What are Islamics major denominations?

Answer 1

Islam consists of a number of religious denominations that are essentially similar in belief but which have significant theological and legal differences. The primary division is between the Sunni and the Shi'a, with Sufism generally considered to be a mystical inflection of Islam rather than a distinct school. According to most sources, approximately 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and approximately 15% are Shi'a, with a small minority who are members of other Islamic sects.

Sunni Muslims are the largest group in Islam. In Arabic, al-Sunnah literally means "principle" or "path". The Sunnah (the example of Muhammad's life) as recorded in the Qur'an and the hadith is the main pillar of Sunni doctrine. Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs were the rightful successors to Muhammad; since God did not specify any particular leaders to succeed him, those leaders had to be elected.

The Shi'a, who constitute the second-largest branch of Islam, believe in the political and religious leadership of Imams from the progeny of Ali son of Abi Talib, who according to most Shi'a are in a state of infallibility. They believe that Ali son of Abi Talib, as the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, was his rightful successor, and they call him the first Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs. To most Shi'a, an Imam rules by right of divine appointment and holds "absolute spiritual authority" among Muslims, having final say in matters of doctrine and revelation.


However, the central text of Islam, the Qur'an ordains that Muslims are not to be divided into divisions or sections and rather be united under a common goal of faith in one God alone[Qur'an 3:103], failure to do which has also been deemed a sin by God and thus forbidden.[6:149][6:159] The Qur'an also ordains that the followers of Islam need to "obey Allah and obey the final Messenger (Prophet Muhammad)" stressing on the importance of keeping the commandments mentioned in the Qur'an by Allah, and following all the teachings of Muhammad,[4:59]; labeling everyone who concurs as a Muslim[22:78] as a part of the "best of communities brought forth from mankind".[3:110]

May God bless you for your pursuit of knowledge.

Answer 2

There is no Islamic denominations in the sense as in Christianity. There are different schools pr branches. Mainly, there are Sunnis and Shiites. Refer to question below for more information.