What are the Sunni Islams?

Answer 1

we have to mention the appearance of Sufism in Islam religion to understand the relation between Sunni and sufi.

among the companions of the prophet , Ali is known particular for his eloquent exposition of gnostic truths and the stages of the spiritual life. his words in this domain comprise an exhaustible treasury of wisdom. among the works of the other companions which have survived there is not the great deal of material that concerns this type of question, among the associates of Ali such as Salman Farsi , Uways Qurani, Kumayl Ibn ziyad, Rushayd Hajari, Maytham Tammar and Rabi Ibn Khaytam.

however there are figures have been considered by the majority of Sufis , Sunni and shiite Alike< as the heads of their spiritual chain(Silsilah) after Ali.

after this group there appeared others such as tawus Yanmani, Shayban Rai, Malik ibn Dinar, Ibrahim Adham and Shaqiq Balkhi, who were considered by the people to be saints and men of God. these men,without publicly talking about gnosis and sufism, appered externally as ascetics and did not hide the fact that they had been initiated by the early group and had undergone spiritual training under them.

after them there appeared at the end of the 2nd/8th century and beginning of the 3rd//9th century men such as Bayazid Bastami, Maruf Karkhi, Junayd Baghdadi, and others like them, who followed the sufi path and openly declared their connection with sufism and gnosis. they divulged certain esoteric sayings based on spiritual vision which, because of their repellent external form, brought upon them the condemnation of some of the jurists and theologians . some of them were imprisoned , flogged and even occasionally killed. Even so, this group persisted and continued its activities despite its opponents. in this manner , gnosis and the"Way" or Triqah and Sufism, conyinued to grow until in the 7th/13th and 8th/14th centuries it reached the height of its expansion and power. since then, some times stronger and at other times less so, it has continued its existence to this very day within the Islamic world.

Gnosis or sufism as we observe it today first appeared in the Sunni world and later among the Shiites. the first men who openly declared themselves to be sufis and gnostics and were recognized as spiritual masters of sufi orders, apparently followed Sunnism in the branches or Furu of Islamic Law. many of masters who followed them and who expanded the sufi orders were also sunnis in their following of the law.

even so these masters traced their spiritual chain , which in spiritual life is like the genealogical chain of a person, through their previous masters to Ali. also the results of their visions and intuitions as transmitted to us convey mostly truths concerning divine unity and the stations of the spiritul life which are found in the sayings of Ali and Other shiite Imams. this can be seen provided we are not affected by some of the striking and even sometimes shocking expressions used by these Sufi masters and consider the total content of their teachings with deliberations and patience . Sanctity resulting from initiation into the spiritual path, which sufis consider s the perfection of man, is the state which, according to Shiite belief is possessed in its fullness by the imam and through the radiance of his being cab be attained by his true followers. and the spiritual pole(Qutb) whise existence at all times is considered necessary bu all the sufis- as well as thw attributes associated with him.

Answer 2

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, representing about 85-90% of Muslims worldwide. Sunnis believe in following the practices and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as recorded in the Hadith and the Qur'an. They form their religious beliefs based on the consensus of the community (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas).