How many versions of Islam is there?

Question

This is a serious question based upon some of the answers I've been getting to a couple of other questions. I have been reading sistani.org (a person claiming to be a "Grand Ayatollah") and questions came up. One person said that that site only speaks for a small minority and that it's not "true Islam". I am curious on several issues. YES, I am a faithful Christian.

Answer 1

Hahah funny question There is only one islam. There are schols of thoughts but not versions of Islam. the schools of thought interpret what we call Sharia law: they read teh Quran and let us know what the prophet said and how Islam was practiced. You have Hanife, Hambeli, Shafi, Maliki :) Those are just schools of thought not ""brands of islam"

Answer 2

there are to main sects of islam - sunni and shi'a. The reason for the split was when Muhammed died and there was the question of who was his successor? Some believe that at Ghadir Al-Khumm Muhammed said "to enter the door of the fieled of knowledge you must enter through Ali" so he had a few followers who believed he was the successor (the shia) ... but the Sunni's believe the succession belong to Abu Bakr, who was a member of the Quraysh tribe (same tribe as muhammed) and was a close friend of Muhammed aswell as the 2nd muslim to convert. The majority followed Abu Bakr.

but under shi'a u have other groups. you have the ithna ashara, zaydis and ismailis. There is also the Alawites which are mainly found in Syria... they are concidered muslims but believe God made a mistake and the message was suppose to come down to Ali not Muhammed.

Answer 3

There is only one version of Islam. but there are a few sects. All the Muslims have a few things in common which is part of our belief and faith. It includes:-
1. One God(Allah), 2. Last prophethood of Muhammad(PBUH), 3. All the Prophets (including Jesus, Adam, Abraham, Noah and Ismail, Joseph, David and many more). 4. Relevations of Allah (Bible, Torah, Zaboor, and Quran), 5. Life after death, the hell and heaven. 6. The angels (are creatures of God), and 7. The day of judgement.

What group a muslim may belong to, he will never tell you anything other than above. The divisions are only due to the difference in minor dealings and routines.

Answer 4

Like christianity has different branches(Protestantism, Catholicism, Orthodox...) Islam has branches too. There are two of them: Sunni and Shi'ia.

Most muslims are sunnis, but the shi'is are the muslims that live in Iran and some parts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The difference between both, originated from a rupture in early Islam.

Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. They are referred to as Ahl ul-Sunna (Arabic: أهل السنة; "people of the tradition"). The word Sunni comes from the word sunna (Arabic : سنة ), which means the tradition of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. Sunnis are also referred to as Ahl ul-Sunna wa-l-Jama'ah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of tradition and congregation) which implies that the Sunnis are united. They represent the branch of Islam that came through the caliphate, which started with Abu Bakr, the first of the four caliphs called ''Legitimate Caliphs'', that ruled the early muslim empire. These were: Abu Bakr, Umar, Utman and Ali.

Shi'a Islam, also Shi'ite Islam, or Shi'ism (Arabic:شيعة, Persian:شیعه translit: ShÄ«‘ah) is a denomination of the Islamic faith. It is short for ShÄ«'at 'Ali (Arabic: شيعةعلي‎ ​, or "the party of 'Ali"). Even though it is the second largest denomination of Islam, among the hundreds of millions of Muslims Shi'a muslims are considered to be a minority in number. Shi'a Muslims adhere to what they consider to be the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the religious guidance of his family whom they refer to as the Ahlul Bayt. Thus, Shi'as consider the first three ruling caliphs of Islam a historic occurrence and not something attached to faith. The singular/adjective form is ShÄ«'Ä« (شيعي.) and refers to a follower of the Household of Muhammad and of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Imam Ali) in particular.

Shi'a Islam, like Sunni Islam, has at times been divided into many branches but only three of these currently have a significant number of followers. The best known and the one with most adherents is Twelvers (also known as اثنا عشرية Ithnā ashariyya Shi'a) the others are Ismaili and Zaidiyyah. Alawites also claim to be Shi'a, but mainstream shias denounce them as heretics.

Shi'a Islam calls its spiritual leaders ''Ayatollahs".

There are other minor denominations of Islam, but they haven't been recognized by other muslims (the sufis for example).

Hope this helped.

Answer 5

one Islam and several schools of thoughts. the major two sects are shiahs and Sunnis. both are Muslims both follow the same Quran. the difference between them is on the Hadiths (oral tradition of the Prophet) Sunnis believe in the Hadiths narrated by the Prophet's closest companion like (Abu Bakr, Aisha, Omar ibn ElKhattab,etc.) while shi'as believe in the hadiths which are narrated ONLY by the Prophet's family through his cousin Ali ibn Abi Taleb (may Allah be pleased with him).

so the difference is in the Hadiths. they follow the Quran, they follow the Prophet but reject some Hadiths which they don't trust their sources.

Answer 6

There are many versions of Islam, but not as many as in Christianity or Judism (not meant as a criticism). Just don't believe that every Muslim from whatever sect, all believe in the exact same things.

Answer 7

Islam does not have different versions. There are minor differences in how prayer and how religious days are observed.There are spiritual leaders in certain Muslim countries,But Islam is one faith and as muslims we all have the same belief.

Answer 8

Someone should tell the Sunnis and shias they have the same religion, maybe then they will stop killing each other over difference in their beliefs, every day. and have the same celebration, not different!

Guys, please don't give me thumbs down, I just don't like it hearing everyday about those people who are dying, including these two groups.

This is an interesting site, very informative.
http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_10000.html

Answer 9

There is only one Islam - that of the Qur'an and Sunnah.

Everything else is a deviation.

Answer 10

okay...again don't quote me on this... There are the 1.Shities (pronounced She-ites) 2. 2 percent (nation of islam) 3.Sunni (pronounced sue-knee)...there are some others but I cannot remember.