Who are Salafis, Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites and Wahhabis? The difference between Sunnis and Salafis

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The Islamic world has many religious movements. Each faction has its own views on the correctness of faith. Because of this, Muslims, who have different understandings of the essence of their religion, come into conflict. 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 a different religion. To understand the differences in views in Islam, it is necessary to study who the Salafis, Sunnis, Wahhabis, Shiites and Alawites are. Their characteristic understanding of faith causes fratricidal wars that resonate with the world community.

History of the conflict

To figure out who the Salafis, Shiites, Sunnis, Alawites, Wahhabis and other representatives of the 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 be their leader's successor. Initially, Salafis, Alawites and other directions stilldidn't exist. First came the Sunnis and Shiites. The first considered the successor of the prophet to a person elected in the Caliphate. And these people were in the majority. In those days, there were representatives of a different view in much smaller numbers. The Shiites began to choose Muhammad's successor among his relatives. The imam for them was the cousin of the prophet named Ali. In those days, the adherents of these views were called Shiite Ali.

The conflict escalated in 680 when the son of Imam Ali, whose name was Hussein, was killed by Sunnis. This has led to the fact that even today such disagreements affect society, the legal system, families, etc. The ruling elites harass those who have opposing views. Therefore, the Islamic world is restless to this day.

Modern divisions

As the second largest religion in the world, Islam over time has given rise to many sects, directions and views on the essence of religion. Salafis and Sunnis, the difference between which will be discussed below, arose at different times. Sunnis were originally a fundamental direction, and Salafis appeared much later. The latter are now considered more extremist. Many religious scholars argue that Salafis and Wahhabis can only be called Muslims with a big stretch. The emergence of such religious communities comes precisely from sectarian Islam.

In the realities of the current political situation, it is the extremist organizations of Muslims that cause bloody conflicts in the East. They have significant financial resources and cancarry 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.

Sunnis and their beliefs

The most numerous (about 90% of all Muslims) in Islam is a group of Sunnis. They follow the path of the Prophet and recognize his great mission.

The second fundamental book after the Koran for this direction of religion is the Sunnah. Initially, its content was transmitted orally, and then it was formalized in the form of hadiths. Adherents of this direction are very sensitive to these two sources of their faith. If there is no answer to a question in the Qur'an and Sunnah, people are allowed to decide according to their reasoning.

Sunnis differ from Shiites, Salafis and other movements in their approach to the interpretation of hadith. In some countries, following the precepts based on the life example of the Prophet came to a literal understanding of the essence of righteousness. It happened that even the length of the beard of men, the details of clothing had to exactly comply with 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 tend to believe that they do not need an intermediary to perceive the word of God, so power is transferred by election.

Shia and their ideology

BUnlike the Sunnis, the Shiites believe that divine power is passed on to the successors of the Prophet. Therefore, they recognize the possibility of interpretation of his prescriptions. This can only be done by people who have a special right to do so.

The number of Shiites in the world is inferior to the Sunni direction. The Salafis in Islam are radically opposite in their views on the interpretation of the sources of faith, comparable to the Shiites. The latter recognized the right of the successors 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 the Shiites allowed themselves unlawful innovations in the understanding of the Sunnah. That is why their views are so opposite. There are a huge number of sects and movements that have taken the Shiite understanding of religion as the basis. These include Alawites, Ismailis, Zaidis, Druze, Sheikhs and many others.

This Muslim trend is dramatic. On the day of Ashura, Shiites in different countries hold mourning events. This is a heavy, emotional procession, during which the participants beat themselves to the blood with chains and swords.

Representatives of both the Sunni and Shiite directions are composed of many groups that can even be attributed to a separate religion. It is difficult to penetrate into all the nuances even with a close study of the views of each Muslim movement.

Alawites

Salafis and Alawites are considered newer religious movements. On the one hand, they have many principles similar to the orthodox directions. Alawites many theologiansattributed to the 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 direction is manifested in the freedom of views on the prescriptions of the Koran and the Sunnah.

This religious group has a distinctive feature called taqiyya. It lies in the ability of an Alawite to perform the rites of other beliefs, while maintaining their views in the soul. This is a closed group with many trends and views.

Sunnis, Shiites, Salafis, Alawites oppose each other. It manifests itself to a greater or lesser extent. Alawites, called polytheists, according to representatives of radical trends, are more harmful to the Muslim community than "infidels."

It really is a separate faith 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, Alawites can read the Gospel. Sunnis can coexist peacefully with Alawites. Conflicts are started by aggressive communities, for example, Wahhabis.

Salafis

Sunnis have spawned many denominations within their religious group, to which a variety of Muslims belong. The Salafis are one such organization.

They formed their basic views in the 9th-14th centuries. Their main principle of ideology is to follow the way of life of their ancestors, who led a righteous existence.

All over the world, including Russia, there are about 50 million Salafis. They do not accept any innovation regarding the interpretation of faith. This direction is also called fundamental. Salafis believe in one God, criticize other Muslim movements that allow themselves to interpret the Koran and the 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 direction. Of course, Salafis in Russia also live in small communities. They are more resentful not of Christians, but of “infidel” Shiites and their derivatives.

Wahhabis

Wahhabis are one of the new radical trends in the Islamic religion. At first glance, they look like Salafists. Wahhabites deny innovations in faith, fight for the concept of monotheism. They do not accept everything that was not in the original Islam. However, the hallmark of the Wahhabis is their aggressive attitude and their understanding of the basic foundations of the Muslim faith.

This trend arose in the 18th century. This advocacy movement originates from the preacher Najad Muhammad Abdel Wahhab. He wanted to "purify" Islam from innovations. Under this slogan, he organized an uprising, as a result of which the neighboring lands of the Al-Katif 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 broketheir opponents in Central Arabia. In 1932 he created the state of Saudi Arabia. During the development of oil fields, the 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 wore 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 the Salafis and Wahhabis are, one should consider their basic ideological principles. Researchers argue that these two religious communities are identical in meaning. However, one should distinguish between the Salafi direction and the Takfiri direction.

Today the reality is that the 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, the Wahhabis are completely different from the Salafis-Sunnis. It all depends on who is meant by the common name. True Salafis are representatives of a large group of Sunni Muslims. They should not be confused with radical sects. Salafis and Wahhabis, which are fundamentally different, have different views on religion.

Now these two essentially opposite groups are mistakenly synonymized. Salafi Wahhabisarbitrarily accepted as the fundamental principles of their faith features completely alien to Islam. They reject the entire body of knowledge (nakl) transmitted by Muslims from the most 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 Sharihad (territory subject to religion). They do not respect monuments, ancient graves, and they consider the Prophet simply an intermediary between Allah and people, not experiencing before him the reverence inherent in all Muslims. According to Islamic principles, jihad cannot be declared arbitrarily.

Wahhabism also allows you to lead an unrighteous life, but after accepting a "righteous death" (blowing yourself up to destroy the "infidels") a person is guaranteed a place in paradise. Islam considers suicide a terrible sin that cannot be forgiven.

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, by Salafis it is customary to mean Wahhabis-takfirites. If such groupings are taken in a crippled meaning, a number of differences can be distinguished.

Salafis who have abandoned their true nature, who share radical views, consider all other people as apostates who deserve punishment. Salafis-Sunnis, on the contrary, even Christians and Jews are called "People of the Book", who profess an early belief. They can peacefully coexist withrepresentatives of other views.

To understand who the Salafis are in Islam, one 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 the new radical groups reject them, replacing the true ideology with principles that are beneficial to themselves. It is simply a means of manipulating 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 down and recognized as false. Instead, people's minds were artificially planted with concepts and behaviors that were beneficial to the ruling elite. It is a destructive force that recognizes the killing of women, children and the elderly as a good deed.

Breaking Enmity

Deepening into the study of the question of who the Salafis are, one can come to the conclusion that the use of the ideology of religious movements for the selfish purposes of the ruling elite ignites wars and bloody conflicts. At this time there is a change of power. However, people's faith should not become the cause of fratricidal enmity.

As the experience of many states of the East shows, representatives of both orthodox directions 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 dissidents -they are enemies.

An example of the peaceful coexistence of adherents of different faiths in the Muslim community is the family of Syrian President Bashad Assad. He professes the Alawite direction, and his wife is a Sunni. It celebrates both Sunni Muslim Eid al-Adh and Christian Easter.

Deepening into the Muslim religious ideology, one can understand in general terms who the Salafis are. Although they are usually identified with the Wahhabis, the true essence of this faith is far from such views on Islam. Rough replacement of the basic principles of the religion of the East with principles beneficial to the ruling elite leads to an aggravation of conflicts between representatives of various religious communities and bloodshed.