BRANCHES
OF ISLAM:
At the death of
Muhammad in
Medina, the Prophet's preference to
follow him was Ali. Ali was the husband of his daughter, the
Egyptian Fatima, and the father of
his only surviving grandsons Hasan and Husayn. But while the family
was busy burying the
Prophet the leaders of Medina elected the aging Abu Bakr, the father
of the Prophet's
favorite wife, as the successor ("caliph"), even before the burial of
the
Prophet. Ali and his family were dismayed but agreed for the sake of
unity, and because
Ali was still young... however, after the murder of the third caliph,
Ali was invited by
the Muslims of Medina to accept the caliphate, resulting in the major
schism of
Islam:
- The "Sunnis", followers
of
Abu (father
of the Prophet's
favorite wife), the majority, with
800 million Muslims.
- The "Shiites", followers
of Ali (husband of his daughter),
with 100 million Muslims (Iran, Iraq,
Palestine).
These and other
branches all accept the basic tenets
laid down in the
Koran.
The Sunni:
800 million:
- The
followers of Abu (father
of the Prophet's
favorite wife).
- called
"Sunni" because they accept the "sunnas", the oral traditions and
interpretations of the Koran after Muhammad's death, called the
"sunnas", and
later the "Hadiths".
- Generally
more liberal.
- They
belief the
"caliph" ("successor") of Muhammad should always be elected, not
conferred by heredity. During the Ottoman Turks, the
Caliphs were called "Sultans".
- Until 1959
they refuse to recognize the Shiites as true Muslims.
- They believe in
"predestination".
The Shiite:
100 million:
- The followers of Ali (husband of
his daughter).
- Called "Shiite from the
word for partisan/supporter/helper.
- Generally
more orthodox and militant.
- Located mainly in
Iran, Iraq, and Palestine.
- Created the office of the "Imam"
("leader"
or "guide"), who were infallible, one for each generation, the only
source of
religious instruction and guidance, and all in direct descendence of
Ali.
- The last Imam, the 12th, went into hiding in 940, and
he will emerge later
to rule the world as "Mahdi" ("Messiah"). An Ayatollah
("sign of God") sees
himself as a caretaker of the office of
the Imam,
until the 12th Imam returns at the end of time. Ayatollah Khomeini claimed
that he
was a descendant of the 7th Imam.
In 656, Hussein, son of Ali and Fatima, led a
fight against the
Sunnis. Hussein was torture and beheaded, and today the Shiites of Iran
honor the memory
of Hussein's death with an annual procession in which marches in a
frenzied demonstration
beat and whip themselves with chains and branches.
The Wahhabi:
- Founded by
al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century,
- The primary force in
the creation of the
state of Saudi Arabia in 1932,
the country of the cities of Mecca and
Medina.
- Have the most strict, severely
enforced moral standard of
conduct, and their call
for a pure Islam regulated by a literal interpretation of the
Koran. For
them, it is polytheistic
to visit the graves of the saints, and they are against observance of
the feast of the
Birth of the Prophet. They discourage such Western innovations as
cinema and
dancing.
- The
Wahhabis: The Fanatical Reformists of Modern Islam
- Is the major influence on Osama bin Laden.
The Ismailis:
- the group
of Shiites who followed
the
older son, Ismail when the
6th Imam died.
- They
are now in parts of India,
Egypt, and are the rulers of Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Bahrain.
- The
"Ismaili Druze"
are in Lebanon,
Syria, and Israel, trying to have an independent state.
- The Ismaili
"Hashshashin" or "Assassins", used the drug hashish
to get exited, and became famous for their practice of seizing Crusader
forts and
assassinating Christians. Today, known as "Khojas" or "Mawlas" in
Bombay, India, and parts of Iran, Syria, and Zanzibar.
The
Sufi ("mystic", "woolen robes"):
- a mystic group
responsible for large scale conversion of Hindus and Africans into
Islam.
- The
greatest of the Sufi poets
is "Meluana Celadin Rumi" (1207-73), from Turkey, whose work,
"Masvani", is considered second only to the Koran, and it was Rumi who
advocated
and influenced the development of the "whirling dervishes", twirl
dancing around
the master, as a means of achieving oneness with God... it requires
1,001 hours to master
the dance, once secret, now performed openly.
The Baha'i:
- Founded by
"Baha' U'llah" ("Mirza Husayn Ali") in 1863 in Iran, with the
desire "to unite mankind into one religion kingdom". In
more than 100 books, Baha'
proclaims that "the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens",
and the
"oneness of humanity, oneness of religion, oneness of God"... with "12
principles", including the independent search for truth, the unity of
all religions,
a universal language, a world confederacy of nations, a world court,
work as worship,
abolition of welth and poverty, establishment of world peace..
- The "practices" are
mostly Muslim: To pray at certain times
during the
day, and encourage to make at least one pilgrimage to their own Mecca:
The temple in the
city of "Ak'ka", near Haifa, Israel, where Baha' died and was buried,
and is the
actual world headquarters of the Baha'is.
- Baha'
claimed
to be the "Madhi" ("Messiah") expected by Muslims, Jews, Christians,
Buddhists...
- There are today 5 million Baha'is in
205 countries;
100,000 in he USA, with
the main temple and headquarters in Wilmette, Illinois.
- In
Iran, the
country of Baha, members of the Baha'i faith are severely persecuted
and often sentenced
to death for "heresy", and the Iranians destroyed the "House of Bab" in
Shiraz, the Baha'is holiest shrine.
Other Muslim
Denominations:
In
many nations there are
groups of Muslims to fight for the specific problems of that nation,
making the number of
Muslim Denominations larger than those of Christianity. In
the USA, one of these is
the "Nation of Islam" or "Black Muslims", started by Timothy Drew in
1913, and founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad, who established a mosque in
Detroit in 1931,
and claimed to be Allah incarnated. The
chief developer of the
movement was "Elijah Muhammad", assistant of Fard.
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Baath Party (also spelled Ba'th or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was
founded in 1947
as a radical, secular Arab nationalist
political party. It was strongest in Syria and Iraq, coming
to power in both countries in 1963. In 1966 the
Syrian and Iraqi parties split into two rival organizations.
Baathist beliefs combine Arab Socialism, nationalism,
and Pan-Arabism. The mostly secular ideology often
contrasts with that of other Arab governments in the Middle
East, which sometimes tend to have leanings towards Islamism
and theocracy.
Some have labelled the Baath Party a fascist
movement.
The motto of the Party is "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" (in Arabic wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya).
- "Unity" refers to Arab unity,
- "freedom" emphasizes freedom from foreign
control and interference in particular, and
- "socialism" refers to what
has been termed Arab Socialism rather than to Marxism.