Non-denominational Muslim
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Non-denominational Muslims (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: مسلمون بلا طائفة) are
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable
Islamic schools and branches Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, Madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or ''Aqidah, ʿaqīdah'' (creed). Within Sunni I ...
. Such Muslims do not think of themselves as belonging to a denomination but rather as "just Muslims" or "non-denominational Muslims." Muslims who do not adhere to a sect are also known as ''non-sectarian Muslims''. While the majority of the population in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
identify as either
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
or
Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
, a significant number of Muslims identify as non-denominational. According to a 2012 study by the Pew Research Center, Muslims who do not identify with a sect and identify as "just a Muslim" make up a majority of the Muslims in these countries:
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
(74%), Albania (65%),
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
(64%),
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
(58%),
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
(55%),
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
(54%), Uzbekistan (54%), and a plurality in four countries:
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
(45%) and Cameroon (40%). They are found primarily in
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
.
Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
also has a large number of Muslims who do not identify with a sect. Identification as "just a Muslim" is less prevalent in the Middle East and
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
(median of 12%) and
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
(median of 4%). Sectarian controversies have a long and complex history in Islam and they have been exploited and amplified by rulers for political ends. However, the notion of Muslim unity has remained an important ideal and in modern times intellectuals have spoken against sectarian divisions. Surveys have reported that large proportions of Muslims in some parts of the world self-identify as "just Muslim" or "Muslim only", although there is little published analysis available regarding the motivations underlying this response.


Etymology


Non-sectarian Muslims

Muslims who do not adhere to a sect are also known as ''non-sectarian Muslims''.


Non-

The description ''non-'' may be used for example in relation to Islamic studies at educational institutions that are not limited in scope to one particular ''
madhhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni Islam, Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi school, Hanafi, Maliki school, Maliki, Shafi'i school, Shafi'i and Hanbali school, Hanbali. They ...
'' or school of jurisprudence. For non-denominational Muslims, Pew uses the description of "choose not to affiliate"Rane, Halim, Jacqui Ewart, and John Martinkus. "Islam and the Muslim World." Media Framing of the Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014. 15-28 while Russian officials use the term "Unaffiliated Muslims" for those who do not belong to any branch or denomination.Obydenkova, Anastassia V. "Religious pluralism in Russia." Politics of religion and nationalism: Federalism, consociationalism and secession, Routledge (2014): 36-49 Unlike Sunnis, Shias, and Ibadis, non-denominational Muslims are not affiliated with any school of thought (madhhab).


The term , i.e. "non-blind-follower", can be used to describe the adherents of movements such as Salafism and Ahl-e-Hadith, who do not necessarily follow the rulings of a particular traditional but identify as Sunni Muslims.


History of Islamic sectarianism

After the death of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, two conflicting views emerged about who should succeed him as the leader of the Muslim community. Some Muslims, who believed that Muhammad never clearly named his successor, resorted to the Arabian tradition of electing their leader by a council of influential members of the community. Others believed that Muhammad had chosen his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed him. This disagreement eventually resulted in a
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
which pitted supporters of Ali against supporters of the founder of the Umayyad dynasty Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, and these two camps later evolved into the
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
and Shia denominations. For the Shias, Ali and the Imams who succeeded him gradually became the embodiment of God's continuing guidance, and they tended to stress the religious functions of the caliphate and deplore its political compromises; Sunnis were more inclined to circumscribe its religious role and more readily accepted its pragmatic dimensions. As these differences became increasingly vested with religious importance, they gave rise to two distinct forms of Islam. One assumption is that Sunnis represent Islam as it existed before the divisions, and should be considered as normative, or the standard. This perception is partly due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works, and also because the vast majority of the population is Sunni. Both Sunnism and Shi'ism are the end products of several centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and divisions. During the Umayyad period, many non-Arab converts ( mawali) and their sects and schools tended to be willing to join anti-Umayyad causes. Both Sunni and Shia scholars have held anti-Umayyad views, most notably concerning Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah. In the
early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
, the conflict between Shias and Sunnis took a turn for the worse when the Safavid and Ottoman dynasties turned the military conflict between them into a religious war after the Safavids made Shia Islam the state religion in their empire. During that era some Sunnis and Shias for the first time began refusing to recognize each other as Muslims. Sectarianism continued to be exploited for political benefits into modern times. An example of this was the Zia regime in Pakistan, who used sectarian divisions between the Sunni and Shia to counter the growing geopolitical influence of Iran, as well as to distract from the domestic political problems. Post-Zia governments in Pakistan continued to "cynically manipulate sectarian conflicts for short term political gain."


Development and thought

Non-denominational Muslims defend their stance by pointing to the Qur'an such as Al Imran verse 103, which asks Muslims to stay united and not to become divided. The seventh Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) was known for his attempts to end sectarian rivalry in
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and to impose upon his subjects a rationalist Muslim creed. Talking about sectarianism, Persian Muslim poet Hafiz (d. 1389-1390) said, "Forgive the war of the 72 sects; since they did not see the truth they have struck out on the road to fancy". Hafiz regarded sectarian quarrels as afsana (a tale) that preoccupies those who fail to understand the diversity of faith. The poems of Hafiz were known for their non-sectarian tone, and were even quoted by Debendranath Tagore. The third Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), who was from a
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
family and was tutored by two Shia scholars from Iran, was aware of the dangers of Muslim sectarian dissension, and did not tolerate sectarian disputes disrupting the public order. In 1578, Akbar forced all major
ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...
to sign a mahzar, in this case a declaration that he alone was the caliph and that, consequently, his opinion in religious matters prevailed. Condemning the historically prevailing trend of blindly imitating religious leaders, the pan-Islamist revolutionary Jamal al-Din al-Afghani refused to identity himself with a specific sect or imam by insisting that he was just a Muslim and a scholar. A proponent of Muslim unity, he criticised Sunni and Shia extremists as well as the ideology of nationalism, insisting that Islam was doctrinally the only nationality for all Muslims and historically the only bond that effectively tied them all together. Believing in the unification of Muslims in order to go back to the "true Islam", Egyptian scholar Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905) held that the extreme fervour of sects was responsible for the divide of Muslims, and this division, alongside unsubstantiated religious practises and false religious doctrine such as the exaggerations of the Sufi order, was one of the reasons for their decline. Islam originally brought a radical
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
to a fiercely tribal society, within which a person's status was based on his tribal membership. The Quran set all believing individuals as equals, erasing the importance of tribal status. The primary identity of "Muslims" became simply "Muslim", rather than as a member of a tribe, ethnicity or gender. The Quranic concept of the ummah depends on this unified concept of an Islamic community, and it was appealed to again in the 19th century, as a response to colonialism by European powers. One Muslim scholar leading the emphasis on Muslim unity was Muhammad Iqbal, whose views have been referred to as "ummatic". Iqbal emphatically referred to sectarianism as an " idol" that needed to be "smashed forever". He is quoted as having stated, "I condemn this accursed religious and social sectarianism, there are no Wahhabis, Shias or Sunnis. Fight not for interpretations of the truth when the truth itself is in danger." In his later life, Iqbal began to transcend the narrow domain of nationalist causes and began to speak to the Muslims spread all over the globe, encouraging them to unify as one community. Iqbal's influence on Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, is also well documented. Jinnah was born to an Ismaili Shia family and briefly converted to Sunni Islam as a young man. Jinnah publicly described himself as neither Shia nor Sunni, and his standard answer to questions asking him to define his sect being: "was the Prophet Muhammad a Shia or a Sunni?" Other intellectuals who spoke against sectarianism during this era were Altaf Hussain Hali, who blamed sectarianism for the decline of Muslims, the Aga Khan III, who cited it as a hindrance to progress, and Muhammad Akram Khan, who said sectarianism drained the intellectual capacities of Muslim scholars. An anti-sectarian culture and anti-sectarian nationalist movements and parties emerged in Syria after 1860, especially around the Arab movement and the Arab government under King Faisal I of Iraq (r. 1921-1933). Faisal, who abhorred sectarianism, was an advocate of a mild and inclusive form of Arab nationalism, around which a consensus could be built, and as a shared platform that could span the differences between the sects. Due to his anti-sectarian stance, Faisal had a displeasing relationship with Sati' al-Husri. Malaysian Muslim scholar Kassim Ahmad argued that some
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
promote ideas that conflict with science and create sectarian issues, stating the hadith are "sectarian, anti-science, anti-reason and anti-women".Ahmad, Kassim. "Hadith: A Re-evaluation", 1986. English translation 1997 In 1947, the non-sectarian movement was founded in Cairo, Egypt. Several of its supporters were high-ranking scholars of Al-Ahzar University. The movement sought to bridge the gap between Sunnis and Shi'is. At the end of the 1950s, the movement reached a wider public, as the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser discovered the usefulness of pan-Islamism for his foreign policy. During his reign, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the Emirates urged solidarity and co-operation between nations, Arab and non-Arab. The ideal policy in his view was openness and a combination of modernisation and preservation of traditional values and distinct identity. He also called for protecting Islam against sectarianism and factionalism. Similarly, his son Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (r. 2022–present) has advocated against sectarian conflicts amongst Arabs and Muslims. During his reign, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (r. 2005-2015) acted to reduce regional sectarianism. Abdullah's promotion of sectarian harmony was faced by many challenges, including the king not having the support of all members of the royal family. According to Thomas West and Sonia Alianak, Jordan and Morocco withstood the tidal wave of revolutions during the Arab Spring of 2011 because King Abdullah II of Jordan and King Muhammad VI of Morocco, both descendants of Prophet Muhammad and non-sectarian, resorted to reform instead of being toppled by making use of their religious credentials and pedigrees. In Pakistan, sectarianism is cited as a hindrance to the unification of Islamic Law: "Codification of the Islamic Laws related to family and property on the basis of the concept of Talfiq should also be considered. This will require strong public opinion in favour of this unification of the Islamic Law on a non-sectarian basis, as no change can be considered permanent unless it has full support of the public." In
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, non-denominational Muslims fall into the category of "non-traditional religious communities", and are formally separated by law from Sunnis.


Academia

There are faith schools and graduation programs with curriculums that have been described as being oriented towards ''non-denominational Islam''. Non-denominational Muslims have been adopted by some theocratic governments into their fold of pan-Islamism as a means to tackle unreasoning partisanship and takfirism. Some academic press publishing companies have assigned a proper noun-like title to Muslims without a specific sectarian affiliation by capitalizing the designation as ''Just a Muslim''. The customs and rituals practised by non-denominational Muslims in Northern Nigeria are statistically more likely to be
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
-inclined. In other jurisdictions, some officials have applied a mandatory religious instruction that purportedly gives students a non-denominational outlook in an attempt to appear pluralistic, but in practice, does no such thing.


Dispersions

Western-born Muslims are more likely to be non-affiliated than immigrant Muslims, and when pressed may suggest they try to follow Islamic religious texts "as closely as possible". Although Pew has given comprehensive figures on Muslims with an unspecified branch or affiliation, earlier research from 2006 has also come from CAIR. Some publishers and authors have categorized such non-specified Muslims as being within the liberal or progressive stream of the faith. Sahelian non-denominational Muslims have demonstrated an aversion to austere religious measures. However, non-denominational Muslims in a locality in India have expressly suggested that non-denominational Islam is more traditional than what they consider as the more puritan and reformist Deobandi movement. Although some non-denominational Muslims came to their position influenced by their parents, others have come to this position irrespective and in spite of their parents. Some laymen non-denominational Muslims exhibit hostility towards the notion that Islam is divided into the binary subdivisions of Sunnism and Shiaism, thereby erasing space for the unaffiliated non-denominational Muslims. Non-denominational Islam has been described as a generic or a broad run-of-the-mill approach to the faith. Some adherents to the non-denominational form of Islam perceive it as less judgemental or censorious. Some non-denominational Muslims consider their unaffiliated stance to be a shield against the risk of becoming docile and meek subjects of domineering clergymen. According to the Muslim Council of America, facets occurring among non-denominational Muslims from a practical point of view includes lacking organizational convenance or spokespersons, and in terms of precepts, a universal or inclusive approach to all schools of thought. According to MCA, non-denominational Muslims also deemphasize the opinion of scholars, viewing them as non-binding, reject the blasphemy or laws within Islam, and posit the implementation of human dignity, freedom of expression and human intellect according to circumstance and changing situations, such as discernment between the present and seventh century Arabia. They have also depicted non-denominational Muslims as having a theological position that favors
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
, human intellect, human dignity, a proportionate level of egalitarianism between the various religions and genders, and adapting to changing circumstances. Despite on occasion sourcing indicating that those identifying as ''just a Muslim'' may constitute up to a quarter of Muslims, more established institutions may express hostility to such a flexible approach to faith due to its ability to foment attitudes calling for an elimination of Islamic clergy.


Setting

In 2017, there were 144 non-denominational prayer rooms and other places of worship in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, open to all denominations. This represented 7.4% of the total of mosques and Islamic prayer rooms in the UK. 99% of them provided women's facilities such as prayer space, toilets or ablution spaces. In 2013, there were 156 non-denominational Muslim prayer rooms and places of worship in the U.K, although according to Mehmood Naqshbandi, the congregation does not necessarily subscribe to the same viewpoints as the staff. This represented 3.5 per cent of the total mosque capacity and 9.4% of the total number of mosques and Islamic prayer rooms in the UK. Those who are ''non-denominational Muslim'' have seen the term adopted or adherents coalescing with a wide assortment of persuasions, including Muslim revivalists (known as mujaddids), Salafists, active members of the Muslim Brotherhood, those who criticise the traditional Muslim view on homosexuality, or the quintessential all-embracing Ansar-ud-Din college, described as a "non-denominational Muslim institution" in Ota Ogun State, Nigeria wherein in the 1950s, all its Islam-related shelves were stocked with books solely affiliated with Ahmadiyya or from western orientalists, even though Ahmadiyya is considered heretical in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Indonesia.


Polls

According to a 2012 Pew study, Muslims who do not identify with a sect and identify as "just a Muslim" make up a majority of the Muslims in eight countries:
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
(74%), Albania (65%),
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
(64%),
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
(58%),
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
(56%),
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
(55%),
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
(54%), Uzbekistan (54%), and a plurality in four countries:
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
(45%),
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
(45%),
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
(42%), and Cameroon (40%). They are found primarily in
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
.
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
has the largest proportion of Muslims who do not identify with a sect, who constitute about 74% of the Muslim population. According to ''WorldAtlas'', 30% of
Moroccans Moroccans () are the Moroccan nationality law, citizens and nationals of the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who ...
are non-denominational Muslims. While the majority of the population in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
identify as either
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
or
Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
, a significant number of Muslims identify as non-denominational.
Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
also has a large number of Muslims who do not identify with a sect.


Commentary

It has been described as a phenomenon that gained momentum in the 20th century which can overlap with orthodox Sunni tenets despite adherents not adhering to any specific madhab. In an alluding commentary on surah Al-Muʼminun verse 53 of the Qur'an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali states:


Organizations

* , a non-sectarian movement founded in Cairo, Egypt in 1947. At the end of the 1950s, the movement reached a wider public, as the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser discovered the usefulness of pan-Islamism for his foreign policy. * ; inspired by the principles of Muhammad Iqbal's philosophy, led by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, Tolu-e-Islam is an organization based in Pakistan. It does not affiliate with any political party or religious sect. * ''The People's Mosque''; an online nondenominational Muslim movement that seeks to distinguish itself by contrasting its own principles with ultra-conservative political Muslims. *''Cambridge Central Mosque'' is a non-denominational place of worship. * ''college'', a college in Ogun state, Nigeria.


Notable individuals

Notable Muslim figures who have espoused an anti-sectarian stance include: * Al-Ma'mun * Hafiz * Akbar * Altaf Hussain Hali * Jamal al-Din al-Afghani * Kassim Ahmad * Muhammad Abduh * Muhammad Akram Khan * Muhammad Ali Jinnah * Muhammad Iqbal * Aga Khan III * Faisal I of Iraq * Ghulam Ahmed Pervez * Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan * Abdullah of Saudi Arabia * Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan * Abdullah II of Jordan * Muhammad VI of Morocco


See also

* Non-denominational Other religions: * Non-denominational Judaism * Non-denominational Christianity * Ecumenism * Unitarian Universalism


References

{{Religion topics Islamic branches