq, as well as a fairly large part of those who profess Islam in Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Bahrain. A smaller number of them is observed in other countries of the East. For example, Shiite Chechens are gaining in numbers with the support of the authorities (of course, this event has its dissatisfied people). Many adherents of the “pure religion” - Sunnism - consider provocative actions when the literature and teachings of Shiism are freely available, which leads to an increase in the number of believers.
Thus, we can say that the Shiites are a fairly serious political force, especially recently, when the internal confrontation between the two movements has resulted in military action.
Sunnis and their beliefs
The largest group (about 90% of all Muslims) in Islam is the Sunni group. They follow the path of the Prophet and recognize his great mission.
The second fundamental book for this branch of religion after the Koran is the Sunna. Initially, its contents were transmitted orally, and then were formalized in the form of hadiths. Adherents of this trend are very sensitive to these two sources of their faith. If there is no answer to any question in the Qur'an and Sunnah, people are allowed to decide according to their own reasoning.
Sunnis differ from Shiites, Salafis and other movements in their approach to the interpretation of hadiths. In some countries, following the injunctions based on the life example of the Prophet reached the literal understanding of the essence of righteousness. It happened that even the length of a man’s beard and details of clothing had to exactly correspond to the instructions of the Sunnah. This is their main difference.
Sunnis, Shiites, Salafis and other directions have different views on the connection with Allah. Most Muslims are inclined to believe that they do not need an intermediary to perceive the word of God, so power is transferred through elective means.
Shiites and their ideology
Unlike Sunnis, Shiites believe that divine power is passed on to the heirs of the Prophet. Therefore, they recognize the possibility of interpretation of its instructions. This can only be done by those people who have a special right to do so.
The number of Shiites in the world is inferior to the Sunni movement. Salafis in Islam have radically opposite views on the interpretation of the sources of faith, comparable to Shiites. The latter recognized the right of the heirs of the Prophet, who are the leaders of their group, to be mediators between Allah and people. They are called imams.
Salafis and Sunnis believe that Shiites allowed themselves unauthorized innovations in their understanding of the Sunnah. That's why their views are so opposite. There are a huge number of sects and movements that have taken the Shiite understanding of religion as their basis. These include Alawites, Ismailis, Zaydis, Druze, Sheikhites and many others.
This Muslim movement is characterized by drama. On the day of Ashura, Shiites in different countries hold mourning ceremonies. It is a difficult, emotional procession during which participants beat themselves bloody with chains and swords.
Representatives of both Sunni and Shiite movements include many groups that can even be classified as a separate religion. It is difficult to delve into all the nuances even with a close study of the views of each Muslim movement.
The East is a delicate matter, Petrukh!
Tensions between Shiites and Sunnis are the main cause of many bloody wars in the Middle East and North Africa. This division, which is essentially purely religious, has had real social and political consequences. Moreover, the entire East is split along these lines - even the struggle for regional dominance is taking place between Sunni and Shiite states, where the leaders are, respectively, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Of course, there are more Sunni states, however, this does not smooth out the contradictions, since hostility has been going on for too long, which no one wanted to stop.
The conflict in Syria began largely for the same reason - the ruling minority (Alawites) did not reflect the real socio-religious composition of the population, so this caused dissatisfaction among the Sunni majority. It should be noted that the Alawites are followers of a synthetic sect that combines the teachings of Christianity and Ismailis, as well as some pre-Islamic faiths. As a result, some believe that they cannot be called Muslims at all. The Assad family are representatives of this particular branch of Islam. Syria as a whole is a multi-religious state, as Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, Druze, and many smaller sects live here. However, the most key confrontation is between the Sunnis and the Shiites, as other groups mostly aligned themselves with one side or the other. For example, Christians have traditionally supported the Assad family and the Alawites thanks to Hafez al-Assad's wise policies to improve relations with them.
It is difficult to calculate the number of representatives of the Alawite branch of Shiism, since there is no corresponding column in the population censuses in both Turkey and Syria (and they live in these two states). But according to rough estimates, there are about 12% of them in Syria (2.5 million people). The places of their compact settlement are Latakia and Tartus. It should be noted that it was in these territories that during the entire war, government troops did not give up their positions. And the Russian air operation also took place from the territory of these two governorates. It was the Alawites that Assad relied on as the support of the regime, since Syria’s internal troops consisted almost entirely of this ethnic minority.
It is worth noting the complexity of the country’s religious and ethnic composition, since belonging to a particular ethnic group is determined precisely by religion. Accordingly, two identities intersect, which influences their significant strengthening and aggravation of ethnic and religious feelings. Thus, we see that despite the fact that Assad’s authoritarianism was completely secular, his reliance on representatives of his own ethnic group did not lead to the unification of all groups into a single nation, but only further separated them. At this stage of the conflict, many Alawites are simply tired of the war and refuse to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, so they desert from the army. However, desertion is also observed among other opposing forces.
The centuries-old conflict continues
Many Muslims sincerely dislike Alawites, considering them a heresy, and their religion a distortion of the true faith. Alawites, in turn, are also in no hurry to establish ties with Muslims; they are rather moving closer to Christians. However, thanks to a series of declarations, the Alawites declared themselves part of Shiite Islam. Under Bashar al-Assad, there was a process of active rapprochement between Syria and Shiite Iran. And that is why all the nearby Sunni countries wanted to strike some blow at this union and began to sponsor the active growth of radical groups in Syria in order to further aggravate the conflict, and then spread it to Iraq.
At the moment, the confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis has taken on a very fierce form. Shiites are mainly represented by Bashar al-Assad's troops, as well as Iranian military aid and Lebanese Hezbollah. But there are Sunnis both in the opposition and in radical terrorist groups. In particular, the opposition is more or less secularized and aimed at the civilian goals of establishing democratic rule, while radical paramilitary formations are distinguished by extreme Islamism and a willingness to die for faith and the caliphate. Of course, this is both the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State. In words, the West maintains contact exclusively with the secular opposition and does not help the Islamists in any way, while at the same time, from the point of view of suppressing the Assad regime, it is more effective to have as many parties to the conflict as possible.
The war between Sunnis and Shiites has continued since the split of Islam in the eighth century. And a particularly aggressive position in it is taken by Sunnis, who often do not recognize Shiites as Muslims in principle. The Islamic State is an example of radical Sunnism, the goal of which is to create a caliphate, in contrast to Al-Qaeda, which fought against the global and regional dominance of first the USSR and then the United States. The reason for this difference is that ISIS is a new generation of radicals who are no longer guided by purely negative goals, such as freeing themselves from the oppression of superpowers, but are interested in creating a true Muslim state from Spain to China. Consequently, their social base is larger, since jihad is a devout action for any Muslim. Many experts assess the desire to create a caliphate as a manifestation of frustration among young Muslims associated with the disastrous situation in their states compared to the so-called “golden billion.”
Let's return to Shiites and Sunnis. The same difficult history of relations was in Iraq, since the first person there to begin the persecution of Shiites was Saddam Hussein. And everything would have been fine, but after the fall of his regime there was no longer anyone to restrain the deep-seated contradictions between religious confessions. Western countries behaved in exactly the same way - they played on religious contradictions for their own purposes. Thus, Great Britain preferred to give power in its colonies to large Sunni clans, while the Shiites found themselves on the periphery of political life, which is why uprisings regularly broke out.
But the United States, on the contrary, brought the Shiite majority to power in Iraq, after which it left the country’s government to independently deal with the discontent of the former ruling clans. It is not surprising that the country’s new Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in turn, began to pursue an anti-Sunni policy. In particular, Sunnis lost high positions in the army, which took away their powerful leverage. As a result, part of the Iraqi population now very much welcomes ISIS, considering them the best alternative to the state that oppresses them in every possible way. Such processes indicate that the new government is unable to initiate national reconciliation and only wants to take revenge on the former elite.
Spread of Shia throughout the Middle East
It must be said that Iraq and Iran are now the defenders of Shiites around the world. In particular, Iraq is home to a huge number of Shia holy places, where pilgrims from all over the world go. For example, Karbala, where the tomb of Imam Hussein (grandson of Muhammad) is located. Consequently, these monuments are now under threat of destruction due to the rise of ISIS. This makes Iran want to help in every possible way in the fight against the Islamic State in order to protect the holy places. Lebanese Hezbollah, consisting of Shiites, also promised to do everything to protect the shrines, including the active destruction of Sunnis. However, at the moment there is a significant threat of the Sunni minority coming to power in Iraq thanks to the forces of the Islamic State. This will be a failure for Iran, since not so long ago the country fought a long military conflict with Saddam Hussein.
The most difficult aspect of the situation in Iraq is that local Sunnis have a negative attitude towards and fear of government forces. Consequently, they can only rely on ISIS to protect their rights. Therefore, the situation is truly stalemate. However, not all Iraqi Sunnis are supporters of ISIS - many of them want to fight against terrorists and even ask the state for military assistance, but the latter does not trust them and ignores these demands. As a result, many people began to leave their homes and go to Baghdad as refugees. We see that due to the ill-conceived and narrow-mindedness of Iraq’s policy towards the Sunnis, the state is prolonging the war indefinitely and openly sabotaging the fight against Daesh.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia wants to defend its claims to hegemony in the region. The country morally, financially and militarily supports Sunnis in the Middle East in every possible way. Their policy is aimed primarily at the spread of Salafi Islam, which is why huge financial flows come out of Saudi Arabia to support paramilitary Salafi groups. Arabia feels real danger as the number of Shia countries near the country's borders increases. In particular, in Bahrain, the Shiite majority has long been dissatisfied with the Sunni government and it is not known what this will lead to. In Yemen, the Saudis are trying in vain to suppress the spread of Zaydism, one of the Shiite sects. And about 15% of Shiites live inside the country, who inhabit the oil-bearing areas in the east.
Riyadh became concerned about its status back in 2003, when a decision was made to form a Shiite government in Iraq. Now it seems to them that Iran is always to blame for everything, since Tehran has long been striving to become the center of the Islamic world. It became even worse when Iran ceased to be an outcast and began to establish foreign policy relations with the Western world (in particular, this concerns oil exports). Thus, we can say that ISIS appeared precisely where the Sunnis were disadvantaged quite severely. These are mainly territories where the Shia elite ruled, and the access of others to power was significantly limited.
Of course, ISIS is far from being an army of fanatics, but a fairly well-organized force, which is not much different in discipline from a regular state army. Among the terrorists are professional soldiers and strategists who can skillfully direct people into battle. The Salafis also have a large amount of modern weapons, which they managed to capture or buy with donated money. The only thing that distinguishes them as radical Islamists is their commitment to terrorism and suicidal attacks.
What are the differences between Sunnis and Shiites
The Russian air operation in Syria was perceived by many experts and participants in the conflict as participation in a religious war, they say they are helping the Shiites fight the Sunnis. Therefore, many Shiite countries reacted positively to this information, while Sunni countries did the opposite. The conflict is unlikely to be resolved peacefully, since its roots lie in the lack of adequate representation of different religious groups in politics, as well as in the incorrect image of the outsider, which is deliberately constructed by politicians.
Let's get back to the point - how do Sunnis differ from Shiites? It is believed that when Islam arose, the community of believers (ummah) was united. However, in the seventh century AD, Caliph Uthman was killed and it was then that a split occurred among Muslims. Further, this split only increased as the caliphate expanded. At the same time, the conquered peoples combined the tenets of Islam with their traditional views, which led to the active development of various sects, which further strengthened the religious diversity of the ummah. These processes provoked an active reaction from orthodox theologians, which, in fact, resulted in the emergence of different types of Islam. Each direction interpreted the true faith in its own way and intended to unite the entire ummah precisely on the basis of its views.
The term “Ahl al-Sunnah” itself was introduced a century later to designate devout Muslims. It was invented by Ibn Sirin. This was done in order to condemn the spread of “untrue” faith among various sects. Thus, the Sunnis initially managed to maintain unity and prevent the emergence of any innovations in the religion. Traditionalism among Sunni theologians is explained by the fact that the prophet Muhammad allegedly predicted the split of Islam into opposing sects, but among them there would be a true ummah that would be saved. It is believed that these lucky ones will be the Sunnis, since the presence of diverse schools among them does not in any way harm unity.
The tenets of Sunnism were formulated precisely as a result of polemics with other schools, such as Shiites, Kharijites, and so on. After which purely Sunni schools arose, such as Ash'arites, Salafis, Maturids, which later became orthodox for Sunnism.
Currently, Sunnis are the largest group of Muslims, making up 90% of all believers in Allah (more than 1.5 billion people). Their dogma is to follow the Sunnah, that is, the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, his actions and quotes. In addition, loyalty to tradition and universal participation in the election of the caliph are postulated. It should be noted that the content of Sunniism is clearer than Shiism, as we will see later.
Salafism is one of the areas of Sunnism that advocates a return to the traditions of the early Muslim community. All subsequent innovations are recognized as unrighteous and harmful. Western contacts are even more considered undesirable, and religion is understood in the form in which Muhammad interpreted it.
The main postulate of this movement is the unity of God, therefore Islam must be cleansed of heresies that contain admixtures of various cultural characteristics of other peoples. In addition, Salafis believe that each person can independently communicate with Allah, without the help of intermediaries. This faith is characterized by a ban on the veneration of the relics of saints or the veneration of prophets, since this is a manifestation of polytheism. Salafism aims to unite the entire ummah based on the original version of Islam. At the moment, many radical Islamist groups adhere to this trend.
Religious divisions of Syria
Wahhabism is another current of Islam that is characteristic of modern jihadists. Its creator, Muhammad ibn Wahhab, believed that only the first three generations of Muslims practiced true Islam, so again he was against any innovation. From the point of view of social scientists, the reasons for the emergence of Wahhabism are socio-political in nature, since it appeared among poor Bedouins who protested against the power of the rich. In particular, this happened during the onset of drought and mudflows, due to which the production base of the economy was significantly reduced. As a result, the tax burden became unbearable, and the nobility seized all irrigation facilities.
Many modern Wahhabis deny this name for their faith, saying that they are ordinary Salafis. Wahhabis deny that their religion requires the killing of infidels, but it is aimed at uniting the Muslim community, so schismatics must be punished. Currently, Wahhabism is recognized as an extremist movement in Islam, as it denies traditional Sufism. In the 1990s, fundamentalism seeped into the North Caucasus, where it led to violent clashes between Wahhabis and adherents of traditional Islam.
If we talk about Shiism, it can be completely different. The Shiites are united only by the recognition of the descendants of Ali ibn Abu Talib as the legitimate heirs of the Prophet Muhammad. The predominant school is the so-called Twelvers. Shiites are distinguished by the idea that the ummah can be led exclusively by an imam, appointed by Allah himself. But the imam must be elected exclusively from the descendants of that same Ali. The Shiites have a negative attitude towards the caliphate, since the caliphs were not chosen by Allah. In total, Shiites make up 20% of the total number of Muslims. They make up the majority of the population in Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan and Bahrain, and a third of the population in Lebanon and Kuwait.
Thus we see how seemingly small differences can cause people to hate and kill each other for centuries. Today, the most formidable Sunni force is the Islamic State, which this time has decided to unite the ummah in a caliphate the size of all of Eurasia. So far they have not succeeded, but they have managed to plunge the entire Middle East into the chaos of civil wars and religious contradictions. We've already written about who benefits and who supports whom, so there are doubts that religion really lies at the root of current events. Most likely, it serves as a screen behind which real politics is carried out in all its unseemly ways.
ps
You can also read about causes and effects:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_currents
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism
Alawites
Salafis and Alawites are considered newer religious movements. On the one hand, they have many principles similar to orthodox movements. Many theologians classify Alawites as followers of Shiite teachings. However, due to their special principles, they can be distinguished as a separate religion. The similarity of the Alawites with the Shiite Muslim trend is manifested in the freedom of views on the prescriptions of the Koran and Sunnah.
This religious group has a distinctive feature called taqiyya. It lies in the ability of an Alawite to perform rituals of other beliefs, while maintaining his views in his soul. This is a closed group in which many trends and ideas meet.
Sunnis, Shiites, Salafis, Alawites oppose each other. This manifests itself to a greater or lesser extent. Alawites, called polytheists, according to representatives of radical movements, do more harm to the Muslim community than “infidels.”
It is truly a separate belief within a religion. Alawites combine elements of Islam and Christianity in their system. They believe in Ali, Muhammad and Salman al-Farsi, while celebrating Easter, Christmas, honoring Isa (Jesus) and the apostles. At worship services, Alawites can read the Gospel. Sunnis can live peacefully with Alawites. Conflicts are started by aggressive communities, for example, Wahhabis.
Salafis
Sunnis have given rise to many sects within their religious group, to which a wide variety of Muslims belong. Salafis are one such organization.
They formed their basic views in the 9th-14th centuries. Their main principle of ideology is to follow the lifestyle of their ancestors, who led a righteous existence.
All over the world, including in Russia, there are about 50 million Salafis. They do not accept any innovations regarding the interpretation of faith. This direction is also called fundamental. Salafis believe in one God and criticize other Muslim movements that allow themselves to interpret the Koran and Sunnah. In their opinion, if some places in these shrines are incomprehensible to a person, they should be accepted in the form in which the text is presented.
In our country there are about 20 million Muslims of this denomination. Of course, Salafis in Russia also live in small communities. They are more hostile not to Christians, but to “infidel” Shiites and their derivative movements.
Before the adoption of Islam, Arabs were pagans
Many tourists and history buffs ask: what religion did the Arabs have before Islam?
To answer this, you need to know that Islam arose among the Arabs in the northwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula at the beginning of the 7th century.
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Islam appeared in the northwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula at the beginning of this century
Moreover, before its appearance, the Arabs were familiar with the religion of neighboring peoples: Judaism and Christianity. They gained knowledge about them while visiting Israel and Judea. The Arabs themselves had no single state or organized political power. By religious beliefs, the Arabs were pagans.
Idolatry was widespread. Each tribe had its own god in the form of some kind of animal or sculpture made of stone or wood. Such figures could be found in the mountains, near water sources.
Dushara is a deity of the ancient Arabic pantheon. Before the advent of Islam, the Arabs had many gods. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org
Mecca played an important role in the religious life of the pre-Islamic Arab world. It housed the ancient Kaaba temple, especially revered by the Arabs. A “black stone” was set into the eastern corner of the temple. This gave the temple a special holiness.
As a sign of veneration of the temple, many tribes placed their stone gods - idols - in it. In total there were about 360 of them. The guardians of the Kaaba were the Quraysh, they had the keys to the temple, they provided the pilgrims with food, water, and clothing.
At the same time, fairs were held in Mecca, where merchants made all sorts of trade transactions, receiving large financial income from them.
Before the rise of Islam, the Arabs had three hundred and sixty idols.
The Kaaba Temple was made of gray stone about 12 - 15 meters high. In the center of the Kaaba stood Hubal - the main idol of the temple, according to the Arabs themselves, he had the ability to cause rain. There were also idols in the temple in the form of women, animals, and birds. Gifts were brought to the Kaaba and it was decorated.
On religious holidays, the ritual of animal sacrifice was widespread. Many pilgrims flocked to Mecca, who performed the rite of purification and prayed for three days.
Wealthy people of the Quraish tribe lived in the center of the city, in rich neighborhoods; newcomers and less wealthy people settled on the outskirts.
Al-Khpram Mosque and Mecca in the 18th century. In the pre-Islamic period, Mecca was of great importance for the Arabs who practiced paganism. Today it is the holy city of Muslims. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org
Today, Mecca is the holy city for Muslims. It is located in the emirates (United Arab Emirates). Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering or entering it.
For modern Arabs, Islam is practically the only religion, so it is impossible to meet pagan Arabs in our world. You need to know all this in order to understand what religion arose among the Arabs before Islam.
Wahhabis
One of the new radical trends in the Islamic religion are the Wahhabis. At first glance they look like Salafis. Wahhabis deny innovations in faith and fight for the concept of monotheism. They do not accept anything that was not in original Islam. However, the distinctive feature of the Wahhabis is their aggressive attitude and their understanding of the basic foundations of the Muslim faith.
This movement arose in the 18th century. This championing movement originates from the preacher Najad Muhammad Abdel Wahhab. He wanted to “cleanse” Islam of innovations. Under this slogan, he organized an uprising, as a result of which the neighboring lands of the Al-Qatif oasis were captured.
In the 19th century, the Wahhabi movement was crushed by the Ottoman Empire. After 150 years, Al Saud Abdelaziiz was able to revive the ideology. He defeated his opponents in Central Arabia. In 1932, he created the state of Saudi Arabia. During the development of oil fields, American currency flowed like a river into the Wahhabi clan.
In the 70s of the last century, during the war in Afghanistan, Salafi schools were created. They carried a radical type of Wahhabi ideology. The fighters trained by these centers were called Mujahideen. This movement is often associated with terrorism.
The difference between Wahhabism-Salafiism and Sunni principles
To understand who Salafis and Wahhabis are, one should consider their basic ideological principles. Researchers argue that these two religious communities are identical in meaning. However, it is necessary to distinguish the Salafi direction from the Takfiri one.
The reality today is that Salafis do not accept new interpretations of ancient religious principles. Acquiring a radical direction of development, they lose their fundamental concepts. Even calling them Muslims is a stretch. They are connected with Islam only by the recognition of the Koran as the main source of the word of Allah. Otherwise, Wahhabis are completely different from Sunni Salafis. It all depends on who is meant by the general name. True Salafis are members of a large group of Sunni Muslims. They should not be confused with radical sects. Salafis and Wahhabis, whose differences are fundamental, have different views on religion.
Now these two essentially opposite groups are mistakenly synonymized. Wahhabis-Salafis arbitrarily adopted features completely alien to Islam as the fundamental principles of their faith. They reject the entire body of knowledge (nakl) transmitted by Muslims since ancient times. Salafis and Sunnis, whose difference exists only in some views on religion, are opposite to Wahhabis. They differ from the latter in their views on jurisprudence.
In fact, the Wahhabis replaced all the ancient Islamic principles with new ones, creating their own sharihad (religious territory). They do not respect monuments, ancient graves, and they consider the Prophet simply a mediator between Allah and people, without experiencing the reverence inherent in all Muslims. According to Islamic principles, jihad cannot be declared arbitrarily.
Wahhabism allows one to lead an unrighteous life, but after accepting a “righteous death” (exploding oneself to destroy the “infidels”) a person is guaranteed a place in heaven. Islam considers suicide a terrible sin that cannot be forgiven.
Ash'arites
The 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
10th century
Ideas
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.
The essence of radical views
Salafis are mistakenly associated with Wahhabis. Although their ideology still corresponds to the Sunnis. But in the realities of the modern world, Salafis usually mean Wahhabi-takfiris. If we take such groupings in their distorted meaning, a number of differences can be identified.
Salafis, who have abandoned their true essence and share radical views, consider all other people to be apostates who deserve punishment. Sunni Salafis, on the other hand, even call Christians and Jews “People of the Book” who profess an early belief. They can coexist peacefully with representatives of other views.
To understand who the Salafis are in Islam, you should pay attention to one truth that distinguishes real fundamentalists from self-proclaimed sects (which, in fact, are Wahhabis).
Sunni Salafis do not accept new interpretations of the ancient sources of the will of Allah. And new radical groups reject them, replacing the true ideology with principles beneficial to themselves. It is simply a means of controlling people for their own selfish purposes in order to achieve even greater power.
This is not Islam at all. After all, all its main principles, values and relics were swept aside, trampled upon and declared false. Instead, concepts and behavior patterns that were beneficial to the ruling elite were artificially implanted in people’s minds. This is a destructive force that recognizes the murder of women, children and the elderly as a good deed.
Overcoming hostility
Having delved into the study of the question of who the Salafis are, we can come to the conclusion that the use of the ideology of religious movements for the selfish purposes of the ruling elite fuels wars and bloody conflicts. At this time there is a change of power. However, people's faith should not become the reason for fratricidal enmity.
As the experience of many Eastern countries shows, representatives of both orthodox movements in Islam can coexist peacefully. This is possible with the appropriate position of the authorities in relation to the religious ideology of each community. Any person should be able to profess the faith that he considers correct, without claiming that dissenters are enemies.
An example of the peaceful coexistence of adherents of different faiths in the Muslim community is the family of Syrian President Bashad al-Assad. He professes the Alawite movement, and his wife is Sunni. It celebrates both the Muslim Sunni Eid al-Adh and the Christian Easter.
Delving deeper into Muslim religious ideology, one can understand in general terms who the Salafis are. Although they are usually identified with Wahhabis, the true essence of this faith is far from similar views on Islam. Rough replacement of the basic principles of the religion of the East with principles beneficial to the ruling elite leads to aggravation of conflicts between representatives of different religious communities and bloodshed.
Kharijites
Kharijites are representatives of the religious and political movement Kharijism, and the name of this movement translated from Arabic means “those who left” or “who spoke out.” This movement was predominantly radical in nature and began during the reign of Caliph Ali after the Battle of Siffin. The founders of the movement were some soldiers of Caliph Ali, who were not satisfied with the result of the arbitration court; they considered themselves enemies of Muawiyah and Ali, after which they took the path of war and switched to active sabotage and military actions against them.
By the end of the eighth century, a series of splits occurred among the Kharijites, and the movement split into several movements - Sufrits, Ibadis, Ajradites, Bayhasites, Najdats, Azraqites, Muhakkimits and some others. By the end of the twentieth century, the number of Kharijites began to number up to three million people. In Oman, Kharijism has a dominant character - in this state it is represented by a group of Ibadis who have lost their active intolerance towards non-believers.
