Campusalam

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Here we describe some, but not all, of the principal religious groupings of Sunni Muslims, including those most predominant in Britain.

Islam in India in the nineteenth century give rise to several renewal movements. Because the majority of British Muslims are Asian, many identify themselves with these groups.

The Deobandi school (Dar al-Ulum of Deoband) was founded in the Indian sub-continent in the 19th century by Rashid Ahmed Gangoli. Rashid Ahmed aimed to preserve the Muslim way of life under colonial rule through grassroots education and social welfare programmes. Deobandis strictly adhere to the Sunnah and Shari’a, emphasise the importance of hadith and generally uphold the legal interpretations from the Hanafi legal tradition.

Tablighi Jama’at was founded in India by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalawi (Maulana Ilyas) in the 1920s as an apolitical, grassroots missionary movement promoting the return to fundamental Islamic principles and following the example of the Prophet (pbuh). This revivalist group conducts missionary work within the Muslim community, concentrating on giving spiritual guidance to Muslims.

The Ahle Sunnat wa Jamaat are commonly known as Barelwis (also Barelvi, Bareilvi) because their central figure, Seyyed Ahmed Raza Khan (1855-1921), hailed from the town of Bareilly. In the understanding of the Ahle Sunnat he sought to revive the Prophet's (pbuh)Sunnah and restore authentic Islam, not to start a new movement as such. The Ahle Sunnat wa Jamaat upheld practices such as intercessory prayer, honouring the anniveraries of Sufi forerunners or a particular portrayal and reverence for the Prophet (pbuh) that were rejected by other groups such as the Deobandis.

Salafism is a form of Islamic revivalism that has its roots in the writings of Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328 CE), a theologian and jurist living in Damascus, who called for conservative reform and a return to the way of the Prophet (pbuh) in a literalist way. The Salafi understanding is that Muslims should return to the basic message of the Prophet (pbuh) and his teachings, i.e. to go back to the salaf (root; the past) as the early Muslim community practiced Islam in the first three centuries. Thus some practices that other Muslims hold dear the Salafis reject as bid’a (an undesirable innovation).

'Wahhabi' is a term whose usage is disputed and often resented. Many who are designated by others as ‘Wahhabi’ find the term offensive and see themselves as ‘Salafi’ (followers of the pious forefathers) or describe themselves as muwahhidun (Unitarians). The term is generally used to describe the movement named after Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792) who believed Muslims had forgotten their true faith in God and diverged into worshipping things other than the one God. Influenced by the works of Ibn Taymiyyah, 'Abd al-Wahhab believed that to return to the true faith of the oneness of God (tawhid), Muslims had to adhere to a strict form of Islam found in the literal interpretation of the Qur’an and hadith. The movement was to be a restoration of true Islam against the heresy, idolatry and innovations that al-Wahhab believed were corrupting Islam. Wahhabism has discouraged Western influences into Muslim lands because of their perceived negative and destructive influences on Muslims. They strongly reject Shi’a, Sufis and other groups that they see as having distorted religious practices.

Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam which emphasises the spiritual relationship between the individual and God. Sufis perform spiritual practises in order to draw nearer to God. The Sufis aim to facilitate the experience of divine love and wisdom of God through their spiritual practices such as special forms of prayer and remembrance of God (dhikr). Sufism is a current within Islam that exists across the different branches, groups and movements. There are many Sufi turuq (plural of tariqa, Sufi orders) and each particular tariqa follows the teachings and practices of the founder of that Sufi order. Historically the Qadiriyya, founded by Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166) in Baghdad is the first order. Other important orders include the Naqshbandiyya (Central Asia), Nimatullahiyya (Iran), Rifaiyya (Egypt, SW Asia), Shadhiliyya (North Africa, Arabia), Suhrawardiyya and Chishtiyya (South and Central Asia), and Tijaniyya (North and W Africa).

Sufism is varied and at times the difference between the Sufi tradition and other traditions becomes difficult to distinguish. At times Sufism has faced strong opposition from orthodox scholars, resulting in its isolation from mainstream traditions. Sufi thought became more widely acceptable in mainstream Islam after the writings of the orthodox scholar al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE). Sufi groups have reacted to modernity differently; some have been apolitical and retreated into purely spiritual activity, while others have played a political role in anti-colonial movements.