Heresy in Islam
Encyclopedia
Heresy in Islam concerns the relationship that larger Islamic bodies have with smaller or newer Muslim sects that dissent from a previous religious or social orthodoxy.
—Sunnis
and the Shi'as
—have at times regarded the other as heretical.
to the family of Ali bin Abi Talib and his Lineage which places them above the Prophets of God
. This has manifested itself in Shi'a prayers to saints and imams which is forbidden by Sunni Islam
. It has been argued that they have turned Islam into cult that insults the Islamic Prophet Mohammed's closest companions
and turns faith into an everlasting struggle for power and corruption. Scholars have since called them "Rafidha" which means "those who refuse the truth" and many no longer believe that Shi'i should be considered Muslims.
s, the Hurufiya, the Alawi
s, the Bektashi
and even the Sufis, have also been regarded as heretical by some, such as the ultra-conservative Salafi
. Although Sufism is often accepted as a valid religious form by Shi'a and many Sunnis, the relatively recent movement of Wahhabism
view it as heretical (which in turn is viewed as heresy by Sunni and Shi'a).
Faiths like Druze
and Bahá'í Faith
although now separate religions, have their roots in Islam and were considered by some Muslims to be heresies when they first appeared since they emerged as alternative currents in Islamic culture, and were founded by people who were considered to be Muslims, much as Christianity is viewed by some to be a Jewish heresy, or Islam a Christian heresy.
and the Nation of Islam
are regarded by many Muslim
Ulema
as being apostate, but in the case of the Ahmadiyya
movement, attitudes towards designating the sect apostatical, heretical or Islamic differ depending on region or Islamic schools of thought. In Pakistan
, where many Ahmadis live, the state considers the group to be apostatical; whereas in the neighbouring state of Iran
, the same group is considered to fall within the bounds of Islamic belief.
Another example concerning the Ahmadiyya movement is the Al-Azhar Islamic University
in Egypt
, which accepts a certain Ahmadi belief concerning the nature of prophethood in Islam, considered by other schools as being heretical, to fall within Islamic jurisdiction.
:
In addition, the Qur'an (which Muslims believe is the word of Allah) states:
The late Saudi scholarMuhammad ibn al Uthaymeen
wrote:
Muslims do not all agree on what constitutes bid`ah—or a new way of worshipping Allah—or whether innovation includes details of clothing, eating, drinking, speech, etc., or only more narrow religious matters. When a religious innovation is committed, it is generally felt that the innovator is assuming that the Sunnah
is not good enough, that he must resort to something "better." There are some innovations that imply unbelief or shirk
, and there are some that are rejected (even when committed in all sincerity) without casting doubt upon that person's status as a Muslim believer.
Sunni- Shi'a relations
Scholars representing the two main bodies of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
—Sunnis
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
and the Shi'as
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...
—have at times regarded the other as heretical.
Shi'as
Shi'i have been considered amongst the oldest sects to be considered as heretical they are mostly criticized for their granting the power of intercessionCommunion of Saints
The communion of saints , when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, those on earth, in heaven, and, for those who believe in purgatory, those also who are in that state of purification.They are all part of a single "mystical body",...
to the family of Ali bin Abi Talib and his Lineage which places them above the Prophets of God
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
. This has manifested itself in Shi'a prayers to saints and imams which is forbidden by Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
. It has been argued that they have turned Islam into cult that insults the Islamic Prophet Mohammed's closest companions
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
and turns faith into an everlasting struggle for power and corruption. Scholars have since called them "Rafidha" which means "those who refuse the truth" and many no longer believe that Shi'i should be considered Muslims.
Wahhabis
The famous 18th century Saudi Sheikh, Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab earned the disapproval and opposition of those around him because his purist interpretation of Islam warned against innovation and folk practices such as the worship at Saints shrines, supplication at sacred sites, trees etc. Since Abdul Wahab tried to call them to a more austere form of monotheistic practice, his followers have come to be known as 'Wahhabis'. They destroyed the tombs and have even made the Prophet's tomb off limits to visitors. In the West Wahhabis have been equated with "fundamenalist" interpretations of the religion (deen) but there have been many such "reform" movements within Islam, which are described by such writers as 13th century Muslim sociologist Ibn Khaldoun.Smaller Islamic sects
Groups like the Khawarij are most often seen as extremely heretical, while the IsmailiIsmaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
s, the Hurufiya, the Alawi
Alawi
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are a branch of Shia Islam.-Etymology:...
s, the Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
and even the Sufis, have also been regarded as heretical by some, such as the ultra-conservative Salafi
Salafi
A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...
. Although Sufism is often accepted as a valid religious form by Shi'a and many Sunnis, the relatively recent movement of Wahhabism
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
view it as heretical (which in turn is viewed as heresy by Sunni and Shi'a).
Faiths like Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
and Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
although now separate religions, have their roots in Islam and were considered by some Muslims to be heresies when they first appeared since they emerged as alternative currents in Islamic culture, and were founded by people who were considered to be Muslims, much as Christianity is viewed by some to be a Jewish heresy, or Islam a Christian heresy.
Ahmadiyya
Both the AhmadiyyaAhmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
and the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
are regarded by many Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
as being apostate, but in the case of the Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
movement, attitudes towards designating the sect apostatical, heretical or Islamic differ depending on region or Islamic schools of thought. In Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, where many Ahmadis live, the state considers the group to be apostatical; whereas in the neighbouring state of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, the same group is considered to fall within the bounds of Islamic belief.
Another example concerning the Ahmadiyya movement is the Al-Azhar Islamic University
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, which accepts a certain Ahmadi belief concerning the nature of prophethood in Islam, considered by other schools as being heretical, to fall within Islamic jurisdiction.
Bid'ah in religious matters
Islam forbides religious innovation (bid‘ah) (Arabic: بدعة), because as Muhammad stated in a hadithHadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
:
In addition, the Qur'an (which Muslims believe is the word of Allah) states:
The late Saudi scholarMuhammad ibn al Uthaymeen
Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen
Sheikh Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Saalih ibn Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen at-Tamimi an-Najdi was one of the most prominent Sunni Islamic scholars of the latter half of the twentieth century...
wrote:
Muslims do not all agree on what constitutes bid`ah—or a new way of worshipping Allah—or whether innovation includes details of clothing, eating, drinking, speech, etc., or only more narrow religious matters. When a religious innovation is committed, it is generally felt that the innovator is assuming that the Sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
is not good enough, that he must resort to something "better." There are some innovations that imply unbelief or shirk
Shirk (polytheism)
In Islam, shirk is the sin of idolatry or polytheism. i.e. the deification or worship of anyone or anything other than the singular God, or more literally the establishment of "partners" placed beside God...
, and there are some that are rejected (even when committed in all sincerity) without casting doubt upon that person's status as a Muslim believer.
Categories of believers and unbelievers
Some categories of believers and unbelievers in Islam are:- Mu'minMu'minMūʾmin is an Arabic Islamic term frequently referenced in the Qur'an, literally meaning "believer", and denoting a person that has complete submission to the Will of Allah, and has faith firmly established in his heart, i.e...
: A muslim believer. - FajirFajirIn the context of Islam, a fajir ) is a "wicked evil-doer", i.e. a "sinner by action". Compare kafir, a "sinner by disbelief in Allah".- External links :*"Fajir" in ....
: A muslim who is wicked or an evil doer, a sinner (by action). - FasiqFasiqFasiq is an Arabic term referring to someone who violates Islamic law. However, it is usually reserved to describe someone guilty of openly and flagrantly violating Islamic law and/or someone whose moral character is corrupt....
: A muslim who openly violates Islamic law. - MunafiqMunafiqMunāfiq is an Islamic Arabic term used to describe a religious hypocrite, who outwardly practices Islam, while inwardly concealing his disbelief , perhaps even unknowingly....
: A hypocrite, one who does not believe in Islam, but declares as a muslim (mainly used in non religious context). - KafirKafirKafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
: An unbeliever, an apostate from Islam, a person who hides, denies, or covers the truth. - Murtad: Apostate , A previous muslim who no longer accepts Islam.
- Ahl al-KitâbPeople of the BookPeople of the Book is a term used to designate non-Muslim adherents to faiths which have a revealed scripture called, in Arabic, Al-Kitab . The three types of adherents to faiths that the Qur'an mentions as people of the book are the Jews, Sabians and Christians.In Islam, the Muslim scripture, the...
: "People of the Book", members of the monotheistic religions whose holy books share the Qur'anQur'anThe Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
's origins, i.e. JewsJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Christians - Sharqui: "Idolater" or "OrientalOrientalismOrientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
", people perceived by Muslims to practice idolatryIdolatryIdolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
, ie HinduHinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s, Buddhists, JainsJainismJainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
and the Indian religions in general, as well as Taoists, Shintoists and other far-eastern religions.