Why are Muslims divided into sects / different schools of thought?

Question

When all the Muslim follow one and the same Qur’an then why are there so
many sects and different schools of thoughts among Muslims?

Answer 1

It is a fact that Muslims today, are divided amongst themselves. The tragedy is
that such divisions are not endorsed by Islam at all. Islam believes in fostering
unity amongst its followers.
The Glorious Qur’an says:
“And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for
you), and be not divided among yourselves;” [Al-Qur’an 3:103]
Which is the rope of Allah that is being referred to in this verse? It is the Glorious
Qur’an. The Glorious Qur’an is the rope of Allah which all Muslims should hold
fast together. There is double emphasis in this verse. Besides saying ‘hold fast
all together’ it also says, ‘be not divided’.
Qur’an further says,
“Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger” [Al-Qur’an 4:59]
All the Muslim should follow the Qur’an and authentic ahadith and be not
divided among themselves.

It is Prohibited to make sects and divisions in Islam
The Glorious Qur’an says:
“As for those who divide Their religion and break up into sects, thou
hast no part in them in the least: Their affair is with Allah: He will in the
end tell them the truth of all that they did.” [Al-Qur’an 6:159]
In this verse Allah (swt) says that one should disassociate oneself from those
who divide their religion and break it up into sects.
But when one asks a Muslim, “who are you?”, the common answer is either ‘I
am a Sunni, or ‘I am Shia’. Some call themselves Hanafi, or Shafi or Maliki or
Humbali. Some say ‘I am a Deobandi’, while some others say ‘I am a Barelvi’.

Our Prophet was a Muslim
One may ask such Muslims, “Who was our beloved prophet (pbuh)? Was he a
Hanafi or a Shafi, or a Humbali or a Maliki?” No! He was a Muslim, like all the
other prophets and messengers of Allah before him.
It is mentioned in chapter 3 verse 52 of Al-Qur’an that Jesus (pbuh) was a Muslim.
Further, in chapter 3 verse 67, Al-Qur’an says that Ibrahim (pbuh) was not a
Jew or a Christian but was a Muslim.

If anyone poses a Muslim the question who are you, he should say “I am a
MUSLIM, not a Hanafi or a Shafi”. Surah Fussilat chapter 41 verse 33 says
“Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to Allah, works
righteousness, and says, ‘I am of those Who bow in Islam (Muslim)?’ ”
[Al-Qur’an 41:33]
The Qur’an says “Say I am of those who bow in Islam”. In other words, say,
“I am a Muslim”.

The Prophet (pbuh) dictated letters to non-Muslim kings and rulers inviting
them to accept Islam. In these letters he mentioned the verse of the Qur’an
from Surah Ali Imran chapter 3 verse 64:
Say ye: “Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah’s Will).”
[Al-Qur’an 3:64]

We must respect all the great scholars of Islam, including the four Imaams,
Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi, Imam Humbal and Imam Malik (may Allah be
pleased with them all). They were great scholars and may Allah reward them for
their research and hardwork. One can have no objection if someone agrees
with the views and research of Imam Abu Hanifa or Imam Shafi, etc. But when
posed a question, ‘who are you?’, the reply should only be ‘I am a Muslim’.

Some may argue by quoting the hadith of our beloved Prophet from Sunan Abu
Dawood Hadith No. 4579. In this hadith the prophet (pbuh) is reported to have
said, “My community will be split up into seventy-three sects.”
This hadith reports that the prophet predicted the emergence of seventy-three
sects. He did not say that Muslims should be active in dividing themselves into
sects. The Glorious Qur’an commands us not to create sects. Those who follow
the teachings of the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith, and do not create sects are the
people who are on the true path.
According to Tirmidhi Hadith No. 171, the prophet (pbuh) is reported to have
said, “My Umma will be fragmented into seventy-three sects, and all of them will
be in Hell fire except one sect.” The companions asked Allah’s messenger
which group that would be. Where upon he replied, “It is the one to which I and
my companions belong.”
The Glorious Qur’an mentions in several verses, “Obey Allah and obey His
Messenger”. A true Muslim should only follow the Glorious Qur’an and the
Sahih Hadith. He can agree with the views of any scholar as long as they
conform to the teachings of the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith. If such views go
against the Word of Allah, or the Sunnah of His Prophet, then they carry no
weight, regardless of how learned the scholar might be.
If only all Muslims read the Qur’an with understanding and adhere to Sahih
Hadith, Inshallah most of these differences would be solved and we could be
one united Muslim Ummah.

Answer 2

THE REAL TRUTH

1. there are 2 main sects the Sunni and the Shia and there are several subgroups of each. The stuff they disagree about is so trivial that a non-muslim wouldn't understand that they are even different groups. One issue for instance is whether to hold your hands folded on front of you during ritualprayer or to hold them at your side. Nothing big.

2. The Sunni and Shia whiach are the two main opposing sects actually differ very little on DOCTRINE as far as what they believe and how they practice. The split between Sunni and Shia occurred 1400 years ago after the death of the prophet Muhammad(pbuh).

Muhammad(pbuh) was both a spiritual and a governmental leader and when he died the question was who would lead the community and who was to be the authority on spiritual matters? The Sunni are the group that chose to grant authority to the COMPANIONS of Muhammad (pbuh) The Shia are the group that believed the FAMILY of Muhammad was the true authority. (Shia is really short for Shiat ul Ali or the partisans of Ali because they supported Muhammads(pbuh) son in law ALI as the authority.

3. All arguments between Sunni and Shia stem from this age old conflict . Well to be honest the Persians muslims are mostly Shia and the Arabs are mostly Sunni and Persians and Arabs can't stand each other so that has been a contributing factor in some areas . But the differences in doctrine are very small and one who is not a muslim would probably have trouble seeing that there was any real theological difference at all.

How do I know??
Because I am a muslim and I started out as a Sunni and later became Shia .

Answer 3

i read all the answers,the majority of these answers are incorrect.Muhammad humself predicted this division by saying (Hadith) :
"the Jews have divided into 71 groups,the Christians into 72 groups and Islam(umatty) will into 73 groups"

the numbers are symbolic,he wanted to say muslims division will be greater than Jews' & Christians'.
What is tragic in Islam's division is its brutality,bloodshedness,and some islamic sects have nothing to do with the initial dogma of islam.

Answer 4

The Islamic world has produced several learned Islamic scholars (Imams), but out of these, four became more famous and their teachings spread in different parts of the world.

It is a misconception that a Muslim should follow any one of these four schools of thoughts i.e. Hanafi, Shafi, Hanbali or Maliki. There is no proof whatsoever in the Qur’an or any authentic Hadith that a Muslim should only follow one of these four Imams.

Respect all the Great Scholars of Islam.

We must respect all the great scholars of Islam, including the four Imaams, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi, Imam Hanbal and Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with them all). They were great scholars and may Allah reward them for their research and hard work. One can have no objection if someone agrees with the view and research of any one or more from these four great scholars
All Four Imam said follow the Qur’an and Sunnah.

All the four great Imams said that if any of their Fatwas or teachings contradict Allah’s word, i.e. the Qur’an, or the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) i.e. authentic Hadith, then that particulars Fatwa of theirs should be rejected, and the Sunnah of the Prophet should be followed.

Refer:

a.Eeqaadh al-Himam, Al Fulaanee (Imam Abu Hanifa)

b.Al-Majmoo’ of an-Nawawee (1/63) (Imam Shafi)

c. Jaami ‘Bayan al-Ilm, Ibn Abdul-Barr (Imam Malik)

d.Eeqaadh al-Himam (Imam Hanbal)

To give you an example in this context – Imam shafi said that when a women touches a man who is in a state of wudhu, the wudhu of the man breaks. However, this ruling of Imam Shafi contradicts the authentic saying of the Prophet

I personally have no objection if someone calls himself Hanafi, Shafi, Hanbali, Maliki or Ahle Hadith. People give different labels to themselves to identify which set of teachings they prefer to follow and to disassociate themselves from those people who follow wrong practices. From history we come to know that all the labels given to different groups, at a later stage the people from that group themselves did not follow their teachings and made new sub-groups. Therefore in all the groups you find a sub-division.

But as far as giving a label to identify what a person practices in Islam is concerned, there can not be better label than what Allah (swt) has given i.e. a Muslim

Some may argue by quoting the Hadith of our beloved Prophet, from Sunan Abu Dawood Hadith No. 4579. In this Hadith the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, “My community will split up into seventy-three sects.”

This hadith reports that the prophet predicted the emergence of seventy-three sects. He did not say that Muslims should be active in dividing themselves into sects. The Glorious Qur’an commands us not to create sects. Those who follow the teachings of the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith, and do not create sects are the people who are on the true path.

According to Tirmidhi Hadith No. 171, the prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, “My Ummah will be fragmented into seventy three sects, and all of them will be in Hell fire except one sect.” The companions asked Allah’s messenger which group that would be. Where upon he replied, “It is the one to which I and my companions belong”.

The Glorious Qur’an mentions in several verses, “Obey Allah and obey His Messenger”. A true Muslim should only follow the Glorious Qur’an and the Sahih Hadith. He can agree with the views of any scholar as long as they conform to the teachings of the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith. If such views go against the Word of Allah, or the Sunnah of His Prophet, then they carry no weight, regardless of how learned the scholar might be. A true Muslim will not follow any ruling or teaching of any great scholar of Islam if that particular ruling or teaching contradicts the Qur’an and Saheeh Hadith.

Thus, the only school of thought that a Muslim should follow, is that of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The only Madhab that a Muslim should follow, is the Madhab of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). And Allah knows the Best.

Answer 5

Thanks For Your Question

Well its normal in any belief system that by time it gets divided into sects like Christianity for ex.

as for Islam it is now two major sects. Sunnah and Shiaa and unlike what people say they both love each other and both go to pilgrimage with each other and the differences are not so major unlike other beliefs

Answer 6

A lot of christians are devided into sects called denominations for example Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, it's just because of the different interpretations different people have to the same origin of faith, hope that helps.

Answer 7

some days before prophit mohammad died he was told by god via an angel to introduce his causen called Ali as the leader of muslims after him and he did so in a desert near Mecca.theres alot of evidence on this and most muslims now agree on this but after he died there were people among his folowers who thought they diserved to lead and then their followers made different groups & branches many of wich are diverted from the main thing.now 2 of the main groups are the Shiats(the followers of Ali)& the sonis

Answer 8

cause there was like 4 different preachers that were mohammed's companions and one of them happened to be mohammed's cousin(ali) so a huge group of people thought Ali should've took over the muslim nation and become their leader, but others thought it was unfair cause ali(mohammed's cousin) is very young and those other 3 companions are older than him, so it was a matter of respect, so since then they were divided into two sects shia and sunni, Shia believed in Ali until some of them have turned him into almost a freaking god, and sunnis thought ehh it was all fine but on both sides you have extremists, so it's like kind of christians and catholics. but kinda sucks

Answer 9

And Christians don't (Catholics, Baptist, Pentecostal, Anglican)

Point is, no matter the religion different people have different ways of interpreting the same readings, and the most influential and charismatic not to mention ambitious of them start their own schools to spread their interpetations around. If they're lucky their teachings get passed down and if not the idea dies with them.

Answer 10

Not only Muslims but all religions are divided in sects. Christians, Jews, Buddhists...all of them.