Editing Sunni Islam (section)

== Sunni State institutions ==
[[File:TRT Diyanet kurumsal logo.png|thumb|175x175px|TRT Diyanet kurumsal logo]]
One of the most important teaching institutions of Sunni Islam worldwide is the [[Al-Azhar University|Azhar]] in Egypt. Article 32b, paragraph 7 of the Egyptian Azhar Law of 1961 stipulates that the Azhar "follows the path of the Sunnis" (''manhaǧ ahl as-sunna wa-l-jamāʿa''), Umma has agreed to the foundations of the religion and applications of fiqh, with its four [[Madhhab|disciplines]]. Only those who stick to the paths of their science and behavior can become a "Member of the Council of Great Scholars" (''haiʾat kibār al-ʿulamāʾ''), among whom the [[Grand Imam of al-Azhar]] is elected.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.egypt.gov.eg/arabic/laws/download/newlaws/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86%20%D8%B1%D9%82%D9%85%20103%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9%201961.pdf#page=11| title = Gesetz Nr. 103/1961 über die Neuordnung der Azhar und Gremien, die sie umfasst Art. 32b, Abs. 7| access-date = 9 February 2021| archive-date = 5 March 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220305150029/https://www.egypt.gov.eg/arabic/laws/download/newlaws/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86%20%D8%B1%D9%82%D9%85%20103%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9%201961.pdf#page=11| url-status = dead}}</ref> Zitouna University in Tunisia and University of al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco are recognized. They are also mentioned, along with the Azhar, in the final document of the Sunni Conference in Grozny.<ref name="Grozny">Final Document of Grozn von 2016, [https://chechnyaconference.org/material/chechnya-conference-statement-arabic.pdf arabisches Original] and [https://chechnyaconference.org/material/chechnya-conference-statement-german.pdf German translation].</ref>

Another body that claims to speak on behalf of Sunnism is the [[Council of Senior Scholars (Saudi Arabia)|Council of Senior Religious Scholars]] founded in Saudi Arabia in 1971. In the past, the committee has expressed several times on fatwas about the Sunni-membership of certain Islamic groups within. In 1986 it published a fatwa excluding the [[Al-Ahbash|Ahbāsh]] community from Sunnism.<ref>[[Mustafa Kabha]] und [[Haggai Erlich]]: "Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam" in ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' 38/4 (2006) 519–538. Hier p. 527f. und Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd ar-Razzāq ad-Darwīš: ''Fatāwā al-Laǧna ad-dāʾima li-l-buḥūṯ al-ʿilmīya wal-iftāʾ''. Dār al-ʿĀṣima, Riad, 1996. Bd. XII, p. 308–323. [https://archive.org/stream/fldbeefldbee/fldbee12#page/n308/mode/2up Digitalisat]</ref> The Islamic World League in Mecca, also funded by Saudi Arabia, made a resolution from 1987 that it regards Sunnism as the pure teachings at the time of the Messenger and the rightful existence of the Caliphate.<ref>Arbitrament10/9 ''Ḥukm al-ḫilāf al-ʿaqadī wa-l-fiqhī wa-t-taʿaṣṣub al-maḏhabī'' from 21. Oktober 1987, See: ''Qarārāt al-maǧmaʿ al-fiqhī al-Islāmī bi-Makka al-mukarrama fī daurātihī al-ʿišrīn (1398-1432h/1977-2010m)'' Rābiṭat al-ʿālam al-islāmī, Mekka o.&nbsp;D. p. 257–260. p. 258 [https://d1.islamhouse.com/data/ar/ih_books/single_010/ar_qrarat_elmogama3_alfiqhy.pdf#page=258 Digitalized]</ref> However, the Council of Senior Religious Scholars is largely under control of Wahhabi scholars.<ref>Steinberg, Guido. "THE WAHHABIYA, SAUDI ARABIA AND THE SALAFIST MOVEMENT." Islamic Movements of Europe: Public Religion and Islamophobia in the Modern World (2014): 38.</ref>

The Turkish [[Directorate of Religious Affairs]] (''Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı''), follows the religious policy of the Ottoman Empire, providing a Sunni interpretation of Islam.<ref name="Lord138">Lord: ''Religious Politics in Turkey: From the Birth of the Republic to the AKP''. 2018, p. 138.</ref> Plans by the [[Committee of National Unity]] in the 1960s to convert the Diyanet authority into a non-denominational institution that also integrated the [[Alevism|Alevis]], failed because of resistance from conservative Sunni clergy inside and outside the Diyanet authority.<ref>Lord: ''Religious Politics in Turkey: From the Birth of the Republic to the AKP''. 2018, p. 142–147.</ref> Since the 1990s, the Diyanet authority has presented itself as an institution that stands above the denominations (''mezhepler üstü'')<ref name="Lord138"/> The religious education organized by the authority at the Turkish schools is based exclusively on the Sunni understanding of Islam.<ref>Lord: ''Religious Politics in Turkey: From the Birth of the Republic to the AKP''. 2018, p. 155.</ref>