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A PROJECT REPORT ON
Analysing Islam
Studied Under MUSLIM LAW

Submitted to:
Asst. Professor Meenakshi Tripathi
Faculty of Law

Submitted by:
Mukul Chopda
BBA LL.B.(Sem. IV)

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Acknowledgement
I am highly obliged and thankful to Maam Prof. Meenakshi Tripathi, Faculty of
MATS Law School, who gave me an opportunity to complete such an important
topic on Muslim Law and also gave me important suggestions to make it over. I
am also thankful to all the other faculties of MATS Law School who also
helped me a lot in such matter.I would also like to give a lot of thanks to our
Director Sir Prof. Dr. G.P. Tripathi who inspired me a lot to study law.
I am especially thankful to my family who really inspired and helped me a lot
with their great efforts and all of their possibilities to bring me here. My friends
are also very much helpful in matter regarding studies, so I am also very much
thankful to them.

Mukul Chopda

Introduction

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Table of Contents:

Pre-Islamic Arabia

Advent of Islam

Nature

Sources

11

Schools

14

Sufism

18

Other Denomination

18

Demography

18

Architecture

19

Criticism

19

Conclusion

20

Bibliography

22

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Introduction:

Religion is the base through which a civilisation evolves on their social, legal and lastly religious
platforms that gives a structure to the evolved society and also helps to flourish in the broader sense in
this globe. People who are carrying on these several religious activities in this modern world coming
from the ancient days passed through the middle ages is just doing such to give a binding on the
society as to prevent all kinds of destruction powers which are hitting the day by day. People in
religious thoughts go for idolism depicts a picture of God in their own minds though God, as assumed
a supernatural power is intangible by its bodingly appearance. Though people go for it in the present
day of scientific kingship as to help the society from anyinhuman activities by taking the safeguard of
God, the almighty. There are several religions among this world going for different beliefs, different
idols, different ideologies, etc according to the characteristics of their own religions. People may be
superstitious in the name of religion but they think that through a much of that type of superstition as
they refer it to be the Godly affection they may reach to such super natural powers very early and in a
very affectionate nature. Actually people by virtue of religious thinking try to elevate the society in a
very high level from its cultural viewpoint and so on.In the same way, the Islam evolved with its
followers as the Muslims under the prophecy of Hazrat Muhammad.

Pre-Islamic Arabia:
The source of Islam lies on the Arabian sphere of the earth. Its birth took place on the earth with the
existence of Muhammad being the Prophet or the Messenger of Islam and also being the last
messenger of God.
The Arabs were descendants of Ibrahim and Qahtan. When Muhammad took birth at Mecca of
Abdullah and Amina being the father and mother respectively on the 12 th Rabi-al-Awwal i.e., 22nd of
571 A.D., but according to Amir Ali it is 20th August, 570 A.D. in a very prominent family of Banu
Hashim or Hashimites of Quraish tribes who were very direct descendants of Ibrahim or Abraham; the
total society of Arab was of Tribal people. The society was mainly made up of nomadic tribes which
used to roam in deserts in search of water or pasturage and doing such in the sense of full liberty and
independence seems to be in-born. They sometimes were administrated by some tribal leaders or by
tribal council. The Arabians had some shining qualities such as courage, bravery, hospitality, fortitude
and manliness. Trade and commerce were highly affected by the weather whereby exploitation was
very much present and high interest rates in finances helped a handful of classes in the accumulation
of wealth.

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The classes were religious in the sense that they use to worship idols and multiplicity of spiritual
idols. The pre-Islamic society of Arabia was very barbaric in nature whereby the condition of the
women was very pathetic. Mutta marriage, polygamy, dower, divorce, male dominancy in the society
was very common.
During very early age, Muhammads father died before 6 months he took birth; his mother died at the
age of 6; he was brought up by his grandfather Abdul Muttalib who also died, thereby brought up by
paternal uncle, Abu Talib. Hence the education of Muhammad did not proceed but somehow he got
impressed by the people of Mecca due to his noble conduct. In his childhood, he used to graze goats
and being grew up, he looked after the business of Khadija, a lady of his tribe. Khadija had a large
business and was a widow who handed over her business to Muhammad and also married him.

Advent of Islam:
The term Islam has derived from theroot words s-l-m and thereby the meaning of Islam is peace,
greeting, safety and salvation.
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an, a bookconsidered by its
adherents to be the verbatim word of God or Allah and by the teachings and normative example called
the Sunnah and composed of Hadith of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God.
Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and the purpose of existence is to love and serve
God. Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that
was revealed at many times and places before, including through Abraham, Moses and Jesus, whom
they consider prophets. They maintain that the previous messages and revelations have been partially
misinterpreted or altered over time, but consider the Arabic Qur'an to be both the unaltered and the
final revelation of God. Religious concepts and practices include the five pillars of Islam, which are
basic concepts and obligatory acts of worship, and following Islamic law, which touches on virtually
every aspect of life and society, providing guidance on multifarious topics from banking and welfare,
to warfare and the environment.
After becoming of 25 years of age, he used to spent a much of his time in a solitude by making a
lonely cave named Hira, his abode, whereby he is said to be in occupied by deep prayer and
meditation and thereby at the 40th year of his age he attained to be the Prophet of Islam, as then he
first received the message of God or Allah also termed as first-wahi. Thereby he became a devotee
and undergone to replant only the truth of the nature and of the ancient religion, professed by Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and thereby all of the ancient Prophets. In his prophecy he faced a lot
of disturbances from the people who believed in idol-ideology and thereby worshipped a lot of Gods

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and thereby his ideology of faith was attacked. He was abused, spat upon, covered with dust and for
attaining the supremacy thereby he went to a very deep meditation and finally he got the position in
the mind of the people and remained successful in spreading of the religion over a huge portion of the
Roman Empire. He influenced a large sect of people all over the Arabia as well as the adjoining
territories whereby he succeeded in converting the people of Persia, advanced his dominion far
towards the banks of Indus on the east to the banks of Oxus on the north and north-west in settling his
ideologies among a huge sect of people who afterwards became the conquerors of India and thereby
spread the Islamic ideologies and thereby became the most powerful races of men on the globe and at
present becoming the fastest growing religion on this earth .
According to Ibn Sad, the opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that
condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism.As he faced a lot of
problems in spreading his ideologies in Mecca, he fled to Medina with his followers and thereby
abolished all the stone-idols that the people worshipped there and as a dictator he thereby forced the
people to follow his ideologies through a small war. As a result he thereby became victorious and the
people came in a unity under his leadership. Actually he was compelled to flee from Mecca to Medina
due to the force of the people and the flight on 622 A.D. of Muhammad is known as Hijrat or Hegira
which remarks the beginning of the Muslim era.
The first to believe in his Divine message was his wife Khadija; followed by a blind scholar named
Waraq; Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, his father-in-law; Ali, the fourth Caliph Osman, the third Caliph
and Omar, the second Caliph who at first opposed to the Prophet but later on joined the new faith.
Thereby the Prophet declared that there is only one God that is Allah whereby Khadija was the first
woman and Ali was the first ever man who embraced Islam.
Thereby Abu Bakr and others began preaching against Praganism but the Meccans led by the
Prophets uncle Abu Lahab, and others began to proscecute the Prophet and his followers and he had
to flee in Medina on 622 A.D. after so many fights there he gained a supremacy and then by taking his
followers came to Mecca and defeated the Meccans in the Battle of Badr on 623 A.D.; therefore
gained supremacy all over the Arabia which continued till his death on 12th Rabi-al-awwal
corresponding to 8th June 632 A.D. or 11 A.H. i.e., After Hegira.
The prophet regarded religion as a straight natural whereby it is a duty of the man to abide by it,
wherein there is no ambiguity and arbitrariness. In this religion all humanity are bonded in a single
brotherhood with one God, Allah, the creator of all and who looks upon the mankind as thereby all is
equal. Hence, all men are equal in Islam. The Islam says that from time to time people get corrupt and
use to forget about the fundamental principles on true faithupto the great Resurrection, and hence,
God sends a Reformer to them in His infinite mercy termed as Rasul or messenger in order that he

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may show the true path and warn them against the evil deeds. Thus were sent as Adam, Abraham,
Ismael, Moses and Jesus in the form of Rasuls by the God.
According to Muhammad, Islam, above all, is a religion of works. The service of man and the good of
humanity constitute pre-eminently the service and worship of God.
All creation is the family of God, and of all creation the most beloved of God is he who does not
good to his family.1
God will not be merciful to him who is not merciful to men. 2
As the prophet disappeared from this world different competitors came forward in order to succeed to
the post of Caliphate and thereby divided the people into rival and discordant fractions which were
more political than religious.
The Prophet passed away on 632 A.D. but left no son because the two sons who took birth from Him
and Khadija died infant and there were four daughters. So the succession of the early Caliphs went
through friction and bloodshed. The first four Caliphs respectively wereAbu Bakr on 632 A.D. being the father-in-law of the Prophet.
Omar on 634 A.D.
Osman 644 A.D. being the son-in-law of the Prophet as he married Prophets second daughter,
Raqayya and then after her death the third daughter, UmmiKulsum.
Osman was murdered and succeeded by Ali being the cousin and another son-in-law of the Prophet as
he married the Prophets youngest daughter, Fatima. Fatima alone survived her father but she died
after 6 months of her fathers death. However, Ali previously opposed to the Prophets ideologies but
later he also joined the Prophet.
Ali was murdered by his son Hasan being the grandson of Muhammad who resigned in favour of
Muavia, an usurper from Damascus, but was nevertheless also murdered. The partisans of Ali
persuaded Hasans brother Hussain to check misdeeds of Yazid, son of Muavia, but fell in an ambush
where he died at the field of Karbala.
According to Shia, the disturbances took place due to Prophets one of the widow, Ayesha, who
procured the election of Abu Bakr, her father and also instigated the murder of Hasan and the
1Sayings 269.
2Sayings 511.

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usurpation of Muavia, whereby Ali should have been the first Caliph and so the shiahs termed the first
three Caliphs as usurpers. The shiahs say that the Caliphate is hereditary and vested in Ali and his
descendants and thereby reject the sayings of the Sunni doctrine that the succession depends upon the
degree of sanctity as determined by the faithful votes and thereby the Sunnis think that the last three
Caliphs were not usurpers and they were beloved of the Prophet. Thereby the death of Hussain at the
Karbala made the breach between the Sunnis and Shiahs which is irreparable.
Ommayad Dynasty: Muavia was the founder of this dynasty, who ruled the then Damascus from
661-750 A.D.The Umayyad dynasty conquered the Maghrib, the Iberian Peninsula, Narbonnese, Gaul
and Sindh. Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities
and taxed heavily to finance the ByzantineSassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their
lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. Since the
Constitution of Medina, Jews and Christians continued to use their own laws in the Islamic State and
had their own judges.
Abbasids Dynasty: The Omayyadwas succeeded by the Abbas who fixed their capital at Baghdad
and reigned for five centuries until the last of them abdicated in favour of the Turkish Sultan Salem on
1517 A.D. in 1538 A.D. the Turkish Sultan assumed the title of Caliph which was supported by the
Ottoman Turks who ruled Constantinople and the Caliphate was eventually abolished by Mustafa
Kamal Pasha in 1924.
British period and India: Section 27 of the Famous Regulation 11 of 1772, it was enacted that in all
suits regarding inheritance, succession, marriage and caste and other religious institutions, the laws of
the Quran along with the Mohammedans, and those of the Shastras with the Hindus, shall be
invariably adherent to.
During the British rule a lot of changes were made regarding the applicability of the Islamic law in
India. Islamic Criminal Law was replaced by the Indian Penal Code in 1862 and Islamic Law of
Evidence by the Evidence Act, 1872. Therefore, Islamic Law related to contract, tort, civil and
criminal procedures and practically every field except personal law was replaced by legislation. As
Fyzee states, Mohammedan Law as received in India is the Shariyat modified by the principles of
English Common Law and equity in the varying social and cultural conditions of India. The Shariyat
Act, 1937 in effect abrogated local customs and restored to Muslims their own personal law.

Nature:
Shariat or Shariah: This concept literally means, the road to the watering place, the path to be
followed. According to the Shariat religious injunctions are of five kinds:

Those strictly enjoyed or fard,

Those strictly forbidden or haram,
Those advised to do or mandub,
Those advised to retrain or makruh,
Those are indifferent or jaiz.

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Shariat deals with all moral, legal, ethical, theological, philosophical and political problems and also
gives the solutions of such problems in a religious nature. Its basic source is Quran which is
supplemented by Sunna and Hadis.
Islamic shariat has devised two sets of basic principles of them the first one is Usul-e-Deen related to
belief and the second one is Fur-e-Deen which governs general actions and obligations.
Usul-e-Deen: It contains certain principles as Wahdat or singular entity of God, Risalat or prophet
hood whereby God sent one lakh and twenty-four thousand Prophets thereby Prophet of Islam being
the last one, Qayamat or doomsday i.e., every individual would be rewarded or punished for what he
had done in this world.
Hereby the Shiyas added two more principles namely Adalat, i.e., God is just Imamat i.e., they believe
that after Prophet, God has appointed Imams.
Furu-e-Deen: This is a type of action which contains Namaz or prayers, Roza or fasting, Haj or
pilgrimage, Zakat or departing a certain amount from individuals income and Jihad or holy war for
the cause of God.
Hereby, shiyas include in the list Khums which means another portion of income and savings beside
Zakat which is strictly to be given to the Imams but at present there is none to obtain such.
These two sets of principles are the foundation of Islamic Shariat under one believes in Usul-e-Deen
is Eeman, he cannot come in Islamic Fold. In this principle, different rules are framed for ascertaining
Halal and Haram or good and evil.
Fiqh or Islamic Law: The law in Islam is known as Fiqh which literally means intelligence and
moreover jurisprudence.
Abu Hanifa defined Fiqh as the souls cognizance of its rights and obligations. The Turkish Mejelle
defines it as the knowledge of practical legal question.
Fiqh also termed to be the science of Islamic Law is the knowledge of ones rights and obligations
which has been derived from the holy book named Quran or the Sunna of the Prophet or consensus of
opinion among the learned also called Ijma or analogical deduction also known as Qiyas.

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The first postulate of Muslim Law is faith or Iman which is the essential constituent in the belief on
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God. Fiqh is narrower than shariat because the latter embraces in its orbit all kinds of human acts
ethical and non-ethical while the fiqh deals with legal acts alone. The edifice of fiqh is erected by
human endeavour, while shariat is laid down by God and His Prophet.

Sources:
According to the Sunnis the source of the Mohammadan Law are 1. The Quran, 2. Sunna, 3. The
Ijma, 4. The Qiyas and there are other sources also which are the customs, judicial precedents,
legislation and equity, justice and good conscience.
Wherever the Shiyas on account think that the sources are 1. The Quran, 2.Hadis, 3.The decisions of
the Imams and 4.Qiyas.
The Holy Quran:The Quran has been derived from the word Qere like Qere-et of which the first
revelation started from the word Iqra means recite and thereby collections of all revelations are called
The Recital or the Al-Quran. Quran was revealed when the Prophet was of 23 years of age at Mecca
and Medina. The Quran is the paramount and universal authority of Muslim Law which is of a divine
origin and Prophet Muhammad was the last Rasul or Prophet. The Quran is present in the form of a
book which is divided into 114 Chapters and consists of approximately 6666 verses. The verses of
Quran are called Ayat and the chapters are called Sura. 200 verses of the Holy Book are entitled to
legal principles whereby nearly about 80 verses are concerned with marriage, dower, divorce and
inheritance.
The Quran was not collected, systematized or compiled during the lifetime of the Prophet but after his
death, the first Caliph Abu Bakr ordered regarding the collection of the Quran. The third Caliph
Osman ordered a second collection and thereby after the 18 years of the death of the Prophet the
present edition of the Quran took place, which cannot be altered, amended or modified by human or
even by an institution. Therefore, till date it has remained unchanged in its content whereby it has
been translated into different languages.
The Sunna or The Sunnat or Hadis: The term Sunna means the trodden path, a procedure, a way of
action i.e., same kind of practice and precedent in Muslim Law means the utterances, deeds and
practices of the Prophet. This term is applied to the traditions or precedents not merely emanating
from the Prophet but also his companions, successors and successors of successors from the general
body of the ulema.

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Hadis is that what is said by the Prophet and Sunnat is his actions and practices whereby Serat is a
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wider term under which Hadis and Sunnat are studied. Sunna is of three kinds:
Sunnat-ul-fiel i.e., traditions what the Prophet did himself.
Sunnat-ul-qual i.e., traditions what about He enjoined by words.
Sunnat-ul-taqrir i.e., that was done in his presence without his disapproval.
Hadis or Ahdis being one of the forms of Sunnat-ul-taqrir is the second source of the Mohhamedan
Law. The first writers of the Hadis were Abu Bakr bin Shihad Ash-Shafi Az Zubri, Abdul-Malik bin
Juraij, Malik bin Anas, the Muwatta, Muhammad Ibn Idris and Abu Abdullah Ahmad Ibn Hambal.
Ijmaa: The third source of law is the Ijmaa which denotes the consensus of opinion of the
companions of the Prophet or even of highly qualified legal scholars. After the demise of the Prophet
there emerged large problems and some fresh facts regarding the decisions of the Islamic religion for
which the Ijmaa took birth which derives its authority from both Quran and Sunnat.
Some western and non-Muslim writers have described the meaning of Ijmaa as Muslims shaping
Islam instead of Islam shaping Muslims.
Qiyas: Qiyas means analogical deductions, measuring accord or equality which was derived from
the Jewish term Hiqquish which means to beat together. It actually means to extract a new statement
by comparing two existing statements. It derives a major source of Islam.
Besides, Sunnis considered a few more sources which are as follows:
Pre-Islamic Customs or Urfs and usages: A custom is a tradition which passes from time to time
within a generation to another. It is generally a human conduct organised by a sect of humans which
has obtained the force of law within a particular locality. E.g. polygamy, divorce, dower, etc. The urfs
according to Quran says that; whatever the people generally consider to be good for them is good to
the eye of God. The prophet also confirmed some of the customs as partnership is lawful because
the Prophet found people practising it and confirmed them there in Hedaya.
Hedaya says that the custom holds the same rank as Ijmaa in the absence of express text. Therefore a
custom which is not inconsistent with or opposed to the Quranic injunction has all the attributes of
law through it may have no spiritual or divine authority. Thus it may only be validated if there is no
previous laid principle in Quran or Sunna.
Fatawas: Fawatas are opinions of judges and muftis in the light of facts which are important in
Mohammedan Law though they are not the actual sources of law. There are many such collections of
which Fatwa-e-Alamgiri is a collection of the most authoritative Fatwas or expression of law on all

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points that have been decided upon at the time of preparation. It was compiled during the 17th century
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on the command of the then Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir.

Judicial Precedents: The judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts interpreted many laws
regarding the Mohammedan Law in the modern times which have been constituted as the supplements
of the modern Mohammedan Law and also paved to be the sources.
Legislation: The followings are the amplified and thus the modified forms of the Islamic Law:

The Kazis Act, 1880;

The Guardian and Wards Act, 1890;
The Mussalman Waqf Validating Act, 1923;
The Mussalman Waqf Act, 1923;
The Mussalman Waqf Validating Act, 1930;
The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937;
The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939;
The Waqf Act, 1954;
The Public Waqfs (Extension) of Limitation Act, 1959;
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 1984;
The Muslim Women (Protection on Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

Justice, Equity and Good Conscience: The development of law by istehsan, maslahat, and istidlal
represents the period of juristic equity in Muslim Law. Justice, equity and good conscience is the
principle of English law which has been incorporated in Muslim law as wherever possible.
In Hamira Bibi v. Zubaida3, the Privy Council observed, the chapter on the duties (Adab) of the Qazi
in the Principal works on Mussalman Law clearly shows that the rules of equity and equitable
considerations commonly recognized in the courts of Chancery in England, and not foreign to the
Mussalman system, but are in fact often reformed to and invoked in the adjudication of cases.

Schools:
Muhammad, the Prophet was both the temporal and supreme preceptor i.e., he was both the Caliph
and Imam respectively. After the death of him the total Islamic society branched into two major sects
which were more political than religious. At the time the Prophet did not nominated any successor
also which raised the condition that the supporters of the principle of filing the office, thus by election
came to be called as Sunni and on the other hand the supporters of succession to the office by
inheritance to the Prophet are known as Shiyas.
Sunni School:
3 1916, 43, KIA 2/4.

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The largest denomination in Islam is Sunni Islam, which makes up 75%90% of all Muslims. Sunni
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Muslims also go by the name Ahl as-Sunnah which means people of the tradition. The hadiths or
reports, recounting Muhammads words, actions, and personal characteristics, are preserved in
traditions known as Al-Kutub Al-Sittah which compiles six major books.
Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs were the rightful successors to Muhammad; since God did
not specify any particular leaders to succeed him and those leaders were elected. Sunnis believe that
anyone who is righteous and just could be a caliph but they have to act according to the Qur'an and
the Sunnah or Hadith, the example of Muhammad and give the people their rights.Sunnis believe a
caliph should be elected by the whole community. The Sunnis approach God directly and there is no
organized clerical hierarchy.
The Sunni world was left without an Imam and Caliph. The Sultan Baibars invited Abdul Kasim
Ahmed to hold the Sunni brotherhood and was installed at Cairo on 1261 A.D. which lasted for two
and a half centuries. Finally in 1924 the Caliphate was formally abolished by the National Assembly
at Ankara, Turkey.
The Sunni school has further 4 sub-sects which are as follows:
The Hanafi School: This is the most famous school among the four sects founded by Abu Hanifa
who was a pupil of Jafar-al-Sadiq, the founder of the Shia school and this school is also known as the
Kufa or Iraq School as the home of this school was Iraq later spread into Arabia, Syria,
Afghanistan, Turkey, Central Asia and India. The Ottoman Turks and Seljuk Turks were Hanafis. The
Hanafi books are al-Hidaay or Hedaya of Marghinani and Durr-ul-Mukhtar of Ibn Abidin and alMukhtasar of Kuduri. In addition Fatwa-I-Alamgiri compiled by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was
added in the 17th century as the Hanafi Doctrines.
The presumption is that the Mohammedan in India is governed by the Sunni School of Law or the
Hanafi sub-school.
The Maliki School: It was founded by Malik Ibn Anas who was an inhabitant of Medina in Saudi
Arabia in the 8th century A.D. which is also known as Medina School.
Followers of this school are found in Spain, Morocco and North and East Africa and this school has
no followers in India.
The Shafii or Shafei School: This was founded by Muhammad Ibn Idris ash-Shafei who was a pupil
of Malik Ibn Anas but lived a part of his life at Baghdad and the rest at Cairo and it is the second most
prominent after the Hanafi school.

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This school is largely found in the Lower Egypt, South Arabia, East Africa, Iraq, Iran, Western and
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Sothern India, Indonesia, Malaysia and South East Asia.

The Hanbali School: this last school was founded by Abu Abidullah Hamid Ibn Hanbal who was
born at Baghdad; but actually he was not the founder of this school because it was not formed during
his lifetime. Some of his pupils founded it after his death in his name.
This school is present in Arabia and larger parts of Syria and Palestine.
Other Groups:
The Wahabi School: The founder of this school was Mohammad Ibne Abhul Wahab which is
governed by Hanafi law for practical purpose but the Sunnis dont consider it to be the part of the
Sunnis.
The Ijtihad School: In India this type of school is found which is also known as Ghair Muqqallad
who do not strictly follow any school and they are akin to Wahabis.
Shia School or Shiite Law or Imamat:
The term Shia means faction which has derived from the word Shiat Ali. The Shi'a constitutes 10
20% of Islam and is its second-largest branch. Islam has several branches, the largest of which is the
Twelvers, followed by Zaidis and Ismailis. After the death of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, the great grandson
of Abu Bakr and Ali Ibn Abu Talib considered the sixth Imam by the Shia's, the Ismailis started to
follow his son Ismail Ibn Jafar and the Twelver Shia's or the Ithna Asheri started to follow his other
son Musa al-Kazim as their seventh Imam. The Zaydis follow Zaydibn Ali, the uncle of Imam Jafar
al-Sadiq, as their fifth Imam.
While Sunnis believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor and a caliph should be chosen by
the whole community, the Twelver Shias and the Ismailia Shias believe that during Muhammad's final
pilgrimage to Mecca, he appointed his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abu Talib, as his successor in the Hadith of
the pond of Khumm. As a result, they believe that Ali Ibn Abu Talib was the first Imam (leader),
rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr, Uthman Ibn al-Affan and Umar Ibn
al-Khattab.Zaydis, the oldest branch of the Shia and the largest group amongst the Shia before the
Safavid Dynasty in the sixteenth century and currently the second largest group, are the closest to the
Sunnis and do not believe in the infallibility of Imams after Hussain.
The Twelver Shia believes that the political and religious leadership of Imams come from the direct
descendants of Muhammad and Ali ibn Abu Talib, also known as the Ahl al-Bayt. To Twelver Shias,
Imam rules by right of divine appointment and holds "absolute spiritual authority" among Muslims,
having final say in matters of doctrine and revelation. The Twelver Shias say their last such Imam,

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Muhammad al-Mahdi's osculated in 868 AD and will return at the end of time. However, their Imams
reflect the will of Allah and Muhammad.

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are not allowed to introduce new laws or eradicate old ones; they are simply required to interpret and

The Twelvers believe that there were 12 Imams infallible from sin and mistake or caliphs, after
Muhammad. They often cite the Hadith of the Twelve Successors as evidence. Shias prefer hadiths
attributed to the Ahlul Bayt and close associates. The Twelver Shia follow a legal tradition called
Jafari jurisprudence named after Jafar al-Sadiq, the great grandson of Abu Bakr and Ali ibn Abu Talib
the first and the fourth Caliphs accepted by the Sunnis. Since Jafar al-Sadiq (702-765) did not write
anything down, the books were later written by Muhammad ibnYaqub al-Kulayni (864- 941), Ibn
Babawayh (923-991), and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274).
The Shia school is again dividing into three parts which are as follows:
The Zaidya School: The followers of Zaidya School recognise Zaid as their 5th Imam as the
Imamate went from Ali to Hasan then to Hussain, then to Alaghir or Ali II and then to Zaid. The
Zaidyas follow the principles of election and not nomination of Imamate but the Imam must come
from the family of Prophet Zaidya and they think they are the nearest to the Sunnis. Again there are 4
sects among the Zaidyas whereby Imams are the rulers of northern Yemen of South Arabia.
The Ismailia School: The followers of this school regard Ismail as the 7th Imam and are also called
the Seveners or Sabiyan. Ismailia imamate passed to the Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt, but there was a
split after the eighth Imam. One group followed the ninth Fatimid Caliph Al-Musta-Lib-Illah, while
the other sect follows the Nizar and their 49th Imam is Aga Khan. These Muslims are found in India,
Pakistan, Syria and Central Asia.
The Ithna Asheri School: The Ithna Asheris are called the Imamias and also the Twelvers because
the twelfth Imam partakes of the divine essence from them who is known as ghaib and muntazar
that is he who has vanished and he who is awaited, but he lives and is deathless and will appear at
a preordinated timeand will fill the earth with justice as now it is full of injustice as it is denotes the
time when it happens such. The authoritative book of Ithna Asheri is the Shari-ul-Islam. The followers
are found in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iranand Lebanon. This school is again sub-divided into two parts
viz. Akhbari and Usuli.
Other Groups: Other smaller groups include the Bohra and Druze, as well as the Alawites and Alevi.
Some Shia branches label other Shia branches that do not agree with their doctrine as Ghulat.

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Sufism:

Sufism is a mystical-ascetic approach to Islam which was first came into action at Istanbul, Turkey
that seeks to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. By focusing
on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use
of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. However, Sufism has been
criticized by the Salafi sect for what they see as an unjustified religious innovation. Many Sufi orders,
or tariqas, can be classified as either Sunni or Shia, but others classify themselves simply as Sufi.

Other Denominations:

Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad that began in India in
the late 19th century and is practiced by millions of people around the world. Ahmadiyyas are
divided into two subgroups, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya

Movement.
The Ibadi is a sect that dates back to the early days of Islam and is a branch of kharijite.

Unlike most Kharijite groups, Ibadism does not regard sinful Muslims as unbelievers.
The Quranists are Muslims who generally reject the Hadith.
Yazdanism is seen as a blend of local Kurdish beliefs and Islamic Sufi doctrine introduced to

Kurdistan by Sheikh AdiibnMusafir in the 12th century.

Nation of Islam (NOI) is a primarily African-American new religious movement founded in
Detroit during the 20th century.

Demography:
A comprehensive 2009 demographic study of 232 countries and territories reported that 23% of the
global population, or 1.57 billion people, are Muslims. Of those, it's estimated over 7590% are Sunni
and 1020% are Shia, with a small minority belonging to other sects. Approximately 50 countries are
Muslim-majority and Arabs account for around 20% of all Muslims worldwide. Between 1900 and
1970 the global Muslim community grew from 200 million to 551 million; between 1970 and 2009
Muslim population increased more than three times to 1.57 billion.
The majority of Muslims live in Asia and Africa. Approximately 62% of the world's Muslims live in
Asia, with over 683 million adherents in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In the Middle
East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa,
Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities.

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Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has approximately 20 to 30 million
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Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). However, data provided by the San Diego State University's
International Population Centre to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million
Muslims. Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries, and is
slowly catching up to that status in the Americas, with between 2,454,000, according to Pew Forum,
and approximately 7 million Muslims, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR), in the United States.

Architecture:
Perhaps the most important expression of Islamic art is architecture, particularly that of the mosque
i.e., four-iwan and hypostyle. Through the edifices, the effect of varying cultures within Islamic
civilization can be illustrated. The North African and Spanish Islamic architecture, for example, has
Roman-Byzantine elements, as seen in the Great Mosque of Kairouan which contains marble and
porphyry columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings, in the Alhambra palace at Granada, or in the
Great Mosque of Cordoba.

Criticism:
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from
Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy. Later
there appeared criticism from the Muslim world itself, and also from Jewish writers and from
ecclesiastical Christians.
Objects of criticism include the morality of the life of Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam, both in
his public and personal life. Issues relating to the authenticity and morality of the Quran, the Islamic
holy book, are also discussed by critics. Other criticisms focus on the question of human rights in
modern Islamic nations, and the treatment of women in Islamic law and practice. In wake of the
recent multiculturalism trend, Islam's influence on the ability of Muslim immigrants in the West to
assimilate has been criticized.

Conclusion:
Being an Atheist and heavily sympathetic towards atheism, I want to speak that a religious pattern is
drawing the dark attention of a man because the count of religion is very wilful according the rites and

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rituals which are been followed day by day in the normal life. In a general view a man hesitates to tell
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a lie or even he cannot tell such whereby the same man in sake of other cases may tell a lie very
smoothly. It is how the religion has bonded the society which may be termed as a religious
dictatorship. In the name of a certain God to which religion or faith the man follows or may be
otherwise but if the touch of God arrives between a matter man gets frighten and praises the absentee
super natural power, but in the present scientific century it is a very matter of fun about the existence
of God which is also termed as a super natural power. We cannot see that, we cannot touch that but
human fears from that intangible object in the sake of omen in this globe and in his happiness thereby.
The belief or faith is a very divine matter which cannot be taken into an account of expression only
through the mode of God. A simple dog is a very faithful mammal whereby humans pet a dog very
often and in this case he becomes the master of it thereby the dog shows a great faith to its master
whereby it can be termed human is the God of a pet dog as God is also termed as the master of this
nature being the creature of it. Actually faith, belief, prayers come from an emotional attitude of a
human nature and people who having such moral characters they can be termed humans otherwise
inhuman. It is not that if a man goes to the religious place and shows a high devotional attitude
towards some Stones or Idols, he is a very great man; if he bears some specific moral characters and
can have the idea to think that every man are equal in human essence that may be a sweeper or a
president of a country or else then only such a person may be a good human in the terms of nature and
characteristics.
If we go through the Hindu religion we find that dog is a very unholy creature as termed by the
religion whereas a cow is very holy, but if we see we find that a dog and a cow having some very
similar bodily characteristics and even a dog is more advance than a cow. A dog trained acts as a
human; it helps the police, investigation departments in investigations whereby a cow is dull in such
matters; so for what reasons such inequality been arising among living creatures through damn
religious viewpoints?
Religion may be termed as the home of superstitions whereby there is not a single religion which is
bare of such dull activities. A very deep religious devotee is the most superstitious creature in this
earth. Religious activities lead to a very dark age and thereby led to some terrific war cries, riots,
criminal activities, etc. A religion or God cannot lead a man to his aim, but fills some indigenous ideas
among him and paves the way to behave unequally.
If religious prophets are taken into account it can be observed that at those days they were like
political leaders of the present time. In those days there were not a huge number of politicians like
now-a-days and so they got the full credit of such in the name of religion. Jesus himself pronounced
that he is the Son of God; Prophet Muhammad pronounced that he is the last Messenger of the God
and they have made the human fools from time to time through their great politics.

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The great Germen philosopher, Karl Marx says that God has not created Man but Man has created
and unfairness.

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God and thereby the process of inhuman activities is on where there is a full of injustice, inequality

Religion has been deployed itself by the mankind and has been moved towards barbarism whereby
social reformers helped to maintain its discipline and helped to return it from such menace. It is the
total creation of man that the existence of God, but if really God existed being the Judge of the globe
and each and every society and everything was in his hand being a very powerful supernatural object
with the balance of equity, equality and fairness then it is very sure that this World of Life had not to
face any difficulties; they had not to struggle so palely as it is in present day to day nature.
So it is the time to create a religion free world being all united into the atheism where there is no
existence of invisible creatures and thereby nature is the super most authority which has created the
living objects and thereby end the societal clashes regarding the blind side of religion. As the great
German philosopher, Karl Marx stated that Religion is the opium of the people.

Bibliography:

Dr. S.R. Mynenis Muslim Law and Other Personal Laws, (Family Law-II).
Aqil Ahmed, Mohammedan Law, 24th Edn.
Mulla, Principles of Mohammedan Law, 19th Edn., Reprint 2012.#
Google search.

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