Sunni

(noun)

The branch of Islam that believes that a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives and that Abu Bakr was the first caliph.

Related Terms

  • Ummah
  • caliph
  • Shi'a

Examples of Sunni in the following topics:

  • Muhammad's Successors

    • After Muhammad's death in 632 CE, there were conflicts among his followers as to who would become his successor, which created a split in Islam between the Sunni and Shi'a sects.
    • Ali would eventually become the fourth Sunni caliph.
    • Sunni Muslims believe and confirm that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure.
    • Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus.
    • The followers of all four Rashidun caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali) became the majority Sunni sect.
  • The Abbasid Empire

    • However, once in power, the Abbasids embraced Sunni Islam and disavowed any support for Shi'a beliefs.
    • By 1000 CE, they had become the chief political and ideological challenge to Abbasid Sunni Islam.
    • Mahmud of Ghazni took the title of "sultan," instead of "emir," signifying the Ghaznavid Empire's independence from caliphal authority, despite Mahmud's ostentatious displays of Sunni orthodoxy and ritual submission to the caliph.
  • Expansion Under the Umayyad Caliphates

    • Allegedly, The Sunnis killed Ali's son Hussein and his family at the Battle of Karbala in 680, solidifying the Shi'a-Sunni split.
  • Post-Byzantine Egypt

    • Members of other branches of Islam, like the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites.
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