Sunni
Not a Shiite
Sunni refers to the larger of Islam's two main branches, comprising roughly 85% of Muslims worldwide.
Sunnis follow the tradition (*sunna*) of the Prophet Muhammad and accept the historical succession of caliphs after his death—the key distinction from Shia Islam, which holds that leadership should have passed through Muhammad's family line.
The term works as both noun and adjective: a Sunni Muslim, the Sunni majority in Egypt.
Traditional Islamic practice
- hadithRecorded prophetic narration
- caliphateIslamic successor-led government
- shariaMuslim canonical jurisprudence
- imamMuslim religious guide
mosque · mufti · fatwa · salat · zakat · hajj · tawhid · halal
Over half of total
- populationAll inhabitants combined
- dominantHaving superior influence
- prevalentCommonly occurring, widespread
- mainstreamDominant cultural current
predominant · Arab · Turkish · Indonesian · Malaysian · Egyptian · Pakistani · widespread
Iraqi seat of government
- MosulIraqi city on Tigris
- TikritIraqi provincial capital
- FallujahIraqi city near Baghdad
- insurgencyArmed uprising against authority
Saddam · ISIS · Baathist · sectarian · awakening · tribal · militia
Islam's second-largest branch
- schismFormal organizational fracture
- successionFollowing in order
- UmarSecond Rashidun caliph
- AliArabic name, "sublime"
companions · sectarian · split · caliph
sunnah
Traditional Islamic practice
- hadithRecorded prophetic narration
- caliphateIslamic successor-led government
- shariaMuslim canonical jurisprudence
imam · mosque · mufti · fatwa · salat · zakat · hajj · tawhid · halal · minaret
majority
Over half of total
- populationAll inhabitants combined
- dominantHaving superior influence
- prevalentCommonly occurring, widespread
mainstream · predominant · Arab · Turkish · Indonesian · Malaysian · Egyptian · Pakistani · widespread · percentage
Baghdad
Iraqi seat of government
Saddam · insurgency · ISIS · Baathist · sectarian · awakening · tribal · militia
Shia
Islam's second-largest branch
- schismFormal organizational fracture
- successionFollowing in order
- UmarSecond Rashidun caliph
Ali · companions · sectarian · split · caliph
- Islamic Lawsharia, Sharia, Shariah, Islamic law, fatwa
- Islamic groupsShia, Shiite, Sufi, Druze, Wahhabi
- Islamic SectsShia, Twelver Shia, Wahhabism, Salafism
- Middle EastIraq, Baghdad, Cairo, Iran, Jordan
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- religionsChristianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism
- Sunni MuslimsLargest Islamic branch
- Sunni IslamLargest Islamic denomination
- Sunni practicesReligious customs of largest Islamic branch