Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Lucy E. Creevey, “Ahmad Bamba 

1850–1927.” In Studies in West African Islamic History,

Vol. 1, edited by John Ralph Willis (London: Frank Cass, 

1979); Christopher Harrison, France and Islam in West 

Africa, 1860–1960 (Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press, 1988); Donald B. Cruise O’Brien, The Mourides 

of Senegal: The Political and Economic Organization of an 

Islamic Brotherhood (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 

1971); David Robinson, Paths of Accommodation: Mus-

lim Societies and French Colonial Authorities in Senegal 

and Mauritania, 1880–1920 (Athens: Ohio University 

Press, 2000).

Murjia

Murjia is a movement that began during early 

Islam that emphasizes faith and confession of 

Faith

, significantly more than acts. The Arabic 

root of murjia means “to defer judgment” and in 

the case of the Murjia it refers to the obligation 

that Muslims should have to defer judgment of a 

person’s ultimate fate, regarding whether they will 

live eternally in heaven or hell, to God. In sharp 

contrast, traditionalist Sunni Muslims believe 

that Muslims must have faith in God and act in 

accordance with God’s commandments in order 

to be granted eternal life in heaven. The Murjia 

worldview, however, was based on Quran 9:106 

and similar verses, “There are some . . . whose 

ultimate destinies are deferred to God’s judg-

ment. He may punish or pardon them, for God 

is all-knowing and all-wise.” The Murjia main-

tained that Muslims should not lose their status 

as believers because of any actions—this status 

was affirmed by their very faith. Yet, the Murjia 

condemned people who violated God’s dictates 

as aberrant believers who may ultimately be for-

given or punished by God. Thus, according to the 

Murjia, decisions regarding the final moral status 

of these and other acts were deferred to divine 

judgment.

Murjia espoused the belief that faith is made 

up of knowledge and public confession of God, 

God’s prophets, and their messages to human-

ity. That is, they described beliefs and the public 

affirmation of them as a complete and indivisible 

whole. They had a broad understanding of who 

is Muslim; they considered all Muslims—except 

those whom Muslim consensus excludes—to be 

true believers. Beginning in the eighth century, 

one political dimension of the Murjia movement 

was manifested as they vigorously advocated the 

equality of non-Arab converts to Islam. Through 

its ties with the h

anaFi

 l

egal

 s

chool

, aspects of 

Murjia doctrine have lingered, despite the opposi-

tion of traditionalist Sunnis.

See also m

Utazili

 s

chool

; t

heology

.

Jon Armajani