Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam constitutes the largest branch of the Islamic tradition, representing an estimated eighty-seven to ninety per cent of Muslims worldwide. It is therefore the largest religious denomination globally. The designation Sunni derives from the term Sunnah, referring to the normative traditions, practices, and precedents attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. Over many centuries the term developed both religious and political implications, particularly in relation to debates concerning legitimate leadership and the preservation of orthodoxy within the Muslim community.
The formative distinction between Sunni and Shia Islam is rooted in differing views of succession following the death of Muhammad. While Sunni teachings maintain that Muhammad did not appoint a successor and that Abu Bakr was legitimately chosen as the first caliph by leading members of the community at the gathering known as the Saqifah, Shia teachings hold that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, had been explicitly designated to succeed him. This divergence evolved into broader contrasts in jurisprudence, theology, and communal identity. Sunni legal interpretation relies on the Qur’an, the hadith literature—especially the canonical Six Books—and the consensus of scholars, together with the instruments of qiyas, istislah or maslaha, and istihsan. In theology, Sunni Islam affirms the six pillars of faith and encompasses the Ashʿari, Maturidi, and Athari traditions. The first four caliphs—Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali—are collectively regarded as al-khulafa’ al-rashidun, the “rightly-guided” leaders whose example is venerated in Sunnism.

Historical development of the term Sunna

The Arabic term sunna predates Islam and originally denoted customary practices widely accepted within a community. Its meaning gradually shifted as it became tied to the exemplary conduct of Muhammad. The precise moment when sunna came to denote specifically the Prophetic tradition is uncertain; however, sources indicate that the term gained particular prominence after the assassination of the third caliph, Uthman, when political crises and civil strife raised questions about legitimate leadership, communal unity, and correct practice.
During the Umayyad period, various political and religious groups—including Shia and Kharijite movements—invoked the Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah as part of their opposition to the ruling order. In the Second Fitna (680–692), the term sunna began to be employed in ways that implicitly challenged Shia doctrines. Early scholars in Kufa, such as Masruq ibn al-Ajdaʿ, emphasised the need to revere the first two caliphs and recognise their precedence. His student al-Shaʿbi later distanced himself from Shia militancy and promoted an understanding of the Sunnah that aligned with Umayyad efforts to restore order. Reports indicate that al-Shaʿbi criticised hostility towards figures such as Aisha and viewed such behaviour as a breach of the Sunnah.
The short form Sunna as a group label for Sunni adherents appears to be a relatively late development. Ibn Taymiyyah is often credited with using the concise form in his works, and twentieth-century pan-Islamic scholars such as Rashid Rida further popularised it. In modern Arabic usage, the paired terms Sunnah–Shia frequently serve as shorthand for distinguishing the two major branches of Islam, and this terminology is likewise adopted in contemporary academic literature.

Early formation of Ahl al-Sunna

An early attestation of the expression ahl al-sunna (“the people of the Sunnah”) appears in reports attributed to the Basran scholar Muhammad ibn Sirin, who died in 728. According to traditions preserved in canonical hadith collections, he described how earlier generations had not demanded chains of transmission (isnad), but after the onset of civil conflict, transmitters were asked to identify their teachers, and hadith were accepted only from those regarded as adherents of the Sunnah rather than supporters of innovation (bidʿah). Interpretations vary as to whether the “fitna” referenced in this report refers to the First or Second Civil War, though several scholars associate it with the latter, given the proliferation of competing groups at that time.
Throughout these early centuries, ahl al-sunna served as an honorific term signifying doctrinal soundness and moral uprightness. Abu Hanifa, who died in 769, associated the expression with the righteous and with those committed to the Sunnah, while maintaining intellectual connections to groups such as the Murji’ah. Among early Hanafis, ahl al-sunna and ahl al-ʿadl (“the people of righteousness”) were sometimes used interchangeably. Scholars such as Abu al-Qasim al-Samarqandi likewise employed both terms when outlining creeds for regional rulers.
Variants of the term were also used for individuals. The designation ibn sunna (“adherent of the Sunnah”) could be applied to scholars who refused to engage with doctrines attributed to Shia, Kharijite, Qadarite, or Murji’ite groups. Some biographical reports describe scholars who defined a Sunni as someone who refrains from becoming zealous for any form of heresy when such controversies are raised.
By the eleventh century, writers such as Ibn Hazm classified the Muslim community into categories that included ahl al-sunna alongside Muʿtazilites, Murji’ites, Shia, and Kharijites. During this period, Sunni authors expanded the terminology using additional laudatory appellations. Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿari, for example, referred to his tradition as ahl al-sunna wa-l-istiqāma (“people of the Sunnah and uprightness”) or ahl al-haqq wa-l-sunna (“people of truth and the Sunnah”), signalling both theological and ethical dimensions.

Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jamaʿah

The composite term ahl al-sunna wa-l-jamaʿah (“the people of the Sunnah and the community”) emerged during the Abbasid period. One of its earliest documented usages appears in the edict of Caliph al-Ma’mun, issued during the Mihna (inquisition), in which he criticised a group who described themselves as adherents to the Sunnah and as representatives of the true religion and the united community. By this time, the coupling of sunna and jamaʿah had already acquired doctrinal significance, associating religious orthodoxy with communal cohesion and continuity.
This phrase subsequently became a defining expression for Sunni identity. It encapsulated both adherence to the Prophetic Sunnah and commitment to the unity of the Muslim community. Over time it came to denote the collective self-understanding of Sunnism as the principal mainstream of Islam, grounded in the authority of the Qur’an, the normative traditions, and the consensus of the scholarly community.