Editing Sunni Islam (section)

==Terminology==
=== Sunna ===
The Arabic term {{Transliteration|ar|sunna}}, according to which Sunnis are named, is old and roots in pre-Islamic language. It was used for traditions which a majority of people followed.<ref>Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, S. 1271.</ref> The term got greater political significance after the murder of the third caliph [[Uthman]] ({{Reign|644|656}}). It is said [[Malik al-Ashtar]], a famous follower of [[Ali]], encouraged during the [[Battle of Siffin]] with the expression, Ali's political rival [[Mu'awiya]] kills the ''{{Transliteration|ar|sunna}}''. After the battle, it was agreed that "the righteous ''{{Transliteration|ar|[[Sunnah]]}}'', the unifying, not the divisive" ("{{Transliteration|ar|as-Sunna al-ʿādila al-ǧāmiʿa ġair al-mufarriqa}}") should be consulted to resolve the conflict. The time when the term ''sunna'' became the short form for "[[Sunnah]] of the [[Muhammad in Islam|Prophet]]" (S''unnat an-Nabī'') is still unknown.<ref>Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, p. 1272. (German)</ref> During the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], several political movements, including the [[Shia]] and the [[Kharijites]] rebelled against the formation of the state. They led their battles in the name of "the book of God (''[[Quran|Qur'an]]'') and the ''Sunnah'' of his Prophet".<ref>Patricia Crone und Martin Hinds: ''God's Caliph. Religious authority in the first centuries of Islam''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986. S. 59–61.</ref> During the [[Second Fitna|second Civil War]] (680–92) the Sunna-term received connotations critical of [[Shia Islam|Shi'i]] doctrines (''Tashayyu'''). It is recorded by Masrūq ibn al-Adschdaʿ (d. 683), who was a ''[[Mufti]]'' in [[Kufa]], a need to love the first two caliphs [[Abū Bakr]] and [[ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb]] and acknowledge their priority (''Fadā'il''). A disciple of Masrūq, the scholar ash-Shaʿbī (d. between 721 und 729), who first sided with the Shia in Kufa during Civil War, but turned away in disgust by their fanaticism and finally decided to join the Umayyad Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|ʿAbd al-Malik]], popularized the concept of ''Sunnah''.<ref>Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān al-Fasawī: ''Kitāb al-Maʿrifa wa-t-tārīḫ''. Ed. Akram Ḍiyāʾ al-ʿUmarī. 3 Bde. Bagdad: Maṭbaʿat Aršād 1975. Bd. II, p. 813. [https://archive.org/stream/fasawe/M_fasaoy02#page/n813/mode/2up Digitalisat].</ref> It is also passed down by asch-Shaʿbī, that he took offensive at the hatred on [[Aisha|ʿĀʾiša bint Abī Bakr]] and considered it a violation of the ''[[Sunnah]]''.<ref>[[Adh-Dhahabī|Šams ad-Dīn aḏ-Ḏahabī]]: ''Siyar aʿlām an-nubalāʾ.'' Ed. Šuʿaib al-Arnāʾūṭ. 11. Aufl. Muʾassasat ar-Risāla, Beirut, 1996. Bd. IV, S. 300. [https://archive.org/stream/11950/san04#page/n299/mode/2up Digitalisat]</ref>

The term ''Sunna'' instead of the longer expression ''ahl as-sunna'' or ''ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah'' as a group-name for Sunnis is a relatively young phenomenon. It was probably [[Ibn Taymiyyah]], who used the short-term for the first time.<ref>Ibn Taimīya: ''Minhāǧ as-sunna an-nabawīya''. Ed. Muḥammad Rašād Sālim. Ǧamiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad Ibn-Saʿid, Riad, 1986. Bd. II, S. 221, 224. [https://archive.org/stream/WAQ94871/msn2#page/n219/mode/2up Digitalisat]</ref> It was later popularized by [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamic]] scholars such as [[Rashid Rida|Muhammad Rashid Rida]] in his treatise ''as-Sunna wa-š-šiʿa au al-Wahhābīya wa-r-Rāfiḍa: Ḥaqāʾiq dīnīya taʾrīḫīya iǧtimaʿīya iṣlaḥīya'' ("The Sunna and the Shia, Or [[Wahhabism]] and [[Rafida|Rāfidism]]: Religious history, sociological und reform oriented facts") published in 1928–29.<ref>Muḥammad Rašīd Riḍā: ''as Sunna wa-š-šiʿa au al-Wahhābīya wa-r-Rāfiḍa: Ḥaqāʾiq dīnīya taʾrīḫīya iǧtimaʿīya iṣlaḥīya.'' Kairo 1928/29. [[s:ar:تصنيف:السنة والشيعة أو الوهابية والرافضة:مطبوع|Digitalisat Wikisource]]</ref> The term "Sunnah" is usually used in Arabic discourse as designation for Sunni Muslims, when they are intended to be contrasted with Shias. The word pair "Sunnah-Shia" is also used on Western research literature to denote the Sunni-Shia contrast.<ref>So zum Beispiel bei Mohammad Heidari-Abkenar: ''Die ideologische und politische Konfrontation Schia-Sunna: am Beispiel der Stadt Rey des 10. – 12. Jh. n. Chr.'' Inaugural-Dissertation Köln 1992 und Ofra Bengo und Meir Litvak: ''The Sunna and Shi'a in history. Division and ecumenism in the Muslim Middle East.'' 1. Aufl. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2011.</ref>

=== Ahl as-Sunna ===
One of the earliest supporting documents for ''ahl as-sunna'' derives from the Basric scholar Muhammad Ibn Siri (d. 728). His is mentioned in the ''Sahih'' of [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj]] quoted with: "Formerly one did not ask about the [[Isnad]]. But when the ''[[Fitna (word)|fitna]]'' started, one said: 'Name us your informants'. One would then respond to them: If they were Sunnah people, you accept their hadith. But if they are people of the [[Bidʻah|Innovations]], the hadith was rejected."<ref>[[s:ar:صحيح مسلم/المقدمة#باب بيان أن الإسناد من الدين وأن الرواية لا تكون إلا عن الثقات|''Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Muqaddima, Bāb anna al-isnād min ad-dīn wa-ʾanna r-riwāya lā takūn illā ʿan aṯ-ṯiqāt'']]</ref> G.H.A. Juynboll assumed, the term ''fitna'' in this statement is not related to the first Civil War (665–661) after murder of [[ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān]], but the second Civil War (680–692)<ref>G.H.A. Juynboll: ''Muslim tradition. Studies in chronology, provenance and authorship of early ḥadīṯ''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge u.&nbsp;a. 1983. S. 17f.</ref> in which the Islamic community was split into four parties ([[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]], the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyads]], the Shia under [[Mukhtar al-Thaqafi|al-Mukhtār ibn Abī ʿUbaid]] and the Kharijites). The term ''ahl as-sunna'' designated in this situation whose, who stayed away from heretic teachings of the different warring parties.<ref>Zaman: ''Religion and politics under the early ʿAbbāsids''. 1997, S. 49.</ref>

The term ''ahl as-sunna'' was always a laudatory designation. [[Abu Hanifa]] (d. 769), who sympathized with [[Murdshia]], insisted that this were "righteous people and people of the Sunnah" (''ahl al-ʿadl wa-ahl as-sunna'').<ref>Abū Ḥanīfa: ''Risāla ilā ʿUṯmān al-Battī''. Ed. Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kauṯarī. Kairo, 1949. S. 38. [https://archive.org/details/hanafi_20150711_0546/page/n37 Digitalisat].</ref>  According to [[Josef van Ess]] this term did not mean more than "honorable and righteous believing people".<ref>Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, S. 1273.</ref> Among Hanafits the designation ''ahl as-sunna'' and ''ahl al-ʿadl'' (people of the righteous) remained interchangeable for a long time. Thus the Hanafite Abū l-Qāsim as-Samarqandī (d. 953), who composed a catechism for the [[Samanides]], used sometimes one expression and sometimes another for his own group.<ref name="Rudolph">Ulrich Rudolph: ''Al-Māturīdī und die sunnitische Theologie in Samarkand.'' Brill, Leiden 1997. S. 66.</ref>

Singular to ''ahl as-sunna'' was ''ṣāḥib sunna'' (adherent to the sunnah).<ref>Juynboll: "An Excursus on ahl as-sunnah". 1998, S. 321.</ref> This expression was used for example by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak|ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak]] (d. 797) for a person, who distances himself from the teachings of Shia, [[Kharijites]], Qadarites and [[Murji'ah|Murjites]].<ref>Ibn Abī Yaʿlā: ''Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila''. 1952, Bd. II, S. 40.</ref> In addition, the [[Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba|Nisba]] adjective ''sunnī'' was also used for the individual person. Thus it has been recorded, the Kufic scholar of the Quran Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh (d. 809) was asked, how he was a "sunni". He responded the following: "The one who, when the heresies are mentioned, doesn't get excited about any of them."<ref>Abū l-Qāsim Hibatallāh al-Lālakāʾī: ''Šarḥ uṣūl iʿtiqād ahl as-sunna wa-l-ǧamāʿa''. 8. Aufl. Ed. Aḥmad Saʿd Ḥamdān. Wizārat aš-šuʾūn al-islāmīya, Riad, 2003. Bd. I, S. 65. [https://archive.org/details/FP16154/page/n64/mode/2up Digitalisat] – Engl. Übers. bei Juynboll: "An Excursus on ahl as-sunnah". 1998, S. 319.</ref>  The Andalusiaian scholar [[Ibn Hazm]] (d. 1064) taught later, that whose who confess to Islam can be divided into four groups: ''ahl as-sunna'', [[Mutazilites]], Murjites, Shites, Kharijites.<ref>Ibn Ḥazm: ''al-Faṣl fi-l-milal wa-l-ahwāʾ wa-n-niḥal.'' Ed. Muḥammad Ibrāhīm Naṣr; ʿAbd-ar-Raḥmān ʿUmaira. 5 Bde. Dār al-Ǧīl, Beirut 1985. Bd. II, S. 265.</ref> The Muʿtazilites replaced the Qadarites here.

In the 9th century, one started to extent the term ''ahl as-sunna'' with further positive additions. Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari used for his own group expressions like ''ahl as-sunna wa-l-istiqāma'' ("people of Sunna and Straightness"), ''ahl as-sunna wa-l-ḥadīṯ'' ("people of Sunnah and of the Hadith")<ref>Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, S. 1274.</ref> or ''ahl al-ḥaqq wa-s-sunna''<ref name="Kitab al-Ibana8">So al-Ašʿarī: ''Kitāb al-Ibāna ʿan uṣūl ad-diyāna''. S. 8. – Engl. Übers. S. 49.</ref> ("people of Truth and of the Sunnah").

=== Ahl as-Sunna wa l-Jamāʻah ===
The first appearances of the expression 'ahl as-sunna wa l-jama'ah are entirely clear. The Abbasite Caliph [[Al-Ma'mūn]] (reigned 813–33) criticized in his Mihna edict a group of people, who related themselves to the sunnah (''nasabū anfusa-hum ilā s-sunna'') and claimed, they are the "people of truth, religion and community" (''ahl al-ḥaqq wa-d-dīn wa-l-jamāʿah'').<ref>[[Al-Tabari|Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī]]: ''Taʾrīḫ ar-rusul wa-l-mulūk''. Hrsg. von M. J. de Goeje. Brill, Leiden, 1879–1901. Bd. III, S. 1114, Zeile 4–8 [http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/content/pageview/467635 Digitalisat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427193221/https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/content/pageview/467635 |date=27 April 2023 }} und Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, S. 1278.</ref> ''Sunna'' and ''jamāʿah'' are already connected here. As a pair, these terms already appear in the 9th century. It is recorded that the disciple of [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]] Harb ibn Ismail as-Sirjdshani (d. 893) created a writing with the title ''as-Sunna wa l-Jamāʿah'', to which the Mutazilite Abu al-Qasim al-Balchi wrote a refutation later.<ref>Vgl. [[Yāqūt ar-Rūmī]]: ''Muʿǧam al-Buldān'' Ed. F. Wüstenfeld. Brockhaus, Leipzig, 1866–1870. Bd. III, S. 213f. [http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/pageview/505612 Digitalisat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428120038/https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/pageview/505612|date=28 April 2023}} und van Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, S. 332. (german)</ref> [[Al-Jubba'i]] (d. 916) tells in his ''Kitāb al-Maqālāt'', that Ahmad ibn Hanbal attributed to his students the predicate ''sunnī jamāʿah'' ("Jammatic Sunnite").<ref>Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, S. 1273f.</ref> This indicates that the Hanbalis were the first to use the phrase ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah'' as a self-designation.<ref name="Ess20111276">Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, Bd. II, S. 1276.</ref>

[[Karramiyya]] theology, founded by Muhammad ibn Karram (d. 859) referred to the sunnah and community. They passed down in praise of their school founder a hadith, according to which Muhammad predicted that at the end of times a man named Muhammad ibn Karram will appear, who will restore the sunna and the community (''as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah'') and take Hidraj from Chorasan to Jerusalem, just how Muhammad himself took a Hidraj from Mecca to Medina.<ref name="Ess20111276"/> According to the testimony of the transoxanian scholar Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi (d. 1099) the Kullabites (followers of the Basrian scholar [[Ibn Kullab]] (d. 855)) dayed about themselves, that they are among the ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jama'' too.<ref name="Bazdawi250">al-Bazdawī: ''Kitāb Uṣūl ad-Dīn.'' 2003, S. 250.</ref>

Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari used the expression ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah'' rarely,<ref>Er kommt bei ihm nur einmal vor, nämlich al-Ašʿarī: ''Kitāb Maqālāt al-islāmīyīn wa-iḫtilāf al-muṣallīn.'' 1963, S. 471, Zeile 10. [http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/pageview/708141 Digitalisat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428120038/https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/pageview/708141 |date=28 April 2023 }}</ref> and preferred another combination. Later Asharites like al-Isfaranini (d. 1027) nad Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 1078) used the expression ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah'' too and used them in their works to designate the teachings of their own school.<ref>van Ess: ''Der Eine und das Andere''. 2011, S. 681, 718.</ref> According to al-Bazdawi all Asharites in his time said they belong to the ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah''.<ref name="Bazdawi250"/> During this time, the term has been used as a self-designation by the hanafite Maturidites in Transoxiania, used frequently by [[Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi]] (d. 983), Abu Schakur as-Salimi (d. 1086) and al-Bazdawi himself.<ref name="Rudolph" /> They used the term as a contrast from their enemies<ref>Brodersen: "Sunnitische Identitätssuche im Transoxanien des 5./11. Jahrhunderts." 2019, S. 345.</ref> among them Hanafites in the West, who have been followers of the Mutazilites.<ref>Brodersen: "Sunnitische Identitätssuche im Transoxanien des 5./11. Jahrhunderts." 2019, S. 347. (German)</ref> Al-Bazdawī also contrasted the ''Ahl as-Sunnah wa l-Jamāʻah'' with ''Ahl al-Ḥadīth'', "because they would adhere to teachings contrary to the Quran".<ref>al-Bazdawī: ''Kitāb Uṣūl ad-Dīn.'' 2003, S. 254.</ref>

According to [[Al-Muqaddasī|Schams ad-Dīn al-Maqdisī]] (end of the 10th century) was the expression ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah'' a laudatory term during his time, similar to ''ahl al-ʿadl wa-t-tawḥīd'' ("people of Righteousness and Divine Unity"), which was used for Mutazilites or generally designations like [[Mumin|Mu'minūn]] ("Believer") or ''aṣḥāb al-hudā'' ("people of guidance") for Muslims, who has been seen as rightoues believers.<ref>Šams ad-Dīn al-Muqaddasī: ''Kitāb Aḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm.'' Ed. M. J. de Goeje. 2. Aufl. Brill, Leiden 1906. S. 37. [http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/pageview/503492 Digitalisat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405113242/https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/pageview/503492 |date=5 April 2023 }} – Französische Übersetzung André Miquel. Institut Français de Damas, Damaskus, 1963. S. 88.</ref> Since the expression ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jamāʿah'' was used with a demand on rightoues belief, it was used in academic researches translated as "orthodox".<ref>So Kate Chambers Seelye in ihrer Übersetzung von al-Baghdādīs ''Al-Farq baina l-firaq'', siehe Seelye: ''Moslem Schisms and Sects''. 1920, S. 38.</ref>

There are different opinions regarding what the term ''jama'' in the phrase ''ahl as-sunna wa l-jama'' actually means, among Muslim scholars. In the Sunni Creed by [[at-Tahawi]] (d. 933), the term ''jama'' contrasts several times the Arabic term ''furqa'' ("division, sectarianism").<ref>See z.&nbsp;B. aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī: ''al-ʿAqīda aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīya''. 1995, S. 24. – Engl. Übers. Watt: ''Islamic creeds: a selection''. 1994, S. 53.</ref><ref>Siehe z.&nbsp;B. aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī: ''al-ʿAqīda aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīya''. 1995, S. 24. – Engl. Übers. Watt: ''Islamic creeds: a selection''. 1994, S. 53.</ref> Thus at-Tahāwī explains that ''jama'' is considered as true or right (''ḥaqq wa-ṣawāb'') and ''furqa'' as aberration and punishment (''zaiġ wa-ʿaḏāb'').<ref>aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī: ''al-ʿAqīda aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīya''. 1995, S. 31. – Engl. Übers. Watt: ''Islamic creeds: a selection''. 1994, S. 56.</ref> Ibn Taymiyyah argues, that ''jama'' as opposite term to ''furqa'' inherents the meaning of ''iǧtimāʿ'' ("Coming together, being together, agreement"). Furthermore, he connects it with the principle of [[Ijma]], a third juridical source after the Book (Quran), and the Sunnah.<ref>Ibn Taimīya: ''al-ʿAqīda al-Wāsiṭīya''. 1999, S. 128. – Dt. Übers. Wein S. 99.</ref> The Ottoman scholar Muslih ad-Din al-Qastallani (d. 1495) held the opinion that ''jama'' means "Path of the [[Sahaba]]" (''ṭarīqat aṣ-ṣaḥāba'').<ref name="Zabidi6"/> The modern Indonesian theologican [[Nurcholish Madjid]] (d. 2005) interpreted ''jama'' as an [[Inclusivism|inclusivistic]] concept: It means a society open for [[Value pluralism|pluralism]] and dialogue but does not emphasize that much.<ref>Saleh: ''Modern Trends in Islamic Theological Discourse in 20th Century Indonesia''. 2001, S. 91–96. (German)</ref>