A Fourth Branch of Islam With "Unique" Beliefs

NOTE: While I am good with Arab and Middle Eastern history during the 20th and 21st century, my knowledge of the Islamic Golden Age is cursory at best (I'm working to change that, but it's a work in progress), so I figured I might as well try and ask this question here. :eek:

I was reading a book on Gaddafi, and came upon an interesting passage on the Colonel's religious beliefs:

Most fundamental was Qaddafi's assertion that the Qu'ran, as the revealed word of God, was the one and only basis of true Islam. As far as he was concerned, the Sunnah (the acts and sayings of the Prophet, as told by his companions), was not essential to the faith. Qaddafi viewed the Sunnah as human rather than divine, while for him only the Qu'ran represented the pure foundation of Islam. He also argued that Sharia (Islamic law) was a normative set of laws that had been made by humans. Such assertions were hugely controversial. To almost deny the Sunnah as the second source of authority of Sunni Islam was deeply offensive and sacrilegious to many Muslims. It is difficult to Express just how shocking this denial was to Sunni Muslims at the time (and indeed today). Yet for Qaddafi it was part of stripping Islam back to its basics, instilling it with a Bedouin simplicity that was pure and untainted by humanity.

There were other details about his beliefs as well, such as his belief that people were idolizing Muhammad instead of God, his decision to have the Muslim calendar be dated from the time of Muhammad's death instead of his migration from Mecca to Medina and his personal belief that man and god could have a direct relationship. Let's just say that in addition to the three branches of Islam that exist IOTL (Sunni, Shia and Ibadi), a fourth branch of Islam espousing beliefs similar to Gaddafi's (but not necessarily identical) develops sometime between 700 and 1250 AD. My basic questions are:

  • In which geographic region/regions of the Abbasid or Umayyad Caliphates is such a sort of Islam to develop and take hold?
  • What would a plausible name for this branch be?
  • Would this form of Islam be more or less liberal/open to change than OTL Sunni and Shia Islam?
  • What sort of philosophical contributions could this school of Islamic thought make?

I'm sorry if the questions are vague or hard to answer, but if you have any of your own ideas, please post them.
 
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I'm guessing that you could have this develop from Salafism, which is a branch of Islam that seeks to return to the "good ol' days."
 
  • In which geographic region/regions of the Abbasid or Umayyad Caliphates is such a sort of Islam to develop and take hold?
I think it would have to do more with politics (a separatist group using a strict interpretation to deny the authority of the caliph) or depending on the provenance or current whereabouts of the charismatic founder.

  • What would a plausible name for this branch be?
they might refered to themselves as simply "the community of the faithfuls" or something to that effect since they consider themselves the true followers of the Koran, the other branch might obvious call them other names which, depending how offensive they are, might be later reappropriated. Such name could be based on the founder or some idiosyncrasies of the group

  • Would this form of Islam be more or less liberal/open to change than OTL Sunni and Shia Islam?

less so since they would have a very litteral interpretation of the Koran without the help of the hadiths and might be weary of anything not directly addressed by the book.

  • What sort of philosophical contributions could this school of Islamic thought make?

the contribution might be more social then anything. imagine the Wahhabi but half a millennia earlier.
 
This branch exists. Its called Quranism. Many famous scholars are proponents of it, such as Tariq Ramadan. Obviously its quite controversial and its mostly associated with modern 'progressive' Islam.

Basically they only look to the Quran for guidance, and disregard the hadith and sunnah.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quranism
 
This branch exists. Its called Quranism. Many famous scholars are proponents of it, such as Tariq Ramadan. Obviously its quite controversial and its mostly associated with modern 'progressive' Islam.

Basically they only look to the Quran for guidance, and disregard the hadith and sunnah.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quranism

Thank you for the link. :) From what I can gather, they seem to have a fairly liberal interpretation of Islam on a number of key issues. The wiki page also mentions a man during the Abbasid period named Ibrahim an-Nazzam who held views similar to that of modern Qur'anism. Perhaps Nazzam's theories gain traction and develop into a new sect of Islam ATL?
 
I think its going to be more of an, 'It's not in the Quran hence there is no religious reason to do this or that, but there can still be cultural reasons to do so'.

Many things would just not be religiously anchored, such as dresscode (if memory serves from my religion studies in high school, stuff such as Burkas and Hijabs are solely from Sunnahs and pre-islamic Arabian Culture). So while on Religious issues Nazzams theories is quite liberal (certainly for the time), they would also have a relatively limited scope and their cultural and social issues would be all over the place, from liberal to conservative, depending on where they are
 
I think its going to be more of an, 'It's not in the Quran hence there is no religious reason to do this or that, but there can still be cultural reasons to do so'.

Many things would just not be religiously anchored, such as dresscode (if memory serves from my religion studies in high school, stuff such as Burkas and Hijabs are solely from Sunnahs and pre-islamic Arabian Culture). So while on Religious issues Nazzams theories is quite liberal (certainly for the time), they would also have a relatively limited scope and their cultural and social issues would be all over the place, from liberal to conservative, depending on where they are

Indeed, the Quran simply orders men and women to cover their modesty. Different cultures interpret this in different ways, as evidenced by how women in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan wear the full face-body covering.

Basically for Nazzam's views to become major there needs to be a reason for the Abbasids to back him and his interpretation. The Mutazilite sect which put rationality above the scriptures was backed because they were useful in constructing military weapons and such for the Caliphs.
 
maybe an reason to push Nazzam's theories would be it being used as a supporting leavage promoting the need for pragmatic relations with ERE and the Middle Eastern Christian / Zorocrastian Communities ... this era is in no way my strong point historically, so i have no clue what the Pod should be tp change the scene so this is a plausible road for the Caliphate to go
 
Maybe someone could support these teachings just out of political reasons. Like the Elector of Saxony who supported Martin Luther mostly to weaken the emperor.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Work the Druze in somehow?

They always seem like one of those synergistic cultures who could explode out of the background or simply become an element of the larger societies they found themselves in...

Later than the period you're talking about, but may be adopters.

Best,
 
maybe an reason to push Nazzam's theories would be it being used as a supporting leavage promoting the need for pragmatic relations with ERE and the Middle Eastern Christian / Zorocrastian Communities

Now that would be interesting. Perhaps the Abbasids adopt some of Nazzam's ideas in order improve relations with the Byzantine Empire either shortly before or shortly after the East-West Schism? (Provided that it's not too late by that point - Nazzam had been dead for around two centuries when the East-West Schism took place)
 
I'd actually say that Sufism would be the better way to introduce a fourth branch of Islam. Say a radical Sufi sect akin to the Belloists in Male Rising (for some perspective the Belloists are a sect of Islam ITTL who believe that in order to become closer to god they must withdraw themselves from earthly politics and in many cases live in kibbutz like communes). The problem I see with this fourth branch is that it's too fundamentalist and that it is so fundamentally opposed to the other three major sects that it wouldn't have much hope of continuing long term.
 
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