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Sunni Islam: The Largest Denomination of Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85-90% of the world's Muslims.
The name Sunni comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the tradition of Muhammad.
Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in their beliefs about the succession of Muhammad, which has broader political, theological, and juridical implications.
Adherents of Sunni Islam are referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah or ahl as-Sunnah for short.
The Quran, hadith, and binding juristic consensus form the basis of traditional jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.
Sharia rulings are derived from these basic sources, using the principles of jurisprudence developed by traditional legal schools.
The Sunni tradition upholds the six pillars of imān (faith) and comprises the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of Kalam (theology) as well as the traditionalist school of textualist theology.
The Arabic term Sunna, according to which Sunnis are named, has roots in pre-Islamic language.
The term ahl as-sunna was always a laudatory designation.
The term ahl as-sunna wal-jama' was used by the Hanbalis as a self-designation, while the Karramiyya and Kullabites also referred to the sunnah and community.
According to Sunni Creed by at-Tahawi, the term jama contrasts the Arabic term furqa (division, sectarianism).
There are different opinions regarding what the term jama in ahl as-sunna wal-jama actually means, among Muslim scholars.Overview of Sunni Islam: Caliphate, Dynastic Monarchy, and Contemporary Era
Sunni Islam recognizes the first four caliphs as the "Rightly Guided Ones," with Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali as the first four caliphs.
The caliphate transitioned into a dynastic monarchy of Banu Umayya, which replaced the egalitarian society formed as a result of Muhammad's revolution with a stratified society.
The Banu Umayya dynasty was overthrown by the Banu Abbas, a branch of Banu Hashim, the tribe of Muhammad, which established a caliphate that ended with the Turkish domination.
The fall of the Ottoman Empire brought an end to the caliphate, resulting in Sunni protests in various parts of the world, including the Khilafat Movement in India.
The emergence of Saudi Arabia as a dynastic absolute monarchy championed the reformist doctrines of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.
The rise of the Wahhabi, Salafiyya, Islamist, and Jihadist movements revived the doctrines of the Hanbali theologian Taqi Al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah, resulting in the emergence of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
The fall of the Taliban regime resulted in the emergence of the militant group ISIL, which sought to re-establish a Sunni caliphate.
Sunnis believe the companions of Muhammad to be reliable transmitters of Islam, and their narratives are taken into account for knowledge of the Islamic faith.
Sunni Islam does not have a formal hierarchy, and leaders gain influence through study to become scholars of Islamic law or Islamic theology.
There are three groups that belong to Sunnis: Ash'arites, Maturidites, and traditionalist-oriented groups, which reject the rational discourse of Kalam advocated by Ash'arites and Maturidites.
The Ash'ari theology stresses divine revelation over human reason, while the Maturidiyyah is the major tradition in Central Asia based on Hanafi-law.Understanding Sunni Islam: Traditionalism, Classification, Mysticism, and Jurisprudence
Traditionalist theology is a movement of Islamic scholars who reject rationalistic Islamic theology in favor of strict textualism in interpreting the Qur'an and sunnah.
Adherents of traditionalist theology believe that the zahir meaning of the Qur'an and the hadith have sole authority in matters of belief and law.
Ash'arism and Maturidism are often called the Sunni "orthodoxy", but traditionalist theology has thrived alongside it, laying rival claims to be the orthodox Sunni faith.
Some Muslim scholars wanted to limit the Sunni term to the Ash'arites and Māturīdites alone, while others regarded the Ashʿarites alone as Sunnis.
Ibn Taymiyyah distinguished between Sunnis in the general sense and Sunnis in the special sense, with Sunnis in the general sense including all Islamic groups except the Shiite Rafidites.
The Muʿtazilites are usually not regarded as Sunnis, but Ibn Taymiyya argued that they belong to the Sunnis in the general sense because they recognize the caliphate of the first three caliphs.
There is broad agreement that the Sufis are also part of Sunnism, and they are one of a total of eight groups within Sunnism, defined according to their religious specialization.
The schools of law all have their own particular tradition of interpreting Islamic law, and there are many intellectual traditions within the field of Shari'ah (Islamic law), often referred to as Madh'habs (legal schools).
While one school may see a certain act as a religious obligation, another may see the same act as optional.
Historians have differed regarding the exact delineation of the schools based on the underlying principles they follow.
During the Middle Ages, the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt delineated the acceptable Sunni schools as only Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali, excluding the Ẓāhirī school.
The Ottoman Empire later reaffirmed the official status of four schools as a reaction to the Shiite character of their ideological and political archrival, the Persian Safavids.
Former Prime Minister of Sudan Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, as well as the Amman Message issued by King Abdullah II of Jordan, recognize the Ẓāhirīs and keep them as part of Sunni Islam.Summary Title: Sunni Doctrines
Sunni doctrines are recorded in various creeds that summarize important points in the form of a list.
The six pillars of iman are the essential articles of faith agreed upon by all present-day Sunnis.
Tawhid, the belief in the oneness of God, is at the center of the Sunni creed.
The Sunni creed emphasizes the transcendence of God to absolve him of anthropomorphism.
The names of God are correlated with attributes that exist in each of the names mentioned in the Quran.
Sunnis believe in angels, and they believe that Satan whispers doubts to humans.
The Quran is the speech of God, according to Sunni views, and it is uncreated.
Sunnis confess to the Prophets of God, and Muhammad is considered the last and most important prophet.
People are questioned in their graves by Munkar and Nakir after death, according to Sunni doctrine.
The "signs of the hour" precede the day of resurrection, and on that day, deeds are weighed on a scale.
Sunni scholars have differing views on the timing and type of the divine vision of God in the hereafter.
The vision of God in the hereafter is emphasized in Sunni teaching and is similar to the visio beatifica in the Christian tradition.