Editing Sunni Islam (section)

=== Sunnism in general and in a specific sense ===
The [[Hanbalism|Hanbali]] scholar [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] (d. 1328) distinguished in his work ''Minhāj as-sunna'' between Sunnis in the general sense (''ahl as-unna al-ʿāmma'') and Sunnis in the special sense (''ahl as-sunna al-ḫāṣṣa''). Sunnis in the general sense are all Muslims who recognize the caliphate of the three caliphs ([[Abū Bakr]], [[ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb]] and [[ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān]]). In his opinion, this includes all Islamic groups except the Shiite [[Rafida|Rafidites]]. Sunnis in the special sense are only the "people of the hadith" (''ahl al-ḥadīṯ'').<ref>Ibn Taimīya: ''Minhāǧ as-sunna an-nabawīya''. Ed. Muḥammad Rašād Sālim. Ǧamiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad Ibn-Saʿid, Riad, 1986. Bd. II, S. 221f. [https://archive.org/stream/WAQ94871/msn2#page/n219/mode/2up Digitalized]</ref>

İsmail Hakkı İzmirli, who took over the distinction between a broader and narrower circle of Sunnis from Ibn Taimiya, said that [[Ibn Kullab|Kullabiyya]] and the Ashʿarīyya are Sunnis in the general sense, while the [[Salafism|Salafiyya]] represent Sunnis in the specific sense. About the Maturidiyya he only says that they are closer to the Salafiyya than the Ashʿariyya because they excel more in [[Fiqh]] than in [[Kalām]].<ref name="IsmailHakki75"/> The [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi scholar]] [[Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen|Muhammad Ibn al-ʿUthaimin]] (d. 2001), who like Ibn Taimiya differentiated between Sunnis in general and special senses, also excluded the Asharites from the circle of Sunnis in the special sense and took the view that only the pious ancestors (''as-salaf aṣ-ṣāliḥ'') who have agreed on the Sunnah belonged to this circle.<ref name="Ibn Uthaimin">Muḥammad ibn ʿUṯaimīn: ''Aš-Šarḥ al-mumtiʿ ʿalā Zād al-mustaqniʿ''. Dār Ibn al-Ǧauzī, Dammam, 2006. Bd. XI, S. 306 [https://archive.org/stream/waq53629/11_53639#page/n306/mode/2up Digitalized]</ref>