Non-denominational Muslim

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Non-denominational Muslims (

Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches.[1][2][3][4] Such Muslims do not think of themselves as belonging to a denomination but rather as "just Muslims" or "non-denominational Muslims."[5]

While the majority of the population in the

Southeastern Europe also has a large number of Muslims who do not identify with a sect.[7]

Sectarian controversies have a long and complex history in Islam and they have been exploited and amplified by rulers for political ends. However, the notion of Muslim unity has remained an important ideal and in modern times intellectuals have spoken against sectarian divisions. Surveys have reported that large proportions of Muslims in some parts of the world self-identify as "just Muslim" or "Muslim only", although there is little published analysis available regarding the motivations underlying this response.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Etymology

Non-sectarian Muslims

Muslims who do not adhere to a sect are also known as non-sectarian Muslims.[14]

Non-madhhabi

The description non-madhhabi may be used for example in relation to Islamic studies at educational institutions that are not limited in scope to one particular

Ibadis, non-denominational Muslims are not affiliated with any school of thought (madhhab).[18][19][20]

Ghayr Muqallid

The term ghair-muqallid, i.e., "non-blind-follower", can be used to describe the adherents of movements such as

Ahl-e-Hadith who do not necessarily follow the rulings of a particular traditional madhhab but identify as Sunni Muslims.[21][22][23][24]

Overview

History of sectarianism

Main article: Shia–Sunni relations

After the death of the Islamic prophet

Imams who succeeded him gradually became the embodiment of God's continuing guidance, and they tended to stress the religious functions of the caliphate and deplore its political compromises; Sunnis were more inclined to circumscribe its religious role and more readily accepted its pragmatic dimensions.[26] As these differences became increasingly vested with religious importance, they gave rise to two distinct forms of Islam.[26]

One assumption is that Sunnis represent Islam as it existed before the divisions, and should be considered as normative, or the standard.[27] This perception is partly due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works, and also because the vast majority of the population is Sunni.[27] Both Sunnism and Shi'ism are the end products of several centuries of competition between ideologies.[27] Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and divisions.[28]

During the Umayyad period, many non-Arab converts (

Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah.[30][31]

In the

Ottoman dynasties turned the military conflict between them into a religious war after the Safavids made Shia Islam the state religion in their empire.[32] During that era some Sunnis and Shias for the first time began refusing to recognize each other as Muslims.[32] Sectarianism continued to be exploited for political benefits into modern times. An example of this was the Zia regime in Pakistan, who used sectarian divisions between the Sunni and Shia to counter the growing geopolitical influence of Iran, as well as to distract from the domestic political problems.[33] Post-Zia governments in Pakistan continued to "cynically manipulate sectarian conflicts for short term political gain."[33]

Development and thought

Condemning the historically prevailing trend of blindly imitating religious leaders, the

Shia extremists as well as the ideology of nationalism, insisting that Islam was doctrinally the only nationality for all Muslims and historically the only bond that effectively tied them all together.[35]

Islam originally brought a radical egalitarianism to a fiercely tribal society, within which a person's status was based on his tribal membership.[36] The Quran set all believing individuals as equals, erasing the importance of tribal status. The primary identity of "Muslims" became simply "Muslim", rather than as a member of a tribe, ethnicity or gender. The Quranic concept of the ummah depends on this unified concept of an Islamic community, and it was appealed to again in the 19th century, as a response to colonialism by European powers.[37] One Muslim scholar leading the emphasis on Muslim unity was Muhammad Iqbal, whose views have been referred to as "ummatic".[38] Iqbal emphatically referred to sectarianism as an "idol" that needed to be "smashed forever".[39] He is quoted as having stated, "I condemn this accursed religious and social sectarianism, there are no Wahhabis, Shias or Sunnis. Fight not for interpretations of the truth when the truth itself is in danger." In his later life, Iqbal began to transcend the narrow domain of nationalist causes and began to speak to the Muslims spread all over the globe, encouraging them to unify as one community.[40]

Iqbal's influence on Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, is also well documented. Jinnah, who was born to an Ismaili Shia family and briefly converted to Sunni Islam as a young man, and his funeral led by Sunni scholar Shabir Ahmad Usmani. Jinnah publicly described himself as neither Shia nor Sunni, his standard answer to questions asking him to define his sect being: "was the Prophet Muhammad a Shia or a Sunni?[41]

Other intellectuals who spoke against sectarianism during this era were Altaf Hussain Hali, who blamed sectarianism for the decline of Muslims, the Aga Khan III, who cited it as a hindrance to progress, and Muhammad Akram Khan, who said sectarianism drained the intellectual capacities of Muslim scholars.[39]

In 1947, the non-sectarian movement Jama'ah al-Taqrib bayna al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah was founded in Cairo, Egypt.

Al-Ahzar University.[43] The movement sought to bridge the gap between Sunnis and Shi'is.[44] At the end of the 1950’s, the movement reached a wider public, as the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser discovered the usefulness of pan-Islamism for his foreign policy.[45]

Non-denominational Muslims may also defend their stance by pointing to the Quran such as Al Imran verse 103, which asks Muslims to stay united and not to become divided.[46] In Pakistan, sectarianism is cited as a hindrance to the unification of Islamic Law: "Codification of the Islamic Laws related to family and property on the basis of the concept of Talfiq[47] should also be considered. This will require strong public opinion in favour of this unification of the Islamic Law on a non-sectarian basis, as no change can be considered permanent unless it has full support of the public."[48]

Academia

There are faith schools and graduation programs with curriculums that have been described as being oriented towards non-denominational Islam.

Sunni-inclined.[50] In other jurisdictions, some officials have applied a mandatory religious instruction that purportedly gives students a non-denominational outlook in an attempt to appear pluralistic, but in practice, does no such thing.[51]

Dispersions

Western-born Muslims are more likely to be non-affiliated than immigrant Muslims,

Deobandi movement.[57]

Although some non-denominational Muslims came to their position influenced by their parents, others have come to this position irrespective and in spite of their parents.[3] Some laymen non-denominational Muslims exhibit hostility towards the notion that Islam is divided into the binary subdivisions of Sunnism and Shiaism, thereby erasing space for the unaffiliated non-denominational Muslims.[13]

Non-denominational Islam has been described as a generic or a broad run-of-the-mill approach to the faith.

Islamic clergy.[58]

Setting

In 2017, there were 144 non-denominational prayer rooms and other places of worship in the

Salafists,[62] active members of the Muslim Brotherhood,[63] those who criticise the traditional Muslim view on homosexuality,[64] or the quintessential all-embracing Ansar-ud-Din college, described as a "non-denominational Muslim institution" in Ota Ogun State, Nigeria wherein in the 1950s, all its Islam-related shelves were stocked with books solely affiliated with Ahmadiyya or from western orientalists,[65] even though Ahmadiyya is considered heretical in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Indonesia.[66]

Polls

According to a 2012

Southeastern Europe also has a large number of Muslims who do not identify with a sect.[7]

Commentary

It has been described as a phenomenon that gained momentum in the 20th century which can overlap with orthodox Sunni tenets despite adherents not adhering to any specific

Qur'an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali
states:

The people who began to trade on the names of the prophets cut off that unity and made sects; and each sect rejoices in its own narrow doctrine, instead of taking the universal teaching of unity from Allah. But this sectarian confusion is of man's making. It will last for a time, but the rays of truth and unity will finally dissipate it. Worldly wealth, power and influence may be but trials. Let not their possessors think that they are in themselves things that will necessarily bring them happiness.[71]

Organizations

Notable individuals

See also

Other religions:

References

  1. ^ a b Benakis, Theodoros (13 January 2014). "Islamophobia in Europe!". New Europe. Brussels. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Longton, Gary Gurr (2014). "Isis Jihadist group made me wonder about non-denominational Muslims". The Sentinel. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2015. THE appalling and catastrophic pictures of the so-called new extremist Isis Jihadist group made me think about someone who can say I am a Muslim of a non-denominational standpoint, and to my surprise/ignorance, such people exist. Online, I found something called the people's mosque, which makes itself clear that it's 100 per cent non-denominational and most importantly, 100 per cent non-judgmental.
  3. ^ a b Kirkham, Bri (2015). "Indiana Blood Center cancels 'Muslims for Life' blood drive". Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015. Ball State Student Sadie Sial identifies as a non-denominational Muslim, and her parents belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. She has participated in multiple blood drives through the Indiana Blood Center.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781476733920
    . Although many Iranian hardliners are Shi'a chauvinists, Khomeini's ideology saw the revolution as pan-Islamist, and therefore embracing Sunni, Shi'a, Sufi, and other, more nondenominational Muslims
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  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation". The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity. Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. August 9, 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  8. ISBN 9780761855606
    . 40 per cent called themselves "just a Muslim" according to the Council of American-Islamic relations
  9. ISBN 9781847011077
    . of Muslims identified themselves as Sunni, 12 per cent as Shi'a, 3 per cent as Ahmadiyya but 44 per cent as 'just Muslim' (Pew Forum, 2010)
  10. ISBN 9781595588050
    . A January 2004 survey by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies, for instance, asked people which description suited them best Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim or just Muslim'.
  11. ^ Boulting, Ned. On the Road Bike: The Search For a Nation's Cycling Soul. p. 155. What is your religion, asked a UN official. Muslim. Are you Shi'a or Sunni. Just Muslim
  12. ISBN 9789004272262
    . Nineteen said that they are Sunni Muslims, six said they are just Muslim without specifying a sect, two said they are Ahmadi and two said their families are Alevi
  13. ^
    ISBN 9781434896155
    . Many Iraqis take offense at reporters' efforts to identify them as Sunni or Shiite. A 2004 Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies poll found the largest category of Iraqis classified themselves as "just Muslim."
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  15. ISBN 9781441146175
    . This is due to the historical, sociological, cultural, rational and non-denominational (non-madhhabi) approaches to Islam employed at IAINs, STAINs, and UINs, as opposed to the theological, normative and denominational approaches that were common in Islamic educational institutions in the past
  16. ^ Rane, Halim, Jacqui Ewart, and John Martinkus. "Islam and the Muslim World." Media Framing of the Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014. 15-28
  17. ^ Obydenkova, Anastassia V. "Religious pluralism in Russia." Politics of religion and nationalism: Federalism, consociationalism and secession, Routledge (2014): 36-49
  18. ISBN 9781441146175
    . This is due to the historical, sociological, cultural, rational and non-denominational (non-madhhabi) approaches to Islam employed at IAINs, STAINs, and UINs, as opposed to the theological, normative and denominational approaches that were common in Islamic educational institutions in the past
  19. ^ Rane, Halim, Jacqui Ewart, and John Martinkus. "Islam and the Muslim World." Media Framing of the Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014. 15-28
  20. ^ Obydenkova, Anastassia V. "Religious pluralism in Russia." Politics of religion and nationalism: Federalism, consociationalism and secession, Routledge (2014): 36-49
  21. ^ Qasmi, Ali Usman. "Islamic Universalism: The ‘Amritsarī’Version of Ahl al-Qurʾān." Journal of Islamic Studies 20.2 (2009): 159-187.
  22. ^ Maghen, Ze'ev. "See No Evil: Morality and Methodology in Ibn Al-qattān al-Fāsī's Ahkām al-nazar bi-Hāssat al-Basar." Islamic Law and Society 14.3 (2007): 342-390.
  23. ^ Abou Zahab, Mariam. "Salafism in Pakistan." Global Salafism: Islam’s New Religious Movement, Roel Meijer (ed.)(New York: Columbia University Press, 2009) (2011): 126-142.
  24. ^ Khan, Mohammad Sharif, and Mohammad Anwar Saleem. Muslim Philosophy and Philosophers. APH Publishing, 1994.
  25. ^ a b "Shi'ism". Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia (ed. Josef W. Meri). Routledge. 2006. p. 736.
  26. ^
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  27. ^
    ISBN 9780231531924
    . It is a mistake to assume as is commonly done that Sunni Islam arose as normative from the chaotic period following Muhammad's death... This mistake is based in... the taking of later and often highly ideological sources as accurate historical portrayals - and in part on the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims throughout the world follows now what emerged as Sunni Islam...
  28. ISBN 9780231531924
    . Each of these sectarian movements... used the other to define itself more clearly and in the process to articulate its doctrinal contents and rituals.
  29. ISBN 9781107032255
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  30. ISBN 978-0-19-068946-9
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  31. ISBN 9789976956764
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  32. ^ a b Bartold, Vasily (1936). Mussulman Culture. University of Calcutta. pp. 143–144.
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  34. ^ a b c Cughtai, Muhammad Ikram (2005). Jamāl Al-Dīn Al-Afghāni: An Apostle of Islamic Resurgence. p. 454. Condemning the historically prevailing trend of blindly imitating religious leaders, al-Afghani refused to identity himself with a specific sect or imam by insisting that he was just a Muslim and a scholar with his own interpretation of Islam.
  35. ^ Hosen, Nadirsyah; Salem, Ahmed Ali; Rashid, Samory; Reda, Nevin. "American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:2".
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  38. ^ Junid, Sanusi (2002). "Iqbal and Muslim Unity". Intellectual Discourse. 10 (2, 115–124). International Islamic University Malaysia: 116. Iqbal's vision was Ummatic and hence he should be referred to as "the poet philosopher of Muslim unity."
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  41. ^ Ahmed, Khaled. "Was Jinnah a Shia or a Sunni?". The Friday Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
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  46. ^ Intra-Societal Tension and National Integration, p 119, A. Jamil Qadri - 1988
  47. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Islam defines Talfiq as "Legal term describing the derivation of rules from material of various schools of Islamic law." "Talfiq". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. 2008-05-06. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
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  49. ^ GSRC (2015). "Degree overview: Theology and religion". Retrieved 19 October 2015. Most theology schools are based in a religious tradition—a specific sect or denomination of a major religion (i.e., a branch of Rabbinical Judaism, a Catholic order, or a school of Buddhism); a general foundation in a major religion (i.e., nondenominational Islam or Christianity)
  50. ISBN 9781847011077
    . ... the Ahmadiyya (3%), the 'something else' (2%), the 'Just a Muslim' (42%), and the 'Don't Know' (4%) (Pew 2010, 21). Most of the 'Just a Muslim' are also likely to be Sunni-inclined
  51. ^ Torfs, Rik (2012). Islam, Europe and Emerging Legal Issues. p. 29. The Turkish government maintained that religious instruction was mandatory because it was objective, pluralist and neutral, that is nondenominational ... The perception of the applicants was totally different ... they argued that the teaching was done from the perspective of Sunni Islam
  52. ^ Section 2: Religious Beliefs and Practices, Pew Research Center
  53. ISBN 9781443862004
    . If people ask me "What are you, Sufi, Shiite or Sunni?" I say No, I'm just a Muslim. I follow the Quran as much as I can, and if I have questions I go to scholars, but I don't get myself involved in any divisions.
  54. ^ Roelle, Patrick (2006). Islam's Mandate- a Tribute to Jihad: The Mosque at Ground Zero. p. 374. In a 2006 survey of 1,000 Muslim registered voters, about 12% identified themselves as Shi'a, 36% said they were Sunni, and 40% called themselves "just a Muslim", according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
  55. ^ Aamir, Omer; professor Fatima Mustafa (2013). Federalism and Pakistan. Their dream of turning the conflict into an Arab against the Shiite's is turning into a reality. A dark twisted reality for the liberal non denominational Muslims
  56. ^ Kennedy, Lisa (2015). "Film review: "Timbuktu" depicts the beautiful and the brutal". The Denver Post. Retrieved 21 October 2015. In town, the jihadists have begun imposing Shariah laws on the locals. Many of the citizens are already devout, if non-denominational Muslims, but this pushes them.
  57. ^ "Do Not Mistake a Pious Muslim for a Terrorist". March 21, 2017.
  58. ^ a b c "Contemporary Islam, Non-Denominational: NDM". www.muslimcouncilofamerica.org. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  59. ^ "Preface". Pew Research Center. August 9, 2012.
  60. ^ "UK Mosque Statistics / Masjid Statistics" (PDF). MuslimsInBritain.org. 16 Sep 2017.
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  62. ^ Nielsen, Jorgen S (2018). Exploring the Multitude of Muslims in Europe. Brill Publishers. pp. 111–114. In fact, as a large number of Lithuanian converts to Islam, who are both rank and file of "Education and Heritage", are of non-denominational and / or revivalist leanings, with some of them identifying with Salafi creed, it is best to be described as a denominationally nondescript organisation.
  63. ^ University of California. Federal supplement. [First Series.] (Volume 212 ed.). p. 868. A non-denominational Muslim. I am not registered with any particular sect". He was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood; was acquainted with its constitution and took the oath described therein
  64. ISBN 9781477317488
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  65. ^ a b Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (1958). Conference Proceedings (Volume 6 ed.). The Institute. In the library of the Ansar-ud-Din training college at Otta, a non-denominational Muslim institution, all the books in the Islamic section are by Ahmadis, with the exception of two by Western Orientalists
  66. ^ Burhani, An (2014). Hating the Ahmadiyya: the place of "heretics" in contemporary Indonesian Muslim society. pp. 133–152. or heresy by various Muslim institutions in both India and Pakistan, the region of its origin, as well as other Muslim countries, including Indonesia
  67. ^ "Religious Beliefs in Morocco". 25 April 2017.
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  69. ^ Islam in South Asia: A Short History - Page 491, Jamal Malik - 2008
  70. ^ Defence Journal - Volume 10, Issues 9-11 - Page 35, Ikram ul-Majeed Sehgal - 2007
  71. ^ The Meaning of the Holy Quran, New Edition with Revised Translation and Commentary, Published by Amana Corporation, page 853
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  75. ^ Hunter, Faruq. "The mosque of the real imam yahya davis". We are Muslims! 100% non-denominational, 100% non-judgmental, 100% dedicated to helping the people
  76. ^ Brackley, Paul (2019-12-05). "In-depth: Guests at opening of Cambridge Central Mosque admire stunning architecture and eco-friendly design". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
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