is there any difference between 4 islamic sunni religion and Wahhabi?

First, Hanafi, Maleki, Hanbali and Shafeei are not "religions", they are schools of jurisprudence. What this means is that they are different interpretations of Islamic Shariah law.

The Wahhabis are a fundamentalist group that seek to return Islam to its "pure state". They are a sub-branch of Salafi Islam that seeks to imitate the behavior of early Muslims. AFAIK, the Wahabis follow the Hanbali school of jurisprudence, but some people claim that they do not follow a particular school of jurisprudence and constitute a new direction.

PS: I am a secular Christian who studied Islam for about 10 years out of curiosity.

hanafi, maliki, hanbali and shafi are the imams (leaders) of the 4 schools of thought (madhab).. they are all right in their own way, and so sunnis consider all 4 of them as imams.

they do not disagree with each other in any way, but each of these 4 leaders had different ways of thinking hence they each preached differently on some topics in islam. but none of them are wrong.

a sunni must, however, choose one of the imams - they can't pick and choose rules of each imam to suit them. they must choose one of the imams of the 4 madhabs, and follow him only.

wahabi's are completely different, i'd say they're a deviant sect because Rasulallah (s.a.w) said that his ummah must stick to the largest sect so as not to stray from the right path.

the largest sect (approx. 90%) is definitely the sunni sect.. and the wahabi sect is tiny compared to this.

hope that helped!

hananfi ,maleki,hanbali,shafeei are (madhhabs) not religion they differ only by what the prophet (pbuh) did or said .. things like when you pray should you put your hand on your stomach or keep them down.

al wahab is a aalem( islamic scholar) who basicly teachs the other like shias that there is one god and we should not seek help from anyone else. and no there is no difference. there all one.

hope that answers your question.

Salafis are tauntingly calling Wahabis. I think they are the purest muslims as they follow the PROPHET QURAN AND HADITH rather than personalities

Well Sunni is the largest sect of Islam and Whabbism is one of the smaller ones (5%)

Whabbism is a more fundamentalistic type of Islam as far as I understand it - it's not the mainstream, by any means.

The sheep aren't afraid of Wahhabi?

There are four schools of thoughts and we can follow any one of them. Is it permissible to follow two schools of thought to suit the situation ? For example, the Shafi school of thought considers 2.25 pm as the time for Asr prayers in our town while the Hanafi school of thought has fixed time at 3.08. So can we follow any of these two timings to suit our necessity ?

M. A. Hazarika, Seujpur, Dibrugarh

1. Muslims should be united

Muslims today, are divided amongst themselves. Such divisions are not endorsed by Islam. Islam believes in fostering unity amongst its followers.

The Glorious Qur’an says:

“And hold fast, altogether, by the rope Which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves.” [Al-Qur’an 3:103]

Which is the rope of Allah that is being referred to in this verse? It is the Glorious Qur’an. The Glorious Qur’an is the rope of Allah which all Muslims should hold fast together. There is double emphasis in this verse. Beside saying ‘hold fast all together’ it also says, ‘be not divided’.

The Qur’an further says,

“Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger” [Al-Qur’an 4:59]

All the Muslims should follow the Qur’an and authentic Ahadith and ensure that they are not divided among themselves.

2. It is prohibited to make divisions in Islam.

The Glorious Qur’an says:

“As for those who divide Their religion and break up Into sects, you have no part in them in the least: Their affair is with Allah: He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did.” [Al-Qur’an 6:159]

In this verse Allah (swt) says that one should disassociate oneself from those who divide their religion and break it up into sects.

But when one asks a Muslim, “who are you?” the common answer is either ‘I am a Hanafi or Shafi or Maliki or Hanbali. Some call themselves ‘Ahle-Hadith’.

3. Four Schools of Thoughts

The Islamic world has produced several learned Islamic scholars (Imams), but out of these, four became more famous and their teachings spread in different parts of the world.

It is a misconception that a Muslim should follow any one of these four schools of thoughts i.e. Hanafi, Shafi, Hanbali or Maliki. There is no proof whatsoever in the Qur’an or any authentic Hadith that a Muslim should only follow one of these four Imams.

4. Respect all the Great Scholars of Islam.

We must respect all the great scholars of Islam, including the four Imaams, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi, Imam Hanbal and Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with them all). They were great scholars and may Allah reward them for their research and hard work. One can have no objection if someone agrees with the view and research of any one or more from these four great scholars of Islam.

5. All Four Imam said follow the Qur’an and Sunnah.

All the four great Imams said that if any of their Fatwas or teachings contradict Allah’s word, i.e. the Qur’an, or the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) i.e. authentic Hadith, then that particulars Fatwa of theirs should be rejected, and the Sunnah of the Prophet should be followed.

Refer:

a. Eeqaadh al-Himam, Al Fulaanee (Imam Abu Hanifa)

b. Al-Majmoo’ of an-Nawawee (1/63) (Imam Shafi)

c. Jaami ‘Bayan al-Ilm, Ibn Abdul-Barr (Imam Malik)

d.Eeqaadh al-Himam (Imam Hanbal)

To give you an example in this context – Imam shafi said that when a women touches a man who is in a state of wudhu, the wudhu of the man breaks. However, this ruling of Imam Shafi contradicts the authentic saying of the Prophet.

Narrated Aisha

The Prophet (may peace be upon him) kissed one of his wives and went out for saying prayer. He did not perform ablution. (Sunan Abu Dawood Vol. 1 Chapter No. 70 Hadith No. 179)

Thus this particular teaching of Imam Shafi contradicts the authentic saying of the Prophet. So I reject this specific ruling of Imam Shafi who himself said , “ If I say something, then compare it to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His messenger and if it agrees to them, then accept it and that which goes against them, then reject it and throw my saying against the wall” – This is a saying of ash-Shafi’ee-rahimaullah. See Al-Majmoo’ of an-Nawawee (1/63).

Thus by rejecting this particular teaching of Imam Shafi which contradicts the authentic Hadith, I am practically a better follower of Imam Shafi than those who call themselves ‘Shafi’.

Similarly in practice, I claim to be a better follower of Imam Abu Hanifa than those who call themselves ‘Hanafi’. I claim to be a better follower of Imam Hanbal than those who call themselves ‘Hanbali’. I claim to be a better follower of Imam Malik than those who call themselves ‘Maliki”. If being a ‘Ahle-Hadith’ means following Qur’an and authentic Hadith then I claim to be a better follower of the Qur’an and au

Very well explained by John D. There are four sects of Islam. Whabbism is a more fundamentalist type of Islamism they try to convert every Sunni into following there belief.

k

Early 60's & 70's Whabbism entered the Sunni sect as one of them and in 21 century created a big division in Sunni sect by changing all believes & ideology of the four imams into the ideology & believe of man called Abdul Wahab and this is spreading like fire into Sunni Sect.

In coming years Sunni sect will survive by Whabbism. The Prophet of Allah, the four rightly guided and the Great Saints will be treated as normal humans. Right today Sunni leaders of the world are scrambling to get there facts straight.