Who Are Sunni Muslims?

Sunni Muslims are one sect of the Islamic world. They comprise about 90 percept of the Muslim population. They share the fundamental Islamic basics and the aspects of faith with the Shia Muslims. We might note that this division in the Muslim community arose from political reasons and not spiritual ones. This has brought about a lot of varying practices among the two groups.

The advent of Sunni Muslims can be dated to the death of Prophet Muhammed. There was a question of who was taking over the leadership of the Muslim religion. It was understood by all Muslims that someone who was capable of the leadership must take up the post.

Prophet Muhammed’s closest friend and advisor became the leader of the nation. Sunni is an Arabic word. It means that it is one who follows the traditions of the Prophet. The choice of the leader was not accepted in the Shia Muslim divide. They believed that it should have been someone from the Prophet’s own family or someone from the group of imams.

Sunni Muslims do not believe in additional spiritual rights for imams and other high religious figures in Islam. They do not offer homage to any of the shrines belonging to such people either. They strongly believe that someone cannot be a leader by birth, and it has to come upon them by trust.

The close companions of Prophet Muhammed, have information about his spiritual and religious life. This has been passed on through generations, and Muslims of the Sunni caste, follow these traditions, when it comes to prayer, fasting and pilgrimage. Most of the time, they do not call themselves Sunni Muslims either.

They believe that there is no divide and that all of them are Muslims. But a lot of religious notes say that they are the heirs to the original Islamic state. They are spread all over the world from Indonesia to Africa and through Asia and the entire Arab world. Muslims of the Sunni caste do not possess clerical hierarchies or centralized institutions.

This has been the source of strength in allowing the faith to adapt to local conditions. This is sometimes seen as a weakness, because this Muslim society cannot achieve solidarity. There are even sub-groups under this group. They do not agree with one another on prayer ethics, and do not pray behind each other.

The Muslims of the Sunni divide believe that effective power and the ability to maintain order are sufficient to maintain order. They believe that a bad Muslim leader is better than chaos and anarchy. They only have a limited right to rebel. However, if the leader’s rules go against God’s laws, they may not obey him.

The Sunnis are allowed to approach God directly, as there is no clerical hierarchy. Imams are men of importance in this community. A formal training is not necessary however for them. Major mosque owned lands are run by committees of socially prominent worshippers. Some imams may be appointed by governments.