13.2 Sunni Islam

One of the most well-known divisions within Islam today is between Sunni and Shia Muslims. This is the largest and most influential distinction within the global Muslim population.

Sunni and Shia Muslims share the same core foundations of Islam: they follow the Qur’an, believe Muhammad to be the final prophet, and practice the central elements of the faith.

An important difference between Sunni and Shia Islam revolves around leadership and authority.

Sunni Muslims make up approximately 85–90% of the global Muslim population (roughly 1.6 to 1.8 billion people).

The term Sunni is derived from Sunnah and means, “people of the prophetic tradition.”

They are located in countries such as: Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Jordan. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and is predominantly Sunni.

Sunnis believe that leadership of the Muslim community (ummah) should be determined through consensus or selection by the community, rather than limiting leaders to the Prophet’s family bloodline.

They recognize Abu Bakr (the Prophet’s close friend and father-in-law) as the first legitimate successor (Caliph) and honor the first four Caliphs as the “Rightly Guided” (Rashidun).

Religious authority in Sunni Islam rests with scholars (ulama), who interpret Sharia based on established traditions and scholarly consensus.

Within Sunni Islam, there are four major schools of law: Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi’i.

Sunni Muslims also commonly refer to six core articles of faith, which include: belief in Allah, angels, revealed books, messengers, the Day of Judgment, and divine decree (predestination).

Saudi Arabia → Sunni-majority power

Indonesia → largest Sunni-majority population

In section 13.3, we will take a closer look at the second largest branch in Islam: Shia Islam.