Encyclopedia of Islam

particularly as embodied in the hadith (or akh-

bar) of a

li

 

ibn

 

abi

  t

alib

 (d. 661) and the other 

sacred Imams descended from him. Indeed, their 

name is a shortened form of the phrase “faction 

of Ali” (shiat Ali), the first i

mam

. Starting in the 

ninth/10th century, Muslims who followed the 

sunna of Muhammad and his Companions instead 

of the Shii Imams saw themselves as the People of 

sunna

  

645  J

---

the Sunna (ahl al-sunna), or People of the Sunna 

and Community (ahl al-sunna wa’l-jamaa). They 

eventually became known simply as the Sunnis.

Since the 18th century many Islamic 

reneWal

and

 

reForm

 

movements

 have called for a rejection 

of “innovation” and a return to the Quran and 

sunna. Although found in several of the Sufi orders, 

such as that of the Naqshbandis, it is expressed 

most clearly in the revivalism of the Wahhabis, 

the m

Uslim

 b

rotherhood

, the J

amaat

-

i

 i

slami

, the 

t

ablighi

 J

amaat

, and groups inspired by them. On 

the other hand, Muslim modernist reformers have 

questioned the reliability of the hadith and sunna, 

arguing that they be either rejected or carefully 

circumscribed. Instead, many propose following 

general ethical principles based on the Quran, in 

harmony with reason, modern 

science

, 

hUman

rights

, religious pluralism, 

democracy

, and gen-

der equality. This trend is represented by figures 

such as s

ayyid

 a

hmad

 k

han

 (d. 1898), m

Uhammad

a

bdUh

 (d. 1905), and a

li

 a

bd

 

al

-r

aziq

 (d. 1966), 

and more recently by thinkers such as F

azlUr

 r

ah

-

man

 (d. 1988), Muhammad Shahrur (b. 1938), and 

F

atima

 m

ernissi

 (b. 1940).

See also  c

ompanions

 

oF

 

the

  p

rophet

; 

ethics

and

 

morality

; 

sharia

; s

hiism

.