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Sunni Muslims are the of Islam, Muhammad . They represent the branch of Islam that accepted the ''' Caliphate ''' of Abu Bakr due to him being chosen by Shurah . Shurah over the '' Caliphate '' is the first distinguishing factor of Sunni Islam. DEMOGRAPHICS See Also: Demographics of Islam There are many challenges to demographers attempting to calculate the proportion of the world's Muslim population who adhere to each of the main traditions. For instance, there is no Sunni–Shi'a breakdown available for many countries, and the '' CIA World Factbook '' gives a Sunni–Shi'a breakdown only for countries where Shi'a are a significant minority. When no breakdown is given, all the country's Muslims have been enrolled, provisionally, in the Sunni column. Thus, the exact percentage of the world's Muslim population that adheres to the various Shi'a sects, as opposed to the majority Sunni group, is indeterminate. Nevertheless, using various sources, one can arrive at an estimate of roughly 10–15 percent Shi'ite. However, other reasonably acceptable calculations indicate an estimate as low as 7.5 percent Shi'a.1 In fact, the 2006 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica states that "the total Shi'ite movement comprises probably less than 10 percent of the Islamic world." Clearly, much further work will be required before these Sunni-Shi'a statistics can be considered reliable. SUNNI SCHOOLS OF LAW (''MADHHAB'') Islamic law is known as the '' Shari'ah .'' The ''Shari'ah'' is based on the '' Qur'an '' and the '' Sunnah ,'' and those who ascribe to different interpretations of the law pray in the same Mosques with no enmity between them. The four major Sunni schools of law are as follows, and their respective founders:
Hanafites ''Abu Hanifa'' (d. 767), was the founder of the Hanafi school. He was born in Iraq. His school is considered to have more reason and logic than the other schools. Muslims of Pakistan, India and Turkey follow this school.
Malikites ''Malik ibn Abbas''(d. 795) developed his ideas in Medina, where he apparently knew one of the last surviving companions of the Prophet. His doctrine is recorded in the Muwatta which has been adopted by most Muslims of Africa except in Lower Egypt, Zanzibar and South Africa. The Maliki legal school is the branch of ''Sunni'' that dominates in nearly all of Africa, except Egypt, the 'Horn' area and the East Coast countries.
Shafi'ites ''Al-Shafi'i'' (d. 820) was considered a moderate in most areas. He taught in Iraq and then in Egypt. Present Muslims in Indonesia, Lower Egypt, Malaysia, and Yemen follow this school. He placed great emphasis on the sunna of the Prophet, as embodied in the Hadith, as a source of the sharia.
Hanbalites ''Ahmad ibn Hanbal'' (d. 855) was born in Baghdad . He learned extensively from al-Shafi'i. Despite persecution, he held to the doctrine that the Koran was uncreated. This school of law is followed primarily in the Arabian Peninsula . These four schools are somewhat different from each other, but Sunni Muslims generally consider them all equally valid. There are other Sunni schools of law, although many are followed by only small numbers of people and are relatively unknown due to the popularity of the four major schools; also many have died out or were not sufficiently recorded by their followers to survive. Interpreting the ''Shari'ah'' to derive specific rulings (such as how to pray) is known as '' Fiqh ,'' which literally means understanding. A '' Madhhab '' is a particular tradition of interpreting ''fiqh.'' These schools focus on specific evidence (Shafi'i and Hanbali) or general principles (Hanafi and Maliki) derived from specific evidences. The schools were started by eminent Muslim Scholars in the first four centuries of Islam. As these schools represent clearly spelled out methodologies for interpreting the ''Shari'ah,'' there has been little change in the methodology per se. However, as the social and economic environment changes, new ''fiqh'' rulings are being made. For example, when Tobacco appeared it was declared as 'disliked' because of its smell. When medical information showed that Smoking was dangerous, that ruling was changed to 'forbidden'. Current ''fiqh'' issues include things like Download ing pirated Software and Cloning . The consensus is that the ''Shari'ah'' does not change but ''fiqh'' rulings change all the time. A ''madhhab'' is not to be confused with a religious sect. There may be scholars representing all four ''madhhabs'' living in larger Muslim communities, and it is up to those who consult them to decide which school they prefer. Many Sunnis advocate that a Muslim should choose a single ''madhhab'' and follow it in all matters. However, rulings from another ''madhhab'' are considered acceptable as Dispensation s (''rukhsa'') in exceptional circumstances. Some Sunnis however do not follow any ''madhhab,'' indeed some Salafi s reject strict adherence to any particular school of thought, preferring to use the '' Qur'an '' and the '' Sunnah '' alone as the primary sources of Islamic law. SUNNI THEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS Some Islamic scholars faced questions that they felt were not specifically answered in the ''Qur'an'', especially questions with regard to philosophical conundrums like the Nature Of God , the possibility of human Free Will , or the eternal existence of the ''Qur'an.'' Various schools of Theology and Philosophy developed to answer these questions, each claiming to be true to the ''Qur'an'' and the Muslim tradition (''sunnah''). There were the following dominant traditions:
SUNNI VIEW OF ''HADITH'' The ''Qur'an'' as we have it today was compiled by Sahabah in approximately 650 CE, and is accepted by all Muslim denominations. However, there were many matters of belief and daily life that were not directly prescribed in the ''Qur'an,'' but simply the practice of the community. Later generations sought out Oral Tradition s regarding the early history of Islam, and the practice of Muhammad and his first followers, and wrote them down so that they might be preserved. These recorded oral traditions are called ''hadith''. Muslim scholars sifted through the ''hadith'' and evaluated the chain of narration of each tradition, scrutinizing the trustworthiness of the narrators and judging the strength of each ''hadith'' accordingly. Most Sunni accept the ''hadith'' collections of Bukhari and Muslim as the most authentic ('' Sahih ,'' or correct), and grant a lesser status to the collections of other recorders. These two books (Bukhari and Muslim) are strict in their accuracy and are, therefore, recognized by all Sunni Muslims. There are, however, six collections of ''hadith'' that are held in particular reverence by Sunni Muslims: There are also other collections of ''hadith'' which, although less well-known, still contain many authentic ''hadith'' and are frequently used by specialists. Examples of these collections include:
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