CR, where you see the return of colonialism, I see the fulfillment of God's Bible Prophecy.
The Sufis, who are 5% of the world's Islamic population, have no Qur'an of their own, they would be stoned if they dared to attempt to change the words of the Qur'an.
What they do have are books of erotic poetry, which they attribute to their impassioned mystical experiences of melding with the Divine, - lacking the spiritual discernment to recognize Satan's deceiving "angels of light."
https://shepherd.com/bookshelf/sufismI see your references, as trite, silly, and immaterial to the threat of violence the civilized world continuously faces from all those millions of Muslims whom the Qur'an instructs to murder all kafir/kafirit [infidels] who fail to convert [submit] to Islam.
The divide between Sunnis and Shia is the largest and oldest schism in the history of Islam. The name "Sunni" is derived from the phrase "Ahl al-Sunnah", or "People of the Tradition," referring to practices [traditions] based on the Prophet Muhammad's words and actions, - what he said, did, agreed to or condemned.
Sunnis regard themselves as the orthodox branch of Islam. All Muslims are guided by the Sunnah, because without it, the Qur'an has no context, and makes no sense, but the Shia are also guided by the "wisdom" of Muhammad's descendants through his son-in-law and cousin, Ali.
The great majority of the world's 1.5+ billion Muslims are Sunnis - between 85% and 90%. In the Middle East, Sunnis make up 90% or more of the populations of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Shia constitute about 10% of all Muslims, and globally their population is estimated at between 154 and 200 million.Shia Muslims are in the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and, according to some estimates, Yemen. There are also large Shia communities in Afghanistan, India, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In early Islamic history, the Shia were a movement - literally "Shiat Ali" or the "Party of Ali." They claimed that Ali was the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad as leader (imam) of the Muslim community following his death in 632 A.D.
Ali was assassinated in 661 A.D. after a five-year caliphate that was marred by civil war. His sons, Hassan and Hussein, were denied what they thought was their legitimate right of accession to the caliphate.
Hassan was poisoned in 680 by Muawiyah, the first caliph of the Sunni Umayyad dynasty, while Hussein was killed on the battlefield by the Umayyads in 681. These events gave rise to the primacy of the Shia concept of martyrdom and their rituals of grieving.
Members of the two sects have co-existed for centuries and share many fundamental beliefs and practices. But they differ in doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organization.
Their leaders also compete from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Pakistan, many conflicts consistently emphasize this sectarian divide, communities are terrorized, and murdered. It id the fruit of Islam.
There are three main branches of Shia Islam today - the Zaidis, Ismailis and Ithna Asharis (Twelvers or Imamis). The Ithna Asharis are the largest Shia group and believe that Muhammad's religious leadership, spiritual authority and divine guidance were passed on to 12 of his descendants, beginning with Ali, Hassan and Hussein.
The 12th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is believed to have disappeared from a cave below a mosque in 878 A.D. Ithna Asharis [the Twelvers], - who rule Iran, believe the so-called awaited imam or "Madhi" did not die and will crawl out of the well at the end time, to restore justice upon the earth.
Sufism is a mystical and ascetic form of Islam, known as "Tasawwuf" in the Muslim world, in the West it is often erroneously thought of as a separate sect.
Adherents of Sufism follow the five pillars of Islam just as other practicing Muslims. They declare faith in one god, Allah, and Muhammad as his messenger, pray five times a day, give to charity, fast and perform the pagan Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, as does all of Islam.
Sufism is more prominent among Sunnis, but there are also Shiite Sufi orders, or "tariqa."
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CounterRevolutionary wrote:
Zemirah, your post above is a mixture of fact and propaganda, without listing sources. Why on earth are you championing colonialism of the same British empire we Americans freed ourselves from in 1776?
First, to answer your question, I have read a contemporary Koran, remember, there were three caliphs separated by hundreds of years. Try some insight to modern Turkish Sufism.
The Sufi Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish Paperback – February 22, 2005
by Neil Douglas-Klotz (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Sufi-Book-Life-Pathways-Dervish/dp/0142196355/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BXMQ6Z5P91B6&keywords=sufi+quran&qid=1698630616&s=books&sprefix=sufi+quoran%2Cstripbooks%2C163&sr=1-1Part meditation book, part oracle, and part collection of Sufi lore, poetry, and stories, The Sufi Book of Life offers a fresh interpretation of the fundamental spiritual practice found in all ancient and modern Sufi schools—the meditations on the 99 Qualities of Unity. Unlike most books on Sufism, which are primarily collections of translated Sufi texts, this accessible guide is a handbook that explains how to apply Sufi principles to modern life. With inspirational commentary that connects each quality with contemporary concerns such as love, work, and success, as well as timeless wisdom from Sufi masters, both ancient and modern, such as Rumi, Hafiz, Shabistari, Rabia, Inayat Khan, Indries Shah, Irina Tweedie, Bawa Muhaiyadden, and more,
The Sufi Book of Life is a dervish guide to life and love for the twenty-first century.On the web:
http://sufibookoflife.comYou are wrong about the Wahhabi attributing them to the faith of Ibin Saud. He was not a Wahhabi, who were backed by the communist of the Soviet Union (atheist), Jack Philby of Arabia and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany who were using the Sykes Picot Treaty to prove the Brits had broken their promise of Arab independence.
Ibin Saud was a Suni Muslim. Jack Philby converted to Wahhabi Islam until Ibin Saud recognized him as a fraud and threw him out of Arabia.
You can't always rely on reading wikipedia as a source of information. There were two Muslim Muftis of Jerusalem, courted by Hitler who were following the anti-crusaders' caliph. Please take a look at this history further in a book by Rabbi David Dalin, Jewish underground operator of WW2:
Icon of Evil: Hitler's Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam Hardcover – June 24, 2008
by David G. Dalin (Author), John F. Rothmann (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Icon-Evil-Hitlers-Mufti-Radical/dp/1400066530/ref=sr_1_3?crid=OPLSB2NB51KI&keywords=David+Dalin&qid=1698632419&s=books&sprefix=david+dalin%2Cstripbooks%2C187&sr=1-3There is much more on the history of these phony fundamentalists in the Interagency Working Group declassified records on WW2 in the Library of Congress.
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