Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
18 May 2011
Islam Part Two
Adam Franco
ISLAMIC LAW
The Sharia is the divine law in Islam. It covers every aspect of Muslim private life, social transactions, piety, and rituals.
Muslims view the Sharia as the will of God and a guide by which to live. It integrates mundane activities with concern for the sacred; it encourages a way of life that embraces spiritual concerns and the hope of salvation.
The Sharia provides guidance for Muslim conduct in every situation by dividing all acts into five categories: obligatory, recommended, reprehensible, forbidden, and neutral or permitted.
The Sharia is rooted in the Koran, and is seen as an expression of divine will. While it began with Muhammad’s teachings, it evolved over centuries.
All Muslims agree on the sources of Islamic law, but differ on their application. These disagreements led to the development of four schools of Islamic law within the Sunnite community: The Shafiite (Egypt, Malaysia, and Indonesia), the Hanafite (South Asia), the Malikite (North Africa), and the Hanbalite (Saudi Arabia).
Each is named for a legal scholar associated with its origins. In earlier times Muslim jurists used a principle called ijtihad, which means independent reasoning based on the above sources of law in order to deal with a novel situation.
Among Sunnis ijtihad is no longer recognized, but Shias still practice it. Over the centuries a class of legal experts known as jurists, or scholars, has emerged to interpret and apply the law.
DIVISIONS
Sunni and Shia
Islam has two major sects: the Sunnis and the Shias. Most Muslims belong to one of these two groups.
About 90 percent of Muslims are orthodox Sunnis. They are the mainstream of the Islamic religious community whose beliefs have changed little since their development more than 1,000 years ago.
The Sunni, which means majority, tolerates diversity and encourages its followers to worship Allah on an individual basis in keeping with the Five Pillars of Islam and the Koran.
The Sunnis also believe that any Muslim can be a leader and that religious leaders do not have superior wisdom.
The Shias took a different path after the death of the prophet Muhammad. The split
came over a dispute about 
who should lead Islam. The Shias claimed that Muhammad
passed on his hereditary rule to his son-
Sunnis do not recognize these claims.
Orthodox Shias, called Twelvers, believe that there were 12 imams, the last of whom disappeared in the ninth century.
Contemporary Shia spiritual leaders claim to be able to communicate with this imam who exists in the spiritual realm. Only they can interpret Islamic law and rule the believers.
The Pew Research Centre estimates there are between 154 million and 200 million Shias,
with the highest concentration in Iran, where this branch of Islam has been the official
religion since the 16th century. There are also substantial numbers of Shias in Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, and Yemen, although they are sometimes seen as second-
The religious differences between them and the Sunni have fuelled conflict in Lebanon, and a war between Sunni Iraq and Shia Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have taken the leading role in this religious competition for
souls and minds. Saudi Arabia provides economic resources to the fight. It also has
financed mosque-
The Iranians have supported Islamic fundamentalist groups throughout the Middle East. Some Shias have become militant radicals, forming terrorist groups that have attacked Western and secular targets in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Baha’i
The Baha’i faith has been described as an offshoot of Islam in the same way that Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism.
Its founder, known as Baha’u’llah (right), followed the Shia sect known as Babism.
In 1852, Baha’u’llah was in prison in Persia (modern-
Over the next 40 years, Baha’u’llah wrote a body of scriptures that form the heart of what is now the Baha’i faith.
Baha’i followers believe that there is only one religion and that God has sent a series of messengers to fully reveal its essence. These messengers include Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.
The most recent great messenger was Baha’u’l-
The Baha’i faith supports gender and race equality, world government, freedom of expression and assembly, and world peace. Also, unlike many other religions, it embraces the findings of science. The Baha’i faith is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today with about seven million adherents.
Sufism
Islam also has a mystical dimension known as Sufism. It originated in the 8th century, when small circles of pious Muslims reacted against the growing worldliness of the Islamic community, and started to emphasize the inner life of the spirit and moral purification.
During the 9th century, Sufism developed into a mystical doctrine, with direct communion or even ecstatic union with God as its ideal.
Sufism goes beyond performing the duties prescribed by the Islamic faith to seek direct knowledge of God through Islamic teachings. The Sufi path is concerned with the nature of the Divine Reality, how it can be attained, and how to purify the human soul from all imperfections so that it can reflect the Divine Reality.
The life of a Sufi is modelled after the life of the Prophet, and the virtues for which Sufis strive are those seen in the life of the Prophet. All schools of Sufism trace their teachings directly back to the Prophet, who they believe passed them on to a select group of Muslims.
Sources used in this series
Religions in Canada, Directorate of Human Rights and Diversity, Government of Canada.
The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Robert S. Ellwood (ed.) Facts on File, 1998.
Religion for Dummies, Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman, For Dummies Publishing, 2002.
Religious Tolerance, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Religion, CBC Montreal
© Canada and the World, May 2011
All rights reserved
“The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
Baha’u’llah
BRANCHING
FROM ARAB ROOTS
The Arabs are associated with the rise of Islam, Arabic is Islam’s sacred language, and the Arab countries of the Middle East have had a strong influence on the development of Islamic civilization.
The majority of Muslims, however, are not Arabs.
The country with the largest Muslim population today is Indonesia, and the most populous Islamic cultural zone is South Asia, comprising India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
When Oman adopted Islam in the seventh century CE it followed a form of the religion called Ibadhism, which is described as moderately conservative.
Oman is the only country in the world where the majority of the population follows Ibadhism.
Muhammad’s central teachings were the goodness, omnipotence, and unity of God, and the need for generosity and justice in human relations
“All believers are alike in their utter subjection to the unapproachable divine majesty.”